Future Knights of Nee Initiations

Oh boy … now you’ve done it … you’ve opened up a can of worms!

YES! Our goal is to create another initiation event.
An absolutely EPIC event that is sure to blow your minds!

Kings Todd and Robb have been planning this for years and have already put a great deal of time and effort into: finding a new location, going to our old location, writing proposals, holding meetings, coming up with initiation ideas, investing into image scanning and video capturing hardware, building a new web site with thousands of newly scanned and sorted images and re-digitized and edited video clips.

And we are not alone, Sir Scott Warwick has come with us twice to scope out a possible new campground. A shout out as well to The Wench (Tracy Wells) and the Nymphs Tina Lane & Paula Turner, and Sir Luc & Lady Rose Truchon, The Doc (Chris Attfield), and Sir Richard Mallot … just to name a few!

The truth is … it’s just not going to happen without your help!!!

The #1 thing we lack is additional motivated leadership!

We have many people that have offered to help us – but it all feels a bit intangible (with the exception of Sir Scott). We really need motivated and intentional leadership that will help make sure things get done. People that are actively engaging us. Unfortunately, at the moment we don’t have this, and as a result, the task of pulling off an epic event seems too overwhelming to Kings Todd & Robb.

Liability Insurance

We are older and now we own stuff we don’t really want to lose anything in the unforeseen event our crocodiles are accidentally released or God forbid someone falls into the pool of piranhas!!!

We simply won’t be organizing this event without knowing we have the proper liability insurance, or that we have the corporate structure in place that will securely protect everyone and their assets.

It could be that the cost of liability insurance is an event killer.

Event venue

Princeton Castle is no longer an option for us even though we continue to pursue them to see if we can make something work (but there are many challenges there: the septic field for the campground has failed and the bridge over the creek leading up to the campground is broken – to name but a few!).

The good news is that we have found a campground that would love to host us – Yippee!!! The owners are amazing and want to work with us to make the event happen. Could we possibly ask for anything more?

So, in theory we are all set – but unfortunately there are issues.

Our event is centered around building community and people interacting in the campground. As bad as the campground was at Princeton Castle, with so little shade and privacy, what it did do is keep us all together (except for the upper crust Knights who stayed in Cabins!), and that worked to our advantage.

Surprisingly, the bad news is that the new campground we found offers too much privacy and their sites are spread too far out.

So where does that leave us?

We are still looking!

Maybe even an RV park would work. I’ve seen lots of BBQ events held in environments like this – even on farm land or any other park like setting. King Todd thinks that maybe the Princeton Fairgrounds might be an option?!

There are MANY factors to consider …. is there a suitable place for the stage to be set up (a concrete pad), is there enough power for the event, room for 400+ guests, hook-ups for RV’s, power and water for campsites, are there non-event participants nearby or neighbours to contend with, will noise be an issue, access to hardware store, is there a place to store our props, do they have different kinds of accommodations, are there tall trees to tie ropes or cables to cover stage and audience in the event of rain, is there WiFi access? The list is rather extensive.

Active Leadership

The #1 thing we lack is additional motivated leadership!

Prop Building and Storage

We need a place to build and store large props.

This is a pretty big issue and we have yet to find a place.

The topic of “shipping containers” has come up which would make it easier to transport our props and ensure that when they are stored that they are not out in the open elements. But of course shipping containers are not cheap. Maybe you have a deal on one of these bad boys?!

When looking for a new venue we often ask if there is a place we can store our stuff until the next time we come back. Having a shipping container would make it less of an eye sore on their property.

Poor communication & CRM

We don’t know how to reach out to the club in a way that is timely and effective and that garners a response.

(see: Group Lethargy)

Facebook does not seem to work.

Emails don’t seem to work

Phone calls are effective but take a lot of time and effort (as good as King Todd is – he just doesn’t always have the energy to make the calls).

Our contact list is old and stale and in the past few years we have been trying to bring it up to date. King Todd has put a lot of time and energy into tracking Knights down.

We want to insert our contacts into a CRM app but all the good ones cost about $20-$30/mo which is money we just don’t have. We found a FREE one (Agile) and went full on into it only to discover it’s email capabilities are not what we expected without upgrading to the paid plan.

Group Lethargy

Seriously I am shocked at what little response I get from my emails and FB posts.

Too many of you are old and grumpy!

You hate Facebook, you hate emails, you’re not too sure you even like people anymore. And besides, your hip aches, your knee is sore, you’ve put on 30-40 pounds, and you’ve forgotten how to have fun.

WAKE UP! This is the Knights of Nee we are talking about! Arguably one of the funnest groups and events you have ever experienced in your whole life unless your memory is gone too!!! Just look at the photo galleries. Listen to the songs. Turn on the audio from the home page video. All this can be yours again including “Huge tracks of land!” “But father … I don’t want any of that.”

This is why we are now starting to organize smaller events. So we can start building up that group dynamic and comradery.
(See: News & Events)

Politics

There are some that want to see this club run by a committee or a narco-syndicous commune.

They forget that we boldly proclaim this club is run by a “Collective Dictatorship”!

It is a challenge because some people want more of a say in the way things are run, how “Epic” the event should be or not be, where money should be spent etc. And we understand that. We listen. And epic event requires epic effort. And when you are being asked to put in a lot of effort, experience and expertise, especially when you are volunteering your time, understandably you want a say in how things are run.

Listen: we want your input. We need your expertise and your opinions. Be assured that you are highly valued and we will consider your input and then … we dictate. We know our vision and idea’s are grand and over the top. But that’s what makes our events so memorable and enticing.

We are all about committee’s. This club would not operate without them. We assign all kinds of authority and responsibility to people and give them a budget. But when it comes to the vision and scope of the overall event. That is the domain of the Kings and its going to stay that way – less we wont be involved.

Financing & Budget

We are Rich with ideas and Poor with cash.

One big challenge is that many of the things that need to be worked on in advance cost money. For example: moving to a decent CRM app would cost us $240-$360/yr. Kings Todd & Robb have already invested thousands of dollars into scanning and digitizing hardware and software for images and video.

Without a specific event date and information packages ready, it is impossible to start collecting funds. Perhaps there is a benevolent benefactor out there that wants to help the club get the real kickstart it needs?!

Audio and Visual effects

We need people to run our sound and visual effects.

Stage & Props

We need people to construct the stage and manage our props.

Currently we have Sir Scott Warwick who will be managing this. But he needs other Knights and plenty of Scum!

Lighting and Sound Equipment

We need people to help with setting up, and managing Lighting and Sound Equipment

Audio and Visual Effects

We need people to help manage or Audio and Visual effects

This usually involves operating a computer program that’s connected to our sound mixer and the main video projector.

Video Production & Editing

We are looking for a creative and talented video producer, with a video team, who can capture the spirit of our event.

( We also need video equipment, body cams and a video drone )

Our next event will be epic! And you don’t want to miss a moment of it. So we want to capture all that we can (scum interviews and application videos, behind the scenes work, drone footage, campground life, night life, the initiations, the talent show, the friendships.

We also don’t want others to miss this event, which is why we, in an ideal world, want to “stream” the live event in the form of a “pay per view” event. That way people who want to come, but can’t, can still experience the event and perhaps contribute via social media.
(see Real-time video streaming )

Realtime Video Streaming

We want to stream our next event on Social Media as an affordable “Pay Per View”

( We need the cameras, video mixer, producer and broadcast equipment to hopefully pull off this wish list item )

This means managing multiple camera feeds, choosing which angles to cover for the live feed, cutting to computer scenes, inserting “filler” during initiation set-up and take-down, and ensuring the feed is working and providing quality entertainment.

Special Effects (Physical & Visual)

Do you like to work with fire and explosives,
and do you know how to create computer generated special effects?

Our next event is sure to cause someone to lose an eyebrow or two, LOL!

But not only that, it will include LOTS of extra “pre-shot” and “pre-rendered and edited” scenes including 2d and 3d animations.
( see Animation )

Animation (2D & 3D)

The Kings have plans upon plans.
We want to feature all sorts of things.

Say goodbye to boring event initiation set-up and take-down. The Kings have plans to keep the entertainment going by providing additional video and animation footage!

OUR CHALLENGES

… that we need your help with!
There is a story behind each of these items if it is something you are interested in helping us with.

Liability insurance
Event venue
Active leadership
Prop building and storage
Poor communication & CRM
Group lethargy
Financing & Budget

Stage & Props
Lighting and Sound equipment
Audio and Visual effects
Video production & editing
Realtime video streaming
Special effects
Animation (2D & 3D)

Are you willing to step up and help make this next event happen?

Contact your Kings