[Ansteorra] ideas was Presentation at Round Table

[David Brown]

We need to get more serious about what the SCA is. I am no period Nazi but I really find it horrid when people are in court on their phones or drinking from a soda can. 

David Brown

There is no better therapy than a dogs love.

Tina Michael <tinabetta at gmail.com> wrote:

>Yeah, sometimes it seems that we are just sitting around in funny clothes
>feeling uncomfortable while others are looking at their iphone. We need the
>magic back.
>
>Tina
>in favor of magic
>
>On Tue, Jan 29, 2013 at 11:01 AM, Dragonetti <dragonetti at generich.com>wrote:
>
>> Greetings from Baron Armand Dragonetti,
>>
>> First, I applaud the crown's effort to acknowledge and highlight this
>> problem and to take a systematic approach to analyze and address it. It is
>> a
>> serious problem without a simple solution. (Otherwise it would have already
>> been corrected.)
>>
>> IMHO, declining attendance is the result of numerous contributing factors.
>> Tight finances in a poor economy. Too much modern familiarity diminishes
>> the
>> experience for many as well. Some have indicated lack of recognition after
>> many years of effort. Others simply burn out after too much "drama" or too
>> much "work". Personally, I suspect the "aging" of the SCA plays a large
>> role.
>>
>> As a new player, I was excited about the "magic", the potential for honor
>> and chivalry that I found lacking in modern life. When the SCA was
>> relatively young, the majority of players were new. Over time, veteran
>> players who achieved some manner of recognition tended to stay active.
>> Those
>> who did not, tended to move on to other things. So over time, you see a
>> room
>> full of "hats" and fewer and fewer without "hats". A very different "look"
>> than those nostalgic early days. A new participant sees a "long road ahead"
>> to ever attain similar stature, since they quickly learn that a peerage or
>> a
>> hat tends to come after a long period of time. By definition such achievers
>> are now older; a veteran with many experiences on their resume.
>>
>> Naturally, these folks tend to be chosen to lead local groups and autocrat
>> large events, so as not to waste resources with an unseasoned leader's
>> ideas/plans that may have proven unsuccessful in the "early days",
>> ironically, by those same veterans.
>>
>> The fun in the good-ole-days of the early SCA was produced by a much less
>> experienced crew of younger leaders, pioneering the game for us. (The
>> pioneering itself was much of the "fun" that gets remembered.) Not to be
>> discriminatory, but what do you suppose was the average age of a
>> Baron/Baroness in the 1970's or 1980's as compared to the average age of
>> today's leaders?
>>
>> I would suggest that older folks, with kids, mortgages, etc, tend to be a
>> little less "silly" than they were before acquiring those responsibilities.
>> However, silly often equates to fun.
>>
>> It also occurs to me that it is much easier to stay in persona with a
>> stranger or newcomer than with your friend of 15+ years. As a long time
>> friend, I'm likely to be more interested in what's going on with you in
>> your
>> modern life. How's your job? Your kids? Your thoughts on the latest movie,
>> etc. For a stranger or newcomer, I'm interested in your impression of the
>> SCA and am excited to talk about all it has to offer and to impart whatever
>> medieval education I feel knowledgeable on.
>>
>> The creep of the modern-world that diminishes our game is very much the
>> result of aging participants. It will take a conscious, extra effort to
>> thwart this effect. And may require purposely choosing some younger, less
>> experienced leaders, if nothing more than to give a little "hope" to the
>> newcomers that do manage to find us. And who knows, they might be a little
>> silly and create a little more "fun" that brings in other, young/new
>> participants.
>>
>> Just a few random thoughts off the top of me noggin,
>> Bloody Baron Armand Dragonetti
>>
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>
>
>
>-- 
>Any day above ground is a good day!
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