[Ravensfort] News letter cost and the BOD

Wed Feb 23 13:57:20 PST 2011

Heilsa all...

Right now, if I remember correctly, the largest drain of Corp funds is an on-going defense in a civil trial where the SCA has been targeted by Lawyers looking to "line their pockets" by suing everyone in sight...oh...and, of course..."getting justice for their clients...". *shrug* The BoD is doing their best in a very untenable atmosphere given the unrelenting assault to try and force the SCA Inc. to "settle out of Court...". And that settlement good neighbors...would drain the funds out of **every bank account linked to the SCA Inc**... That includes the Raven's Fort account. So...y'all best hope and pray the Corp can weather the storm...cause if they have to fold...**we all lose**...

Onward... 

Delaware would be an excellent State to move the Corp Headquarters to for Not-for-Profit reasons... 

That being said... The SCA Inc received their Fed Tax Status back in the 1960's...it was **much easier** to be approved for Not-for-Profit status in those days... If the SCA BoD moved the Inc. part to a new host State...they would have to re-file for our Fed Tax Status...and there is a very real chance that in today's political climate and trillions $$$ of debt and growing...the SCA would be denied... This option has been discussed many times...result...same answer. Too great a chance of failure.

Moving on...

The rule-of-thumb for distance between same weekend events (before Regions) was generally 200-250 miles separation...not "different States"...

Within the Governing Documents there is no Official Division called "Region". Regions are strictly a product of each Kingdom's Officer cadre established to lessen the Bureaucratic (paperwork) load on the Major and Minor Kingdom Officers.  Here in Ansteorra our Regional Officers actually do lessen the work load...we give them, within the Law applicable, the ability to "hire and fire" local Officers and make other decisions (with Chain of Command review if necessary) to shorten the response time to insure positive flow of the "legal" procedures needed to keep our Ship of State afloat... Seems that many Kingdoms don't want that lessening of "Central Power"... Does that make Ansteorra "Conservatively Progressive"...? Hmmmmm....

That being said... There is no "gerrymandering" for "political" reasons... Regions have no autonomy. Chapters of the SCA may ask to be placed into a different Region...and generally this has been approved. In fact, this has been the case every instance that I know about. Sometimes, as the demographic of a Kingdom changes...Regional "lines" are moved simply to better serve the people that live in a geographically contiguous area... Population density is a major factor... 

Nearby Chapters of the SCA everywhere consider their closest neighbors to be "family"...oft times even across Kingdom boundaries. There are still large amounts of "cross group pollination" as regards folks assisting their neighbors in times of need... Anyone that actually gets out and travels to events...in and out of "Region" and Kingdom already know this...simply because they witness it happening all the time.

As far as the, "...Oklahoma, but it seems awful far away. There are already places in far West Texas that are not in this Kingdom.", statement is concerned. Facts are there is only one Group in far West Texas that is part of another Kingdom...El Paso, TX..."The Citadel of the Southern Pass"...more or less, 728 miles distant from Huntsville, TX...and even more telling...that Chapter is in a different time zone.

More distance data...

Within the Kingdom: In the Northern Region, Oklahoma and part of the TX Panhandle, Stillwater, OK "Moonshadowe" is 439 miles... Bartlesville, OK "Chemin Noir" is 472 miles... Amarillo, TX  "Adlersruhe" is 531 miles... and in the Southern Region... Odessa, TX "Black Lake" is 464 miles... Seems like the greatest distance for Raven's Forters to travel isn't even in Oklahoma...but still in Texas. 

There actually are good and compelling reasons for the geographic make-up of the Kingdoms...and for the Officers/Sovereigns to form "Regions" in some of them.

Further...

It is very easy to "re-connect" to the people nearest to your local Chapter...**travel**...go to their events and fighter practices. Easy no...?

And it comes to mind that the distances from city to city in the Kingdom of Ansteorra are almost exactly the same today as they were in the mid-1980's.... 

Yes, fuel costs a lot more these days...as does most every other item... However, wages and salaries have gone up too...not as much in proportion in some cases...and that is a serious limiting factor. My advice... Do what folks used to do...carpool. Pick several close by events and attend them...planning ahead to go to a few of the "big Events" each year...in Kingdom and out... Like, you know, Gulf War....  

The SCA is exactly what you make of it neighbors...and I believe that the smaller and more insular a Group becomes the less chance it has sustain it's self... Fewer people = harder to put on a successful event... Less interesting Events = increasingly poorer attendance... Fewer people traveling = no face-to-face promotion of local Events... One Group's membership doesn't support other Group's Events by attending = "Out-of-Sight Out-of-Mind" Other Group's members will not support *Your Group's* event through their attendance. 

Growth is necessary... Status Quo = eventual stagnation... Get whole Families involved.... Make sure that when the Public, or the Media, or another Organization approaches any Official Gathering...your **very best** Members are the ones to Greet those that seek knowledge and information...those well-versed with actual facts and real information...able to link those with more detailed questions to the SCA Inc. Websites where they can get even more **real information** about "What in the World are you folks doing here in the park today...?"...

Yeah...it was a "soapbox moment"... 

Back to your regularly scheduled data stream...

Wæs Þu Hæl in TroÞ and FriÞ...!

Kief av Kiersted - "Notorious Agent of Monarchs "

"Better the Hammer than the nail..."

Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2011 06:24:29 -0800
From: sdw_texas at yahoo.com
To: ravensfort at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Ravensfort] News letter cost and the BOD

Greetings to all,

They would save a fortune if they would move Cooperate Head Quarters out of California.
Its to expensive to operate a Non-Profit in California with all their stupid rules and regulations. Office space is cheaper in other states as well. It would be much cheaper to operate in Nevada or Texas, who are much more friendly to Non-Profits (regulation wise).
Just my to cents . . .

In Service,
Lord Erich
(formally known as Malcolm) 

From: byzytym <byzytym at att.net>
To: SF Tester <sftester2 at gmail.com>; doug bell <magnus77840 at hotmail.com>
Cc: ravensfort at lists.ansteorra.org
Sent: Wed, February 16, 2011 2:18:50 AM
Subject: Re: [Ravensfort] News letter cost

The SCA will never go away under it own momentum.
There will be those of us that will do their best to keep playing
no matter if it's with online newsletters and at a higher price.
Rethinking is not always a bad thing.

Perhaps it is time to downsize.
I remember when you couldn't have two events
in the same state on the same weekend.
( Or almost that anyway. )
When there were less events,
there was a greater focus on what our neighbors
 were doing.
It was not unusual for Marshals from Stargate
to run fighting at Raven's Fort events.
Not because we didn't have Marshals of our own.
It was because they were part of our family.
Sometimes less is more.

Now it's imposable to do it all.
"Sorry I just can't make it to King's Dog Catcher this weekend
I'm going to Baronial Champion 2011." ( 2011 is not the year. )
Two words you hear a lot now adays in the SCA are "gas prices".
People are not traveling as much.
I believe that is one of the reasons that the Republican style
Regional borders have been redrawn.
There is a need to reconnecting with the people closest to us.
Perhaps it is time to do the same at a Kingdom level.
I have nothing at all against Oklahoma, but it seems awful far away.
There are already places in far West Texas that are not in this Kingdom.
With organizations like the SCA, smaller areas mean closer bonds.

Anyway,
 don't think I'm advocating  a revolution or anything.
Just food for thought.
... tryin' ta make the SCA stronger from the bottom, up.

Now if you want to start something...,
ask me how I think we should select our Kings.

Peace,
Volod NotVlad

----- Original Message ----- From: "SF Tester" <sftester2 at gmail.com>
To: "doug bell" <magnus77840 at hotmail.com>
Cc: <ravensfort at lists.ansteorra.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2011 10:41 PM
Subject: Re: [Ravensfort] News letter cost

> On Tue, Feb 15, 2011 at 6:32 PM, doug bell <magnus77840 at hotmail.com> wrote:
>> Corporate does have an answer for people who drop memberships.
>> Raise the non member tax to $20 for each event.
> 
> If they do that I forsee the SCA going away. Money is tight everywhere
> right now, not many people are going to be able to justify taking the
> family to an event when it costs $120 for a weekend. I think there
> will be a whole lot more off calendar events happening.
> -- Gundy
> _______________________________________________
> Ravensfort mailing list
> Ravensfort at lists.ansteorra.org
> http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/ravensfort-ansteorra.org 

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