WR -Regional Fighter/Other Sessions of learning

[Tiffany M Geisendorff]

It has been Aaron's and my experience that it is very hard to pull
together regional practices.  The first few go great, then interest wans.
 But, this should be a very important idea for anyone who is truly
interested in learning and wants to have fun.

Some mileage facts:
				BL      BW       A       M      CK      T
Blacklake (BL)			 -        140     257    147      60      130
Bonwicke (BW)		140	-        118    165     107     182
Adlersruhe (A)		257    118        -       270    224     299      
Mendersham (M)                   147    165      270      -       108    
 92
Crossroads Keep (CK)            60     107      224    108       -       
86
Trelac (T)                                130    182      299     92     
 86        -


>From Aaron's and my experience a few years ago with rotating regional
practices,  in general, 85% of those who attend each group's turn at
hosting the practice, where from the hosting group.  It basically turned
into a local practice, plus a few diehards.  The track record for the
Western Region populace, in general, is that most people do not travel
more than 2-3 hrs from their group.  So, when something is held in
Adlersruhe, very few people from Blacklake, Trelac or Crossroads Keeps
attend and vice versa.  With rotating practices, it is harder to keep up
with where the practice is each month, and it is already hard enough to
have a set date each month with regional and major kingdom events.

However, if we, as a region, are determined to have fun practicing
together to build our own personal, as well as regional skills in any
field, it MUST be obtainable to everyone on a REGULAR basis.  Aaron and I
believe that the practices must be more centrally located.  We suggest
that practices be held on Sunday afternoons (to allow those who are
attending an event the opportunity to still attend the practice) and from
noon to 5 pm (so everyone has reasonable time to travel there and home). 
As for location, in old numbered months (Jan, March, ...) they could be
held in Bonwicke and practices in even months be held in Crossroads Keep.
 This way no one group never travels, but the practices are still
reasonably available to everyone.  Also, I believe that the dates of the
practices should be laid out at least 6 months at a time, so everyone can
plan for them and these dates should be published in each group's local
newsletter.

 Example:
	With rotating practices, sure Adlersruhe would get to host 2 practices a
year, but then they would have make 6 very long trips to travel to
Blacklake (4.25 hrs), Mendersham (4.5 hrs), and Trelac (5 hrs).  Yet, if
they have just two places to travel to,  Crossroads (3.5 hrs) and
Bonwicke (2 hrs), it would be more obtainable on a regular basis.  This
make-up would offer a more reasonable way for Adlersruhe to attend
regional sessions, and still not be taxing on any one group.

It would be nice for each group to host one, but in the long run, this
suggestion will save miles and time (I've done the math), and offer a
better, regular learning experience, in our opinion, if they are more
centrally located.

But before anything is set in stone, I believe that we need to stop and
make sure that the non-net users of our groups are polled on what they
are willing to do.  Maybe someone from each group could contact a
majority of their group and ask them questions like when, where, and if
they would attend regularly and post it to us.  Then, we need to set up
car pools and make whatever is decided work.   If any plan is to work,
there must be teamwork and dedication.

Let's make something great together.
VIVAT the WESTERN REGION and ANSTEORRA !!!!

Brita and Sir Aaron

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