[Ansteorra] An answer to the population problem

[Hugh & Belinda Niewoehner via Ansteorra]

Rats.  I thought I had proof read this, but my commentary on events in a 
close by area all happening in a short time span should have read " that 
does /not/ address the issue of "real world"...

Sorry,

Ismet

On 8/19/2014 5:54 PM, Hugh & Belinda Niewoehner via Ansteorra wrote:
> All the posts on this subject in my opinion have carried valuable 
> points.  I believe, as I have said before, that it is 'life in the 
> modern world' that contributes most to the lack of attendance, 
> membership growth, and general participation. Whether that is due to 
> employment, finances, family obligations, health, or other non-SCA 
> commitments, it is something the Society has no control over.
>
> The cost of membership (not implying that it was or was not necessary 
> to increase it due to rising legal costs, etc.) has made it more 
> difficult for many.  As Arthur pointed out, we have also considered 
> whether paying the non-member surcharge would not be more economical 
> considering the few events we can attend.  We keep our memberships 
> more in the spirit of supporting the organization then in avoiding the 
> non-member fees.  Many can not afford that luxury.  The high cost of 
> membership can also deter willing 'volunteers' from holding office 
> since /I believe/ many of the offices require it.
>
> As Lady Maria pointed out some are not going to events because of 
> economical issues.  This may, indeed, be causing a rippling affect in 
> that less active or relatively new people aren't going because their 
> friends won't be there.  Perhaps a solution in the case of gas prices 
> could be in car pooling and sharing of expenses.  But with car space 
> at a premium (camping gear--especially SCA style takes a lot of room) 
> and schedules not always in agreement, this may not be a feasible 
> solution either.
>
> Alma Danks has presented an excellent observation about the scheduling 
> of events.  Don't remember that coming up before on this topic.  I 
> thought we used to try and not schedule events close by in clusters 
> because of hurting attendance.  It may be that our schedule is just so 
> full now that this happens.  Everyone wants those prime dates because 
> of weather,  wars, holiday, etc. Perhaps money could be set aside 
> during the course of the year so that more of these could be attended, 
> but that does address the issue of 'real world' schedule commitments 
> conflicting.
>
> As to leadership vs. management, I am not sure I understand all of Her 
> Graces' points.   I do believe that under good leadership, people can 
> be inspired and desire to contribute and participate more.  If a 
> particular peer is well liked, respected, etc. they can cause others 
> to want to emulate them, serve or work with them and so forth.  And 
> unfortunately, where humans are involved it can also be warped into 
> cults of personalities becoming divisive and problematic.  Officers 
> are like management as they handle the business end of the game.  They 
> are usually the ones held legally responsible for actions so it is my 
> opinion that they should have final say on certain rulings.  For 
> example, a Baroness may wish to use funds of a group for something 
> that SCA corpora doesn't allow.  The Sensechal may have to over rule 
> her--hopefully, tactfully.  The dissolving of guilds by anyone is 
> unpleasant.  I'm not sure whose jurisdiction it does/should fall 
> under.  But just because a guild or household has been dissolved, I 
> can not understand how it would be possible to forbid people gathering 
> and enjoying a particular hobby or activity.  It might not be listed 
> as an 'official' guild, but what is to prevent someone from saying, 
> "Come by my house/camp.  We're having a middle eastern dance 
> session/party.  If it's successful we'll be doing it again on Tuesday 
> night/at such and such event."
>
> H.E. Ian mentions civility.  There will always be disagreements and 
> misunderstandings.  It's present in any group.  But these can be 
> handled with civility, respect, and, yes, kindness.  I was encouraged 
> by the article written about Pensic by the newspaper woman.  More than 
> once she quoted someone saying, "Everyone is so polite."  Even if we 
> grumble at each other at least to the newbies and press we still 
> appeared 'shining' at Pensic.  Compared to so much of what's out 
> there, SCA folk,/in general/, are exceptionally nice, civil, kind, 
> generous, etc.  We're all human, we all make mistakes, do stupid 
> things.  It's easy to find fault with others. And it's easy to be 
> offended when no offense was intended.  But perhaps it would be good 
> to take the advice of someone much wiser than I'll ever be and 
> consider that before we try to help take the splinter out of our 
> friend's eye, we first take the rafter out of our own.  After all we 
> can't really control any one but ourselves.
>
> Ismet
>
>
>
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