[Ansteorra] Ansteorra Digest, Vol 21, Issue 50

Lisa A. May maaggie1 at gmail.com
Sun Jan 13 15:00:06 PST 2008


My Lady Eleanor,

Who is going to do the work?  We have only three paid employees in  
the SCA, and they are responsible for processing all requests  
relating to membership, renewal notifications, distribution of all  
Kingdom newsletter mailing labels, insurance certificates, stock  
clerk orders, board meeting preparations, distribution of  
correspondence for the board, state registrations, corporate  
resolutions, bank account authorizations, accounting for the  
corporation, tax responsibilities, hiring and supervision of outside  
vendors (bookkeeper, accountants, etc).  There's only so many hours  
in a day, and we now number 19 kingdoms that they are supporting.  Do  
we really want to have to hire another employee to handle tasks like  
this?  I don't want to pay my membership dollars to someone to spend  
their time canvassing the changes in laws to 19 different kingdoms  
(and growing), when I can read my kingdom's law all on my own.   
Eighteen years ago, when I found the SCA, that's one of things I did  
before I ever committed to purchasing a membership (and back then,  
you couldn't find the information online - you had to order it mailed  
to you).  And today, after reading the online SCA FAQ questions and  
answers below, that's exactly what I'd do:

(1) Under Membership:  "What are the reasons to have a membership?"   
"Paid members receive many benefits.  Sustaining members receive a  
subscription to their Kingdom newsletter as part of their membership  
package.  Sustaining members are also eligible to subscribe to other  
SCA publications . . . Members receive discounts on event attendance  
fees . . . Members who sign the waiver on the membership application  
receive a proof-of-waiver membership card . . . **(Individual Kingdom  
requirements may be more stringent; consult your Kingdom Seneschal  
for additional Kingdom requirements)**."  (emphasis added)

(2) Under Branch Status:  "What are the stages to full status and  
definitions of each?"  "This varies from one Kingdom to another.   
Consult your Kingdom law or Kingdom Seneschal for information."

We have to remember, the *SCA, Inc.* is a business.  It is not "the  
dream" (that's the game I play on weekends) and it is not the  
responsibility of the corporation to make sure everyone who chooses  
to play has also chosen to read all the rules (although it is the  
responsibility of the Board to enforce the rules).  At some point,  
individual members and prospective members need to take the  
responsibility to read all the documents that govern their  
participation in the SCA.  They need to take responsibility to ask  
questions of their officers if they don't understand what they've  
read.  If they  haven't taken the responsibility to do this, then I'm  
not sure why they should have a right to blame others when they are  
surprised by an issue that is dealt with adequately in Corpora and  
Kingdom law.  I'm really not meaning to be sounding harsh, but I do  
feel rather strongly about personal responsibility and the tendency  
in our society (and Society) to push it onto others.

Respectfully,

Maggie

Countess Margaret ny Connor
Barony of the Steppes
Kingdom of Ansteorra

And do as adversaries do in law; strive mightily, then eat and drink  
as friends (Wm. Shakespeare)



On Jan 11, 2008, at 10:11 PM, eleanor cleavely wrote:

> Excellency,
>
> I understand what you are saying and appreciate your response. But,  
> I'm
> curious. Why *shouldn't* Corporate keep track of how each kingdom  
> counts
> their members? If that's where the memberships are being processed,
> shouldn't they know what the requirements are? They keep track of  
> everything
> else. One would think something as important as membership  
> requirements per
> kingdom would be something they'd want to keep track of.
>
> Quick questions, though: Why does Ansteorra have different  
> requirements than
> Corporate? Why are the membership requirements not uniform?  
> Wouldn't it be
> easier if everything was uniform so that we wouldn't have this  
> problem?
> Wouldn't it also be easier to make that membership information readily
> available through a link that goes somewhere other than a copyright  
> notice?
>
> I just arrived back to Ansteorra, so maybe things have changed  
> since I left
> five and a half years ago. Thank you for taking the time to answer.
>
> Respectfully,
> Eleanor Cleavely
>
> Message: 9
> Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2008 17:37:40 -0600
> From: "Lisa A. May" <maaggie1 at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] Ansteorra Digest, Vol 21, Issue 45
> To: "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>
> Message-ID: <35A85AFE-E294-4A42-8FC5-E1C99481B936 at gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain;       charset=US-ASCII;       delsp=yes;
>  format=flowed
>
>
> But that's only true in Ansteorra (and maybe a few other kingdoms),
> not SCA-wide.  Each Kingdom has the right to do what Ansteorra has
> done by having more stringent requirements for group status, or to
> require membership for different activities (which some do).  It is
> not feasible to expect "someone" at corporate to keep track of all
> the different kingdom rules and make sure they are all fully
> explained and laid out on the corporate membership page.  The
> prospective member has to take the responsibility to either read all
> the documents or ask questions if they don't understand.
>
> Maggie
>
> Countess Margaret ny Connor
> Barony of the Steppes
> Kingdom of Ansteorra
>
>
> -- 
> "Mine honor is my life; both grow in one;
> take honor from me and my life is done."
> --William Shakespeare
>
> Ego existo obstinantus - I am resolved
>
> Reluctor ultum , pareo parum - Resist much, obey little
> _______________________________________________
> Ansteorra mailing list
> Ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org
> http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/ansteorra-ansteorra.org




More information about the Ansteorra mailing list