News:

Welcome to the Renaissancefestival.com Forums!  Please post an introduction after signing up!

For an updated map of Ren Fests check out The Ren List at http://www.therenlist.com!

The Chat server is now running again, just select chat on the menu!

Main Menu

Tipping

Started by Amyj, June 05, 2008, 06:19:20 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Capt Robertsgrave Thighbiter

We would rather sell CDs then get a tip any day of the week, even though the CDs are more work.
We record, print, package and do everything for our CDs so the profit is better then someone who hands it all over to a record company or has the CDs mass printed, etc. 

We make a point of not asking for tips or making a hat pass, even though we are allowed to.  If someone enjoyed our show enough to want to tip, so be it, but I aways say " hey for another $*.00,  you could take us home with you!  We are a lot cheaper to keep on CD then in person!".   The patron gets to listen to our music at thier leisure and as Terry said, they may like it and buy previous or new releases.

Besides, the number of tips we would have to solicit would be quite high in order to offset the 40-50 CDs we typically sell per day ( yes our CD shill person is merciless!!).


The Brigands.com
If the rum's gone, so is the fun
*images and URLs not allowed in signatures* -Admin
Party like it's 1724

aerial angels

#61
Quote
Quote from: aerial angels on October 21, 2008, 06:50:14 PM
On a larger philosophical note, it's not your hours, your knowledge, your talent or your ability that makes someone a professional.

Quotethats EXACTLY what determines a professional. If you don't have the skills, I don't care how much you are getting paid, your an amateur who receives a check.

You can split hairs on this all you want. Ultimately, professionals are people paid for their work. Volunteers are people who work for free. Both are capable of being talented and industrious or not. If Marie Curie shows up at the Radium Faire on the weekends for fun, she's a volunteer. If the Governor of Alaska draws a check for her time in the office, she's a professional. You might want to think about what words you can use to define those categories, if the current standard English usage doesn't work for you.

Regardless of definition, my point is, there are people who CONTRACT WITH THE FAIR TO PASS THE HAT. There are people WHO AGREE TO WORK FOR FREE. Why don't we call them "Group A" and "Group B" in order to discuss the issue at hand?

Quote
I'd like to note that I also agree with you that people walking around faire asking for tips ruins the event and can be harmful to the performers. But that does not have so much an effect on merchants since that is a different market, so their effects on each other are limited.

I'd be happy to hear your actual experience in this area. I've been a performer for 15 years at more than 20 faires and was a craft booth worker before that for three years. My personal experience, borne out by the comments of my merchant and performer friends, is that merchants do better at no-hat shows. It is not a different market, and the effects are about 30%.

Quote
But, in my first post, I never said volunteers should be allowed to ask for tips, I said that if someone wants to give them a tip, they shouldn't be required to turn them away.

Then I suppose it boils down to whether the performer in question has the personal integrity to honor the agreement they made with the faire.

Quote
I don't mind giving tips at the end of a performance, I consider that a thank you for a job well done.  I also enjoy lane acts that perform continuously, but go through special routine when give a tip, I'll tip them,  but I'm not very fond of the act in response for a tip type acts; those are teh ones where I feel like money is being demanded from me or other viewers. Nothing kills the experience with performers more and I'd rather save my tip for someone I feel earned it, and if that is a volunteer that has a very impressive gig going, then so be it.

The issue is not quality of performance - as I originally stated.

The issue is not even professional vs volunteer - as I originally stated.

The issue is that some people at a faire have CONTRACTED to pass the hat. They are entitled to do so, and the fair is set up to allow them to do that as part of their expected wage. Other people at the fair have CONTRACTED not to pass the hat. If they choose to sell their integrity for a dollar, that's their personal thing.

My performers are aerialists. They contract with me not to drink alcohol before the end of the day. I made that rule because it endangers their safety and the safety of others if they drink. But hey, they're thinking adults, they know their tolerance, so if someone offers them a beer to express their appreciation, why should they be required to turn it away? Well, because I'll fire their weed puller. Not because I don't trust their ability to know how much they can drink and still perform, but because it's a rule I made for reasons I have, and I'd rather not work with someone whose integrity does not extend to honoring their agreement with me.

So, JCBanner, how about you? Does your integrity cost a dollar, or does it cost as much as five to get you to break your contract with the faire?

jcbanner

#62

Quote from: aerial angels on October 30, 2008, 04:14:23 PM

So, JCBanner, how about you? Does your integrity cost a dollar, or does it cost as much as five to get you to break your contract with the faire?

Thats a fair enough question, Zero.  I have never accepted a tip at faire, anytime someone offers to give me one, I thank them and tell them I'm not allowed to accept it, but they may donate it to the faire with a note about what they were impressed with if they feel so inclined. 

I'm not allowed to take tips, so I don't, but that doesn't mean I agree that I should have to turn them away. 

There is a difference between being allowed to ask for and receive tips, and only being allowed to receive tips without asking.
My argument from the start has not been that anyone should be able to ask for tips, only that no performer should be required to turn them away. 

Poldugarian Warrior

I'm not a performer, but I have to say. That anyone getting up on stage in front of a crowd, in costume and giving a performance no matter what skill level  volunteer, amateur or professional. If I was entertained or the crowd was then that person did their job. And to show my appreciation I do like to tip and if a cd or dvd is produced maybe even buy that, and personally thank that person(s) for showing up to work that day, because it makes my work week and sometimes the rest of the year better. Because I can think back on what a good time I had watching the show. As far as faire paying acts, I feel all whom participate should be paid handsomely for showing up but of course all according to what type of act and how much experience just like any other job., and then the tips are just extra.