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<BR><FONT FACE="Times New" COLOR="#000000" SIZE="4">Unto the
small portion of the populace of Raven's Fort that receives this
list, and guests,
<BR> There are two portions to this letter. This, the
first part will contain my personal opinions and
observations. I will attempt to be as non-accusatory
as possible. I apologize in advance to anyone who
sees any portion of this as a personal attack. The
second part will contain few of my own words, but instead, will
be a collection of information I have managed to gather together
after several hours of research. I will also point
out what information i was *not* able to find. I do
not expect this second post to clear up any confusion, but at
least, to clear up *why* there was confusion.
<BR> As has been noted in a previous letter, there was at least
one acceptable reason for recent venomous posts, if not for the
degree of venom in them or that venom's
direction. This barony is having a problem with
recognizing those members who *need* recognition. I
will state now that I am *not* one of those that needs
recognition. Actually, I feel it better to state that
the Barony needs to recognize them, for the Barony as much as
for the individual. Many reasons for why this
recognition is not forthcoming have been pointed
out. I will now point out another: Those
who might recommend others for awards do not know that they can,
much less how to go about it. Those who know the
acceptable form and method for recommendations are not making
them, nor are they sharing this information with
others. And, at least in one instance, those who have
suggested awards have had those awards refused without adequate
explanation. The following is not
personal, I use the highest ranking example in our barony
because it is the best example, not because it is the only one,
but the Baroness said to me that every attempt is made to
surprise the individual who is receiving the
award. I've noticed many surprised individuals
lately. Some had been so long doing that which they
achieved the award for that many thought they had already
received it or that there was no award for it. "It's
about time." Is indeed being said way too seriously
by way too many people of late.
<BR> If it were only the lack of awards that is disturbing, I
don't think I'd bother with this, but it seems we also have a
lack of populace and populace communication. The size
of our populace meetings are pitifully small compared to what I
remember. Some of this is due to unavoidable changes
in location - some to unavoidable requirements of mundane
life. But a glance at the Domesday list shows me many
times more names than I see at those meetings. Also,
we have the same lack of attendance at other baronial non-event
gatherings, and indeed, our events are somewhat
underpopulated. At bardic gatherings that have been
held I was disappointed that our Ravenskald was not in
attendance. So much so, that I asked our previous
Ravenskald why. He told me he hadn't known about
them. There are many people who are in this Barony,
paid members or not, who we *need* for support and
growth. For many reasons, some of them miss out on
one or more lines of communication. Some do not
receive the Quoth, others have no online access, and more do not
or cannot attend populace meetings. Those who miss
out on two or more of these information sources seem to miss out
on two thirds or more of our activities. I attend
populace every possible time, receive the Quoth, and have had
semi-reliable internet access for about two years now, and I
have still missed things because I didn't know about them until
it was too late. I don't know how people found out in
the past, nor do I know if there is any standardized method of
informing the populace in a timely manner that is left over from
the pre-modem days, but I'm starting a list. I'm
going to contact every single person in this Barony I can get my
hands on (and some that are not, but do give us their
allegiance), in whatever way is possible, and let them know what
is happening. If I can't attend, I'll try even harder
to make sure others do. Many of these people are long
distance to me or may have inconvenient contact methods, those
who wish to help may feel more than welcome to do
so. If we happen to hit a person more than once,
maybe they'll feel *real* wanted. And for those who
may know of upcoming events that those who are making the calls
might have missed, make sure the callers know, call
them. I was going to start this next month, but I
realize now I was being lazy. I've been lazy for far
too long. I think a lot of us have.
<BR> Anyone who knows about the last time I attended TRF as a
member of the SCA and got into a dispute knows that I am not
worried about political suicide. If asked, I'll say
more in person, even to the individual the dispute was
with. However, I do not wish to be committing said
suicide here, and if what I say next is taken wrong, it could
turn out that way. The following is *not* a political
attack, but is an observation:
<BR> In any group with an acknowledged leader or leaders, it is
incredibly difficult not to look to them when there is a
problem. In the best of times they are looked to for
a solution and know that one must be found. The best
of times rarely happen. The worst of times find
personal grievances and a lack of realization that cause
accusations and insults. Those who find themselves in
the position of leader are never perfect, but are often held to
a higher standard. Those who look to the leaders
should try their utmost to allow for human
failings. And the leaders should be willing to admit
to them. My apologies to the author for lack of
credit, but I once read that if you be quick to offend, be
quicker to apologize. I don't expect the long
standing grievances, mostly personal, to be solved in this
manner now by anyone, but I hope we can avoid new ones.
<BR> In closing (yay), much of the argument that has occurred of
late has occurred because *no one* has seen everything that has
occurred, much less known how *all* others who did see it
interpreted it. Remember that an event may be seen in
two dramatically different ways. Such as...
<BR> There was a merchant once that had many goods to take to
market, and he loaded his cart and harnessed his mule, but the
mule would not heed his kindly urging to begin the
trek. determining that something was wrong, he
examined his wagon and decided the load was too heavy and would
need to be hauled in two trips. After halving the
load, he again found the mule would not pull the load, so he
examined the wagon again. This time, he replaced the
worn wheels, but still the wagon did not move. After
having regreased and cleared the axles with no success, he
decided the mule was at fault. His gentler methods
were replaced with lashings of the reins and colorfully abusive
phrases, but the mule showed no reaction at
all. Finally, disgusted, he carried his goods back
inside and left the wagon on the side of the road, deciding the
trip was not worth the trouble. Some hours later, a
traveler wandered by and saw an opportunity for a
ride. He approached the merchant's door and inquired
if the merchant would be so kind as to allow him a ride if he
helped the merchant bury his dead mule and hitch another.
<BR> No, the mule and merchant and traveler do *not* serve as
allegories of any specific people. Let's just find the problems
and fix them.
<BR>In service,
<BR>Tiarna Aodhfionn Mac Cormaic
<BR>(Lowly Lord) Finn Barony of Raven's Fort, Kingdom
of Ansteorra, Land of the Knowne World, Planet called Terra,
Plane of Midgaard... well, you get the point.
<BR>*group hug*