[Bards] So let's.. College Statement

[Scott Barrett]

I like this just as it is. I'm going to keep the entire content of this 
in my response just so folks know what thread I'm referring to.
IF I were to push for any changes, it would be this additional 
statement...

"Membership in the Ansteorran College of Bards grants neither expertise 
nor authority.
  No member of the College, to include officers, shall have the right to
A.) Determine membership in the College
B.) impose standards of performance on any participant in the SCA 
outside the particular format chosen for an individual competition or 
bardic venue, in which participation remains the choice of the 
performer.
The opinions and views of the bardic arts offered by a member or an 
officer will be those of the individual member or officer only and will 
not necessarily represent the views of the Ansteorran College of Bards."

I include this because the Kingdom and the SCA already have standards 
for play and steps in place to deal with any negative issues or 
incidents.
There should be no appearance of exclusivity in this, in my opinion.

I'm also glad this is being discussed here. I don't see even a third of 
us being able to attend a meeting after Twelfth Night.
I would like to suggest we give this statement at least one month 
before certifying it, giving everyone on this list and potential 
members we haven't invited yet a chance to review it. Perhaps it could 
posted at bard.ansteorra.org and we could start spreading the word. It 
would be conceptual only until, say, the fifth of December.

~Finnacan


On Saturday, November 4, 2006, at 10:36 AM, Michael Silverhands wrote:

> My cousins,
>
> I put this to you: we now, at this moment, have a college of
> Ansteorran bards. Every bard in Ansteorra who will go out there and
> encourage the bardic arts is a member. We already have our officers:
> the Premier Bard, and the Deputy KMoAS (Bardic). We already have our
> newsletter (this elist, and the web site at <http://
> bard.ansteorra.org/>).
>
> If some folks feel that we need a formal structure, "articles of
> incorporation" if you will, then I suggest something along these
> lines. This is *very* informally written. I leave it to other
> wordsmiths to reword it to be stuffier^H^H^H^H more technically
> correct, if it needs tinkering.
>
> ----- begin -----
> Statement of Purpose
> * The Ansteorran College of Bards is an informal guild whose members
> practice and promote the bardic arts in the Kingdom of Ansteorra.
>
> Officers
> * The officers are the Premier Bard and the Deputy Kingdom Minister
> of Arts and Sciences (Bardic).
> ** The Premier Bard is the spokesperson for the bardic community.
> Their job is to communicate with members of the college to determine
> their needs, to anticipate their needs, and to communicate those
> needs to the Kingdom officers. It is also their job to travel the
> kingdom promoting the bardic arts by performing, teaching, speaking
> about bardic, and encouraging local bards to do likewise.
> ** The Deputy KMoAS (Bardic) is the spokesperson for the Kingdom and
> the corporation. Their job is to communicate with other Kingdom
> officers, especially branch seneschals and event planners, to promote
> bardic activities at events, especially the Kingdom Eisteddfod.
>
> Members
> * Anyone can be a member of the Ansteorran College of Bards. To be
> one, say you are one, or display the insignia of the College in
> whatever form (belt favor, banner, etc.). The insignia is "Or, a
> mullet of five greater and five lesser points within the frame of an
> Irish harp sable".
> ** The duties of a member are to communicate with the officers of the
> college, and to personally work to promote the bardic arts within
> Ansteorra. They can do this by many ways, for example (but not
> limited to):
> *** perform bardic at events
> *** attend branch meetings, perform bardic at them, and encourage
> newcomers to talk to them about the bardic arts
> *** host bardic circles -- at events, at practices, at demos or in
> your own backyard
> *** teach classes in bardic, either formally or informally, in a
> class setting or one-on-one -- it doesn't matter, as long as teaching
> and learning are getting done
> *** put out a call to other bards when their assistance is needed,
> such as to hold classes or bardic events
> *** answer the call put out by other bards, within the limits of your
> abilities and resources
>
> Resources
> * To facilitate communications among the members and the officers,
> there is an email list (bards at lists.ansteorra.org) and a site on the
> world wide web (<http://bard.ansteorra.org/>). All official
> communications of the college shall be made there.
> ----- end -----
>
> There. What have I left out? There should probably be more, but
> that's a slippery slope. The more rules we write, the more we stand
> to be bound by them. I suggest we say as much as is necessary -- and
> no more.
>
> In my mind, the Premier Bard is to a territorial noble as the Deputy
> KMoAS (Bardic) is to that branch's seneschal. They have different
> jobs; one is on the "roleplay" side and the other is on the
> "business" side, but the "play can't go on" without both of them
> working at it as a team.
>
> I personally don't feel the need for a great deal of structure or
> formality. If someone else does, great: go for it. Do whatever makes
> you happy. But what would make *me* happy is what we've all been
> already talking about: getting off our collective duffs and actively
> working in this kingdom to promote bardcraft. No one of us is an
> island, nor can be very effective on our own. But to bond together, I
> really feel that not much more than the above is needed; that, and
> the willingness to stand up in a crowd and say "I am a bard of
> Ansteorra!", and have someone else stand up and say "Hail and well
> met! So am I!".
>
> Your thoughts?
>
> Michael
>
> p.s. To act -- to stand together -- we just have to *do*. I said this
> earlier in jest, but I think it's ringing pretty true:
>
> "To be is to do. To do is to be. Doo be doo be doo." Who knows, I may
> use that as my motto. :-)
>
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