Litch & the Hospitaller's office

[cmwalden at bga.com]

>A) Someone at each SCA event (or other gathering of scaders) constantly
>looking for newbies with the standard broadsheet of SCA information stamped
>on thier brain as well as contacts for various activities in the local area.
>Everyone in the sca should do this to some degree but there should be someone
>whos accepts the responsibility to make sure no one falls through the cracks.
>
>b) A decent community chest of loaner garb, armour, books, etc. That is
>constantly stocked and BROUGHT to events/gatherings. The hospitaller should
>take it as a personal mission to get people to contribute to that chest.
>
>c) A list of mentors be made. Get some people who have a clue who will commit
>to introducing newbie around at events/gatherings and explain what is going
>on. In some cases it might mean giving ppl rides to events or making sure they
>have feast gear, or such.
>
>d) A list of proffesionals. People who will either maker or show the newbe
>how to make garb/gear/whateveonce they have the basics of a clue what is
>going on (at the point they are no longer newbies but not yet old hands).
>

An excellent list!  I think that it's dead on.  But one of the things that 
you mentioned later I think is a key.  You felt that you were not motivated 
to go to all of the trouble that it would require to do this correctly.  I 
think that the SCA is hideous about rewarding people who do the work.  I 
have seem people who have worked their behinds off for something and 
received no more consideration than a "button for their trouble."  We can't 
pay people.  We can't promise them status for their work.  But I think there 
is something to be done.  The kind of work that you described above deserves 
to be celebrated.  When it is not, it quickly becomes tedious, and people do 
have an entire world of other things to capture their attention.

Yours etc,
Antonio
or cmwalden at bga.com