[Bryn-gwlad] So, to sum up.... :P

[Corbin O Cathasaigh]

Have mercy, I don't check my email for a day and a half and look at the mess we made!  And yes, SeaWorld was great, thanks for asking. 
   
  At this point I definitely think an action committee group (aka a bunch of people sittin' round a table with perhaps some pizza and stuff like that) on the subject of recruitment would be called for. We can keep posting here to the list but the idea-to-feedback turnanround time is too long: people talking face to face is much more productive. I definitely would like to be a part of such an endeavor.
   
  However, that said, I'm going to make some specific responses to some of the things that are flying around right now.
   
  On the subject of...
   
  Newcomer nametags: Honestly my take is that if there would be one thing worse than barraging a person with a passing curiosity with more information that they can handle, it would be making them suffer the embarrassment of wearing -any- form of identification, and subsequently make themselves a target for even more barraging when other people go "Look! Newbie target!" and rush after them. Ask yourself what was the point that made us start to consider needing a newbie tag to begin with? It was so that we know who is a newbie. Well if a hospitaler or ambassador has to identify the newbie in order to give them a nametag, then I think instead that ambassador should be finding out what the person might be interested in and making an introduction to a person in that field so that they can know someone, and only be barraged by what they've already expressed an interest in knowing about. I see it as the hospitaler's job to remember the names and faces of those people that are new
 and who are asking about various things. Tabitha did it for me when I joined, and Audette did it for newcomers as well. It is part of the job requirement; that isn't negotiable IMO.
   
  Hospitaler/Ambassador nametags: Some nice ideas going around but the drawback of nametags has been pointed out by Stefan already and the drawback of armbands is that a newcomer would have to find someone to answer questions, in order to find out the meaning of the armband that indicates who is someone to answer questions. Catch 22 because we who are in the SCA are used to thinking of armbands and belts as being significant of something whereas a newcomer might not even notice that you're wearing an armband simply because they place no significance on it like we do. A staff, however, with black and white stripes on its upper half and ribbons that say in large letters "ASK ME" and "WELCOME!" is unmistakable... and it is also something that is easily passed from one ambassador to the next when they change shifts. Speaking of which...
   
  Hospitalers with a small 'h': Good and decent counterarguments were made against my suggestion for authorizations to talk to newcomers, however people seemed to still be receptive to the idea of having official (in the sense of being trained) greeters at PiP. What I got out of the feedback was that we shouldn't go so far as to bar people from talking to newcomers at all if they aren't "authorized" to do so, and upon reflection, I agree. But people still seemed to really like the idea of having official greetstaff that were trained on public relations and who worked shifts (i.e. actively strolling about PiP looking for people to talk to, or manning the welcome table) and who other members could direct people to. This is someting that I would really like to see happen myself, and would like to see as a major topic of conversation at the round table discussion that I alluded to earlier.
   
  Membership and the aging of the barony: Putting it as simply as possible: the makeup of the populace of the SCA is not what is changing. It is the SCA itself that is changing. That is an important thing to recognize. Someone touched on that earlier, pointing out that what is important to youngsters today isn't what was important then. I'll append that to say that what's important to -older- people--what's important to all od us, really--isn't the same as what it was to people of the same age group back then, nor what was important to us as individuals back then either! Look--and this is true of all organizations--: it isn't ever going to be what it was, nor should it be. It is what it is today for the very simple reason that the people that are in it today, this is what they want it to be. And the way it is going to be tomorrow, is entirely depending on what we--you, I, he, she--do between now and then. Bemoaning what IS is the most futile thing one can ever do--and that
 is true of life in general as well as the SCA. Understand that everything in the world -is- what it -is-... and if you don't like what it is, all you can do is try to influence what it -will be-... but understand that every one of us has a vision of what we want it to be, and put simply, majority will rule. That's neither good nor bad... it just is what it is. So if you want to change what the SCA is or where you think it is heading, all you can do is work towards the future you want, and along the way convince others to want the same thing, Stephanie's signature states this more clearly than anything else: "Your focus defines your reality".
   
  Use of the list to snipe: Come on. We should all be above this if we have any love for the SCA. I'll just say this: Remember that people like to be around positive people. To have a friend, be a friend. Discretion is the better part of valor. If you can't say something nice... etc etc. I think that's enough truisms for one paragraph... I'll let sleeping dogs lie. (ok just that last one.)
   
  And finally, in the same vein as Giotto and Laszlo,
   
  What I intend to do: I am going to encourage the addition of official greetstaff. I am going to offer to teach people how to talk to newcomers. I am going to offer to do what I can to facilitate a gathering of people who want to hold a round table on the subject of all things recruitment-y. I am going to offer to make greetstaff staffs like those I have described. I am going to try to make myself better known face-wise to the people in the barony who are probably thinking "he has a lot of ideas... now who the hell is he again??"
   
  I am going to enthusiastically offer myself as a mentor! I am also going to privately poll some of the new people who have spoken up on this list to see if there is anything that they would like to further discuss in person. In fact I'm going to use this post as an opportunity to offer to any "relatively new" person reading this, whether they've posted or not, that they can email me privately just to say hello, or to agree to meet at PiP so they can know someone, or for whatever else.
   
  I am going to start making an effort to see where we can bridge the populace gap between the long-timers and the newcomers. There is a middle ground in between and I think those people (of whom I am one) are an important part of the overall puzzle. Going from being new to being well-seasoned is a large and difficult transition; however I think that it is the group that potentially should/could be the largest. It's not newbies that we need to attract, IMO. It's turning newbies into regulars without them feeling that they have to live up to the knowledge and standards of the old-timers that is the real issue. I am going to brainstorm about how to recitfy that problem and I welcome others to do the same if you agree.
   
  'nuf talking from the talking head. Reply, write me privately, or just think about what I've said. Luv you all!
   
  -C

 		
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