A smaller Pennsic?

I think we should all remember to raise a glass to our friends who can't afford to be there this year!

Our block has nearly 130 people _less_ then last year. It's made land grab easier, that's for certain!

not only is it more cost effective on the whole as a vacation....but as a two week event with a dedicated following you ahve a much larger percentage of regular attendees who are going to prioritize it above lesser "day trips", road trips, holiday excursions etc that are going to have sattelite costs hovering around them in the form of restaurant food, hotel lodging, entrance fees at amusements parks or special locations like museums and such..........once you have plunked down your money to get in gate, and have your food set up taken care of....you could concievably not spend any more money till you have to go home which is a rarity in a vacation....so I agree I think you are going to see Pennsic attendance stay pretty much the same.....where I think the SCA is going to see a drop in attendance ( and I know we have seen it alot here in Antir) is the kingdom level events that necessitate long drives for a signifigant percentage of the potential attendees.......when you have to factor high gas costs into your trek to a crown event you may be more inclined to reduce the number of kingdom events you go to throughout tourney season.

See, that's why I brought the question up. Some people are saying that there will be as many people as last year and then others are saying that their blocks lost population and whole camps are gone. Several people here have said that they themselve can't make it because of rising costs, especially the travel to and from, but others are saying that a lot of people are slaves to Pennsic and will go at whatever cost, which I'm sure is true enough. But personally I'm sensing some big changes in the air so I'm just curious about how it will all shake out. The ride since the first war has taken us to bigger numbers every year causing the Coopers to expand and I've seen it all, always wondering when it may top out. I distinctly remember the cornfield being cut the first time to open the first section of the getti (and the free corn that was dumped across the road from my camp where the hoarde slums now sit was really yummy, too). Anyway, I'm watching with great interest. As much of a Pennsic slave as I've been for 37 years, this year and last year I came maily because the kids want to. My fighting days are pretty much over with the bad knee and the coronary artery disease and I've seen the parties and done the excesses, but now I'm mellowing out and looking for quieter more mellow vacations with air conditioning and different scenery so when the youngest becomes an adult and responsible for his own Pennsic, I don't know if I'll keep coming. As I said, I sense big changes in the air all around, and not necessarily just at Pennsic.

ROTFLMAO (WPMP)!

:-D X-D :-D X-D

Ummm. . .Ithink it was something else they were prepared to enlarge, not your "Pennsic" ;) Well, you did say "something like", didn't you. How is yours like Pennsic??

Or cow dung?