On-line vs. Printed Newsletters (long)

stddly at SHSU.edu stddly at SHSU.edu
Tue Feb 11 10:10:48 PST 1997


From:	MX%"ansteorra at eden.com" 10-FEB-1997 21:03:58.42
To:	MX%"ansteorra at eden.com"
CC:	MX%"herron at oklahoma.net"
Subj:	On-line vs. Printed Newsletters (long)


/Then the complaints started.  One group called to complain that their
/event announcement was online, and that they didn't give permission for
/that.  Another local seneschal called to say that she didn't want her
/address or phone number published on-line.  And so on, and so on.


/Please understand that, in our current environment here in the Black
/Star, we are either going to publish >every< event announcement or >no<
/event announcements on the Web site.  In addition, we are either going
/to publish >every< regional and local Seneschal and Baron/ess or >no<
/regional and local Seneschals and Baron/ess.  It is entirely too much
/hassle on this office to publish some, but not all.

Why are we publishing the directory? Isn't that information already
available on the "Ansteorran Web Page" already?




/Here's the questions that I'd like to throw open for discussion by this
/august body.  (Please note:  this is not official, and I'm trying to
/stay as far away from my office as I can within this letter.)
/
/1)  Does the standard Release for Publication (in your Black Star) grant
/the permission to the Kingdom Chronicler to reproduce the material in
/any official (Corporate-owned) SCA publication, including a Kingdom
/Newsletter on the Web?  (That's the legal question)  And should it? 
/(That's the everyman's question).

No, the current release has not covered the issue of publication on the
Net because it has not been standard practice. The release should include
a choice to allow for publication on the net but not mandate it.

 

/2)  How do we balance the privacy of warranted officers (to include
/autocrats in event announcements) against the need for information?  If
/we completely remove the "official" SCA presence from the Web, then we
/miss out on a segment of the population which may prove to be future
/members of the Society.  In addition, we contribute to a lack of
/information about our organization (and give any opponents to the
/Society a chance to make up whatever they want about us).

It is not an all or nothing proposition. You can ask on the release form
that if there is information on the event announcement that you do not
wish to have appear on the internet then either the annoucement will not
be put on the internet or an internet version could be included in the mailing.

Officers info should be published - only if announced in advance of publishing-
and be afforded the choice what information they wish to allow on the Internet.

I doubt if any groups when they use a site inform the owners how they are
going to advertize. The expectation of the owner us usually that there
would only be advertizing in publication to SCA members where only (locally)
2000 or so people and that only about 200 - 300 of these would show up.

/3)  (Sorry for the legalese.)  Does the Society for Creative
/Anachronism, Inc., operating as a foreign corporation everywhere except
/for the Northern California Non-Profit Corporation Act boundaries, have
/a legal responsibility to disclose the names/addresses/phone numbers of
/its corporation's officers within a particular area (e.g. a state)?  If
/so, are our local Seneschals (as the legal representatives of the
/Society within their area) defined as the corporation's officers?  And
/is this information readily available to the general public (usually
/through a request from the State Secretary's Office)?

If I remember rightly from when we had the BoD mess a few years back
the officers in levels under the Board and Corporate level are 
representatives but not officers of the Corporation. Or is it officers
but not members of the corporation.
The whole issue has always been very confusing.

/4)  What information >should< appear on the "official" SCA web site for
/our area (in my case, http://www.ansteorra.org), or in an online
/representation of the Kingdom Newsletter?  Should Great Officers of
/State reports be there?  Lesser Officers of State?  The Kingdom Calendar
/(in an unofficial capacity)?
/
/Remember, this is an unofficial exercise.  I want to get some input from
/a small segment of the Society before I try to advise the Kingdom
/Chronicler on "where do we go from here".
/
/Thanks in advance for your assistance.

/HL William FitzBubba
/Namron, Ansteorra

Lorraine
Raven's Fort



More information about the Ansteorra mailing list