And so it comes to pass....

[ravic]

Or rather Passes. Received a love letter from the main office. TRF will now be doing background checks on all participants. AND there will be a small charge for the first 7 passes and going up steeply after that.

Should be interesting to see who doesn't make the cut.

[Tink]

Im interested in other peoples thoughts (especially thoughts of those it actually affects) but I think on one hand that this is a good idea since TRF is a family place and there are so many kiddos out there.

[Merlin the Elder]

I'd be willing to bet that isn't the thing they're looking for, Tink...

[ravic]

Actually, our notification states safety of the patron as one of the main reasons for this. So long as they are looking for sex offenders & other known criminals, it's cool.

However, like many faires, TRF has a small but noticable group of gypsy workers. They live on the circuit & many of them choose to live off the grid. Honest, hard working people that have a faire-to-faire relationship with their vendors whose only "crime" may be that they have no government footprint. How this will affect them & their vendors will be interesting. Depends on how strict a criteria TRF chooses to impose, I guess.

[Tink]

I'd be willing to bet that isn't the thing they're looking for, Tink...

Please forgive my stupidity here- what else would they be looking for?

However, like many faires, TRF has a small but noticable group of gypsy workers. They live on the circuit & many of them choose to live off the grid. Honest, hard working people that have a faire-to-fire relationship with their vendors whose only "crime" may be that they have no government footprint. How this will affect them & their vendors will be interesting. Depends on how strict a criteria TRF chooses to impose, I guess.

I was always under the (maybe romanticised) assumption that this was the case with most vendors.  If they are not in the system, that means they havent been hauled in for anything, which is a good thing, right?  I would hope that this would not affect them negatively.  I love the idea of living off the grid and just travelling from faire to faire.

[Tink]

yuck, I dont like that idea at all (*though I dont mind Sherwood being home other than the distance)  Compared to a lot of you, I am a relatively new TRFer (started going regularly in 2005) but even in that short time, Ive seen it grow into more of a commercialized venue.  I know that the bottom line of a business is to make $, but I think this has become more of the overall emphasis of the faire, which takes away from the overall experience.  Just my thoughts, though.

[Rani Zemirah]

Tink, I think that by "off the grid" what they might mean is no formal ID, and probably even no copy of their Social Security card.  A lot of traveling people have had problems getting these things, for one reason or another, and this would probably mean that a great many of them wouldn't be able to work at TRF this year, or in subsequent years, either, even though they wouldn't necessarily be working FOR the Faire, itself, but for a vendor who has most likely paid them in cash in the past. 

[Breandan]

On the one hand, I can attest to the presence of some folks out there- who were banned by Jeff when it was brought to his attention, to TRF's credit- who are the exact sorts this is trying to purge. On the other hand, a lot of the ren-gypsies neither trust this sort of intrusion, nor are likely to work a faire that does this, regardless of the existence of bona fides or not. Most of the gypsies do have IDs and the like, but they are also gypsies for a reason. Most of the ones I know stay off-grid because they have trust issues with governments, authority types, etc. So, while they most likely have clean records and documentation necessary to pass the checks, this is precisely what they are trying to avoid.

Another thing to take into consideration is this- who has access to the results of these background checks? I have done many of these myself on employees (bodyguards are required to have psych evals and extensive background checks), and I can assure you that there is a LOT of personal information that comes back as a result, not just a yes/no of whether you've ever been convicted of a crime. The standard DPS background checks show arrests, not just convictions, as well as personal information you really wouldn't want being out there. So, if someone submits for this check thinking it's merely to discover if they are a registered sex offender, TRF management and anyone else with access to their files- legitimately or illegally- will have a record of every single infraction you have ever committed. Every arrest- regardless of adjudication- will show, and can be used against you by any personal enemies you may have who might get into those files. Paranoid sounding as this may be, I have seen it happen numerous times, and have been on the receiving end of such a witch-hunt by a jackarse who used to work out there, got tossed for theft, and twisted it around in his head to blame me for it. It HAS happened, and it will happen again. I would want verifiable proof- not just promises and assurances- that the information would only be accessible by Jeff and/or George, be held in a secure file cabinet, and not be shared or released without a court order.

Just a word of caution.

[Rani Zemirah]

A business is going to target whatever demographic they can get the most money from, and the more people they can get through the gate the more money they will bring in. That's just economics. Families have more members...it's all math from there.

But I don't really see that being related to the background checks... That seems more about wanting to control who has access to the grounds... And being able to charge for the privilege of having your past investigated. From what Ravic said, the fee is going to be pretty high...

[Bonny Pearl]

Let's just pray that we have a faire to go to this fall.  Wildfire north of faire, Grimes County FD is now involved.    See the other thread for more info.

[ravic]

Yes, what Rani & Breandan said. A lot of the gypsies (not real Rom) are old hippies, independents, etc. that dropped out of official sight decades ago. America actually has a rather large underground society. The faires just happen to rub up against the edge of it.

ALL successful faires are a big business. I have been a TRFer since 1977 & a vendor since 1999. The business-like feel may be lighter in some years but it is always there. We work our collective paychecks off to make it feel like fantasy land for the patrons but, rest assured, a quick look behind the scenes will convince you it ain't. Same goes with any other faire where the participants actually understand the deal.

[Strange]

Yes, what Rani & Breandan said. A lot of the gypsies (not real Rom) are old hippies, independents, etc. that dropped out of official sight decades ago. America actually has a rather large underground society. The faires just happen to rub up against the edge of it.

ALL successful faires are a big business. I have been a TRFer since 1977 & a vendor since 1999. The business-like feel may be lighter in some years but it is always there. We work our collective paychecks off to make it feel like fantasy land for the patrons but, rest assured, a quick look behind the scenes will convince you it ain't. Same goes with any other faire where the participants actually understand the deal.

I would hope that Terre and George have discussed the protocol for handling these checks.
As for their reasoning, while check might seem to add value to the faire, I think another reason may have to do with insurance. If you can show that not only your cast and staff are "trustworthy", but your vendors' crews as well, then you may be able to reduce the costs associated with liability.
Also, while I can say with some assurance the ravic and the rest of the CL gang wouldn't behave inappropriately, I honestly don't know that a participant's ID necessarily guarantees any level of trust on my behalf. I don't mean that to be overly cynical... you just can't know when you're talking about upwards of a thousand people. If they are willing to try, within reason, to find what may very well be the needle in the haystack in terms of an undesirable, then more power to them.
I personally have truly enjoyed the company of all of the vendors and cast I have had time to visit with, and expect that to continue. My hope is that this new policy will not dissuade those rennies that live in the greyer spaces from coming back and remaining the important part of faire that they always have been.

[Rani Zemirah]

I would guess that might depend a great deal on how much the pass is going to cost. If it's too high a lot of people won't be able to afford to work there!

[Breandan]

Definitely. I hate watching my home faire go down the road of shortsighted fiscal irresponsibility again, but it seems we're on that track. Speaking as a businessman, and one who has considered opening booths at multiple faires, this would be a deal-breaker. The extra fees and hassle aren't worth the relatively small amount of profit you might make (unless you're on Millionaire Row) after all of the fees, booth construction costs, power and other utilities, George's cut, insurance, fuel, payroll, etc. I could just as easily go to a sci-fi/fantasy convention, SCA or similar re-enactment group events, or other, smaller ren faires that are not afflicted with the posterior-implanted length of tree branch. I am all for TRF making sure that troublemakers and registered sex offenders are kept out- because like it or not, it has become a family faire- but this is just more straw bales upon the already overburdened camel financially, in addition to the InfoSec issues I mentioned earlier. TRF is not the only game in town, nor is it anywhere near the most profitable for vendors these days, so my business would go elsewhere where I can make more profit with less headaches.

[Sir Martin]

I want to thank everyone for keeping this thread civil.  Changes like this can evoke stong emotions.

Or rather Passes. Received a love letter from the main office. TRF will now be doing background checks on all participants. AND there will be a small charge for the first 7 passes and going up steeply after that.

Should be interesting to see who doesn't make the cut.

Thanks for the info, Ravic.  I'm a little surprised by the fee schedule the vendors were given.  I'm not sure what agency (or online data resource) TRF management will be using for the background checks ... but why would there be a higher per unit cost for vendors who have more employees?  I'm not saying that there should necessarily be a quantity discount, but this seems to be a quantity "penalty".