[Steppes] An informal poll and February Populace

[Jay Rudin]

Earl Gunthar replied to me:


> >Pros:
>>1. All of Warlord fits there.
>>2. A large list field,
>>3. Parking for over 600,
>>4. Camping for over 400,
>>5. An air-conditioned hall big enough for court,
>>6. Nearby hotel rooms for over 200, that are normally empty on a holiday
>>weekend.
>>7. A safe archery range,
>>8. A big enough place for equestrian events (and the right to have horses
>>onsite),
>>9. the right to drink alcohol, and
>>10. enough showers for 400.
>>
>>These are all absolute requirements.  If any one of them is missing, the
>>site is unacceptable for Warlord.

> Okay. I know I will get horribly flamed for this but I really have to ask.
> Why are these items non-negotiable?

Your Excellency, you really don't need to be melodramatic.  You're not going 
to get flamed, least of all by me.  You asked questions; I will give my 
answers.

I'm not deciding what the event needs to be; I'm reporting what it actually 
is.  These are the absolute requirements for holding the actual event we 
actually hold.  We can eliminate any piece of what people come for, and thus 
eliminate the need for a place for it.  If we want Warlord to be an 
afternoon-long chess tournament, we can hold it in somebody's living room.

But the requirements listed above are the minimum requirements for holding, 
not what I think Steppes Warlord shold be, but what the event is fact 
actually is.  Eliminating any one of them is not merely makingt it less 
uncomfortable, but changing the actual event.

> Why are hotel rooms so necessary? Camping may be a bit uncomfortable
> but it's kind of part of what we do.

It's *not* a part of what all of us do.  It's a part of what some of us do.

In any event, moving to a site that without many rooms not usually used on 
Memorial Day weekend would change the event into something it isn't, and 
lose us a lot of participants.  Lots of people currently staying for the 
weekend would either not come at all, or daytrip for their focus alone.

> We held a lot of courts in non-air conditioned surroundings. It's hot.
> We deal with it.

Yeah, I know -- this was my view until Serena and I autocratted it last 
year.  We were focused on financial responsibiltiy, and chose not to pay for 
the hall on Sunday, to save $450.  Then a group of anonymous Steppes people 
raised the $450 and paid for the Sunday hall themselves.  This convinced me 
that, although it wasn't that important to me, the hall was important enough 
to enough people, as measured in hundreds of dollars, to be considered a 
necessary part of the event.

> Why are archery or equestrian so important that a site is to be negated
> if they can't be accomodated? Less than 5% of the attendees combined
> pay much attention to these. I'm not saying they aren't part of the
> SCA or important in their own right. But we lose a great site because
> 5% of people can't play their game for one event that isn't focused
> on them?

"For one event"?  There's no archery or equestrian at Steppes Artisan or 
Twelfth Night, either.  If Steppes is to have them at all, we have to have 
them at our outdoor event.

Are you volunteering to be the event steward for a new Steppes archery / 
equestrian event, or suggesting that the Steppes can abandon some of its 
tradition and championship events and people?

> Warlord is about the armored championship primarily. The rapier
> second. The courts. The bardic. Ect...

The word "Warlord" is an abbreviation.  Unfortunately, it's an abbreviation 
for two diffeent things.

"Steppes Warlord Tournament" is the biggest, oldest, most prestigious heavy 
weapons tournament in Ansteorra, pre-dating the kingdom, the principality, 
even the region of Ansteorra.

"Steppes Warlord event" is the biggest local event in the kingdom, and a 
center of Ansteorran culture.  One of the few places that southern and 
northen and western Ansteorrans meet is this event.

These are both important to the Steppes; these are both important to the 
kingdom.

> If there is space for the archery or equestrian and such I love having
> them there. I also like motels and air conditioning. But why are these
> required? We did quite well without them for many years.

Yes, we did without archers, riders, even fencers for quite a while.  One 
kingdom does without fencers even today.  But we're here now, and we are 
going to take part.

Is it essential that they take place at the Warlord event?  Probably not. 
But we get two events per year.  Twelfth Night, Steppes Artisan, and 
Warlord.  Steppes is currently getting away with three because the bards are 
hosting Eisteddfod at Twelfth Night.  If it ever moves away, we lose an 
event.  And of these three, only one is outdoors.

So if the Steppes is to have fencing, archery, or equestrian activities *at 
all*, we will have them at the Warlord event.  None of these competitions 
will ever have the prestige or clout of the Steppes Warlord tournament, but 
they will exist, so this is the only place for them.

> Some people will say it is for health reasons for some of our members.
> Fine. But if it is that important I'm sure hotels are within a half hour
> of anywhere near the metroplex.

The issue is not whether there are hotels there, but whether there are 
enough available hotel *rooms* on a holiday weekend.  Near the metroplex, 
I'm sure there's plenty.  Canton has plenty of open rooms because of First 
Monday.  But any other site as far from the metroplex as Canton would 
probably not have enough extra capacity for us.

> We can't disregard the vast majority of populace because a small
> percentage may feel left out. We have become so PC in all of our
> dealings that one voice has more power than one hundred. We can
> try to accomodate everyone and I'm really all for that. But to totally
> disregard something at the risk of offending someone then we just
> hogtie ourselves.

Go look at the archery range sometime.  The numbers may surprise you.  There 
are significantly more people than there were entered in my first Steppes 
Warlord.

But the point is this.  As I understand it, we are debating finding a site 
to hold our Warlord event.  Changing or reducing the event, or dumping 
Steppes traditions, was beyond the scope of the project.

> And this isn't being said because I'm some bigoted stickjock.
> I'm looking at attendance and what people are doing as well
> as what the event is about. If we find a great site for 12th Night
> but there is no room for armored combat, I'm all for it. 12th Night
> isn't about fighting. The main concern for 12th Night is kitchen
> facilities and seating.

The analogy is not analogous.  A Twelfth Night site should hold everything 
we are doing at Twelfth Night, which does not include armored combat.  A 
Warlord site should include what we do at Warlord -- and that *does* include 
archery and horses.

> I don't hate archery or equestrian or air conditioning or nice halls.
> I LOVE equestrian. But that isn't the focus of the event.

A four-day event doesn't have a single focus.  I agree completely that the 
Steppes Warlord tournament is the high point of the event.  That does not 
imply that other things aren't important.  Each of 638 people last year had 
a focus, and the majority of them don't fight with rattan.

> Armored
> combat, rapier, bardic, dancing, courts, etc...can all be utilized in
> the same space. Equestrian and archery demand a large area that
> may not be available. So we lose a good site because of this?

Well, as mundane as I think Canton is, and as nice as it would be to have 
shade for the camping, one of the aspects of a good site is that we can hold 
our event on it.

Or we open a totally different thread on how much smaller we want our event 
to be.

> Okay. I'll put on my flame proof suit and hide under a rock now.

Please put away both the "flame proof suit" and the martyr complex.  You 
didn't flame anybody, and we're not flaming you.  You asked questions; I'm 
answering them.  You don't have to pretend that I attack people who disagree 
with me.

Robin of Gilwell / Jay Rudin