Interview with Angel; President of Dur Demarion

Me: I am here today talking with Angel who is…. I guess what are you the Event Coordinator of Equinox?

Angel: President of Dur Demarion.

Me: Ok, President of Dur Demarion. Would you mind telling us a little bit about your realm?

Angel: Dur Demarion started close to 25 years ago in Nashville, TN. We started practicing at Centennial Park and about 5 years ago moved to Elmington park in Nashville. Our group was started by a close group of friends, which is how most groups are started then it grew from there. The Triad and the Hoard both started in Dur Demarion. Our group places a lot of emphasis on characterization and this continues to be important in our realm. Dur Demarion is currently the only Belegarth realm that still allows healing. 

Me: So how many have showed up for this years Equinox

Angel: We are up over 300 right now.

Me: That is a pretty good turn out. What is the secret of Equinox’s success? 

Angel: Well, strong field battles, we always try to have field battles going on from morning till night Friday and Saturday and we always have some kind of entertainment planned, if not for both nights at least for Saturday night. For example last night we had The Secret Common Wealth play. They are a band that plays at the Tennessee Ren Faire here as well as several of the local pubs and clubs in the area. Tonight we have Bella Donna performing. She is a professional belly dancer and has a  troupe of belly dancers and musicians with her. She currently resides in Washington DC but she originated in Dur Demarion as a fighter in our realm. So we got the fighting and the night life and when you combine those two things together they make a perfect storm.

Me: Yes, I totally agree. I love this event. I have been coming to it every year for the past several years and I’m pretty excited that I got to come again this year. 

How did you get started doing this? I know it has to be a big sacrifice. I’ve watched you and some of the others working the event and you are always having to run off and put out fires. I’m sure that doesn’t allow you to fight as often as you’d like to.

Angel:That’s true.

Me: So what motivated you to step up into a leadership role like you did?

Angel: Love of the realm and the people. They needed a leader and they looked to me. So I try to do the best I can for them to take care of them and our realm continues to prosper. We do various things in our realm like we have a meetup.com site that helps to generate interest. We put out flyers, we have business cards, and we keep plenty of loaner weapons in stock for new people to try when they show up on the side lines. We just try to keep a positive attitude and make new people feel welcome. It seems to be working in our favor.

Me: Yes, you do a great job

Angel: Thanks

Me: One last question. What advice would you give to someone that was interested in organizing an event for the first time?

Angel: It takes a lot of planning and dedication. You need to surround yourself with people that you know aren’t going to bale on you at the last minute. You have to have people that you can trust. That is very important. You need to be organized. You need to decide ahead of time. Are you going to have pre registration for this event and what are your prices? To figure out what your prices are going to be you have to scope out some sites and find out what they are going to charge. If you are going to have feast then you need to check on food prices and determine what it is going to cost per person. For instance if it is going to cost $8 per person to feed them then you might want to ask for $10 to give yourself a little lee way. Above all be organized. You have to have a schedule and make sure that all your people know where they need to be based on that schedule. One secret of our success is walkie talkies. We started using them several years ago and they are indispensable. I don’t know how they ever ran events before they had the walkies. I can communicate with troll, I can communicate with the kitchen and I can communicate with the heralds in the field. This way I always know what is going on. I know if someone has been hurt, I know if there is a problem with the cabins and I can get over there more quickly. I highly recommend investing in walkie talkies. Other than that just have a good idea. Just pick a theme and have a few theme based battles. You can base your feast on the theme and even try to book your entertainment to fit it. Like this event is based on pirates so we have corn, apples and fruit to keep away scurvy.

Me: You have to say it right Scurrrvy arrrr. (in my best pirate voice)

Angel: *laughs* Scurrrrvy. (In her best pirate voice) You should have prizes like belt flags which aren’t to expensive to produce and they look nice.

Bystander: And people love collecting them and showing them off.

Angel: Right and they create advertising. When people see them they are like that is a cool sash. That says Equinox what is that? That way you are generating word of mouth about our event. Above all keep a positive attitude. Don’t get shitty with people and they will keep coming back and they will bring their friends. Then in no time you’ll have an event like this 300 people strong.

Me: Alright well thank you for your time Angel.

Angel: Sorry that I’ve been so busy and couldn’t get with you sooner.

Me: Hey, that is totally ok. I understand that you have your hands full.