A current SCA Membership is required to autocrat an event. An autocrat is considered to be an officer of the sponsoring branch, (technically, a deputy of the seneschal). Officers are required by Corpora to hold memberships. As an officer, your membership provides you with additional insurance under the "officer and director" liability policy. An explanation of this policy can be found in the Seneschal's handbook.
Knowledge is power. It is a really good idea to read all the Corporate, kingdom and branch level documentation ("customary") related to running events. The resource page has a host of useful links for your convenience. The more familiar you are with the rules, requirements, and deadlines associated with an event, the more successful, and less stressed you will be.
Know who is in charge and who you have to answer to at the branch level. Understand your authority and limitations of your authority as regards the event.
Get all the help and advice you can find.
In general, events fall into two basic categories: indoor and outdoor. In An Tir, indoor events tend to be during the "feast season" which is roughly October through April. Outdoor events tend to be during the "tourney season" which is roughly May through September, and often revolve around martial activities. The type of event you put together will depend on your interests, the needs of your branch and to some degree its financial abilities.
Event organization falls roughly into the following stages:
- Putting together a budget and submitting the event bid.
- You're approved! Pre-event paperwork.
- Contracting services for the event.
- On the job training at the event.
- Post event tasks
Once you decide on the type of event and tournament you want to put together, your next step is to come up with an event proposal including a budget. For many people, putting this together can be one of the hardest tasks in this entire process. If you can skate on previous year's event proposals with some minor adjustments, try and take advantage of the research that has already been done. If you're creating a new event or if your event venue has never been used before by your group, you'll have some research to do.
Start that research by going through the links on the resources page.