CR - No P-word for now! (LONG)

[Koch, KA Kimberly (4384)]

Hi - Thyra here.

Please forgive me for the length of this post....

I want to address a little piece of this principality argument that's
been kind of bothering me.  Just for the record, in general, I'm still
ambivalent about principality status for this region.  My initial
reaction is to be opposed to it, but I'm trying to stay open-minded
about it.  But what I want to address specifically is this idea that
principality status would somehow be beneficial to the smaller groups in
this region and create growth for them.  I feel very strongly that this
is not the case.  I don't know the situation in the other shires in this
area, so I won't presume to speak for them, but I know Black Oak Keep as
well as anybody and I do feel qualified to speak for us.

Black Oak Keep decided at our last business meeting to dissolve our
shire.  Since that time, several people have spoken to members of the
shire and asked them to consider other alternatives, and we have agreed
to do that (so DON'T go around telling people that Black Oak Keep is no
more - that's not decided yet).  But, personally, I don't feel like
there's anything that can save our shire from dissolution.  We've been a
group for the last TEN YEARS - we were incipient for five, and a shire
for the last five.  We've done two queen's champions, three coronations
and a kingdom heraldic symposium, in addition to hosting our own events
and Black Wolf Tavern at Steppes Warlord every year.  I think we throw
great events and I think we have a good reputation in the kingdom.  I'm
proud of our accomplishments.  But the fact of the matter is, we have
the same core members now as we did ten years ago.  Every now and then
we get a new member, like me, six years ago, but we seem to lose as many
people as we gain.  We have zero growth - we have as many active members
now as we ever have.  We rotate the offices amongst ourselves and take
turns autocratting events, but EVERYBODY works ALL THE TIME.  As soon as
one event is over, we have to start planning for the next.  No one ever
gets a break from offices or events, no one ever gets a chance to pursue
their own goals - like regional offices, or working on their fighting or
A&S, or just going to events and having fun - because we're all too busy
trying to keep the shire afloat.  We're all burned out.  It's stopped
being fun and started being a burden. 

Our number one problem is lack of growth.  We need more members to help
carry the responsibilities of maintaining a shire and to keep us all
from getting so burned out.  We're twenty minutes away from a college,
we're home to a major defense company, and yet no amount of recruiting
or demos has been able to gain us members from those promising sources,
or more accurately, to *retain* us members.  They come to the demos,
they get excited about the SCA, we stay in touch and send free
newsletters.  We often invite newcomers to dinner to just talk and get
acquainted and ask questions.  We offer rides to events.  And yet we
still can't keep new members.

How would creating a principality in this region do anything to help our
situation or create growth?  It might be fun, it might be interesting,
but it simply is not going to do anything to add members to our shire.

Llereth:
>>> Perhaps.  Let us hear from Emerald Keep was those problems
>>> might be.
Galen:
>>I have.  Both as Regional Seneschal, and when Earl Gerard
>>came to Elfsea for Saturday's meeting.  Emerald Keep wants
>>help.  So does Rosenfeld, so did Black Oak Keep, so does
>>Dragonsfire Tor.
I'm not sure exactly what that means, that we 'wanted help'.  We've
always had help.  Steppes has always been good about giving us financial
support; Llywelyn and Zara Zina have turned out to be really good
friends to us - holding court for us and attending everything we put on;
and there are a few individuals that we know that we can always count on
to help us with demos or putting on the really large kingdom-level
events that we can't do by ourselves - not because we're not doing the
work, but  because there simply aren't enough of us.  But while 'help'
might make our events work better, or our demos superficially more
>effective, it hasn't done anything to increase our membership.     
>
>Galen: 
>> >  Who's to
>> > criticize Steppes for the inward focus of most of its
>> > membership?
Llereth:
>> In practical terms, anyone who cares to.  In terms of who has the
>> right to do so, I would have to say that it remains the business
>> of the populace of the Steppes and no one else's.
Hooey.  It's *my* business, and my shire's business, and the business of
Steppes' occasional cantons, and the business of Steppes' sister barony.
 That inward focus can be incredibly detrimental to those of us who have
- or would really love - a close working relationship with the Steppes.
I was in the kitchen at last year's 12th Night until 2 in the morning
cleaning; I was in the kitchen at this year's 12th night for 16 hours
helping with the cooking; I worked all day at that Coronation that was
ostensibly hosted by the Steppes, but that was held in our shire and
where we cooked the feast and handled the coordination (and some of the
creation) of the hall decorations; and I have spent countless hours
working on decorations or doing prep work for a Steppes event.  I'm not
the only one - everyone in my shire can make approximately the same
claims.  We have every right to criticize.  I am certainly not
complaining or criticizing the Steppes, who generously gave us *all* of
the profits for that Coronation (and the world's most enormous Acorn)
and who have always loaned us money when we needed it, and who have
helped us and supported us in countless other ways.  But to say that
it's nobody's business but the Steppes' is just wrong - and completely
>demonstrative of the inward focus we're talking about.
> 
Galen:
>> >  The regional structure isn't designed to
>> > foster intra-regional loyalty or cohesiveness.)
I am all for regionalism and fostering a sense of community.  I don't
think we need a principality to do it.

Anyway, while I'm trying to remain open to the possibility of creating a
principality in this region in the future, I simply can't accept the
argument that a group like mine would benefit from it as valid.  

In the meantime, I have to say that I am delighted by this list and the
open and honest discussion on it.  I think this list, and the meeting at
Elfsea last weekend, and this sort of discussion, are exactly what we
need to start that sense of community that seems to be so lacking in the
Central Region.  No matter what the outcome of the meetings and
discussions is, we can only be better off (not worse, Galen) for airing
our differences and coming to understand each other better, as long as
we keep in mind that disagreement does not equal dislike.  I hope that
more of the people who are subscribed to this list will start to
contribute.  In my opinion, the more voices we hear, the better off we
are.

HL Thyra of Black Oak Keep
Lady to Sir Gunthar Jonsson (whose opinions are not necessarily my own,
no matter how cute he is) 
>
>
>
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