[Northkeep] Recruitment ideas

[Lee McGoodwin]

Greetings Northkeep,
 
I have been reading through your "Recruitment" posts of the last few days and wanted to interject some other ideas.
 
My background:  I started in the SCA at the age of 30.  That was in 1985.  I am coming back after a forced hiatus of about 8 1/2 years, due to work schedule.  In my hayday, I was going to 2 events a month by myself and sometimes as many as 3.  A small household, that no longer exisists in Tulsa, helped my get started.  They took me with them to my first few events and helped me to know what I needed, etc.  Since I could already sew, costumes were not an issue.
 
My husband had a similar experience in Stargate, where he originally hails from. 
 
All that being said... if it were not for the people in the household taking me under their wing and getting me to those first few events, I don't know where I would be today.
 
My husband and I realized that retintion was the bigger issue, so created a household that is for the sole purpose to help retain newcomers.  We are trying to have an informal, all-day get together once a month, or every other month, where my husband, Sir Bear, can help those interested in fighting, making armor, and bardic.  I am here to help with costumes, etc.  We invite one-and-all to come and share info, A&S, SCA history and experiences, etc.  Our next 2 get togethers are planned for March 2nd and April 13th (weekend after Med Fair).  We have 5 acres and a lighted list field for those perparing to got to War in March.
 
Don't forget about the Norman Medieval Fair the first full weekend of April. No this is not a demo just for Namron and Wiesenfeuer.  This is "Parent's Weekend" on campus.  I have meet people from as far away as the Eastern US who came to visit their kid at OU and attended the fair.  The fair attendance these days is between 350,000 and 400,000.  There are many students from Tulsa, and we have parents/families show up from Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Lubbock, Amarillo, etc.  Be there in as big a force as you can muster and bring your brochures, at least Sat and Sun.
 
What about something as minimally planned as a group going to dinner in garb and persona at a local restaurant.  Gently take over the place and entertain the other customers, hand-out info to those interested, sing a song (maybe with an easy to sing-along chorus), make a toast to all, etc.  Of course, be cordial to the management and wait-staff.
 
Arrange a demo with the management at a local movie theatre on a Sat afternoon when a fantasy/historical movie is released.
  Namron and Wiesenfeuer did that when "Brave" was released and had a great response.
 
If you do "crash the Fair" at Muskogee, make sure you do it on a day you KNOW the media will be there.
 
Talk to local groups, schools, and clubs... work with them at their events. 
Have unofficial gatherings in garb (shopping, dinning, or evening out with friends). 
Go to community events in garb and answer questions....(parades, cook outs, or PTA meetings). 
Try "Event Passes" for those who express an interest in attending an event. 
Do not be afraid to try something new.
 
As has been said before, "we are all Hospitalers".  I definitely found a home and group of people that accepted me and appreciated what I have to offer.  I believe that this game is not for everyone, but our "lost" brothers and sisters are out there and we need to put ourselves and this game out there for them to find.
 
We hope to see some of you at our next get together March 2nd.
 
In Service to the Dream,
Lady Etienett
 

________________________________
 From: Jerry Herring <jherring68 at gmail.com>
To: Barony of Northkeep Mailing List <northkeep at lists.ansteorra.org> 
Sent: Wednesday, February 6, 2013 9:31 AM
Subject: [Northkeep] Recruitment ideas
  
Greetings,
After some posts on the Kingdom list conversing about recruitment and
retention I wondered if our group might like to think about and discuss
some opportunities in those areas? There are two potential places where
recruitment might occur and I do not think that our Barony is currently
doing any active recruitment.

1.Tokyo in Tulsa - August 2nd-4th, 2013.  This could be is a huge venue for
the SCA to make a presentation. The people attending this convention
already have an interest in costuming and many of the younger players in
Chemin Noire and Northkeep are familiar with the event. If the Barony were
to stage a demonstration, or just man a booth at this convention it is my
thought that would generate a good deal of interest in what we do. The
booth might be manned by our members working on needle work, weaving,
leather work, making jewelry, crafting chain-mail. These are just thoughts
that I had. The follow up for this could be a two or three part ordeal;
first a medieval costuming seminar to help teach those interested how to
make some period apropriate clothes, a combo fighter practice\armor making
session for those interested in the martial arts,  and an old fashioned
revel with a bardic sing along and food.

2. Trek Expo - June 21st -23rd 2013. Another huge venue for finding people
potentially interested in the SCA. Although I do not know if it would be
possible to arrange a full demo this might be a place where just having a
booth or convention table set up to pass out flyers and present A&S skills
might be a good way to go, If nothing else these kinds of events have a
printed program where a full page or partial page add might generate a good
deal of interest. As a follow up for this we could plan a mid-summers
themed revel.

Now if getting together a group of local members with enough interest to
man these events then what about pulling together a smaller contingent to
attend each of these events in costume and while attending casually
distributing flyers and answering questions from interested parties. Any
efforts along these lines however grand or small might draw in a new
generation of SCA players.

I look forward to hearing your ideas on this subject.

Kindly
Ian
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