[Ansteorra] Brevity & Newbies

[Bree Flowers]

Maeve of Muddlety wrote:
> One of the posts that I would agree with are that there needs to be more small local events. We are not going to drive to Oklahoma for a weekend event, or even Dallas unless it's really special or a long weekend.

I do think it might be time for the SCA to reconsider the eventing
model. I understand the desire to interact with a larger pool of
participants when you are trying to be the best at your craft. Whether
it's fighting, archery or A&S, you need that bigger group of skilled
practitioners of your art to compare yourself with, to get feedback
from, and to drive you to achieve greater things. And it's great for
the people playing at that level to have large events to go to. But I
think with gasoline prices where they are, that many of us are
choosing not to travel if we don't *need* to. And while I think that
playing at a Kingdom level is an admirable goal, we need to realize
that there are some people who only want to play at a local level, and
maybe we should embrace those members too if we want to increase our
membership. Might we consider that there are different ways to play
this game, and that both ways are equally valid, and that the
contributions to be had from both types of member are equally positive
to our society?

By association, I think that the assumption that an event is only
successful if the attendance numbers are X or higher is maybe a faulty
assumption. Rental prices are steadily increasing on the larger spaces
we rent, and it's a lot of risk to a group if they put out that rental
fee and don't meet their attendance goals. And why does every event
have to try to be everything for everyone? I propose that event
"success" should be measured not by how many people attended or by how
many activities are offered, but that it didn't lose money and the
people who attended enjoyed themselves, no matter how many people that
is.

An idea to consider... 1 weekend a month set aside for local events
only. I say "set aside" so folks wouldn't feel they had to compete
with a large event elsewhere, or that potential attendees would have
to make a choice between supporting their local group and going to an
event further away that would help with that kingdom-level achievement
I spoke of earlier. And every group would have the option of hosting
an event that same weekend, no worrying about geographical conflicts
or competition. These events would have a target attendance of maybe
20-100 people (and rent halls the correct size to accommodate these
smaller numbers, or just hold them in public spaces like parks). Note
that I said "option", not all groups would hold an event every month,
but they would be allowed to if they chose. They could be general
sorts of events with all activities offered, or more likely, groups
could use this as an opportunity to experiment with things targeted to
a particular audience. Like how about an event whose sole focus is an
entirely period feast? Or a pas-d'armes with only period armor
permitted. Or one that is just a gaming competition (board games,
bocce and other outdoor games, classes on period toys for children).
Or one with a very tight focus and a lot of effort put in to achieve
complete immersion (like a hafla, or a Tudor court, or a Norse
Althing). Whatever catches the imagination and meets the needs of that
local group. There's so many possibilities to experiment and try
something new and bold when it's a small event without a lot of budget
on the line and no risk that you're going to bankrupt your group, so
it would also be a great proving-ground for new event stewards and new
cooks to get their feet wet, thus increasing the pool of people
available to do those jobs at larger events and prevent that burn-out
we were talking about last week. And who knows, you might find some of
the "kingdom level" players would be willing to travel to experience
something new and unique.

Just a thought.

~Astridr