[Namron] Re: The Black Death

[aethelstan]

it's called a hospitaler....

Now, before anyone tries to find a scapegoat, or starts to point fingers,
let me say that no *ONE* person can help a new member to our game. There has
almost always been a hospitaler in office, in this barony. That person
almost always gets up at pop meetings and says who they are, and what their
position is about.

Sometimes a new person will seek this officer out. Sometimes they won't.

It is not incumbent upon the hospitaler to track down every single new
member and walk them about by the hand for the first year. It *is* their job
to provide access to information for those folks who wish to find it.

I would greatly caution anyone from being critical of any office/officer
until you have personally held that office. Even then, if any of you think
that you can do better in a given position, please feel free to become their
deputy and help them out. After they have served their time in office, you
can then take the office yourself and see what it takes to make that
position run smoothly. NONE of the offices in the barony are as easy as they
might or might not appear. The folks that are in those offices are trying
their best to help out the barony, and they deserve our thanks.

As for finding ones' niche........that is up to the new person themselves in
most cases.
Having a mentor (see previous posts) to work with can help ease someone into
the pool without just throwing them in and telling them to sink or swim.
However, from personal experience, it usually takes someone several years to
find out exactaly where they fit into the scope of things. The first several
years are spent just trying to figure everything out, and sampling all the
different aspects that the society has to offer. It can be a wonderful time,
or it can be a very rough and trying time.

Everyone of us, myself included, should be a "hospitaler" when it comes to
helping newer folks into the game. So please, the next time you're at pop,
or at an event, and someone looks lost or overwhelmed, take a few minutes to
visit with them. You never know, you might just start a lifelong friendship.

Master Aethelstan

> You are right that there should be a person in charge of welcoming new
> comers and helping them to find their niche in the SCA.  Oh, wait, we do
> have such a person.  Now what is that office called again...
>
>
> Dagmar