How do we bring it all together.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be flip, I know many of the vendors are doing this as a full time job. Let me rephrase it by saying I am here to play dress up.

there is no one solution to all of these obstacles. I think the biggest obstacle is "this is the way we've always done it, it works okay, don't change".

Unfortunately, not everyone is on Tribe, and when we assume that they are, we end up with a lot of confused people at Faire.

I do think that Steve is right; we need a new pool of excited apprentices. That would help to improve the quality of the people hired to cover shifts everywhere, and give every guild the best quality apprentices possible. It would also swell the ranks of the parades and pageants, of the guild of peasants, and of other guilds that really ought to have greater numbers. Right now, we are top heavy. We have more people in the Queen's Court than we do in St. Helena's. There are more people in St. Ive's than there are in St. Cuthbert;s or St. Helena's. Realistically speaking, there ought to be more peasants than middle class, and more middle class than nobles. Those running booths would be part of the middle class, technically, since shopkeepers and shop owners were merchants, and therefor middle class.

I'd imagine that a lot of college and high school theater students would actually be excited about it. You might try the music classes, as well. After all, we need musicians, too.

A high school Shakespeare/Elizabethan/Commedia theatre and madrigal/period music festival/competition would be a great way to bring in young people who are interested in this kind of thing. Several categories could be represented.

Good PR like school day, but with older, more-committed students, celebrity judges (like Queen Elizabeth, Sir Francis Drake and Shakespeare himself) and done at the beginning of faire season run, with faire stage performances for the winners and a good intro to faire for talented teenagers and their families. Teenagers who, by the way, are also usually looking for jobs.

Major rant coming:
(Like that NEVER happens on Tribe)

How to bring it all together?

ANY WAY YOU CAN.

Boilerplate: I heretofore acknowledge and appreciate all the efforts of everyone who shows up, from Marketplace, Entertainment, Support, and our beloved Fearless Leaders. Including all the work, seen and unseen, that making Fair happen requires of them, far in excess of compensated or expected duties. From the first kid who's parking cars standing on a 115-degree flatiron to the guy who picks up the last slobber-filled cup at the back of Horse Tourney, and everyone in between.

Observations, in no specific order:
1. The Internet is here to stay. Deal with it. Anybody working Faire without an e-mail? Seriously??
Stop fighting the flood, and start getting on top of the wave.
Morning meeting is great. It's fun, it's informative, and it's one of those artsy-fartsy bonding experiences.
And 75% of it could be covered online by Wednesday or Thursday.
The rest, and the really fun parts, could be the gist of Saturday. That would also keep people who missed Saturday but came Sunday in 75% of "the info loop."
I'm sure there are 20 reasons why the Internet isn't being used, and why it shouldn't be.
Screw that, pull whoevers' heads out, and start using it to the advantage of the entire Faire.

2. Pull WHAT together?
This was, IMHO, the most cohesive Faire since I started doing it, in the late '90s.
Partly, because I'm out of my tiny world, and get to see the big picture.
Largely, I think, because getting everyone one one page is becoming (even at a sometimes glacial pace) a bigger priority for everyone. Yay. Really!

But (pardon my French) who the fuck ARE all these people?
Once upon a time, the booths were actually LISTED, BY NAME, and LOCATION, from Front to back of Faire, in the program flyer. The actual booth owner's name was right next to it. And every booth was numbered ON THE PATRON MAP.
Currently, if the map gets any smaller and less detailed, we could just make it a handstamp.

I always wander around Faire, year in and year out. And I'm not a shy person. So when I don't know, by third weekend, WTF a booth is, there's a problem. Imagine what it's like for a patron who only comes out one time. They shouldn't need to download CIA satelite data to find out this info. "But that'll cost money!" Yes. Yes it will. And if someone finds a booth they couldn't find last time, they might actually SPEND more money in response. I think I read that somewhere, anyway.

3. Entertainment could learn a thing or two - too.
"All the Faire's a play."
Really?? Then Why Can't I Find A Printed List Of The Players Anywhere??
I've been doing this for about 12 years. I spent ten of them hawking arrows. Within 2, I realized I had way more fun in the street than walking the line at Archery, but as someone pointed out at audiitions, I'm a slow learner. (I also think having afterhours had something to do with it.)
But it was a singular delight to finally this year, start putting together real names with character names with faces with costumes for the hordes of guildmembers and casted folks all along the Entertainment Food Chain. Esp. for people I've seen for a decade, but had no clue who they were or what thye were doing.

So WTF. Nobody ever heard of a BILL?
Y'know, sort of like a credit list at the end of a movie?
Like they do in...um...every theatre in the world, probably since 1575.
Perhaps even something that looks like a frigging yearbook too?
And, getting back to #1, perhaps strenuously encouraging the guilds to do this themselves, ONLINE?
(Oh, and REC website, I see you trying to hide in the back of the class on this one too. Every casted character, and the Powers That Be, should have a pic and an entry, NLT Opening Day.)

Just spitballing this out there.

That'll do for starters.

It just seems to me that if everyone working at Faire knew WHO everyone was, WHERE everyone was, and WHAT it was that we should all be on one page about, even if things didn't quite run themselves, there'd be a wee bit less friction and more cohesion in how this whole organism goes about its business.

Personally, I would be very happy to start next year where we left off this one, rather than have to re-invent the wheel next year from scratch.

YMMV. Void where prohibited by law.