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<div><span class="gmail_quote">On 10/26/06, <b class="gmail_sendername">Alden Drake</b> <<a href="mailto:alden_drake@sbcglobal.net">alden_drake@sbcglobal.net</a>> wrote:</span>
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<div style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif">While it might be late in the schedule for *this* Eisteddfod, is Eisteddfod a biddable event for any group to host? I have no objection to Steppes hosting it if they desire to do so, as it provides a relatively central location, but there's something to be said for a kingdom championship that rotates through the various regions too. For one, it might bring experienced bards into regions that are bard-light who might enjoy hearing some performers that they don't get to hear that often. It could also inspire bards to travel around more, and thereby gain a bit more kingdom-wide renown.
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<div style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif">Alden</div></span></div></div></blockquote>
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<div> I'm not against the idea of having Eisteddfod move around if it's handled well, but I will say that the current practice of having it at Twelfth Night works a lot better than than what we had before. I think that Finnacan makes some good points. It wasn't always handled well in the past.
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<div> You are also somewhat at the mercy of whoever wants to bid on it. Not every venue works well for Eisteddfod, but if you want to have it in a particular region during a particular time of year you pretty much have to take whatever is offered whether it is suitable or not. While Sokol hall is not an ideal environment for bardic performance, I have seen much worse.
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<div> Twelfth Night is a large and well attended event. Usually there aren't any other events on the same weekend. Other venues will likely be sharing the calender with other events causing some of the bards to have to choose between entering Eisteddfod or supporting their local event. The new Kingdom bard will have to find a group in the appropriate region that is willing to host the next competition. That may not always be easy. And as I said before someone will think it's a great idea to have the Eisteddfod at one of the Kingdom level A & S events. If you are a Bard who is also interested in other Arts and Sciences that is really annoying.
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<div> These problems taken individually or as a whole are not insurmountable. There are solutions. I just want to make sure that we are aware of the problems. In my opinion what we have now is better than what we had before. That doesn't mean that we can't do even better.
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<div> I'm a big believer that if it ain't broke don't fix it. I'm not convinced that what we have now is broke. Before we start making changes I think we need to have a clear idea of what it is that we are trying to achieve and how those changes will help us achieve it. If you can convince me that moving Eisteddfod will strengthen the bardic community or make for a stronger competition then I'll get behind it. For now though it feels like changing things just to be changing them. I was never a big fan of that.
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<div> I definatly think that this is worth discussing though.</div>
<div>Robert</div>
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<div>-- <br>"If you haven't found something strange during the day, it hasn't been much of a day." John A. Wheeler<br><br><a href="mailto:Fitzmorgan@gmail.com">Fitzmorgan@gmail.com</a><br>Yahoo IM: robert_fitzmorgan
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