[Namron] Med Fair Hospitaler's idea

[Cynthia Teague]

Here's my latest "can't sleep, guts are killing me, think about something
else" idea.  Not sure how it will sound in the morning, but right now I am
totally in love with it.

I propose a hospitaler's area set up at Med Fair with a theme of "See
Yourself in the SCA."  This would include things like:
- painted boards with face cutouts, for photo props, for a variety of
familiar period characters (knight, king, queen, Viking, Mongol, Celt --
what else?).  There should be at least two for couples.  Maybe some short
ones for kids?  And some step stools so kids could get their faces in the
taller ones.  Running up the side of the picture you could label the
persona (14th c. French noble / www.sca.org).  Make it a really fun, free
souvenir.  I don't think these would be hard to make, and they'd be easy to
store year to year if they had hinged or removable feet; they're just a
sheet of plywood.  There's nothing like this anywhere in the fair so it
could be really popular.  Maybe also a big sign saying, "sure, we'll take a
picture on your phone for you" and volunteers willing to do so.

- photo albums of people having a fantastic time at events.  Lots of these
should be close-ups instead of just big group scenes where you don't see
individual faces.  Accompany these with text descriptions, perhaps in the
first person, e.g., "Lady Vigdis of Namron : Learning archery has been
amazing!  I was terrible when I started, but it was still a lot of fun, and
I've really enjoyed watching myself get better at it." or "Sir Arthur
Fightsalot : There's just something about bashing your friends around that
really makes a weekend special." (Gotta work on the snappy quotes.)  Also
lots of photos of super beautiful pageantry, court, etc.

- posters / display board / something else? with pictures of happy friendly
people in garb, with "Why I Joined the SCA" or "Why I Love the SCA" snappy
quotes next to or underneath the photo.  These should be big enough and the
font large enough that they will catch attention from 10 feet away and can
be read as you are walking past, or by someone too shy to walk right up to
the photo albums.  Make sure there is a wide variety both of reasons/text
and of physical types -- young, old, male, female, skinny, heavy,
able-bodied, disabled, etc.  Make it so every attendee can identify with
them, so they really can imagine themselves as part of our group.

- a great big calendar for April, showing all of Namron & Wiesenfeuer's
activities & practices, so people can see how much there is to do besides
the big events.

- a try-on area for garb, like they have at the Cowboy Museum or Harn
Homestead.  This could be another photo-op setup. This would be more work &
take more volunteer assistance, not sure if it would be practical -- but
people love to try things on!

In general, I want to catch people's attention, give them something fun to
do right on the spot, and then help them imagine themselves as a
participant instead of an audience member.

What do you think?

Vigdis
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