[Ansteorra] Voluntary tagging

[James Crouchet]

On Wed, Feb 24, 2010 at 1:27 PM, Maria Buchanan <scarlettmb at sbcglobal.net>wrote:

> Seneschal is the gold key on a red background and it's vertical.  The
> Hospitaler's badge is the gold key, horizontal on a green background.
> And I too would expect someone wearing the hospitaler's badge to be a
> hospitaler.  I would not expect that person to be a newcomer.
>
> I think the best idea is what Robin has already said.  Be nice to everyone
> and you will eventually find a newcomer who you are being nice to.
>
>
I presume that is what we are doing now. Obviously some of us think that is
not enough or we would not be having this conversation.

I'll say again, THIS IS NOT ABOUT BEING NICE. I presume we are already
trying to do that. But helping a newcomer is different from helping long
time SCAers. For example, if I offer to explain the meaning of the awards
being given in court a newcomer will probably be interested while an
oldtimer will probably be annoyed. Also, a newcomer is more likely to need a
place to sit, feast gear or a cloak and they are less likely to have friends
to ask. Given that their needs are different, treating the newcomer and the
oldtimer the same is not rational.

All of which brings us back to the question of how to identify newcomers. If
we depend on extended conversations and good detective work that means those
SCAers who are BUSY (you know who you are) will typically not notice the
newcomers, especially at kingdom events or in large groups like Bryn Gwlad,
Elfsea and Steppes where not everyone knows one another.

Christian Doré