[Ansteorra] Participation vs. Recruitment (long)

[Casey Weed]

Hosey, your argument hinges on absolute statements, some of which are
unsupported and others of which are just patently false.

" You are only supporting the MET when you go to the MET"...

This is just ridiculous- humming with your fingers in your ears.  We've
already established in this thread over and over with hard data- not your
wild conjecture and loud personal opinion- that local growth DOES
manufacture Kingdom level growth and event participation.  It just doesn't
prioritize it to your liking.  Your.  Argument.  Is.  Invalid.  It does not
hold water.  There is plenty of evidence to the contrary, both anecdotal
AND clinical and you have been provided with both and addressed neither,
which, in terms of debate displays a very weak position.

To couch it in your own metaphor: people who never GO to the Met still help
PAY for the met via monetary contributions (Cherie and I support several
museums that we don't frequent but once every four or six years- and in
parallel, our SCA memberships help pay for infrastructure for events we
don't attend), through direct referrals ("Oh, you'll be in Chicago this
weekend?  Hey, DON'T MISS the Institute of Art... they have this Cranach
painting that is AWESOME."), and we evangelize constantly to the people we
mix with at the local level ("Someday, you simply MUST see this piece of
art in person- this photo doesn't do it justice.")  We understand that you
passionately believe all scadians should have your value set about events
and gatherings but sooner or later you will have to embrace the fact that
1.) that ain't gonna happen and 2.) you're already outnumbered by a
landslide, and 3.)  by people who have laid out better arguments using data
rather than opinion.

Wake up, and nod to at least the * possibility* of a plausible position of
dissent to your ideals.  We understand what you think the SCA should want-
a majority of members who place a high value on large and frequent events-
and it might be a valid one.  But you hold to a diminishing tenet: "We
should focus recruitment efforts on people who will value eventing-
particularly wide and frequent eventing."  You have yet to establish a good
reason why we should share this opinion that is, so far, not popular by
comparison, and also not well thought-out.  We understand what you believe
but you have yet to convince your opposition why *we* should believe it.

Dieterich