ANST - P-words...in a nut-shell.

[stddly at SHSU.edu]

Heilsa all Ansteorrans...godd and true...

Kief here scribbling madly from HE Lorraine's account...

Johan Bjornsson typed...

>I will address just one of Keith's comments:

>Keith Hood wrote:
>> I cannot see how you grow a group by splitting it in half.  I do not
>> understand how dividing the kingdom can help us retain members we have
>> now, and I cannot figure how dividing the kingdom will attract new
>> people to the SCA.

>I disagree with you wholeheartedly.
>There comes a time when splitting up a group is very healthy for the
>SCA as a whole...here's just one example:

I disagree... Many times splitting a group is not healthy at all...

>Once upon a time there was a Barony called Steppes(Dallas), it had 
>grown pretty large.  Of course there were internal problems, all groups
>have them. (SNIP)  

Agreed...and what follows was a success story... Not all splits are so
successful...

>Some of these Cantons will eventually become Shires unto
>themselves...and the DFW area WILL eventually hit critical mass and
>become a Principality, and maybe even become its own Kingdom someday.

The first part of your statement is true...add: ...and some will fail and
dissolve. Sorry again, the DFW area may never hit your so-called critical mass
and become a principality... Why do you think that the area will ever become
that large? Like other areas of Ansteorra, even after 25+ years of existance,
the local population is still below that which would let the BoD grant
principality status... As to Kingdom........

>The moral of the story is this...
>
>At times it is healthy to get out from under the parent group and
>venture forth on one's own.

And other times it's not... I'm a subject of the Kingdom of Ansteorra... I feel
that a principality is not the answer at this time... To fix the "ills" of our
Kingdom is paramount... Not the quick fix of a split and all the attendant
headaches that it will entail...

>Cantons eventually become Shires.
>Shires eventually become Baronies.
>Regions eventually become Principalities.
>and Principalities eventually become Kingdoms.

No,
No,
No,
No...

Some cantons fail...and dissolve.
Some shires revert to canton...or fail and dissolve...
Some Baronies revert to shire...or fail and dissolve...
Regions are just that... Usually they don't become principalities...
Wrong again...there are several principalities that have not, and never will,
become Kingdoms... As well...some principalities have dissolved...

>Its a natural progression...
>It DOES help retain old members,
>it DOES help recruit newcomers,
>and it DOES help the SCA as a whole.

Only if you think in linear terms... Some view it as unnatural...
Nope...many folk would give up their memberships if "forced" to split from
their Kingdom...
Maybe...then again if there is strife over the issue it will turn potential
new-comers away...
Possibily...unless the issue is contested to the point that a whole Kingdom is
unsettled and angry...

>~Ld.Johan Bjornsson

Sir Kief av Kiersted, OP, Baron Raven's Fort (ret.)


"One Star...One Kingdom..."

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