I agree that a bit of warning would have been nice. I also think a game-wide event thread being put up would help. It seems like by the time an event has really picked up speed, it ends.

But, the best times I've had in this game have been the times I just threw my characters at others to see what happens. Sometimes the really open events are the best for this sort of thing, and I think this event falls under that. Not saying plotting is a bad thing, but I feel like some of these events would work really well if players embraced their spontaneity. Then again, I haven't been here all that long, so maybe the more established players are all spontaneity-ed out and would prefer some deep plotting for a change.