Volunteer Retention in the SCA

People are far more willing to give if they are invested but not abused; cherished, but not made a pawn; loved for who they are while also giving them space to find ways to grow and learn. Don't badger people for why they don't have awards or things you think they need, but be willing to make space for them to figure things out on their own. As long as it's not destructive, harmful, or hateful, let people be.

Broke Byzantine: making a sartorial riot happen on a budget

All too often, when the term Byzantine and the Eastern Roman Empire are brought up in re-enactment and recreationist contexts, especially in a clothing context, we think opulence and splendour. We think “guess I’ll have to mortgage my house” or “time to rob the bank to afford this look.” I’m here to say that no, … Continue reading Broke Byzantine: making a sartorial riot happen on a budget

Don’t Throw Away Your Shot: proposal-writing for the SCA in five Hamilton quotes

There are a lot of things to get outraged over, including in one's hobby. In the time of Coronavirus, that all seems to be more magnified, as we're all stuck at home, with very little chance of meeting our friends and chosen family. It's tumultuous both in and out of the Society, and with several … Continue reading Don’t Throw Away Your Shot: proposal-writing for the SCA in five Hamilton quotes

Omphaloskepsis: Anachronistic Learning in the Information Age

The Society for Creative Anachronism is by large a society based on information transfer, whether it be our own customs and law to how to create medieval items or even learning our method of martial art. Even with this, though, how critical is it exactly that our learning and information transfer happen only at events, … Continue reading Omphaloskepsis: Anachronistic Learning in the Information Age

Straight Outta SLC: Quick and Easy SCA Names Using FamilySearch

Documenting names for the SCA doesn't always require large tomes or some sort of wizard with super-linguistic skills to interpret a source. One of the best sources we have at our disposal is FamilySearch, a genealogical tool that has compiled not only International Genealogical Index records, but other records (such as parish and birth) as … Continue reading Straight Outta SLC: Quick and Easy SCA Names Using FamilySearch

Let Me Google That For You: How to Use Internet Tools to Research Effectively

In my post Experimental Archaelogy and Social Media, I talked about the concept of provenance, and why it's so important to historians of all levels. This post, though, will go a bit further in showing that there are tools available to all of us in properly determining where the original post comes from. I was … Continue reading Let Me Google That For You: How to Use Internet Tools to Research Effectively