CR - No P-word for now!

[Paul Mitchell]

Mike C. Baker wrote:
<snip>
> > I believe that the measures we've heard proposed here,
> > including regional events, a regional demo team, and
> > so forth, will not and cannot succeed without leadership.
> > I still think that a Prince & Princess is the best
> > source of that leadership, but it's clear that that
> > won't be happening anytime soon, and our problems are
> > facing us now.
> 
> Galen, herein lies one of the basic disagreements in the arguments
> for and against seeking an advance in status for the Region. While I
> certainly respect those who wear or have worn Crown or Coronet, I
> don't make the leap to supporting the concept that these same
> individuals are necessarily the best leaders. They just happen to
> have been the folk with enough martial prowess in single combat to
> attain victory upon a given day and in a particular tournament.
> Based upon several examples within the history of the SCA, some of
> which are part of Ansteorran history, I *can't* make a very good
> case for what I see as your position here.

The advantage we'd have with a Prince is that we'd have a leader
whose right to stand up say "go that way!" is unquestioned.  I
think I have a pretty good idea of who most of our Princes would
be for the first couple of years at least, and I think we'd do
pretty well.  But even so, a bad Prince for six months would
be better, I think, than the no leadership our region has had
these several years.
 
> The leaders who will count most in growing the SCA, and this Region,
> are those who are not only administrators but also recruiters and
> trainers. Not only the fighters and their consorts, but the dancers
> and theirs. Not only the artisans, but also those who clean the hall
> after an event.

Dancers are great.  I love it myself.  But I'm not the guy who gets
musicians to play, teaches the dances (except on rare occasion),
or decides what we'll dance next.  Leaders do that.  I'm seldom 
the person directing clean-up, but sometimes I'm there cleaning.
Not everybody's a leader.  Some of us are participants.  Nothing
wrong with that.
 
> I believe that you, Galen, are not the only correspondent on this
> list with either a military or Boy Scout / Girl Scout background.
> While I know that there are some who might question all three of
> those organizations, they are good places to learn techniques of
> leadership and cooperation. A thought that just came to mind, based
> on my experience in BSA: what could we do to adapt the "patrol
> method" in order to strengthen the SCA?

I don't know about the "patrol method", but I will say that
overwhelmingly what I've learned about leadership has been
in the SCA.

<snip> 
> OK. "Cards on the table": I think you have made it clear that your
> ultimate goal is to help make things more fun within the SCA in what
> is now the Central Region. Fair enough restatement?

Thanks for the benefit of the doubt.  In fact that is the purpose
of my posting.
 
<snip>
> > Maybe we need a committee.
> 
> Dreaded word, but a useful one.
> 
> > Maybe a group of people, with the idea of
> > developing the central community, of helping
> > recruitment and new-member development in the
> > small groups, and with the idea of fostering
> > communication and cooperation in the baronies,
> > could do what would quickly burn out a single person.
> 
> The trick in avoiding burnout will be in working out a system of
> spreading the workload equitably once a "core group" could be
> assembled. And in the willingness to tell some people NO, albeit
> politely, from time to time (note that said telling could be for any
> of several dozen reasons!).

Quite true; much easier with a committee than with an
individual.
 
> > Maybe we could organize an ad-hoc committee to
> > do the legwork to organize regional events, to
> > set up a demo team, to try to get people from
> > various areas working together better than they do.
> 
> Serious query: how much / should this organizing effort attempt to
> involve the _branch_ seneschallate? other _branch_ officers?

Local officers/leadership should be involved to the greatest
extent possible.  As Tip O'Neill used to say, "all politics
is local".
 
> Or, put in other harsher terms, what is to keep the existing
> regional structure from seeing such an attempt as an effort to
> bypass and trivialize their positions (in turn making it harder to
> recruit regionals willing to be anything more than glorified clerks)?

Likewise, the regional officers, without exception talented people
generous with their time, should be afforded the opportunity to
be fully involved if they so wish.  But we can't make it part of
their official duties.
 
> I know, or at least *think* I know, that such is not either your
> intent, Galen, or the best thing. Still, there will be a need to
> communicate and work functionally with all levels of the existing
> formal leadership structure.
> 
> > Even to publically thank those who are
> > doing good work towards developing the central community.
> 
> Reminder to everyone -- making award nominations (within the
> existing structure) is not a bad idea in this regard...

True.  But I also envision that this committee might have among
its functions the giving of word-fame to those who do well for 
the region.

> Adieu -- Amra / Pax ... Kihe / TTFN -- Mike
> (al-Sayyid) Amr ibn Majid al-Bakri al-Amra  /

I want to go on to note that I'll be adding that Rosenfeld
demo in April to my calendar.  That's the kind of advance
notice I can deal with. 

I'm also changing my travel plans to attend Graywood's
Spring Melees instead of Lyonesse in Bjornsborg.

- Galen
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