[Sca-cooks] OT- Input request from SCA BoD/politics

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Elric wrote:
>The BoD needs to be revamped but as to who is [capable] of doing so
>I can't offer
>a solution.

What is your suggestion for "fixing" the BoD? If you don't have one,
what is it about the BoD that needs "fixing"?

I am fairly new to the SCA (2-3/4 years), and as far as i can tell,
i've stayed out of politics (in fact i spent a score of years not
joining organizations because of the unpleasant internal
politics/personal power plays that i saw in the late 60s and early
70s. So i have no hidden agenda. I just would like to understand what
is wrong with the BoD.

Is there something wrong with the structure of the BoD rather than
the individuals themselves?
Or is there something about the structure of the SCA that makes it
difficult for the BoD to do its job?

>Why can they simply take a stand and say "if you want to do this, play with
>us, or enjoy this game, pay your way!".

This was tried in the early 90s and was a hideous horrible failure. I
had a friend who was a paying member who wanted me to join. I wasn't
sure if i wanted to join or not (when i had attended an event in the
late 1960s it hadn't appealed to me, but i knew both the SCA and i
had changed). But i couldn't check it out because i couldn't attend
until i became a paying member, but i wasn't sure if i wanted to
spend the money, etc... rather a catch-22. I gather that this not
only meant the non-paying members could no longer "play", but ired
enough paying members that a significant number left the SCA - some
temporarily, some, i imagine, permanently.

It is a wonderful idea that everyone who enjoys playing should pay,
but i suspect that the reality of it is that forcing the issue does
more harm to the Society than good.

>It was awesome thing for bunch of hippies to say we do this and its for free,
>those days are gone, this is the real world if we are to survive we
>have to realize
>that no matter how much we think of the daily SCA as a game and hobby, in
>reality it is a business that MUST be viable in the business sense.

Well, it is a not-for-profit corporation, not exactly a business,
but, yes, it must meet its expenses, either through dues or some
other kind of fund raising. I pay my dues and i pay extra for the
Compleat Anachronist because i like to support both research and
practical education.

Anahita
dues-payin', card-carryin' member
at SCA Ground Zero:
Kingdom of the West
Principality of the Mists
Province of the Mists

The first SCA i event attended was in 1969 in Berkeley at Rivendell
I finally became active and joined in the spring of 1999