This to me seems to be an issue of contract and would
best be solved (for the future) by clearly having a
contract that delineates--front end--what the
expectations of the reenactors are, how many, and at
what fee they will be compensated. Course that is
closing the barn door after the horse got out in this
instance.
Does anybody have a contract they can ship to Jim
(and/or upload to MuseDocs so others can use it), so
he can use it as a model for the future?
Given the questions Jim asked, the question begs
itself who in the museum has authority to hire these
individuals and/or to authorize extra compensation at
this late hour?
It seems to me, if they showed up with 20 after you
told them 10, they should have been given notice
(again) that only $300 would be paid, and it would be
their responsibility to divide that between the group.
In hindsight, signatures from each participant might
have helped to preclude this fiasco.
As for money you don't have, if the Board members are
authorizing these folks to stay at the incremental
cost, legally, Board members are responsible for the
institution. You might remind them of their fiduciary
responsibilities in that regard and ask them to front
the money before the event if they insist on having
this group.
Is your event an income-generating activity? Is there
any possibility you might make enough because of their
presence to cover this cost? Can you get a TV or
radio station to do a PSA hyping their presence at
"the exciting activity" held at your museum? You
might be able to mitigate some of the damage.
The lesson here is contract, contract, contract. You
don't want to be blackmailed at the last minute
because unsound business practices were employed.
Regrettably, from what you have said, an oral
agreement has been entered into, the problem is in the
details.
Good luck!
--- Audra Oliver <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >>> [log in to unmask] 05/26/04 06:32AM >>>
> .....This has become a serious point of controversy
> some wanting to pay them( out of own pocket) and
> others who say no we should not be held hostage by
> them for this is an educational event and not a
> money for anyone to gain financially, besides
> financial constraints prohibit it w/o ommitting
> another cost( we havent paid for the handyhouse
> yet). ...
>
>
> My sense of it is you would be best off without this
> group which is seemingly trying at the last minute
> to dictate their terms. (The compensation
> negotiation should have been completed long ago.)
> From what you describe, there seem to be too many
> "authorities" in on the negotiation, too.
>
> However, I do not understand the logic that because
> something is an educational offering the parties
> working should not get paid. Although they complain
> about the level of compensation, school teachers get
> paid. School's supposed to be an educational event.
> Most of us get paid when we lead tours or design
> exhibits or write text -- those are educational in
> nature.
>
> Events and compensating participants gets tricky
> when the philosophy for the particular event is not
> clearly defined. In a former position, for the
> annual public event the museum sometimes paid
> participants, sometimes didn't. It even paid some,
> didn't pay others. As one might expect problems with
> participation developed.
>
>
=====
Indigo Nights
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