[Steppes] My Introduction into the SCA

[AlKudsi at aol.com]

OK, I'll bite too.  I went to my first event in 1980, at the invitation of a 
collegue at work who had been watching me read my favorite writers during 
lunch hours.  At the time, one of those writers was Diana Paxson.  He came over to 
the break room table and sat down and told me a little about the SCA, and 
that Diana Paxson was one of the original founding members.  That intrigued me.  
I'd been doing theater work since junior high, so I did a little research on 
costumes, made myself some garb, and went with him and his best friend to an 
event.  That was a Baronial Court, held by Baroness Auriliene, the second person 
to hold this barony in fief, following the founding Baron, Allemandus.  I was 
blown away.  I still to this day thank Brother Lord Lupus for that 
introduction...
 
Then I went to a tourney called the Field of Cloth of Gold down at the 
Scarborough Faire site.  Wow.  
 
No demos, no internet, no flyers, just an active SCA member who saw someone 
who looked like they might fit in.  That is what it boils down to...interested 
and interesting people who interact -- however that is -- with others who find 
that they have similar interests.  That's not to say that demos, internet 
sites, flyers, whatever are not important -- they are, especially these days.  
But the human interaction is the critical make/break for getting someone 
interested.  Just like someone earlier on this thread said, she almost got turned off 
by being left out until someone paid attention and gave of his time to engage 
her.  
 
I think we have become more and more detached from the human contact element 
of getting people interested because of the internet.  It is a great resource, 
but it is a detached resource.  That is why demos, whether we can quantify 
through membership correlations or not, are important...as long as we remember 
why we are there: to engage others, through our crafts, our skills, our 
fighting, our persona play, whatever it takes.  And it may be why our membership 
locally has been stagnant...that loss of that human element.  Adelina has a point: 
find a newcomer and take them with you to an event.  Introduce them around, 
show them around.  Become involved.  Because each and every one of us is the 
best and worst possible contact for someone new: best if we engage their 
interest and make them feel at ease, or worst if we ignore them to talk only to our 
friends or do our own thing. Convention, Ren Faire, school demo, cultural 
event, it doesn't matter where it is...we can use it to bring people in if we show 
WE are interested in THEM!
 
HL Saqra



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