SCA's NEXT GENERATION

dennis grace amazing at mail.utexas.edu
Mon Jun 16 22:48:52 PDT 1997


Greetings, Cosyns, 

Lyonel ici.

To Aquilanne's posting of:
>> I never went to a "newcomer's revel" or "newcomer's class." I wouldn't want
>> to go to a segregated event like that.

Mst. Meadhbh responds

>Hmmm...I have yet to go to a 'segregated' newcomers revel.  Usually this
>event was a local, off calendar event that a good portion of the
>baronial populace attended.  We had pot luck food, dancing, a small
>court, etc.  Much fun was had by all!!!

Sounds very nice, Mistress.  I love events like this.  We used to do small,
local, off-calendar events in our old barony also.  We even encouraged new
players to attend such events in order to get their feet wet before tackling
the more complex kingdom events.  We didn't call them "newcomers' events,"
though, because we felt that the label would be perceived as juvenilizing.
My own first event was a large kingdom affair, complete with seven remove
repast and procession.  Sure, my garb was horrid, and I no doubt bowed to
all the wrong individuals and stared unreservedly at everyone, but I
survived without permanent damage and even had a great time.

At arts and sciences competitions and kingdom/principality collegiums and
the like someone always managed to slip in some sort of newbie orientation
class--when to bow, how to address, when to be quiet, how to behave in
court, yada yada yada.  I sat through about ten minutes of one of those
silly things. It was insulting; everything they said was in the Known World
Handbook.  Perhaps I'm oversensitive to such things, but I don't like being
treated like a newcomer--even when I AM a newcomer.  I want to be treated
like an adult.

I have two problems with the newcomer label.  First, when you invite someone
to a newcomer's revel or newcomer's class or newcomer's
quasi-medieval-whatsiwhoosis, you label that someone as a "newcomer."  Once
you've been so labeled, it seems an eternity before anyone will take you
seriously.  Some labels are positive, liberating, uplifting, empowering:
knight, warrior, baron, peer, noble--I like these labels.  Others--no matter
how conscientiously applied--are negative, restrictive, immobilizing:
beginner, newcomer, newbie, tyro, amateur--I like to avoid these labels.

Second, since these small event are labeled "newcomer" events, they're
likely to quickly lose the support of players who perceive such efforts as
charity.  Some folks will attend a few "newbie revels" and then figure it's
someone else's turn to "support the beginners."  Others will just see such
events as "someone else's job."  What's worse, some will expect their
attendance at such events to be perceived as "service."

So, yes, hold frequent small, less formal events, encourage uninitiated
players to attend such events--if they WANT to start small--just don't call
them "newcomer" events.

For similar reasons, I like the idea of more experienced players helping
first time attendees prepare garb, gather feast gear, and all that
preparation type stuff, but I balk at titles like "mentoring program."


Yours in Service,

Sir Lyonel Oliver Grace
_____________________________
Dennis Grace
University of Texas at Austin
English Department
Recovering Medievalist

Things are more like they are today than they have ever been before.
                                                  --Dwight D. Eisenhower




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