NOVEMBER INVESTITURE
Updated March 4, 2007
Venue: Indoor/hotel
Date: The weekend before the U.S. Thanksgiving (U.S. Thanksgiving falls on the
4th Thursday of November).
Championship: Rapier (Scar of Tir Righ) and Arts & Sciences (Scholar of Tir Righ).
This is a general list of required amenities and activities as well as some suggested/optional
amenities and activities. Please note that all measurements listed are just a basic rule of thumb
and should be discussed and verified with the appropriate officer or deputy officer.
Basic Facilities
| Court Area | Minimum theatre-style venue (court) for 150. (More will be required in more population-dense parts of Principality. e.g. Seagirt approx. 200, Lions Gate approx. 300) Often same area as rapier list fields, but not required. |
| A&S Competition Area | Indoor room(s) for A&S Championship. Check with current Champion and the Principality officer for specific requirements. |
| Hotel / Accommodation Venue | The hotel may or may not be the location of the Court / Championship area. It is convenient if it is, but it's not required. Block booking of hotel rooms allows for minimum disruption for event activities and for non-SCA hotel guests, and can often achieve a reduction in rate. Estimate 40 rooms per 100 expected attendees minimum. (This takes into account the tendency for a percentage of event attendees to share accommodations or even stay off-site) Include a hotel suite for the Royals - the closer the room is to where the main event is the better. If possible, reserve the rooms next to the Royals for attending retinue. |
| Washrooms | If in a hotel, washrooms are not usually an issue. However, in another type of facility (i.e. event activities are at a different location than the accommodations), then a minimum of 1 toilet facility per 50 people per day. Portable toilets not usually an issue at November Investiture, but if needed check "Washrooms" section listed at the other three events. |
| Parking | 1 vehicle space per 3 expected people. VIP parking should be blocked off (or marked clearly) and reserved i.e. royal, staff, handicapped, etc. |
List Field Amenities
| Rapier Tournament Field | 4 list fields, minimum 20' x 20' each. May include 10' corridor down center. 10' - 20' border corridor around all sides. List field ropes and stanchions may need to be provided or borrowed by hosting branch. |
| Royal Area | Space for a Royal area such as a stage or pavilion (may need to be provided/borrowed by hosting branch) to accommodate Royal viewing and Court. (Verify availability of royal chairs with senior retinue staff. Hosting branch may need to provide alternative, if not available.) Include table for retinue/awards. Royal area should be set up directly facing corridor in list fields. |
| Lists / Marshal’s Pavilion | Include table(s) and chairs. |
| Herald’s Point | Space, tables and chairs provided for voice heralds (town-crier and tournament). Optional space may be provided for consulting heralds but should be separate from voice heralds. If personnel available, town crier senior staff should be separate from tourney herald senior staff. |
| Waterbearing | Area required for water-bearing (equipment and staff may be provided or borrowed). May be combined with lists, marshals, or heralds if space available. |
Other Required Amenities
| Meeting Space | At a hotel event, peerage meetings and curia are often given a separate room. Only one room is needed as the meetings are not scheduled at conflicting times due to Royal attendance. |
| Merchant Venue | Space provided for merchants. Usually in a separate room that can be secured during off-hours. |
| Gate | Space in centrally located area. Include table(s) and minimum of 2 chairs. |
| First Aid Station | Depending on site configuration, may be located at Gate (ease of locating) or on list fields. Accessibility to list fields must be maintained. Equipment may co-locate with other amenities, i.e. does not need shelter or table of its own. |
| Royal Ready Room (aka "Green Room") | If the event is in a hotel, and the Royal Suite is a fair distance from the main hall, OR if the event is not in the hotel, then a small room or area must be designated as the Royal Ready Room. It helps to have this room close to the washrooms and supplied with tables and chairs. |
Optional Amenities
| Feast Facilities | Feast optional (at autocrat’s discretion). If planning a feast, need kitchen facilities and indoor seating area that can accommodate 60 - 100 people. Most hotels will not allow outside food to be served. |
| Meeting Rooms | Upon request, and if possible, alternate facilities should be provided for other meetings (i.e. guild meetings) if the room used for peerage meetings and curia is unavailable. If alternate space not possible, ask person requesting meeting space if they have, or know of, someone who would be willing to host the meeting in their room. |
| Scribal Room | If at all possible, provide a fairly private area for Royal Scribes to be working on scrolls. |
| Bardic Venue | If space available. |
| Shower Facilities | Usually not an issue with a hotel event, but if activities are happening at a different site other than where the accommodations are located, shower facilities are nice to have for those who have participated in combat activities. |
Typical Meetings and Activities (other than Investiture and Championships)
| Peerage Meetings | Meetings of the Pelicans, Laurels, and Chivalry. Usually scheduled Saturday morning before opening Court/investiture of the lists. Scheduling of all peerage meetings is at the approval of the Coronet. If possible, the meetings should be rotated so that one group does not consistently have the 8 or 9 am meeting. (Example: if the last schedule was Pelican, 9:00 am, Laurel, 10 am, Chivalry 11 am, then the meetings should rotate so that Chivalry is at 9:00, Pelican at 10:00 and Laurel at 11:00). However, consider what is going on at the same time as the peerage meetings. If an A&S Competition is happening at 9:30 am, a Laurel meeting at 10:00 am is probably a bad idea. Same goes for the Chivalry meeting. If there's an armoured combat tournament happening, the knights who are fighting need time to get into armour and get to the list field in time for armour inspection. |
| Curia | Principality business meeting, with the attendance of the Coronets, Principality officers, and any interested populace. Usually held on Sunday morning. |