[Re: ANST - For Lord Rausch]

[Stephanie Edwards]

I hope this discussion will remind groups that perhaps it is a good idea to
evaluate our sites and determine if maybe it needs to be updated and/or how
useful the information is to both new and veteran members.  I went through
several of the SCA local sites recently and noticed that some are well updated
and others don't even exist at the link shown on the Ansteorran site.  

Perhaps this will serve as a good starting point to discuss what a well set up
web site should contain.  It sounds like the Bjornsborg web site has some very
good points to it.  I haven't looked at the site, but hope to this afternoon
or this evening.  I would think a page for newcomers might be helpful in many
web sites.  I also think that although this is a volunteer organization, there
should be some sort of timeline a group sets for when the web site should be
updated.  If the current webmaster is having issues that interfer with
updating the site by this timeline, a deputy might be able to step in and give
a hand.  This would both allow the system to be updated regularly and
hopefully help train someone else to be able to step in when the webmaster
decides to stepdown.

Anyone have suggestions of what would make a good site or what can be done to
impove SCA websites.  Whether anyone likes it or not, this is how many people
will get their first impression of the SCA and of our dream.  Lets make it the
best possible impression.

Ly. Stephania

gunnora at realtime.net wrote:
Ld Brennan <acrubray at flash.net> said:
>Very disappointed in your response to this NEWCOMER.   
>The way I read the message, this NEWCOMER wasn't sure WHO to 
>contact since the information was so outdated.  

Brennan, you were too hard on Lord Pieter, and off-base I think, too.

The newcomer didn't try any of the phone or email links, or he'd have gotten
all the info he or she needed and more.  The information is *not* "so
outdated"
-- it's between 2 weeks and a month old.  That's up-to-the-minute in terms of
the SCA, and in fact for most volunteer organizations where the webmaster is
not paid and in fact is donating the cost of hosting the website out of their
own pocket to start with.

As I pointed out earlier, local meeting times are extremely subject to change
(*as the Bjornsborg website clearly states*), and certain points about this
are just assumed by the membership.  

For instance, most SCA members don't have to be told that if a group is
sponsoring
an event on a given weekend that the local Saturday or Sunday fighter
practice
probably will not happen -- but a newcomer might not know that.  

Similarly, the membership is aware that this is an all-volunteer
organization,
and so we don't get extremely bent if websites and the like which are "nice
to have extras" aren't perfect -- we know that the Real Word is to be found
in the kingdom newsletter, the Black Star.  But even then we all have on
occasion
seen certain events that were in the Black Star be rained out or cancelled
for
one reason or another at the last minute.

This *does* point up a big hole in SCA publications and websites, which is
namely
that we should publish some disclaimers explaining *our* assumptions about
these
things specifically for the benefits of newcomers.  And in that explanation
suggest that calling the responsible officer is a Good Idea if in doubt...

>I do not blame this NEWCOMER as I would have probably done
>EXACTLY the same -- gone to the Kingdom for assistance.

I hope you would have been less rude about it in the first place. I really
hope
you'd have attempted to email or phone some of the officers before demanding
that the webmaster be drawn and quartered.  Frustration is one thing,
attempting
to try someone in the court of public opinion without *first* speaking (or at
least attempting to speak) to that person directly via phone or email is
still
not acceptible in or out of the SCA.

>I had thought this site was put on the Web to ENCOURAGE 
>new people -- not to questions items PRIVATELY.

I'm not sure what you meant by this sentence exactly, but I really think the
Bjornsborg website is a handy tool for those of us who are current members.
 I use it to find out how to contact certain people I need to talk to.  Sure,
it's a big bonus if it helps new people, but this is really a tool for the
existing
members. Unlike the www.SCA.Org website, or the www.Ansteorra.Org website,
the
Bjornsborg site is really not set up with a whole lot of info for those new
to the SCA.

Another point that should be made is that this newcomer is basically starting
their entire interaction with their local group by publicly attacking the
webmaster
and other officers for perceived website deficiencies and for the fact that
they were not at locations where the newcomer *assumed* they would be but did
not confirm via a phone call in advance.  How successful do you suppose this
person is going to be at making new friends within the group if he or she
continues
to stomp all over a wide selection of the group's member's toes this way?

There is a myth, spawned by doing demos I suspect, that everyone should be in
the SCA.   That's just not the case. The only reason that the SCA works is
because
we have lots of volunteers working their backsides off.  Frequently these
volunteers
spend not only their own time and effort, but their own money to make thinbgs
fun for others.  As a consequence, we value go-getters who get things done,
who take a little initiative.  We value research. We value Courtesy and
Chivalry.
 Not everyone is a good match for the SCA -- people who do not value service,
research, and/or the Victorian/medieval ideals we espouse are not going to
fit
in well, and will not only be unhappy but wil probably antagonize those
around
them.

Will *this* newcomer fit into the SCA?  Maybe.  If they take the time to go
and make phone calls and perhaps turn that chip on the old shoulder into an
A&S project instead of a battering ram, then the answer could be "yes".  But
it's up to the newcomer at this point to call or email some of the local
officers
and start playing -- or not.

::GUNNORA::

Unrepenitent Aged Old Bjornsborger (or was that "Ursae Australis Of
Bjornsborg
-- darn,  I can't keep those letters straight!)

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