NR - Re: NR Warlord vs. Tribute

[Lori Campbell]

Here's my opinion on this subject.  I realize that *many* may have 
opinions that differ from my own, but I just thought I'd share my 
perspective and maybe clear up a few misunderstandings.

When Johann Gunnbjornson and Thorvald Eiggelson (sorry if I butchered 
any spellings there) came up with the idea for and sponsored the 
event to select our first Regional Warlord, the Crown (HRM abd 
al-Mahdi) backed the event and the concept.  They even encouraged the 
selection of Warlords for other regions.  The addition of other 
Regional contests (Rapier, archery, knife/axe/spear,etc.) turned what 
was initially a fairly simple concept into a full-blown regional 
event.   I think in general the idea was widely supported and all 
signs seemed to indicate support for it would grow over time.  

There was much discussion in Wiesenfeuer after the 6th NR Tribute 
about whether or not the event should continue.  (Those who were 
around when HE Gitana started the first Tribute will remember 
that initially it was to be a one-time only event.)  Only ongoing 
enthusiasm had caused the event to continue past the first year.  At 
that point Wiesenfeuer had sponsored the event for 6 years and, to 
put it bluntly, our folks were getting tired.  

Enthusiasm for Regional Warlord seemed to be growing.  In addition, 
quite a few in our group (Barn and I included) were concerned that 
two huge regional events per year would be too much for the 
region to functionally provide autocrats/dates, etc. for on an 
on-going basis.  We also knew our group was extremely tired after 
sponsoring 5 years of Tribute and probably wouldn't be up for 
sponsorship of a regional event for quite a while.  

Also a factor was the fact that the kingdom was some $10,000 richer 
and far more financially stable because of our region's efforts.  In 
light of that fact, we felt the purpose of Tribute had been served.  
Evidently folks in Wiesenfeuer agreed with us because, when the  
barony discussed Tribute again, the populace (by majority vote) 
elected to discontinue sponsorship of the event.   We sent letters to 
the seneschals and landeds in the Northern Region to explain our 
reasoning and indicate that if Tribute was to continue someone else 
would need to pick up the ball.

The issue had been brought up previously about holding Regional 
Championships at Tribute, but Barn and I (and many who were involved 
in the creation of the Tribute event) strongly opposed it.  The 
primary reasons being 
1) the purpose of Tribute was solely to raise money for and show our 
love for the *Kingdom* - not to hand out titles to glorify the North 
as a region. 
2) the war college was extremely important at that time 
of year and regional competitions would have nixed that due to time 
constraints.  
3) as has been said, it seemed functionally impractical to 
choose warlords/champions to serve at Gulf War only two weeks before 
the war.

We suspected (hoped?) that Tribute would die a natural death and the 
Warlord concept would take off.  I think the flaw in our logic was 
that we overestimated the popularity of the Warlord Tournament and 
underestimated the popularity of Tribute.  

Either way, it is becoming apparent that *2* regional events are 
difficult to support - at least that is true for Wiesenfeuer.  I know 
our barony has its hands full supplying gifts for Gulf Wars, the 
occasional gift for Pennsic, manpower and prizes for our Baronial 
event, Yule Revel, NR Tribute and NR Warlord.  

> Do we want to continue to try to have a Nothern Regional 
> Warlord event?
 
My opinion (again, I realize the majority may disagree) is that one 
of the two events needs to go.  The calendar is *really* crowded now 
and, strange as it might seem, I feel it is equally important for 
Barn and I, as landed nobility in the North, to show support for the 
Kingdom by traveling to other regions and to kingdom events.  In 
short, it's the only way to meet people, make new friends and 
convince those who live outside of our region that they should come 
up North for our events.  

Hopefully that will give a little background on the subject and 
toss another opinion onto the pile.  As always, opinions are worth 
what you pay for them :)

Kat
Wiesenfeuer

(The opinions expressed above are my own.  They do not necessarily 
represent the feelings of my barony, my lord, my mom, my cat, etc.  
Then again, I think I can probably state unequivocally that my cat 
agrees with me.  If she doesn't, I dare her to say so).

============================================================================
Go to http://lists.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list tasks.