[Elfsea] How things get done in the SCA

Julie Self julie_self at hotmail.com
Wed Jun 18 23:09:48 PDT 2008


Vivat, Mistress Stella!  I'm sorry to be replying so late, but I have been really busy and am really late reading my email messages.
 
Gwenllian Brighid HertewelleLoch Ruadh Rocks!Beam me sideways, Scottie. These people don't know which way is up!


Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 23:48:59 -0700From: eflather at sbcglobal.netTo: elfsea at lists.ansteorra.orgSubject: [Elfsea] How things get done in the SCA
Greetings from Mistress Stella-
     I guess it is time once again for my soap box talk about how things get done in the SCA. It seems like I have to remind people of this every other year or so. This is going to cover a variety of topics that have been going around on the list lately. If you find this repetitive, read it anyway, you may need a refresher course.
     The SCA is a volunteer group. We are not trained professionals in the art of being Medieval, (my personna is earlier than the Middle Ages, anyway). What most of us hope for in taking part in this organization is to experience some of what it was like to live in a time of history that we love. Some people love ancient Rome, some want to be a Crusader, another may want to be a Viking, some people are just here for the parties, but we usually get them to experience and enjoy some history despite themselves. The main purpose of the SCA is to research and reinact pre-seventeenth century history. How this takes place is that we have events. The events are each sponsored by local groups. The local groups are responsible for what goes on at their events. The local groups also have populace meetings, ours is called Moot, and guild meetings to help people learn about history and how to make the things that they need so they can participate in events.
     The only reason that any of this takes place is that people volunteer to be officers, guild heads, teachers, and participants. If you want to be one of the people who helps to put on events or to hold an office there are a number of ways you can make people aware that you are interested. You need to come to populace and business meetings. This way people will know who you are. If you never come to meetings, no one will trust that you will be there to do your office. If you put in a bid for an office and don't get it, volunteer to be a deputy. Trust me, even the most enthusiastic officer gets tired and needs a replacement after a couple of years. Make sure that you maintain a good track record. If you say you are going to do something make sure that it gets done, no matter how trivial. No one is going to trust someone with an office if they don't have a history of doing what they promise to do. There are certain jobs for which you must have a good financial background. If you loose your job or have trouble paying your phone bill, you shouldn't be upset if you don't get the job as Baronial treasurer. In several different groups it has happened in the past that treasurers would borrow from the group account meaning to pay it back, but of course they couldn't pay the money back. So we have to be careful who has access to our money.
     Our group has nearly lost its status in the past because people were not filing their reports, so we have to make sure that officers and event stewards are keeping up with their reports. 
     Remember that officers at all levels of the SCA, whether local, regional or Kingdom are all just trying to keep the SCA safe so that we all have a place to play. It may seem that rules and paperwork are getting way too complicated, but they are there to protect our group and our members. Officers aren't making this stuff up just to make things difficult, they are trying to follow all the legal obligations that the SCA has as a corporation, and trying to keep our individual members safe. Why do we need all this paperwork? Well, for example, right now one of the big new things is background checks for children's activity supervisors. The reason we have to have that is because there was a child molester working in children's activities at Pennsic. Some of the parents sued. So now all of us have to do a lot more paperwork to make sure our kids are safe and nothing like that ever happens again.
     There has been a lot of commentary on the Elfsea list recently about events. It is nice that people are willing to share their experiences. ESP does not work. If you don't tell anyone you are unhappy no one is going to know. However, the group responsible for Steppes Warlord is the Barony of the Steppes. If you have a problem with something at Steppes Warlord it doesn't do any good to complain on the Elfsea list. I would be pretty upset if people were complaining on another group's list about an Elfsea event. In fact I would consider it talking bad about people behind their back (the backstabbing some people were decrying). 
     On another point- on bringing newcomers to events, Kingdom Law states that "No object, conduct, or manner of dress that is blatantly modern may be publically displayed at SCA events." We are usually pretty lenient on this subject. Now, in my book, a tabard over ones jeans is "making an effort" and would be sufficient. If you are bringing friends to an event for the first time you need to make sure they know that they need to wear something slightly medieval. If they don't want to, then don't bring them to an event. 
     I do a lot of stuff. I don't expect to get a big thank you every time I do something. I do things because if jobs didn't get done none of us could enjoy recreating history. It is nice that I have received recognition for things I have done over the years, but that is not why I did those things. If you are only doing things to get the recognition, then you are always going to be dissatisfied with the amount of thanks that you get. Largess is one of the tenets of chivalry. Largess is the concept of giving freely without expecting a return. 
     Activities only happen in the SCA because generous people volunteer to take responsibility and get them done. If there is something that you would like to do, go for it. Take your idea to business meeting and discuss it. Business meeting is open to who ever wants to come. In Elfsea, we try to keep most of the discussion of ideas at business meeting because we have a limited time available at Moot. Moot is important for communicating things that are already planned with the populace. Come on out to meetings and be part of the group.
     The SCA is not a computer game. If you don't come to meetings or events you are not participating. If all you do is complain rather than finding a solution you are not helping. If you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem. 
     I'm getting off the soap box now.
     In service, HE Stella Silvana OL, OP, CSSA, Lion
 
_________________________________________________________________
The other season of giving begins 6/24/08. Check out the i’m Talkathon.
http://www.imtalkathon.com?source=TXT_EML_WLH_SeasonOfGiving
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.ansteorra.org/pipermail/elfsea-ansteorra.org/attachments/20080619/2f53036e/attachment-0009.htm>


More information about the Elfsea mailing list