<html><div style='background-color:'><P>Honorable Michael;</P>
<P>You have done a wonderous job of thinking this out and i totally agree with you on your suggestions. If i could add one thing, it would be that we perhaps, once a year, have a gathering of Bards at a central location to discuss, in person, anything that needs settling. I will be proud to be a member of the college and will wear the emblom proudly, even while fighting in the rapier division.</P>
<P>Lord Cormac Starwalker<BR><BR></P><BR><BR><BR>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Handwriting, Cursive" color=#ff3333><STRONG>Okiewiter</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
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From: <I>Michael Silverhands <silverhands@sbcglobal.net></I><BR>Reply-To: <I>Ansteorran Bardic list <bards@lists.ansteorra.org></I><BR>To: <I>Ansteorran Bardic list <bards@lists.ansteorra.org></I><BR>Subject: <I>Re: [Bards] So let's quit sitting on the sidelines and getdancingalready</I><BR>Date: <I>Sat, 4 Nov 2006 10:36:11 -0600</I><BR>>My cousins,<BR>><BR>>I put this to you: we now, at this moment, have a college of<BR>>Ansteorran bards. Every bard in Ansteorra who will go out there and<BR>>encourage the bardic arts is a member. We already have our officers:<BR>>the Premier Bard, and the Deputy KMoAS (Bardic). We already have our<BR>>newsletter (this elist, and the web site at <http://<BR>>bard.ansteorra.org/>).<BR>><BR>>If some folks feel that we need a formal structure, "articles of<BR>>incorporation" if you will, then I
suggest something along these<BR>>lines. This is *very* informally written. I leave it to other<BR>>wordsmiths to reword it to be stuffier^H^H^H^H more technically<BR>>correct, if it needs tinkering.<BR>><BR>>----- begin -----<BR>>Statement of Purpose<BR>>* The Ansteorran College of Bards is an informal guild whose members<BR>>practice and promote the bardic arts in the Kingdom of Ansteorra.<BR>><BR>>Officers<BR>>* The officers are the Premier Bard and the Deputy Kingdom Minister<BR>>of Arts and Sciences (Bardic).<BR>>** The Premier Bard is the spokesperson for the bardic community.<BR>>Their job is to communicate with members of the college to determine<BR>>their needs, to anticipate their needs, and to communicate those<BR>>needs to the Kingdom officers. It is also their job to travel the<BR>>kingdom promoting the bardic arts by
performing, teaching, speaking<BR>>about bardic, and encouraging local bards to do likewise.<BR>>** The Deputy KMoAS (Bardic) is the spokesperson for the Kingdom and<BR>>the corporation. Their job is to communicate with other Kingdom<BR>>officers, especially branch seneschals and event planners, to promote<BR>>bardic activities at events, especially the Kingdom Eisteddfod.<BR>><BR>>Members<BR>>* Anyone can be a member of the Ansteorran College of Bards. To be<BR>>one, say you are one, or display the insignia of the College in<BR>>whatever form (belt favor, banner, etc.). The insignia is "Or, a<BR>>mullet of five greater and five lesser points within the frame of an<BR>>Irish harp sable".<BR>>** The duties of a member are to communicate with the officers of the<BR>>college, and to personally work to promote the bardic arts within<BR>>Ansteorra.
They can do this by many ways, for example (but not<BR>>limited to):<BR>>*** perform bardic at events<BR>>*** attend branch meetings, perform bardic at them, and encourage<BR>>newcomers to talk to them about the bardic arts<BR>>*** host bardic circles -- at events, at practices, at demos or in<BR>>your own backyard<BR>>*** teach classes in bardic, either formally or informally, in a<BR>>class setting or one-on-one -- it doesn't matter, as long as teaching<BR>>and learning are getting done<BR>>*** put out a call to other bards when their assistance is needed,<BR>>such as to hold classes or bardic events<BR>>*** answer the call put out by other bards, within the limits of your<BR>>abilities and resources<BR>><BR>>Resources<BR>>* To facilitate communications among the members and the officers,<BR>>there is an email list
(bards@lists.ansteorra.org) and a site on the<BR>>world wide web (<http://bard.ansteorra.org/>). All official<BR>>communications of the college shall be made there.<BR>>----- end -----<BR>><BR>>There. What have I left out? There should probably be more, but<BR>>that's a slippery slope. The more rules we write, the more we stand<BR>>to be bound by them. I suggest we say as much as is necessary -- and<BR>>no more.<BR>><BR>>In my mind, the Premier Bard is to a territorial noble as the Deputy<BR>>KMoAS (Bardic) is to that branch's seneschal. They have different<BR>>jobs; one is on the "roleplay" side and the other is on the<BR>>"business" side, but the "play can't go on" without both of them<BR>>working at it as a team.<BR>><BR>>I personally don't feel the need for a great deal of structure or<BR>>formality. If someone else does,
great: go for it. Do whatever makes<BR>>you happy. But what would make *me* happy is what we've all been<BR>>already talking about: getting off our collective duffs and actively<BR>>working in this kingdom to promote bardcraft. No one of us is an<BR>>island, nor can be very effective on our own. But to bond together, I<BR>>really feel that not much more than the above is needed; that, and<BR>>the willingness to stand up in a crowd and say "I am a bard of<BR>>Ansteorra!", and have someone else stand up and say "Hail and well<BR>>met! So am I!".<BR>><BR>>Your thoughts?<BR>><BR>>Michael<BR>><BR>>p.s. To act -- to stand together -- we just have to *do*. I said this<BR>>earlier in jest, but I think it's ringing pretty true:<BR>><BR>>"To be is to do. To do is to be. Doo be doo be doo." Who knows, I may<BR>>use that as my motto.
:-)<BR>><BR>>_______________________________________________<BR>>Bards mailing list<BR>>Bards@lists.ansteorra.org<BR>>http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/bards-ansteorra.org<BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></div></html>