[Ansteorra] Which brings us to...

[cehuse]

Here's my $.02 as an ex-Hospitaler for Elfsea...

Here are some of the problems that I have seen here locally when it come to
newcomers:

1) They show up at a populace meeting or fighter practice and no one or hardly
anyone talks to them. Why? Because everyone is busy talking either SCA business
or "shooting the breeze" with theirs SCA friends. I admit..I've been guilty of
it myself sometimes. When I came to my first populace meeting 3 years ago, the
only person to sit beside me and tell me what was going on with the meeting was
Lady Ameliene du Bois. If it hadn't been for her to translate the meeting for me
and tell me about Baronial College (and offering garb that I could borrow) then
I would probably have walked out and never come back. Look at all the friends I
would have missed out on and a husband I would never have met or married! Elfsea
would have lost a member that can't seem to keep her hands down when it's time
to volunteer! :-)

2) Newcomers need a mentor. I really wished I had one from the get go. It would
have saved allot confusion on my part...especially at court. I remember asking
Lord Timothy of Glastonbury, "What's an Iris of Merit?" "Why is that award so
special??" "Why is Lord Airaklee carrying that Rhino and why is everyone
laughing?" etc... Also, a mentor can guide them through what they need to bring
for their first event....I never knew I needed a tablecloth and candles at my
very first event. Thanks to Baroness Siobhan who let me sit at her beautifully
decorated table (and me with my dented old pie plate) ;-)

3) First events can be a scary time, too..... Who do I camp with? Where can I
sit at the list field? What can I do during the day? Someone needs to make sure
that the new person has a friendly face to camp with. If it hadn't been for my
now lord husband, Phelippe, who invited me to camp with him, a friend and Lord
Ceatta and Lady Robin. I might not have come at all. Who wants to camp by
themselves? That's no fun!

4) Do NOT complain about another member to a newcomer and tell the newcomer
about the other person's downfalls or the downfalls of the society in general.
This is a total turnoff..yes, it does happen. I saw it happen to one of my
newcomers while I was in office....it nearly scared off my newcomer.

I have been to many event since my first and when I see a person looking lost or
totally confused I make an effort to at least approach them ask if I can assist
them or answer any questions. I have always been very grateful to the above
mentioned persons and others that I have not mentioned for getting me through my
first few months in the society and now I have other mentors that help me
through my "tough" situations that I don't know how to handle in an appropriate
manner that the society demands of me.

Recruiting has been a little tricky..even I admit. But, I tell
everyone....though you don't hold the office of Hospitaler...you are in your own
way a Hospitaler! When you are standing in line at Wal-mart with a whole bolt of
$1.00/yard fabric and the people around you are giving you some funny
looks....tell them what you are planning on using it for garb and then explain
our society...it makes those long lines at the store go much quicker! When you
are "freaking the mundanes" and they ask if you are going to a renn faire, tell
them the truth! Some of the people I've talked to at the store in my garb were
truly interested in the SCA and yes, I've given them my e-mail and the society's
web-address and asked them to contact me, if they have any questions.

Please, also, don't forget our children! Keep them excited about events...they
are our future also. Get involved in your child's interest in the society. They
want to enter an A&S contest, help them with setup. They want to enter a boffer
tournament, let them help you get their armor and weapons done. I thought it was
rather cute when Ryan (who is almost 8) came to me one afternoon Phelippe's
Fighter's Handbook, sat down beside me and pointed out all the tabards he wanted
me to make him. I told him that he could make them as easily as I could...we are
now getting ready to make his very first fighting tabard. If you don't have
children and you fight, give the children pointers and encouragement...they
adore you! A little praise from you will put them on cloud nine. Enter A&S? Help
the child and their parents by giving pointers on setting up their little
displays. Don't do either? Help your local Minister of Children!

I don't mean to go on and on, but this is very dear subject to me. I have made
many friends that I would have never met. I now feel totally complete and
completely full-filled because of the SCA. I don't want to see this society
wither away because we have no new faces. There are others out there, like
myself, that might find the fulfillment we have all found here in this society.

Ok..getting off my soapbox... :-)

Maria

*** St. Theresa's Prayer ****
May today there be peace within
May you trust your highest power that you are exactly where you are meant to
be....
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has
been given to you....
May you be content knowing you are a child of God....
Let this presence settle into our bones, and allow your soul the freedom to
sing, and dance,
It is there for each and every one of you....

> -----Original Message-----
> Recruiting and retention of new members.  The state of the current
> discussion reminds me of a political cartoon from many years ago, when
> Americans were boycotting France over a political incident, "Deprived of
> Americans, the French turn to insulting each other.  Chaos ensues."
>
> We face much the same problem in the Society today.  By all accounts
> membership has dropped off tremendously in the past decade.  People age and
> withdraw from playing, with no one to fill their void.  I watched an entire
> "New Generation" of Bjornsborgers come in, play hard, get acculturated, get
> real jobs, get married, and with very few exceptions, leave.  Which made it
> really hard on the next crop of kids to come in, because now the Barony was
> a lot more wary of training people who wouldn't stick around, so they didn't
> get socialized as quickly as they should have.  All in all, it took the
> better part of a decade for things to really recover.
>
> As a result, the Society is falling into a spiral of decay.  New blood is
> harder to come by, and many of the folks who've kept the wheels turning for
> so long are long past worn-out.  Our best hope is in bringing in new folks,
> but (to my eyes) it's slow going.
>
> Luciano