ST - New Idea

[Morgan Cain]

d mja <demegage1313 at hotmail.com> (otherwise unidentified) suggested:

> Why don't we start a new shire in the far north Dallas, Richardson, Plano
> area?  If we have the people to have a fighter practice there.

Because a group is more than a fighter practice.

To support a group, you need people willing to be officers, people willing
to run the things a group needs (meetings, the fighter practice, newsletter,
bank account, etc. - and events, if the group is so inclined).  It's more
than a group that coincidentally lives near each other.  You also need to
follow the requirements of Corpora as to officers, name, heraldry, and so
on.

For the record, there was a fighter practice in Plano when I first arrived
here (2.5-3 years ago), and I used to stop by on my way home from work a
couple times a month.  That is easy enough to do without being a formal
group.

>  I really think a new shire would be one answer.  An I say Shire
> because we have a couple cantons already. This would let the core of the
> Steppes folk to focus on the needs of the Steppes, and give us in the area
> an format.

The reason there are cantons is because they are part of the formal
structure of the SCA, as listed in Corpora V.C.:

               Shire: local branch reporting directly to a kingdom or
principality
               Canton: local branch reporting through a barony

The rules for establishing a group are in Corpora V.A.4.  It's not as easy
as you apparently think.

> Having lived in many other kingdoms I have seen areas with fewer members
> than we have maintain a number of fully active branches.  It works very
> well. An gives people lots of space to play.  I think this would be a very
> good idea.

So if you have the courage of your convictions, put your name on your email.

And just because it works someplace else, does not mean it will work here.
I have seen things work differently elsewhere too, but there are other
factors at work: public transit, driving problems (try to get ANYwhere in th
e Bay Area in decent time, even without fog), indoor site availability, etc.
I have lived in enough places to know better than to get sucked into the
easy out of "well we did it there in this manner so you should do it this
way also" mindset.  Steppes is not Carolingia is not Crosston is not Dun Ard
is not Grey Gargoyles is not.......

                                        ---= Morgan


===============================================
Sometimes, I have looked back at my behavior and learned
not to make the same mistake twice.  Other times, I have
merely learned to make it again with more style.
                                             ---= Marilyn vos Savant

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