Should Ansteorra have a WWW Page?

[stddly at SHSU.edu]

From:	MX%"ansteorra at eden.com"  2-AUG-1996 15:01:54.42
To:	MX%"ansteorra at eden.com"
CC:	
Subject: Should Ansteorra have a WWW Page?

>Galen of Bristol's message:
>Here's how I see it, for what it's worth.
>
>Every few years, something comes along that gets widely misunderstood as 
>"satanic".  Dungeons & Dragons had its turn, some TV shows and comic 
>books, and periodically the SCA.  This upsets some SCA people, and 
>frightens others.
>
>Today, many people fear the weirdos on the Internet.  Having surfed the 
>'net, I don't see so much to fear from Internet people as compared to 
>people without Internet access.
>
>The loudest voices presently on this list have argued against listing 
>contact information for officers and key people, rules for playing the 
>game, or information about events, due to fear for the officers' and 
>their families' safety, from fear that people will learn the rules 
>without buying them, and out of concern that someone might arrive at an 
>event expecting the wrong thing, or with intent to do harm, respectively.
>
>Accepting these arguments, as I see it, means taking down the Ansteorra 
>page at www.uta.edu/student_orgs/sca/ansteorra.  Is that what should happen?
>
>What's on the page?  Pretty pictures; you don't need the web for that.
>Contact info for the officers; I'm told I've endangered these people by 
>posting that.  Schedule of events; another reason to not join the SCA, 
>says the Kingdom Chronicler.
>
>And links to other sites.  Most of those fit into the above category.  
>The rest are links to how-to pages, information, poetry, etc., like 
>Stefan's Rialto archive and Cariadoc's miscellany, and there's no need 
>for an _Ansteorra_ WWW page to do it.
>
>I put a lot of work into the page.  Mainly that's because it's fun and it 
>strokes my ego when people tell me how much they like it.  But I'm 
>hearing now that I'm doing harm, and that's not what I want.
>
>Should there be an Ansteorra page?  What should be on it?

I think you should keep the page but modify the information.
I don't have a problem with a list of events or with fliers 
describing them are posted at the hosting groups submission
of that information to you. I don't think maps to sites should
be posted both for the reason of why Subscribe to the Black Star
if I can get the Infor for free syndrome and because we are not set
up to handle people wandering in off the street. 

Ideally each group would have an internet contact who would handle
inquires off the net individually to disperse such information as
location to a site or the precise whereabouts to x-guild meeting

Fighter Practice locations (if public) and populace meeting places
and time would be a good thing for a group to put on the 'net. These
are places and times most groups are prepared for contact with the
public.

Kingdom history would be a good thing to put on the page.

Though it would be a herculean task to contact all the officers listed
in the Black Star, people should really be notified of any intent
to put their real name, phone number and home address on the 'net.
E-mail addresses are preferable.

Though most society publications include permission to reprint in
certian formats(of both copywrited and non) the issuing entity 
should be notified of the intent to re-print on such a format
as the 'net. They may have concerns that have nothing to do with
trying to control information. They may have logistical concerns
as the aforementioned presumption of needing x copies and then
because of net access they really needed x-1000 copies and so
have a dead weight inventory of 1000 copies already paid for
and (cost times 1000) dollars out of the Kingdom's coffers
(which are replentished haphazardly)

Galen, I don't know where you've been on the net but there
are lots of really scarry people out there (or at least their
net faces are) granted a number of them couldn't interface
in person with anyone and wouldn't move away from their terminal
or out of their routine to come out to SCA things and I may just
be reacting to media hype.

I don't have an answer.... just an opinion

Lorraine