[Ansteorra] Group Dissolutions

[Elizabeth Blackthorne]

I've thought carefully about how I would publically respond to this post.
The main thing I read in this that really should speak to everyone is the
fear.  So I am going to give advice based on my past experience, things I
should have done but didn't because I relied on the Chain of Command, this
failed my group.

If you hear a rumor that a person in power or who is soon to be in power
doesn't like your Group or Region, address it with them.  Ask them to be
modernly blunt, no honor pretense, no niceties, just what their problem is.
Do not contact your regional because if the region is in question, your
regional isn't getting good info.  Save these emails!!! I think it deserves
repeating SAVE THESE EMAILS.  This is proof that you tried to get
information.

Anything you recieve that is sent to a group of groups ie all seneschals,
assume the good stuff is about someone else and the bad is about you, follow
up with another email, Save, Save, Save.  BCC someone else so that there is
no way it can be said that email is altered.  If you are asked to be a BCC
Save, Save, Save.  Fwd any reply to the BCC that way there are 2 records of
the same thing.

If action is taken against your group, try not to take it as the slap in the
face it feels like, winning at the BOD level doesn't help if your group no
longer wants to play because they are so hurt.  And as sad as it is, the SCA
really doesn't care about member drops, so it will make no statement when
you all lapse.  Don't dwell on the situation, have grub n garbs while
suspended, hit neighboring groups activities, do something besides discuss
together how wrong this all was.  As I said before winning at the BOD level
does no good if your members no longer want to play.

If you are a person who is behind taking action on a group, remeber these
are real people with real feelings, remeber that your actions can determine
how many members remain, and remember that you have most likely
dissillutioned a group of people.  You will have alot of work a head of you
to rebuild these members.  These members deserve any and all answers to any
and all questions and you should help them find solutions to percieved
problems to give them a plan for the BOD so that they can be stronger, not
just go away.

Elizabeth Blackthorne

On Mon, Jul 14, 2008 at 4:47 PM, Rose & Chad <love at roseandchad.net> wrote:

> You know, throughout this whole thing, I, and alot of the people that I
> know, have sort of kept our mouths shut. Obviously something must be going
> on (or not going on) for this to happen, right? This was my position
> because, in general, I trust our Officers and our Kings and the other people
> in leadership positions. I say 'in general' because there are bound to be a
> few bad eggs, and one woman's bad egg is another woman's yummy breakfast. :)
>
>  I also believed that there might be a few 'bad egg' groups in Ansteorra. I
> certainly didn't know of any, but my pocketbook has kept me bound to
> Northern events, and not as many of those as I would like. So was it
> possible that some groups had committed some transgressions and were being
> quietly sanctioned for it? Yep. That's possible. Was it also possible that
> some groups weren't strong enough to maintain thier status? Yep. That's more
> than possible, esp. considering the distances involved and our country's
> economic state.
>
>  So we assumed that it was being taken care of as quietly as possible so
> that the gentles involved might, if they chose, be able to continue to play
> without lots of questions and continued embarrassment. Indeed, I had hoped
> that they would all continue to play as all I seem to hear nowadays is
> recruit, recruit, recruit.
>
>  (Wanna hear a secret? I don't care what our newcomer levels are like. I
> welcome them all, but am not going to fret if the levels drop off or
> disappear. The Dream will continue until I wake up and not a minute longer.)
>
>  With each outburst from the populace involved, and each carefully worded
> Kingdom-level non-announcing announcement, I grow more skeptical. What is
> really going on in the Western Region of my Kingdom? Is it 'bad egg' groups?
> Is it not-strong groups? Is it personal politics? Some strange brew of all
> of these? All I know for sure is that the Western Region was being
> disbanded, reorganized, insert politically-correct term here, and that the
> populace of the Western Region is not happy about it. Oh, and apparently it
> may or may not have taken three years for some groups in that region to
> commit these trangressions/lose status/piss somebody off.
>
>  I have to ask... What happened there? Why? Do I even have a right to ask?
> Is this someone's personal, private business that I should keep my nose out
> of? Or is what goes on in this Kingdom my business as a member in this
> Kingdom? How transparent is our Kingdom-level leadership supposed to be? I
> sincerely hope it's supposed to be more transparent than this, or my Region
> might just be next, especially since no one outside of the Region (or
> possibly in it) seems to know just what caused the Western Region to fall.
> Might we commit the same transgressions, without even knowing it until the
> axe fell?
>
>  Ah, the many questions that I would love to have answered... I find myself
> wondering why I have to wonder about such a huge thing as dissolving a whole
> entire region, and what that lack of open knowlege regarding this issue
> means for the rest of us.
>
>  Rose the Obnoxious
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