[Ansteorra] How to get to do things in the sca long
Ld.blackmoon
ld.blackmoon at cox.net
Fri Apr 15 23:03:54 PDT 2011
greetings
your grace has many good points ,
but for a slightly different take on things,
I have been in the sca since 1982 , I spent the 1st 20 years trying to stay
in the shadows, and avoid the politics.
but when I returned to northkeep from calontir , archery had become "
official " here ( it wasn't when I left for calontir ),
( and the shire I had left , had become a barony )
but northkeeps archery marshal wasn't active, wasn't holding practices ,
etc. , so I found out who I needed to talk to , and got myself authorized as
an archery marshal, built an archery range in my back yard,( which the
barony still uses ; ) became the baronial deputy archery marshal and started
holding practices,that was 9 + years ago, I have been an officer , usually a
dual officer ever since.I have held baronial offices, regional offices, and
am in my second term as a kingdom deputy officer and a baronial seneschal at
this time .
I have made and given out archery regalia, and am currently making both
baronial and kingdom award regalia , to be used as each see fit.
as well as items for the bardic community .
officers are always needed , deputy officers are always needed, both of
which are also good starting points for people wanting to help the sca, the
kingdom, and the group they play with .
some groups have found ways to help new and old players alike become
involved.
the backbone of northkeeps populace, the ones that you always know will be
there , helping, working, giving up their own time/ energy so that others
may enjoy the many opportunities / activities at any event or demo, filling
offices because there is a need, working on baronial and kingdom projects
,etc. are the members of The Lions Paws of Kenmare .
these are the people you refer to as the movers and shakers , and as the
highest recognition you can get at the baronial level, it must be earned ,
not over night, not in a season, not in a reign, but over years of service
to the barony .
our only language is honor and honesty .
the older members that you see as a " power block " are the members that
have poured their blood , sweat, tears, time, energy and money into keeping
the barony going and growing. so no they aren't going to just jump on any
band wagon until they have time to consider the consequences for the barony
they love.
one of the ways we help people to earn this recognition is that all of our
events are set up to have co-autocrats , an experienced autocrat teams with
a novice autocrat.
the experienced autocrat teaches the novice autocrat all during the event,
but if mundanity strikes, or worse, illness strikes, the novice has been
fully involved to that point in the planning etc, and can take over with out
needing to start from scratch. also after this 1st event the novice becomes
the experienced autocrat. they also have other experienced autocrats to
answer questions / help if needed.
another way , is that we are an active barony, we are constantly working on
baronial projects, as well as kingdom projects, at which anyone / everyone
is encouraged to come help out .
and at events, everyone is encouraged to spend a little of their time
helping to make the event a success, whether that is by sitting a gate
shift, helping set up, or tear down, serving at feast, water bearing,
marshaling, heralding , or any of a large number of other ways to help out.
if you have grown enough in the society , and want the sca to continue, you
will find ways to help that cause, and believe me, people will notice,
people will talk, and eventually you too may wind up belonging to a group of
people that you know will always be willing to stand beside you and do
whatever is needed to help support your barony, and your kingdom.
as her grace says , ask anyone and everyone how you can help,where you are
needed, etc. if they don't know , they may have a good idea who to ask that
will know.
the best and fastest way to become part of any group is to " get active "
join in, help out , hiding in the shadows makes it harder for both you and
the group .
no one will bite your head off for asking to help, or for putting in for an
officers position, many times we are moving from office to office, because
no one new is willing to step up and apply .
just my opinions , your mileage may vary
but I hope it helps ; )
Be Safe , Be Happy, Have Fun .
Arthur
for spaghetti lovers, aoa,kings archer, sable talon,arc d'or , sable crane,
lopk,sable thistle .
----- Original Message -----
From: <willowdewisp at juno.com>
To: <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>
Sent: Friday, April 15, 2011 3:28 PM
Subject: [Ansteorra] How to get to do things in the sca long
Hi this is one of my helpng hints stuff. It is long. If you have any
insights on being able to do things in the SCA please add them to the post.
i give everyone the right to reprint this in any format forever.
Ann Lanphier Herbert
April 15, 2011
willow de wisp
How to get to do things in the SCA<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
By Duchess Willow de Wisp, OL, OP, OR
Lion of Ansteorra, Defender of the Dream
Hello, this is a note from someone who has been in the SCA for over 40
years. I am speaking to the individual who has become frustrated with the
SCA and is thinking about quitting. Either you have reached a stage in your
SCA career where you want to do more or you are bored with what you have
doing.
Let us talk about wanting to do more. After your first two years and about
every two years after that people become bored with what they have been
doing. They often want to give back to the group or do something more
exciting and creative. Often they run into what appears to be a power block
of older members deeply entrenched into the system. This power group seem
not to want to give up control and there appears to be no need for you to
take part. When you introduce new ideas they don’t seem excited and seem to
put obstacles in your way.
This behavior make people upset and they do not want to fight so they drift
away to another organization
Most people who leave at this point believe our leaders are power mad
clique. This is not the case. Most of our groups have developed a “working”
clique, but this has nothing to do with power and control. They are people
very much like yourself who have taken on the responsibility of making sure
that we continue to have events and activities. They might be tired, but
they have done this so long that it is part of their identity in the SCA..
The policy of having only a limited amount of events means there are no open
places for new people to express themselves. First the local “working” group
does not “need” new people because they are capable of doing a limited
amount of events by themselves. Second they enjoy working with their friends
and if new members took over their work force they what would they do.
Thirdly, the groups need profitable events to cover their working cost and
they don’t know if newer people have the skills to run a major event.
The answer to this problem is for groups to have small activities or events
where people can express them selves and feel needed and useful, and learn
the skills for putting on event. In the past establish “work” groups have
not approved of this option.
When you get to this point, the people, who have been doing so much of the
work, just want to rest on their “off” time. Many times they don’t even want
to go to events and they certainly do not want to think about events. The
officers, who usually are part of the “working” force, do not have the
energy to handle small events.
Also if your group takes part in a war that takes up a lot of money, time
and energy and the “work” force is just tapped out.
Normally SCA group only recruit only a few people each season and with a
2-5 year turn over of new people there are usually not enough new people to
put on a little event or enough extra people to go to it.
So what can you do?
You can do things in your own areas. You don’t need to get permission to
express yourself at your own table or campsite or on the bodies of your
family, and yourself. As long as you are not doing something illegal or in
bad taste, and you are doing something that brings ambiance and style to the
Hall or the camp site you will get brownie points and the community will
smile on you. Having a Community happy with you is a wonderful reward.
Also if the community sees you dong something creative on your own or with
people they will realize that you are at the point where you can be trusted
with a task and it will be done well with little or no supervision on their
part. Many of our “working” group would like more creative things done at
our events, but they are so busy they do not have the energy to train or
supervise those activities.
Sometimes the reason individuals are not allowed to take on position of
responsibility is s a matter of communication. We have many different
generations of people in the SCA and words don’t mean the same for all of
us. The older and more stable the “work” group the more likely they are to
have developed their own “language” to work together. The “work” group may
not even realize that they have done this. If you want to able to work on
important things in your group you must understand this language. They do
not have the time to teach you so you must take the time to learn it. This
language thing is a common feature of well working groups so the skill of
learning a “working” language will stand you in good stead.
Many events have “dead” times. We do most of our business between 10 am and
10Pm. After court there is often nothing. crown Tourneys have so much dead
time you could put a whole event in them and it would not’t be noticed. If
you don’t mind working with the difficulties of these times you could do
something then. But please remember that people often go home because there
are no official activities on the information so you will have to advertise
a lot and often you will not be able use the event web site or official news
channels.
Start small. For example, bring games to the hall and set them up and start
playing and teaching or start teaching something new. Sometimes this does
not’t work because you are the only “new” person in the hall.
Almost every “work” force I have dealt with has people that come with the
people working. They can be spouses, children and friends. Look for
activities that might entertain them.
Do not be discouraged if you don’t get a lot of people taking part. The
“working” force often notices and if they see skills or ideas they could use
to expand and see you are good worker and that you do good work they will
often bring you into the team. They did not exclude you because they are
hateful people they exclude you because they are working so hard that they
have tunnel vision.
Go to the business and populace meetings. Don’t try to be heard at the big
meetings. Go to them and listen and then talk to the people in charge. Often
the officers and movers and shakers get together in a casual social
situation right after the meeting. Brain storming and problem are solved
here.. Go to these places listen and carefully make suggestions. Control
yourself. If you have suggestions that might help make them short and quick.
Everyone has limited time. This is a great place to volunteer. Take on their
jobs first and get them done quietly and do them well. After you have shown
you have workable ideas then suggest your ideas for events and activities.
Suggest your ideas well in advance and give the people a chance to think
them over. Talk to people who should be asked. Don’t ask who you should talk
to just talk to everyone you think should be asked. The BB and officers is
good people to start with. Suggest the idea in a casual way. Don’t expect
approval. In fact expect to be told why you can not do this thing. This is
not necessarily a “no”. This could be just a warning about problems you will
have to deal with. Then work on the hurdles. Talk to members of the “work”
team, past and present. They can give you insights and help you phrase the
concept in such a way that it will be understood.
Don’t tell people what they should do. Make it clear that you plan to do the
work on this idea. Remember that the “work” group is going to need the
populace to help with the event. Try to recruit people who are not currently
counted on by the establish “work” group. New comers and semi-retired people
are good sources of unattached labor.
Watch out for the sacred cow. If an idea is dismissed loudly and out right
try to find out why and try to find out what part of the idea is the
problem. Sometimes groups just do not like an idea and you will get a “no”.
Don’t push it. Be willing to scale back and maybe come up with something
similar that does not’t bother people.
We often expect things to come to soon. The most common mistake today’s
young people is to expect the speed of the Internet when dealing with human
groups. Remember everyone you talk to only does the SCA as a hobby so they
must fit the SCA around their regular life. This produces time lags. Fast
communication dozen’t help if they must wait to the week end to get it done.
Even though people tell you to wait that does not’t mean you should do
nothing. Volunteer to do things and help people with stuff. We are
chronically understaffed at events. If you keep your eyes and ears open you
will find people who need help. Please remember that tired people are not
opened to change. When you help and see a way to do things better and you
suggest it there is a great chance that you will get an inflexible “No”.
This is not a rejection of you or even your idea. This is a tired person who
does not have the energy to think of new ideas.
I can not promise that you will become part of the mover and shaker team in
your area, but these behaviors have been known to help.
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