Events, Meeting Minutes, Society ANNOUNCEMENTS

October 2019 Mini-Business Meeting Minutes

23 October 2019, 7:30pm

Notes submitted by Captain Brendan de Hay on behalf of Lady Raven Helmsplitter, South Downs Chronicler.

THL Lucien d’Artois called the meeting to order. “Welcome! If you did not sign in, please sign in!”

Tonight’s meeting includes a review (“post-mortem”) of our Red Tower event that took place 4-6 October 2019.

Officer Reports

  • Deputy Chatelaine for Demos (Lady Bú Feiyan)
    • Anyone available for a demo on 31 October? Demo is a Reformation-themed event for students aged 5 through 11 at Providence Classical Christian School in Oxford, GA. Possibly because it takes place on a weekday (and Halloween), there wasn’t much interest.
    • Milton Library, Saturday, 26 October, from 8:30am through 6:00pm.
      • Start talk with “Dream” video.
      • 1-2 hours of talking time slots.
      • Lots of space for dancing, fighting, outdoors (different types of outdoor spaces, so weather may be a factor)
      • Possibly a big indoor room for activities
      • Would love to have hands-on activities for children (possibly calligraphy?)
    • ConjurationCon, 15-17 November, Hilton Atlanta Airport
      • We are invited to take part all three days
      • Two outdoors tables and one indoor table
      • Fighting on Quidditch field all day Friday and Saturday
      • Outdoor space available 2-4 Saturday and 12-2 Sunday
      • Deadline for passes will be at least one week out; if interested to take part, please contact Bu directly

Upcoming Events

  • Castle Wars (21-24 November 2019)(
    • Memorial shoot for Mikael at CW. (Countess Gwenhyfar). Fynlow will run it, but when & where in the schedule? Has to be in daytime, because Meridian rules don’t allow night shoots. Autocrat will contact Countess Gwen. Need volunteers. Shoot and ceremony may be long.
    • Minister of Children: Pavilion was really too cold. THL Juliane says different location AND tarp walls and heaters will be available. However, tarp walls need to be purchased by Barony. Juliane will address… Expect to purchase something we can use for long-term, possibly at other sites too. Juliane will call Ranger John and get measurements on space. Lady Agnes made a long-term suggestion for a collection of children’s cloaks
    • Lady Justina volunteered to be revel coordinator, and is looking for volunteers and ideas. Juliane said the hall is already planned out.
    • We need teachers!
    • Lord Jürgen requested volunteers to help with Troll – he needs a Barony member who has taken the PayPal class to be at Troll at all times.
  • Red Tower (4-6 October 2019)
    • Lady Justina and Lady Isabella, autocrats for Red Tower, thanked all the volunteers. General Approbation from the populace (the autocrats did a great job!) It was agreed that silly-themed Red Towers are memorable.
    • Amanda reminded future autocrats to make sure you print the baronial inventory and re-check on re-pack.
    • Seneschal suggested we need to do an inventory before CW, and do or re-do the lists for each bin
    • The Barony needs hand soap!
    • In the future, we need more volunteers for pack out
    • The autocrats felt that site management was unresponsive. (Fire alarms were chirping.) Site visit was confirmed several times and then still got over-booked. Plumbing issues. Not enough lighting, many existing lights not functioning. No trash cans (we had to buy some). Flooding and broken pumps at main bath house.
    • Site is booked for next year. Alternative sites are being looked at for future years. Deposit is refundable.
    • Need signs on cabin doors.
    • THL Mark suggested a “landcrat” even for the cabin site. Autocrats received complaints about first-come-first-served cabin assignments. Several groups wanted to camp as a group, and wanted to reserve a group site. Mark says it’s not really possible to pre-reserve the map for cabin-only events. Exceptions on a case-by-case basis if there are special circumstances (Bloody Ridge, for example, had an elevation).
    • A better map would be really helpful.
    • Friday evening fighting is likely to be sparse at Red Tower
    • The Marshal in Charge (Lady Mairghread) and Lord Jürgen agreed that they should have marked out bigger spaces for the fighting field. Mark suggested that a site steward would be a good idea (different from landcrat?) General comments were positive, though.
    • Jullianne says We need job descriptions for our jobs… We need to write it up. Her Ex suggests a committee to write individual descriptions, then a project night meeting for input. Count Sebastian recommends that it be a living document (changes between events). Julie and Mark both talking about project shared document.
    • Need more signage to get people into the site (within the park). Mark says we need a policy about how signs are placed. Juliane suggests a project night for MORE SIGNS. Mark says all self-standing (not staked). Someone else suggests that the signs which are black & blue are hard to see.
    • THL Alisandre sent in comments while out of town (in the Midrealm’s scenic Marche of Winged Hills), also suggesting more signs would have been helpful. She and Captain Pietro drove around the park for close to half an hour lost that morning.
    • Signs for all the “standard” building sites (troll, main hall, etc.) should be in baronial colors, but visible. Mark wants to make them more reflective. Money will be an issue. (Isabella suggests that those paints do go on sale.)
    • Mark received email complaints re: spiders and general lack of pre-event cabin cleanliness. Group acknowledged that only so much can be done. Agnes (arachnophobe) volunteered to be the spider hunter.
    • Mark received comments about where court is held at that site – there was no parking or access at court location. Perhaps court at the field where cars are parked? Lucien ointed out that court on the field would lengthen load-out (personal pavilions would be left up later). We seem to be outgrowing the site.
    • Jürgen heard complaints about high event fee ($20). Mark commented that people need to learn that sites are more expensive now than many SCA members remember – this is just something people need to learn. Juliane added that comparisons with other groups who have lower overhead are not fair.
    • Mask sales didn’t work out so well – perhaps sell at or adjacent to troll instead of later in the day? Mark suggested that we could advertise sales more.
    • Countess Gwen reminded us that it WAS a really good event – South Downs people do a great job. Side note: Learn to turn the price complaints into market research. Get them to be specific about feedback—what do they want or are willing to pay for?
    • Merchants were all really happy. One was back after a long absence, one new, very happy.

Other SCA Business

  • Count Sebastiannos and Countess Morgan thanked everyone for all their help during their reign. Morgan then distributed some last minutes kids’ and scribal items.

Next business meeting will be held Wednesday, 6 November 2019, at the Doraville Civic Center.

Thanks!

–Raven