E-vent is an annual camp for venturers. It fills up within days of registration opening due to a cap of about 120 participants. When our crew ran it, I happened to be mate, so I headed it. Here is how to set-up and run E-Vent...Or any other fairly large scale camp. *dramtic music as scene fades to summer day narritive*

E-vent Traditions:

Some things about E-vent haven't changed in forever, thus becoming the status quo. Other things are purposely kept because they work year after year without fail and have become expected by the participants. Here is a short list of the things any good E-vent has

• E-vent is always on the Remembrance Day weekend.
• It starts on Friday night, ends Sunday morning.
• It is at Camp Kasota on Sylvan Lake.
• Everyone sleeps in cabins.
• All food is supplied.
• Bribes are a huge portion of the points.
• Participants are split into teams so that groups are not working together.
• Everyone dresses up for Saturday dinner.

Getting Volunteered

1. Make sure it's your turn. E-vent is rotated to a different crew each year. They alternate between a crew in the Northern Lights region and then a crew in the Chinook region. So you may have to wait a year until it is put in the hands of your region.
2. Size matters. Before you get too enthusiastic about running e-vent, you need to remember that you need a fairly large group to run the camp. You need a minimum of 1 person per activity, a first aider, and kitchen team. Now, before you give up your goal, remember you can recruit. You can convince another crew to help, pull in alumni, and other tricks.
3. Show up to the camp. The best way to get E-vent is to show up to the current camp and see how it's run. If it doesn't scare you off, talk to someone who is running the current camp about next year. You’ll probably be offered it without a question.
4. Don't say no. After the camp there is generally an ARRT meeting to decide who gets it next. The odds are you'll be the only ones who want to take it on, there are not that many crews that can or want to run big camps.

Location

E-Vent is held at Camp Kasota on Sylvan Lake. It has a dining hall and 14 eight person cabins. It's got a lake front, and large fields. Perfect. Other good spots in the Calgary-ish area are:

• Camp Gardener Sites #1 and #3
• Bow Valley Grouse and Owl group camps
• Camp Impeesa
• Camp Woods
• Ghost Airstrip

Book Early!!! You don't want to cancel a camp because the site was booked. 8 months to a year is ideal.

Numbers

Scouts Canada requires a ratio of 1 adult to 6 youth. I find that a ratio of 1 staff to 10 participants is the minimum to prevent chaos from ensuing...I strongly suggest the 1 to 6 ratio be kept if at all possible. You also have to take in the maximum a camp can hold.

• Camp Kasota - 120 people
• Camp Gardener Sites #1 and #3 - 60 people per site
• Bow Valley Grouse and Owl group camps - 20 units*, so 120 people roughly per site
• Camp Impeesa - dunno, but probably similar to Gardener - 60 people
• Camp Woods - dunno, but probably also similar to Gardener - 60 people
• Ghost Airstrip - 30 units*, so 180 people

*A unit is generally the following (double check when booking): 1 RV + a two person tent - OR - 6 people in 2 tents.

You can almost always negotiate numbers if you're polite. Iron Scout ranges between 250 and 400 in Camp Gardner. Kasota will let a ninth sleep on the floor of each cabin, adding about 12 spots.

Advertising

Unless you have the fame of E-Vent which has run for 26+ years, you need to advertise at least 4 months in advance, preferably 6. The most common ways to advertise are (best to not so best...there is no worst):

• Word of Mouth
• Posters at other camps
• In the Monthly Newsletter
• Posters at the scout shop

More advertising is always better. And sooner is better.

Themes

A good theme is fairly easy to come by, just remember not to make it too specific. The imagination and expectations of the participants does more to advertise your camp then anything else. Monty Python and the Holy Grail is too specific for a good theme, Monty Python is a good theme, or else a medieval theme. Make sure it hasn't been used recently, 'Simply Scouting' or similar variations have been used 3 or 4 times in the last 2 years...No Good.

Here is a list of the past E-vent themes:

• 2011 - Simply Scouting
• 2010 - Wild Wild West
• 2009 - Greek Gods
• 2008 - Cartoon Nostalgia
• 2007 - It Came From Camp Kasota (horror)

Here is a list of the past Survivor themes:

• 2012 - Toy Story
• 2011 - Monopoly
• 2010 - 10 Year Celebration
• 2009 - Back to (Scouting) Basics
• 2008 - Hill Billy
• 2007 - Luxury
• 2006 - Pirates

Budget

Money...Blah...But it's not really that bad, here is some general rules of thumb to help you out:

• Most camps charge about $10.00 per person per night. Kasota and the Ghost airstrip are flat rate sites, ~450.00 and ~$300.00 a night respectively.
• If you are feeding people, budget $4.00 per person for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, $1.00 for snacks and mug-up.
• Activities range from free to $50.00 each generally. Ideally aim for $20.00.

Example 1

Alrighty then. So E-Vent 2008 was a 2 night camp at Kasota, with all food supplied, and 10 activities over the weekend, with about 120 people (100 campers, 20 staff). Our budget would look like this:

• Rental Fees: 2 nights x $450.00 = $900.00 or $9.00 per camper.
• Food:
• Friday night food: 120 people x 1 snack ($1.00) = $120.00
• Saturday food: 120 people x (2 snacks ($2.00) + 3 meals ($12.00)) = $1680.00
• Sunday food: 120 people x (1 snack ($1.00) + 1 meal ($4.00)) = $600.00
• Total: $120.00 + $1680.00 + $600.00 = $2400.00 or $24.00 per camper.
• 10 activities x $20.00 = $200.00 or $2.00 per camper.

Camp Budget = $900.00 + $2400.00 + $200.00 = $3500.00

Registration Fee = $3500.00 / 100 = $35.00 per person (remember, staff don't pay)

Example 2

Survivor: 2 nights at Gardner, no food, 15 activities, 60 people (45 campers, 15 staff).

• 60 people x 2 nights x $10.00 = $1200.00 or $26.66 per camper.
• 15 activities x $20.00 = $300.00 or $6.66 per camper.

Camp Budget = $1200.00 + $300.00 = $1500.00

Registration Fee = $1500.00 / 45 = $33.33 per person

Example 3

Family Camp: 2 nights at Ghost Airstrip, no food, 10 activities, 150 people (all charged).

• 150 people x 2 nights x $10.00 = $3000.00 or ~$20.00 per camper.
• 10 activities x $20.00 = $200.00 or $1.33 per camper.

Camp Budget = $3000.00 + $200.00 = $3200.00

Registration Fee = $3200.00 / 150 = $21.33 per person

But wait!! Ghost Airstrip is a flat $300.00 per night. So the rental is only $600.00 for the weekend. This makes your total budget is $800.00 or $5.33 per camper. Hurrah!

Paperwork

Yes, there is paperwork involved...But not much. You need to fill out the camping checklist and get it signed off at least 1 month before the camp...It will take you longer to get it signed than to fill it out. The checklist portion is very helpful too, don't skip it.

Registration

Alright, you've got emails, phone calls and mail coming in from interested people. What do you need from them? I'll copy/paste the survivor webpage:

On your end you need to keep a list of all this plus who has paid and how much. I suggest a spreadsheet like so:

Finally once you are at camp, you need a check list with everything from above plus columns for:

• At camp.
• Has handed you a medical form.
• What cabin they are in.
• What tribe/team they are in.

Activities

Yay! This is why we come to camp! Activities can be anything, but please, please, PLEASE try and co-ordinate your theme and activities. Jousting in a medieval theme = great. Hog-tying in a wild wild west theme = not so great. Pig spearing in a monopoly theme = baaaaad. Also DON'T REPEAT last years activities, unless it's done every year as a tradition. 3 or 4 years between repeats is best.

So what are some of the better activities out there? Here is my biased list:

• Jousting
• Hog Tying
• Pig Spearing
• Fire Lighting
• Catapults
• Potatoe Cannons
• Archery
• Compass Courses
• Obstacle Courses

What other ideas are there?

Everyone blind except 1 who directs from one spot, wall of death - get whole team over wall without touching it, fire lighting - burn through string above fire, chili cookoff, balance whole team on stump for as long as possible, dit dat doo - one can see but not talk or move, one can move but not talk or see, one can talk but not see or move,fire lighting - boil water, obstacle course - relay race, fastest time wins, semephor without flags, water transport - relay of some kind using styrofoam cups, hammer toss, long range sign language, fishing/lashing, camp move - tear down, move and set back up camp exactly as was...including moving dave, obstacle course with 50lb dummy, toxic pond - get water can out of middle of 'pond' without stepping inside, blind spelling bee, backwards compass course, fire lighting - teeter totter, transport and shelter - build shelter insert patient, balloon pig spearing, ship building, jousting, bow and string fire lighting, rope maze, saunas, blind table setting, cardboard couches, sedan chairs, lock puzzles, cook dinner, junk in trunk, archery puzzle, frisbee hunting, obstacle course with hay bale, hog tying, pig sticking, lumberjacking, first aid, catapults, pentominoes puzzle, blocks, pioneering, sardines, capture the flag, stratego, dodgeball, 'the claw' from toy story...need I continue?

Some activities take longer than others, plan for this. Compass courses move at about 2km/hr. Stump Balancing lasts about 10-15 minutes. Capture the flag takes 2-3 hours. Fire lighting is about an hour. Jousting is about an hour.

In order to avoid problems, plan out a camp scedule. Maybe run 4 short activities in the morning and 4 long ones in the afternoon. Or maybe you need 2 hours for the compass course, so you run 1/2 the teams in the morning while the others do other activities, and then switch after lunch.

Here is the 2008 Camp Survivor schedule:

As for rotation patterns, I did that...HERE (Rotations).

Conclusion

There is soo much more for me to say, however this will get you a goodly chunk of the way there. I hope I nailed all the major obstacles, if not, I'll hear about it and then have to do an update. Now get out there and run something!