[Loch-ruadh] Comments about the Baronial Process

[Spence and Robin Mabry]

Greetings to Their Stellar Majesties Aaron and Britta, Their
Excellencies Galan and Alessandra, The Barony of Elfsea, The Cantons or
Loch-Ruadh, Dragonsfire Tor, and Three Bridges from Lord Ceatta o
Gulcleth and the Honorable Lady Robin de Shealladh.

This is not a missive to "toss our hats into the ring" as we did two
years ago, but rather some reflections we have on the process that is
going on currently for the replacement of Galen and Alessandra.

Unlike the last time we as a Barony went through this process, this time
we have a variety of candiataes to choose from.  And each and everyone
of them is a worthy candidate for the position.

However, there are some things that the both of us would like to point
out:

1)  The person with the most awards does not necessarily make a good
leader. Awards mean that the person has been recognized for their
out-standing accomplishments in some area.  it has nothing to do with
their ability to lead or inspire others.  The reverse is equally true.
A person without "yards" of awards may or may not be a capable leader.
There are ways to tell if a person has the potential of being a good or
great leader and that is the sort of person we need to look for.

2)  In conjunction with this, length of membership does not necessarily
a good leader/baron/baroness make.  Consider this:  Ceatta's first event
was the coroneting of Meridies' first prince, Francois.  That was in
1973 or '74, 29 or 28 years ago.  Robin got involved about 6 years
later.  That gives us a total of about 50 years of SCA experience.  But
that does not mean that we are better at this game than someone who has
been in only a year or less.  All it means is that we have seen more,
experienced more, and are older than a number of other people around.

3)  We need to look for someone that can inspire a deep and abiding love
for both Elfsea and Ansteorra, both as a kingdom and as a group of
people.  It is the people that provide the backbone of the barony, of
the kingdom, and their enthusiasm is a direct outgrowth of how they
perceive those that "lead" them, their baron/baroness and their king and
queen.  While we have little say-so in the selection of a king or queen
(other than winning Crown Tourney ourselves), we do have a say-so in the
process of choosing a baron and baroness.  The sort of people we choose
for this position, and the level of civility we show in this process,
will say a lot about how we continue as a barony and how others will
perceive us.

4)  Another thing that we have to be aware of is what each of us
envision as the future of this barony and what the various candidates
also envision as the future direction of the barony.  If the two of them
are highly divergent, then there will be a high level of frustration on
both parts (the baron/ess in trying to lead people where they don't want
to go and the populace in trying to follow a leader in paths that they
fear to tread). While all of us can say, "This is where I want the
Barony of Elfsea to be in a year/two years/five years from now," that
vision will change with the times.  Therefore, nice as it is to sketch
out the future of the Barony, we have to be aware that such sketches are
drawn with very broad strokes and may or may not bear any relation to
reality.

What does this all mean?  Basically, that we are looking for that couple
who personify "the Barony of Elfsea."  These would be the people that we
would expect to be elected as our new Baron and Baroness and the people
that we can assume to lead us into a new era.  Who are they?  Well, it
wouldn't be fair for us to tell anyone who we think should be the new
leaders of our Barony because we expect each and every one to make up
their own mind about this.  However, we want to emphasize the points
that a number of people have made already -- while this is a hobby for
us, this process needs to be taken seriously.  Whoever is chosen will be
the people that will represent Elfsea before the Central Region, the
Kingdom, and the Society.  They will be the people that come to people's
minds when they think of Elfsea.  For better or worse, they will be
Elfsea for those who meet them and hear where they are from and who they
are.  It is a heavy burden, and two years ago, we would have been proud
to carry that weight.  Now, while we would be proud to be called Baron
and Baroness Elfsea, other things impinge upon our time and talents
(most notably 13 cats).  And we wonder who can be up to it.  But whoever
it is, they can rest assured that we will offer them all the support we
can, because we know they will need it.

Lord Ceatta o Gulcleth, CT (Calontir), Thistle (Brewing and Vintning),
Portcullis (Elfsea)
Honorable Lady Robin de Shealladh, CIM (Ansteorra), CGCS (Calontir),
Thistle (Fiber Arts), Portcullis (Elfsea)