Article on the aging SCA membership

[callistotoni]

Apparently this is not just a Western problem. I think the idea of posting on Craigs List is interesting. My gut feel is that, around here, there would be a fear of such a posting (a la "We want to stay safe by not inviting any crazy-types"). But people have to know the SCA is an option, so is it so dangerous to publicize? Or do we believe that "Those that want to find the SCA will"?

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local_state/story/302747.html#storylink=addthis

Comments

[ermine-rat.livejournal.com]

almost all of the new people i meet these days found the SCA boucing around the internet... very different from when you and I started out...

My two pence

[dame-cordelia.livejournal.com]

I would have joined the SCA years earlier if I knew it existed. Even today there may be folks who have never heard of the SCA and would, like me, jump right in at the first opportunity.

You can't want to find it unless you know about it.

[sarahbellem.livejournal.com]

I've given some thought to this, too... But from a slightly less-gray angle. ;) I think the standard opportunities for publicizing the SCA are diminishing in attendance all over the map. Used to be that we'd set up a booth at Baycon or somewhere similar and snag interested people that way... But SF/F Con attendance seems to be going through the same kind of graying problem, and most people whose fandoms would overlap with the SCA already know about it and have either joined or decided it's not their thing. We could start actively courting other fandoms like Furries and Cosplay, whose membership appears to be younger, but who are too different as a group from what the SCA does that it might not translate.

Colleges are still viable, but with all the competing interests of college-aged kids, it's going to be hard for many to squeeze in the time for a hobby, much less be able to afford it. Windy Meads used to be pretty good about getting space at UCD's Picnic Day (the annual university show 'n tell for prospective students/new students and parents), but in the 2 years I was involved with Windy Meads, there were about 2 people who went from signing up at Picnic Day to actually attending a shire meeting. And I never did see either of those individuals actually make it to an event... The nature of university groups is fluid, anyway. St. Merrick's has been dormant for about the last 10 years (it's now been absorbed back into the shire), the Kates goes through cycles of inactivity, St. Cassian's has been inactive since the mid-90s, St. David's sputters to life every couple of years and then falls dormant again... I think the bottom line is that it's just hard for college students to devote the time and energy and resources to keeping their groups active and when they do function, they have trouble sustaining momentum because students are wont to graduate at some point and move on. Also, the SCA isn't really the sort of organization that looks good on a CV, so a student might end up de-prioritizing joining in favor of a more socially acceptable organization, like a fraternity/sorority or an honors society, etc.

Ultimately, it was like I was saying at dinner at 12th Night: Moving things online is probably going to be the best way to inject life back into the organization, on a number of levels. Advertising on Craigslist is kinda ingenious, though I'm not sure how many people would be looking there for something like us... And I worry less about "undesirables" showing up via online publicity, than I do about the fact that the SCA already has a lot of sketchy individuals already within it/around it. I doubt we'd see an increase in drugs, underage drinking, questionably legal practices, abuse, than we already see. It's not like the SCA is this big secret, after all. We're pretty high profile when we roll into town and set up our pavilions, put on armor, etc. Not a month goes by that someone somewhere is publishing an article about the organization in a local paper.

But I'm kinda digressing... We should be looking to new media to draw in members, for sure. Why not have a wiki like An Tir and Caid do? Or a blog that's on a group homepage where newcomers might be able to connect with a "face" of a group (shire/canton/barony/province/principality/kingdom/whatever). In fact, if I were chatelaine of a group, putting up a blog might be the first thing I'd do. That way, if someone manages to follow the bread crumbs to the website, they'd have the feeling of a real person right there to interface with.

That said, this is obviously aimed at computer savy people. There's a big chunk of those in the SCA who are computer/internet inhibited, for whom this won't work. But those aren't the people we're trying to introduce to the SCA...

Anyway, I need to get ready for class. Hope some of this was thought provoking! :)

[thelbk.livejournal.com]

If we want to recruit youngins' we should work on those Amtgard kids... :-)
(so says the mother of the A&S officer of the 'Shire of the Devil Mountain')
I'm trying to encourage them to come check out March Crown in Woodland.

But gaming conventions should be good recruiting grounds too... and if only we could hold practices at local Gaming stores...

We need to get out there and be seen, not hide away in private practices...

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

We already HAVE crazy-types.

Last week, when Linda posted her annual shill for Maker Faire, I asked whether we ever actually get any new blood as a result. For once someone was able to say "yes."

People are into what they're into when they're into it. The economy probably isn't helping matters either.

everything that Sarah said & more

[trystbat.livejournal.com]

I am / have been involved in many different orgs, & the ones that continue to thrive are the ones that changed w/the times. The times have gone digital.

One example: SF cons complain of dwindling attendance, while anime cons gain in popularity every year. A *huge* part of why younger ppl (teens esp.) flock to anime cons is due to sites like cosplay.com where fans can network, show off their work, & arrange to meet at the next con. CC26 did a ton of outreach online to the anime community via cosplay.com & was pretty successful. The next Costume-Con had a terrible online presence & was a dinky event (you don't know how pissed K. was about the damage that did to the brand!).

Imo, it's hard to find out about the SCA these days. Even as a member, I am constantly amazed by how difficult it is to find out when & where events are, who other members are, & how to network w/them. I have to hunt you ppl down! It's like the frickin' freemasons, to be one you have to know one.

Is this just the West? I don't know. But it feels very insular, & the utter lack of a reliable, up-to-date, useful, friendly, interactive online network sure doesn't help.

[aastg.livejournal.com]

What problem are we trying to solve, exactly? Is it a problem of perception?

I notice that people are always saying that attendance is down without checking out the actual attendance numbers. From what I've been seeing in the Mists, numbers have stayed steady over the last 3 years. I bet the same is true at the Kingdom level, too.

Our numbers ebb and flow according to many more factors than where we advertise/recruit. Speaking from a service perspective, it's better if we don't get a big spike all at once: it strains what we laughingly call an infrastructure until some few of the noobs can percolate into the service track.

Oh, man, now you've got me thinking about this some more.

[aastg.livejournal.com]

I think we are short of teenagers and college-age people, at least based on the attendance numbers I've seen. We could probably use a lot more people who are younger than 40, for that matter.

It was really good for the GSP to have so many kids playing with this time: it was quite a creative shot in the arm. (Many thanks to thelbk for being the conduit that brought Katie, Kate, Aaron and Emily in.)

Most of us who can afford to play don't have kids; for those who do have kids it seems to be hit-or-miss whether the kids stay and play.

New people seem to do best when they have a friend to bring them in. We *used* to get lots of college types because we had Info Stations at universities and demos at cons. Now that we're in the age of social networking sites, really anyone who wants to find us *can* find us. Now I'm wondering about what we have to offer that young people want. Hm.

The trouble with the SCA is t's full of Scots, er, I mean, volunteers

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

Let's see.... Nope. The West Kingdom Calendar page has still not been updated any time recently. Only three events were listed for January (as opposed to seven in the Page), two for February (six in the Page) and no sign of anything after that. This means that people who do not pay for a membership that includes a newsletter subscription cannot get event information online. Nor are they going to be able to easily decipher who to ask. This is the kingdom website, not the URL of some hinterland canton that's been in abeyance since 1998.

The average local group website isn't always up to date or easy to understand either. What's a seneschal? Or a chatelaine? It never, ever seems to occur to someone to design contact information that reads like "For information on activities and how to get involved, please email Lady Blahdeblah." And please let Lady Blahdeblah be the current contact and responsible enough to respond to such inquiries in a timely fashion. Otherwise people will give up and go back to their WoW or whatever it is they do these days.

[joycebre.livejournal.com]

I'd rant, but I've been there so many times before. I just don't understand the reluctance to use modern technology as the tool that it is.

[xrian.livejournal.com]

Volunteers do drop the ball on occasion, but in fairness, in the 15 years I've been involved, this is the first time I've seen the Kingdom calendar have problems. I wonder what's going on.

One of the contributing factors here may be the increasing difficulty in finding people willing to take responsibilities: not only are we all busy, but the things people want to volunteer for, and have the skills and temperament for, don't always match the jobs that need to be done.

For instance, a shortage of chatelaines seems to be part of the difficulty here: the job needs someone who's both extroverted and enthusiastic about recruiting new people. Also, not everyone sees it as a "recruiting" job: some of it is making welcome people who have alredy shown up, and some people focus on the "hospitality" portion and not so much the other.

I can't tell you how often I've heard people say that they either can't find a contact person for their local group or that they tried to contact that person repeatedly with no response.