[Ansteorra] tagging newcomers

[Coblaith Muimnech]

Fiona wrote:
> What if we created some sort of discrete favor of some sort, like a  
> ribbon or something that would attach to the belt or dress or  
> something, that we could keep a look out and know they were new.

I think obvious is better than discreet, in this situation.  What's  
the point of having a, "I'm new, be sure you don't use too many  
verbal shortcuts or assume I know the people/routines/patterns those  
who've been around a while all know," symbol for newcomers to wear if  
the only people who'll see them are those who go looking for it?

The usual problem is analogous to one we see on mailing lists all the  
time.  "It's at the Georgetown site," "Ask Claire," and "same rules  
as always," all have their face-to-face (and even non-verbal)  
equivalents.  If a newcomer is wearing a checky sash or something  
equally easy to identify at a glance, it's much more likely that  
bystanders will volunteer to clarify what's going on than if she's  
got an unobtrusive little length of ribbon hung on her belt.   
SCAdians tend to deck themselves out with so many tokens, favors,  
bits of award insignia, and random pieces of autobiographical flotsam  
and jetsam that I, for one, almost never pay any attention to any of  
it.  It's quite unlikely that I'd inspect anyone I encountered at an  
event closely enough to notice that the scrap of ribbon at her waist  
was the particular shade of blue used to denote newness.


Coblaith Muimnech
<mailto:Coblaith at sbcglobal.net>
<http://coblaith.net>