Spirit of Faire

Date: Thu, 3 Apr 2008 21:44:55 -0700
From: "Beverage Babe"
Subject: Re: Spirit of Faire



Please feel free to pass this on to those with a vested interest in this Faire.



Recently, Beverage Babe sent out an email to various parties regarding some issues that are happening currently with the new Director of the Beverage Department. While I agree with the points that Beverage Babe made, I think that it might have gotten a little personal (I understand it getting personal because of the way that people were treated).

I think the bigger issues are the changes and how they are being implemented. Though many of us have been accused in the past of being stuck in our ways, the Beverage Department has taken change in better stride that any other area of Faire. We pushed on through the changes moving from Agoura to Upper Devore to Lower Devore to Irwindale. We have dealt with ownership changes, Corporate Management changes, stand changes and many other changes and while we would worry briefly about the changes, we have been lucky to have Beverage Directors who worked with the Ale Stand Managers to explain, maneuver and make everyone feel these changes would work. Even though some failed, a strong leader will help you through change, not damage moral in the change. This is not the new leadership that we have seen.

One change which has been implemented by Kirsten is bringing in a large number of new crew members to supplant crew members who have worked faire for years. Why would experienced professionals be replaced by people who have never worked our floors? It has been said that many of the new crew have never worked in an Ale Stand, instead they have been in the front of a food booth, or back kitchen. While I do not disagree that this is hard work, it is not Beverage experience. Beverage has the highest customer expectation of any department outside of Entertainment. I have also worked at a food booth, as have others who are from the Beverage Department, we all know that heavy use of BFA is discouraged at food booths, acting with customers is limited and customers expect little besides getting their food from such a booth. But in the 46 years of the Southern California Faire customers have been entertained and amused while paying rather high prices for beverages. More times than I can count I have heard of customers going out of their way to a stand that they thought offered the best service. Does this acting come at a price to customer service and speed? Never! That is one of the first things a Beverage employee learns, how to entertain the crowds in a way that never slows the pace.


I understand it is important to save money and make the Beverage Department more profitable. Many of the changes that have been made were made under the auspices of "saving money". The problem is that none of these changes actually save money. Swapping out experienced crew with inexperienced crew does not save money (if fact it is more expensive since HR will be required to pay $7 on each of these new hires). The person making all of these changes, Kirsten, was hired with a full salary – replacing somebody who was performing the same task, as part of their other duties, for a mere pittance. The decision was also made to use poorly made logo cups, instead of the inexpensive cups which are available from the vendors (such as Pepsi and Budweiser). Another confounding change is the removal of all the Cashiers from the Ale Stands.

Cashiers have an important role, these people were never there as time savers or for anyone's ease they were there for the protection of the Faire's money. Physically they have protected the monies as well as offering accountability and a method of making sure that transactions were correctly handled. Removing these employees will in no way save the Faire any money. In fact, the servers must now share cash boxes with each other and must go in and out of the cashbox several hundred times a day. While I do not doubt the honesty of people, mistakes can be made – everybody is human. Cashiers, in the past, were the frontline against those mistakes. Kristen acknowledged that mistakes may be made but that a small amount of loss was "acceptable." To be honest, I was floored when I heard a new Director actually say that loss was acceptable; in all the years I have worked I have never heard that said.

Experienced crew members and Cashiers also offered another protection of watching the crowds. Almost every Cashier has at some point caught something that would have otherwise been impossible for a server to see. Many times these activities were illegal and if they had not been caught could have brought trouble to the Faire. Irwindale, as well as the County Parks, have been watching this Faire to make sure that we follow the rules. How does removing experienced and trained employees from their positions for those with minimal training make sure that they do not break the law? The Police and Sheriffs do not turn a blind eye to "mistakes" or "inexperience" when it comes to serving alcohol to minors, those who are intoxicated or drunk driving. Many of those who were replaced had State training in the laws and expectations of handling alcohol within the State, do the new employees? How are they going to handle the situation if they do mishandle a situation that leads them to being fined or even the Faire losing its alcohol license? This is the type of thing that makes experienced professionals so important to this department. We might make it look like fun and games but there is a seriousness behind the job that many will never see from the front.

I am not bitter about the situation I am saddened by it. I worry about the effects this will take on department as well as the Faire. I do have a job, I am willing to work with the changes but if I see them causing the inner destruction of the Faire I will not sit around and be quiet. I know that the changes will continue unabated no matter what I say but as I learned from the movements in the 60's "If you stand for nothing you will fall for anything" I stand for this Faire and the unique experience and family that it has created for myself, my friends and most importantly the customers who make all of it happen. If the changes work so be it, but if not I think it is going to be a hard schism to mend not only between the Faire and past employees but also the customers we will let down. This department has been there for the Faire for so long it is so sad to see the Faire not there for us when we need them.

I dream of a Phoenix rising from these ashes,

Phoenix Faire