ANST - Newcomer Maintenance Programs....

[j'lynn yeates]

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> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-ansteorra at ansteorra.org
> [mailto:owner-ansteorra at ansteorra.org]On Behalf Of Donna Wallis
> 
> We take a newcomer by the hand to meetings, workshops, fighter
> practices, events and Court. ... We always go for coffee after our
> meeting and  newcomer's are always issued a "special invitation" to
> join us. ... We  then make sure they have a local newsletter, the
> calendar along with names and phone numbers is important.  We also
> make sure we have their contact information.  We call to remind
> them of upcoming meetings.  

wish that these simple things were more acknowledged 25'ish years
back, would have made the initial entry into the "game" so much
easier.  luckily (relative to perspective i suppose) i managed to
link up with a certain "old-guard" cadre of exceptional individuals
that i shared interal scadian and realworld interests with ... still
people i see regularly and stay in contact with.

> .... This is important because, when I first became interested in
> the  SCA I felt very much like an intruder!  So we that extra
> effort to  include newcomers and make them feel welcome. We not
> only answer questions, we also ask questions.  This let's a
> newcomer know "you" are interested in them.  

a point often overlooked, all these *excellent* way's of integrating
neophytes into the whole are also relevent for those who are
returning after being away.  in many ways, it's even more difficult
to return to scadian passtimes after being away for any length of
time (have a current ongoing email discussion on this very matter
with three others) .. the whole has changed, new politics, new rules
& regulations, old support structues (people / places / things) gone
or changed ....

> I could go on and on....my best advice is:   remember what it was
> like to be a newcomer,  we were all there once.

good advice i like to remind people of .... so many in this game
forget this simple fact

'wolf

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