[Bordermarch] Red Tape / Round Table, recap notes from Kingdomn Seneschal

[tessa]

Loooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnng read.

Bordermarch, where the Dream lives, 
SCA is fun, yes, but it is also work on behalf of a core group of dependable officers to meet expectations of Law.
Be very pleased about your B & B who represent the Crown so well here, your effective officers, timely reports, good waiver-ing, event doings, coordinating, overtimers, and, as noted below, gate personell who had a challenge at Melees/Crown gate. 

The Kingdom populace has been informed via Kingdom Exchecquer at Round Table that it is widely known that not everyone who entered gate at Special Crown actually registered or paid, decreasing the event income;
yet the landlord at Jones Country expected to be paid for a larger number found to be on site, for rental of his park.  

The barony still managed to give a sizeable gift to Kingdom for hosting (piggy-baking) Special Fall Crown Tournament with Melees 2007, which carried out very well and was bragged about at Round Table.  

Thanks again for each one of the populace who stepped into taking work loads for that purpose.  
Please See Master Pug's detailed recap of the entire Kingdom below.

Good Deaming,
Tessa




From: Master Phelim Gervase called Pug 
Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2008 11:08 PM
Subject: [Redtape] Round Tabel Recap notes


Note: The below information is based on the day of King's Round Table. Information has changed since then on some items and many groups have resolved their outstanding issues. Any errors introduced are not on purpose and based on the best information available at the time of the event and this recap.

 

General State of Affairs

  a.. Crown 
    a.. Primary discussion focused around the change to the proposed changes to the Kingdom calendar for Crown Tournament and Coronation. The reasoning behind it was to have Heirs early enough, in particular for Pennsic, in order to be able to perform negotiations for Gulf Wars. This is particularly needed to ensure we have Allies. The main complaints fielded were for the extreme weather in the new months. There were also minor issues raised about the extra costs, the fact Round Table will no longer be at the beginning of the Reign, and  concerns for "lame duck" Crowns. All of the issues were discussed and considered to not be a significant enough of an issue. 
  b.. Seneschal 
    a.. Overall, the Kingdom is doing fairly well, although it has certainly been interesting times with the dissolution of the Western Region, background checks, pay to play discussions, and the like. 
    b.. An entire hour was allowed for discussion of the background checks around activities focused for minors: Minister of Children, Youth Combat and Youth Rapier activities. FAQ has been posted to Red Tape list and will be made available on the website. 
    c.. Crown Prince & Princess could not fulfill their duties and stepped down as of Three Kings. This was announced at Rosenfeld's Three Kings (11/3/07) and a new tournament at Bordermarch Autumn Melees (11/18/07). 
    d.. Issues in the Western Region have come to a head because of the Great Officers and Crown deciding that there had been enough years of warnings without significant improvements and have dissolved the region and recommended 5 of the 7 groups for dissolution. 
    e.. The waiver secretary transitioned in January and we have discussed concerns and we will be able to make a smooth transition with better responsiveness from the new officer and communication processes being investigated. 
  c.. Herald 
o        A new College of Heralds Administrative Handbook, begun under the tenure of Druinne de Salesberie, has been completed and made available on the heralds' website.

o        HL Emma de Featherstan and Lord Reis ap Tuder have set up an online internal kingdom commentary system and should encourage more commentary.

o        A total number of 133 heraldic submissions for 2007.  Based on the current 2007 LOARs from Laurel, our acceptance rate is 89%, which is lower than our normal rate.

o        Asterisk Herald had mundane issues arise which required her to resign from the office.  Unfortunately, this has created a two-month gap in our submission processing and we are working to get things picked back up and in order again.  HL Estrill Swet has stepped in as Acting Asterisk Herald until a replacement can be found, and will work with Bordure to get all the files and paperwork caught up from the previous Asterisk as swiftly as possible.

o        The newly appointed Arbalest has had to step down and this office is once again open for applications, due February 15, 2008.  Several applications have been received so far.

o        Baroness Suzanne Gabrielle Marie Beraud will be succeeding Mistress Hillary in the office of Star Signet.  She has announced new officers for the offices of Golden Scroll, Northern Regional Scribe, and Scribal Web Admin.  

§         Marshal

o        A new handbook was signed into law at Coronation and made available on the website.

o        Ld. Eric Clawhand is the new youth boffer marshal. It was a difficult selection between him and Centurion Uther.

o        HL Rixende will continue being publications deputy, and has also absorbed Baron Godwin's training deputy role.

o        Injuries:

§         Three injuries in armored combat; a cut eyebrow from shifting padding, and a broken arm from a bad fall, and a twisted ankle.

§         One injury in rapier combat; a sprained back during melees at 3 Kings.

o        We are continuing with the flail experiment into the 3rd reign. I will be allowing the two handed flails to be added to this sequence. Centurion Daire de Haiya will be starting the low-profile thrusting tip experiment in the next month of so.

o        Baroness Claire will be stepping down as Ansteorra's Youth Rapier Marshal and that position is to be eliminated from the marshallate structure as a DEM as Youth Rapier will now fall directly under the KRM and the regular rapier chain of command.

§         Chronicler

o        Weighing different cost and income efforts with regards to the Blackstar in order to work within the available funds.

o        Kudos to Emerald Keep, Loch Ruadh, Rosenfeld, Steppes, Gate's Edge, Graywood, Loch Soiller, Stargate, Brad Leah, Eldern Hills, Mooneschadowe, Northkeep, Wiesenfeuer, Bjornsborg, Bryn Gwald and Raven's Fort who have been sending in printed copies of their newsletters so there is a pool to choose the William Blackfox Award nominations.

o        Kudos to my financial deputy, Baroness Safiye, for all her hard work keeping up with the Black Star account.

§         Hospitaler

o        Working with regionals to get a Hospitaler in as many groups as possible.

o        On-line reporting is working again and the issues with the system have been fixed.

o        New catchy one-page flyer has been created to help with recruitment particular in college aged individuals.

 

 

Law Changes and Possible Changes

  a.. A change in the profit split percentages for Kingdom events was read and signed into Law at Stargate Yule (12/1/07) with the changes being as follows: 
    a.. Crown, Coronation & Queen's - 50% 
    b.. Royal Huntsman, King's Lancer and Eisteddfod - 10% 
    c.. All others - 30% regardless of whether it is piggy-backed or not.  There is already a benefit to the group in having an additional Kingdom Calendar event. 
  b.. Proposal to change Bordermarch's Perpetual Event Date from the Third Weekend in November to the Weekend before Thanksgiving. 
  c.. Proposal to make changes to Crown Tournament and Coronation in order to have support for negotiations and other Gulf War activities. The change would be: 
    a.. Coronation in May and November 
    b.. Queen's Champion within 6 weeks of Coronation 
    c.. Crown Tournament in January and July 
    d.. Roundtable within 30 days of Crown Tournament 
  d.. Membership confusion: Our Kingdom Law requires group numbers to be based on subscribing members which was not well known by the populace. The Kingdom Seneschal is bouncing around different ideas regarding possible changes to Kingdom Law on how to count membership to make it clear while increasing the numbers to reflect the inclusion of all membership types and general viability of a group. 
 

Because of the desire to spend as much time as possible on the topic of Coronation and Crown Tournament changes, we kept general discussions to a minimum and focused on the kudos and the things to be noted. When there are "negative" items listed they should not always be considered chastisements depending on the severity of the issue, but things to be noted and worked upon by the group - as well as other groups to be aware of so they don't have the same pitfalls.

 

Central Region

Central Regional Minister of A&S is accepting applications.

 

  a.. Dragonsfire Tor 
  b.. Elfsea 
    a.. Communication with Steppes on "regional" Twelfth night were strained in regards to event relationships because of some confusion with the financial committee. 
    b.. Elfsea's Herald is stepping down in January with applications due by Feb 15. 
  c.. Emerald Keep 
    a.. Sporadic reporting issues and trouble staying on top of waiver issues. 
    b.. Waivers for July have been reported as lost with appropriate punishment being considered. 
    c.. Group active core membership appears to have diminished in 2007. 
    d.. Because of on-going communication issues within the Financial Committee causing animosity between the Seneschal and Exchequer, the Regional Seneschal put additional measures on the group requiring the committee members to sign the approved budgets and send copies to regionals through Fall of 2008. 
  d.. Glaslyn 
  e.. Lindenwood 
  f.. Loch Ruadh 
  g.. Rosenfeld 
    a.. Some misunderstandings in the transition of the seneschal office that were addressed by the Regional Seneschal and things are back on track. 
    b.. Despite last minute changes in support staff for Three Kings, this group did outstanding and the attendees to the event would have never known. This speaks highly of those individuals that stepped forward to fill in the gaps. 
    c.. Three Kings event report slightly late. 
  h.. Steppes 
 

Coastal Region

Coastal Regional Herald will be taking a leave of absence when she has her baby and her ER deputy will be stepping in during that time.

Coastal Regional Knight Marshal is transitioning to Ld. Jean Claude.

 

  a.. Bordermarch 
    a.. The group really stepped up and put on a fantastic Autumn Melees and Crown Tourney. 
    b.. People need to be aware that when they come through gate and don't sign in that they need to go back and pay later. Autumn Melees is based on the number of people on-site as judged by the site owners and the count was significantly higher than the final gate count. 
    c.. No newsletter received since September and a follow-up with the group will be happening. Discussions with Territorial Nobility found out that it had been produced and copies would be sent on to the Kingdom Chronicler for the record. 
  b.. Gate's Edge 
    a.. Gate's Edge is concentrating on their fiber arts guild and the newcomers' household they are developing. 
  c.. Greywood 
    a.. The Seneschal has done a good job keeping the peace in the group, however he is moving out of state.  Someone is interested in taking over the position, but there is concern about membership numbers that need to be focused on. 
  d.. Loch Soilleir 
    a.. Treasurer reports were grossly late prior to transition of the office but should be caught up by EoY. 
  e.. Seawinds 
    a.. Group has expressed interest in learning the steps necessary to be elevated to Barony status and the Kingdom Seneschal will be working with them on this. 
  f.. Stargate 
    a.. Stargate is looking at how they hold meetings and want to try to change the way they do their meetings to encourage newcomers.  They have been concentrating on getting their guild memberships up and keeping the guilds going. 
  g.. Stonebridge Keep 
    a.. Recommended for dissolution in October and should be recognized at the January Board meeting. 
  h.. Westgate 
    a.. Westgate is struggling just a bit with memberships.  There are truly only a small number who make up the core active group even though they show having 24 sustaining members. During the summer they discussed the health of the group and came up with ways to improve its membership. 
    b.. They did a demo and plan on a few more for this year.  They do have a couple of newcomers that have just moved into the area.  
 

Northern Region

 

  a.. Brad Leah 
    a.. Missed more than 6 Minister of A&S reports this year but has caught up and looking for a replacement. 
    b.. Treasurer is stepping down but no applications to date. 
  b.. Chemin Noir 
    a.. Regional will have discussions with the Seneschal and Northkeep's Seneschal and Territorial Nobility about the viability of the group. It has been incipient for years while being borderline with membership and activity. 
    b.. Fair of the Harvest event report is missing the second page and needs to be corrected ASAP. 
  c.. Eldern Hills 
    a.. Samhain event report was one month late with errors and needs to be corrected right away. 
  d.. Mooneschadowe 
    a.. Membership levels have become borderline and are being addressed by the group in order to raise them again with the population probably already being back up as of Round Table. 
    b.. Looking for a new Treasurer. 
  e.. Namron 
    a.. Had waiver issues and had to have martial activities suspended in October. Resolved in mid-January allowing them to resume. 
    b.. Missed a couple Minister of A&S reports but no issues. 
    c.. Treasurer office is currently open with two applications with decision ASAP. Slightly late on Protectorate NMS. 
  f.. Northkeep 
    a.. Ice storm caused some chaos, but Lady Ciana and Baron Ian really stepped forward helped manage this and take care of their membership base well. 
  g.. Skorrgardr 
    a.. Had waiver issues and had to have martial activities suspended in October. Resolved quite quickly allowing them to resume. 
    b.. The group paid to have some cookbooks printed to sell as a fundraiser.  One of the individuals who sold some of the books says her child threw away the envelope with the collected funds.  A plan was developed and she successfully made reparations in a timely basis.  Mistress Saundra, our Kingdom Exchequer, oversaw this situation. 
  h.. Wiesenfeur 
    a.. There are some herald reporting issues and Wiesenfeuer's herald is stepping down, with no other applicants yet. 
    b.. Missed 3 of 6 Minister of A&S reports, but the office has not changed hands. 
 

Southern Region

Southern Regional Seneschal transitioned to Mistress Gwyneth Blackrose.

Southern Regional Herald states he wants to step down so applications are being opened up for transition of the office.

Southern Regional Rapier Marshal will be stepping down.

Need a Southern Regional Missile Marshal.

Southern Regional Hospitaler is open for applications without any applications to date.

 

  a.. Bjornsborg 
    a.. Seneschal recently transitioned and seems enthusiastic.  No problems reported.  They continue to be an active group. 
    b.. Treasurer is getting reports in on time but having communication issues. 
  b.. Bryn Gwlad 
    a.. Territorial nobility of Bryn Gwlad announced at the October business meeting that he is stepping down with transition to occur at Candlemas (2/2/08). 
    b.. Treasurer computer was stolen, but all files were backed up and will be recreated. 
  c.. Ffynnon Gath 
    a.. The waiver secretary has this group down as missing several reports. The seneschal assures that they were sent in. Regional requested that the seneschal speak to the outgoing as well as the incoming waiver secretary about this to get it corrected. 
    b.. Seneschal has announced she is stepping down but Regional has not received any applications as of Round Table. 
    c.. Seneschal did not report for September, October and November according to waiver report. The seneschal was surprised by this and will be looking into it. 
  d.. Raven's Fort 
    a.. New Seneschal has really stepped up to help straighten out some of the outstanding items. 
    b.. Outstanding waiver issue was dealt with in early January and the Baron was very apologetic since there was no excuse for it being overlooked. 
o        Raven's Wings was published in the December 2007 Black Star.

    a.. The office of Raven's Fort's Herald has been a bit of concern, with the herald in office's membership renewal and the length of his time in office being of some concern.  There is another person in the barony interested in the office, so that should get resolved soon. 
    b.. Only 2 Minister of A&S reports received this Reign, but a new officer is taking over. 
    c.. Treasurer reports are only current through 3rd quarter and the Regional is working with them to get caught up by EoY. 
  a.. Shadowlands 
    a.. Seneschal transitioned this month and should be at Round Table to take the required classes. 
    b.. One outstanding warrant issue that regional is talking to them about. 
    c.. Only 2 Minister of A&S reports received this Reign and a new officer is being sought. 
    d.. Treasurer is moving in 3 weeks and the ER deputy will step in until a replacement can be found. 
  b.. Tir Medoin 
    a.. Seneschal is very prompt with reports and has not reported any problems. 
    b.. While a small group, it appears healthy. 
    c.. Received 4 of 6 Minister of A&S reports this Reign. 
 

Dissolved Western Region

All groups being polled with regards to what groups to merge with and which region to be consolidated into.

The title of Equinox Herald will be kept in reserve as a heraldic title to be reused in the future.

 

  a.. Adlerrsruhe, An Loch, Blacklake, Crossrode Keep and Mendersham 
    a.. Recommended for dissolution and are being investigated by the Society Seneschal with a ruling expected at the April meeting. 
  b.. Bonwicke 
    a.. Territorial nobility of Bonwicke announced at the November business meeting that they are stepping down with transition to occur at Champions of Bonwicke (4/26/08). 
  c.. Trelac 
    a.. Group is fairly healthy and has expressed interest in learning the steps necessary to be elevated to Barony status and the Kingdom Seneschal will be working with them on this. 
    b.. Received only one report this reign from the Minister of A&S with a new officer stepping up in December. 
 
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