Three Contests Sponsored by Sir Brand for An Tir 12th Night - Portable 'Thrones'/Chairs

[Sir Brand deux Leons, MPel - Deputy for Inspirational Giving An Tir]

Greetings from Sir Brand - Deputy for Inspirational Giving for An Tir
- DIG to An Tir and Her many friends in far-away lands.

Please forward to any individuals you know who do woodworking or who
might have an interest in the following.

When we see a need, we try and answer that need. Be it with sword,
song, a hand, or - in this case - a jigsaw;-)

ULTIMATE GOAL: To provide our Majesties and others with ideas for
portable thrones to use and, once collapsed (the Thrones, not TRM's)
leave at Pennsic (in our on-site storage area there). All in as small/
thin a package as possible.

QUESTIONS: Hmmmmm. How do we get designs submitted? How do we get
people to try their hands at creating something that could be used as
a base for the final design? How do we see how creative our People
can be, creating a design for a portable chair from re-cycled
materials, perhaps? How Flat can a Folding Throne break down? Can we
generate a series of designs People of the Society could use to
improve their own encampments? How can all those things be brought
forth, benefiting many people all at once?

BRAND's ANSWER: A Three-Part Contest at An Tir's 12th Night that I
shall sponsor.

Part the First: Portable Thrones PLANS
Submit Plans for a Portable Chair/Throne. Fully drawn out to scale
with parts list and directions and cost estimation. Include with it a
waiver giving your permission that these plans can be put together in
a booklet to offer (on-line for free and in print for cost of
printing) to the Knowne Worlde as a pattern book, given to the SCA,
for such projects. Prize Winners will be selected based on

1. Overall Design "Look" of the Chair/Throne
2. Ease of Construction, Ease of Assembly
3. Affordability. Special Recognition for low-cost and use of
recycled materials will be given (this contest is also generating
ideas for the general populace to build a portable chair for their
encampment, so I am looking for how to make it easy to do encourage
people even if they don't want to afford $400.00 for Oak, Teak &
Mahogany.)
4. Period-ness (please include any documentation about what the
design is based upon.)
5. Sturdiness. All Designs should be able to hold a 300 pound
person (we wear armor, you know.;-)
6. Usefulness and Comfort. Hidden Storage Areas for Regalia/
Cellphones/Refreshments. Pop Up Canopy to cover the Royalty sitting
there, hooks to hold Drinking Horns, Night Reading Lamps, Sword belts,
etc. might add points as well.
7. Include how it can be varnished and made water and rot
resistant. Thrones will be stored for ~11 months out of the year, in
Pennsylvania, where storms can be frequent and harsh.)
8. Ease of Transportation (hidden wheels so it can be pulled from
Court to Court might be good.)
9. This, if seen by people outside An Tir, or who may not be able
to attend 12th Night, might be the best solution for you.

Part the Second: Portable Thrones: DISPLAY
See above goals, but BUILD it. (It was posited that there is not
enough time between now and 12th Night to get this done. I know the
artisans of An Tir are gifted and amazing in their abilities, and so
give this challenge. If you have not enough time to build one, enter
contest #1.
Enter the Chair at 12th Night (People's Choice for most sturdy/
comfy/"Hey, I could build this" will be a portion of this, so chairs
should be able to be sat in by all sorts of folks at the display.)

Part the Third: PORTABLE THRONES: Display and AUCTION/DRAWING!
See Part the First/Second, only all Chairs entered into this portion
will be DONATED into either the 12th Knight Auction (run by Sir Daniel
and Mistress Ce't) under my (or another's knight's) sponsorship, or
put into a drawing, open for the general populace to get tickets for,
benefiting the Royal Travel Funds. The choice is up to the maker of
the Chair. NB - these Thrones/Chairs should not be so decorated to be
confused with the Royal Thrones of any Kingdom. IF your design is
picked by TRM's as the one They wish to see commissioned (the winners
of this contest are not in any way guaranteed have their designs used
by TRM's) it is assumed those elements will be added in/on later.

Can this be done? As seen at September Crown, I knocked out a chair
that holds a 300 pound fighter in armor (we tried it) from a very thin
single 4X8 sheet of plywood (~ 1/4" or thinner.) Cost: About $15.00
(Fifteen Dollars) in wood, and some stain. Collapses to about 2" in
thickness and ~10 pieces. Time to design and build it: About 2 days,
part time, and as a wood wright, I am a good poet;-)

PRIZES: I recognize that winning a prize is not the goal. The goal is
to serve our Royal Majesties and our Society. However, it is
sometimes fun to have a prize to help recognize the efforts of the
contributor. So, along with Honorable Mentions, etc. I offer the
following tokens of Respect:

Prize for the First Part (Design). A $20.00 Art of War Bond*, good
towards your registration (or a friends) for Art of War in Aquaterra
April 15-18, 2010 (clever plug, huh?). If pre-reg for Art of War is
sold out by 12th Night, I will donate $20.00 in your name to Art of
War as a Sponsor.

Prize for the Second Part (Design/Example Built). A $20.00 Art of War
Bond* (see above). (Why not more for actually building the chair? Hey,
you get to keep the chair)

Prize for the Third Part (Design/Built/Donated) A $50.00 Art of War
Bond* (see above).

As ever, I have probably left out an important detail here and there,
so please write with questions, concerns, comments for for more
information. I shall re-post with any corrections. I include a copy of
this at the An Tir Fundraising Site as well (An Tirian eGroup for
Fundraising: http://groups.google.com/group/antir-fundraising

I remain in service (see the links below for further ideas/
possibilities/entertainments)
Brand
Sir Brand deux Leons, MPel, DIG.

PS. We Still Have a Few RESERVED PARKING Spots for An Tir's 12th Night
available. Please write me for details. $10.00 each. Also, seeking
donations of usable fabrics for a costumer-in-need I know. And, DIG
will be running an "Excess Largess" auction (like a garage sale) at
12th Night. Bring a usable but unwanted item to the DIG table to
donate.Proceeds from both go to the Royal Travel Funds.

* Art of War Bonds are only good for Art of War 2010, April 15-18,
2010 - www.sca-artofwar.org. Art of War Bonds are _not_ redeemable for
cash. Art of War Bonds can only be used with mail-in registrations and
at the Art of War Registration Table at 12th Night. They are not able
to be used with the on-line registration form for ACCEPS. Void where
prohibited. Any left over Art of War Bonds purchased, but not used,
will be considered a donation in support of Art of War II. These Art
of War Bonds are purchased with private funds to be given as prizes
and do not denote sponsorship of the Art of War event, its staff or
hosting barony for this contest... not that they are against it, mind
you, but it's just little ol' me doing stuff on my own, so don't get
excited:-) Brand will have a DIG (Deputy for Inspirational Giving)
Table at 12th Night. Come by for this contest, and other fun stuff.
I'm also available for consultation, ideas and YOUR fundraising needs.

--
An Tir Survey for Fundraising Goals:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=EROPtpsc1uUuO_2f89GjcllA_3d_3d=

Art of War II - An Tir's Intensive War Training 4-Day event. Aquaterra
April 15-18, 2010.
www.SCA-ArtOfWar.org

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