[Ansteorra] A Plea on Behalf of Newcomers

[Galen of Ockham via Ansteorra]

As a member of the Air Force, I move a lot. So even though I’ve been a member of the SCA for somewhere around 30 years, I have lived in 6 different Kingdoms and been a part of at least 10 different local groups. That means every couple of years I become a newcomer all over again and this makes me very sensitive to issues that affect the new folk. A pervasive trend that I’ve seen throughout my travels in the SCA is a tendency to assume that that everyone is familiar with the local region and customs. Announcements for activities tend to leave out key information that new people aren’t going to know, and may not ask questions for fear of looking foolish. Recent examples I’ve seen are announcements such as “here’s the children’s activities” with a detailed schedule, but no date or name of the event; an announcement that “we’re meeting at Fredrica’s house then going to Angelo’s” with no address given; arriving at a meeting in mundane clothes and finding out it’s a garbed event (or vice versa); and “the meeting is the same place as last year”. 
Please, when putting out a notice to the general Populace include complete information: When, Where (including street addresses or directions – preferably that work with online maps or GPS navigation), garb/mundane clothes, contact info/website to get more information, and anything special to bring (chairs, food, drink, work clothes). 
We all get used to working with the ‘usual crowd’, but we also want to make sure we are open and welcoming to people new to our Game or just new to the area. Even folks who have lived in the same area for years may want to branch out into new activities and aren’t familiar with the customs of that sub-group. This is one area where it’s hard to have “too much information”.

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Magister Galenus Ockhamnesis                                         xb
Friar Galen of Ockham, MC, OP 

Physikis et Astronomus 

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