Providence or Chance
Last night around 5:30pm, I sat in George A’s office adjacent to his home in Houston as he signed the partnership agreements and various and sundry other legal documents which made him half owner in the land and a major partner in the ownership of Sherwood. George A is an accomplished businessman. He is a […]
Last night around 5:30pm, I sat in George A’s office adjacent to his home in Houston as he signed the partnership agreements and various and sundry other legal documents which made him half owner in the land and a major partner in the ownership of Sherwood.
George A is an accomplished businessman. He is a respected consultant. An Aggie. A Harvard graduate. And has been attending TRF since he was in high school. At the very core of his heart and soul, he is a paladin knight.
He reads the same fantasy books as I do. At forty, he still revels in games and ideas and holds a belief that we can meld best business practices with the wonderful experience of Faire.
I met him in June or July of this year during one of Sherwood’s Gatherings. He had actually arrived earlier that Saturday morning to pick up sticks and help clear the grounds with Zane and other volunteers.
He was on one of the four tours of the grounds I was giving. He walked beside me and asked questions and cheered and lifted his tankard when the vision of Sherwood was shared with the thirty some-odd folk walking in the group.
Later that evening, he approached me and said he wanted to be a part of Sherwood. I said I appreciated that and mentioned that I hoped a lot of folk would be a part of faire. He replied, “No, I mean I want to be a part of Sherwood in a big way! Like building a watchtower with
a pub in the ground floor.” I responded, “We should talk.” And later that next week, we visited. I met him at his house in Houston. We spoke for five hours. I felt I had known him all my life. We connected on so many levels.
We met a couple of times out on the faire grounds and talked all day.
I don’t know how many of you have been in a business partnership, but the rule of thumb is: “don’t, unless it’s absolutely necessary.” But it all felt too right. I am not a control freak. I don’t have to have my way all the time. I don’t have to possess or own everything. So, we courted one another as prospective business partners.
While I had attempted buying TRF years ago, George A had been pursuing the purchase of Scarby. We each had decent knowledge of these two very successful faires.
And thus, the journey I was on was taking a quite different path–a partnership, a sharing of ideas/control/ownership. And there was never a moment that it felt wrong or out of balance.
He brought passion and the love of the faire to the table. He brought business experience in marketing, as well as fantastic analytical skills to the team. And, he brought his spirit and his soul as a brother to Sherwood.
Rengypsy
