[Northkeep] Dionadair

[Hugh Niewoehner]

>Um, actually if memory serves (and I'm sure that the appropriate parties 
>will correct me if I'm mistaken),
You rang?

I'm going to fold a bunch of answers together.  Unfortunately that makes for a long reply but I believe it's a bit more coherent this way.

>If you do not mind I would like to continue this talk about Djionander. The
>tourney was originally styled as our largest and most important demo and
>this year it did seem a bit more like a mini-event.
Not exactly…

>the -original- idea was to have a bit of a 
>mini-tourney for those fighters who didn't otherwise fight in tourneys, to 
>help them become a bit more comfortable with the format and such. (This may 
>be why it's been held during a fighter practice time and place).  
Bingo.  At the time we (Angus & I) launched the tourney there were not so many tournies so close by.  A tourney requires a certain mindset that is difficult to instill without the trappings surrounding a tourney.   Newer fighters in particular and those who worked most weekends found it difficult to make it to events and therefore had little to no practice with what they would encounter when they stepped on the tourney field.  So… practice tourney.   And, as pointed out by one of the respondants, a good chance to show what the organization is then cap it off with a revel.

As for why at fighters practice and not an event…
To enter an _official_ tourney a fighter must be authorized.  Sorry, but them's the rules.  By holding this at fighters practice we could be official without being official.   Anybody who could satisfy the requirements of a practice could enter the list.  Sneaky 'eh?  

>Later a similar tourney was scheduled for the light weapons fighters on a 
>separate day.  Eventually these were brought together.   
Yep.  There's more to it but rather than tell a long story here (too late), I'll suggest you contact the historian or chroniclar for the copy of the Saga with my notes on how the tourney got started.   (Also, see the Chronicals of the Dionadair [which are badly in need of updating].)

>Eventually the demo 
>thing got more and more important, but I'm pretty sure that the original 
>emphasis was on the fighting thing.   If the public showed up, great, if 
>not, no big thing.
A very definate yes.  For some in the fighting community it is and always has been about the fighting.  What happens around that is incidental.  For others, the stuff around the list field [A&S tent, heralding, etc.] emphasises the "tourney" atmosphere and therefore the brings home the mindset we were after.

>So perhaps a good question to ask is: What is the goal of the Dionadair?
A valid question.  I encourage this discussion, what do _all_of_you_ want it to be?

I believe the phrase I used after we handed Gest the spear as Dionadair #1 was something like "Angus and I may have started this, but it's the property of the (then) Shire now.  We hope you decide to continue it.  What it will become is up to you."  Support has been all that I could have hoped for.  What DO you want it to become?   

>If it's us folks doing our thing and having a tournament, cool... if it's
>Northkeep trying to show Tulsa what the SCA is, in an open environment, then
>we need to let Tulsa (and the surrounding areas) know it's going on, and
>have people whose primary task for the day is drawing people in, and working
>with them to get them involved. We need to have a shaded, comfortable area
>for guests to sit and watch, plan extra refreshments for them, more of a
>'hospitality and welcome center' and publicize publicize publicize.

Hmm, sounds like someone just volunteered.  ^_^


     Damon


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