Message-Id: <9401191602.AA26107@nwd2sun1.analog.com>
Date: 19 Jan 1994 11:10:43 U
From: Greg Dearborn <greg.dearborn@analog.com>
Subject: Re: Birka 
To: Carolingia <carolingia@bloom-beacon.mit.edu>, Iain Odlin <odlin@reed.edu>

        Reply to:   RE>>Birka 
Unto Iann Odlin and the esteemed readers of the Carolingia Mailing
List does Gareth of Stonemarche send greetings:

My good lord Iann Odlin wrote:

  I cannot believe that the only things said thus far about Birka have been
  positive...  Not one person I went to Birka with had a wholly good ex-
  perience.  Nor anyone else I've talked with.

  [Specific problems deleted]

M'lord, I must speak from a tenuous position, as illness prevented me
from attending Birka this year; I have no direct experience of the event,
for which I am eternally woeful. 

I am sorry that you did not enjoy the event. Your specific criticisms, I am
sure will be noted and we will endeavor to make the next Birka more
enjoyable for you. 

I am disconcerted, however, that you chose to be so overwhelmingly
negative in your posting to a public forum. Constructive criticism is 
always welcomed by our cooks and autocrats--after all we want
to make every Stonemarche event enjoyable for our guests. Your critique,
I may say so sir, seemed somewhat less than constructive. Please 
keep in mind that

- we are all amateurs (by definition) putting these events on for each
other's mutual enjoyment

- we cannot improve if we do not experiment with the formula 

- people are fallible; mistakes happen

- some things are beyond the autocrat's control

- people have feelings, which can be easily hurt, even if that is not your
intention

Might I suggest that slightly more courtesy and delicacy would
be appropriate when discussing such matters in the future?

In Service,
Lord Gareth of Stonemarche