[MR] re: Value of membership - a request

[Craig Levin]

Rosine:

> who finds it strange that we can all grunt, argue, fuss and *itch about
> something that was decided in OUR OWN KINGDOM"S LAND, which only a few of us
> even bothered to attend. You care? You couldn't have proven it by me at the
> time that the BoD was looking at the nearly empty room and calling for
> comments.

I sent them a letter earlier this year, when they called for
comments on sca.org. Please don't depict me as someone who has
come to this issue without having told the BoD anything.

Devora pointed out to me, last night, that the way we play the
game, and the way the corporation works, are very different. For
the most part, the game's approach is very grass-roots, with people
forming their own networks of friends to accomplish goals held in
common, and a lot gets done that way. That's the background to
the bond between peers and their associates and the households
that cover this land. On the other hand, the corporation is very
top-down, with little input. Even with the best of intentions,
seven people are attempting to account for the variety
represented by seventeen kingdoms on four continents-a variety
seen only in great empires, and things can slip through the
cracks. 

In fact, she pointed out that the very disconnect between the
structure of the Society and the structure of the Corporation is
probably part of the problem in getting feedback.  People are
accustomed to "getting things done" by working within the local
groups. Want to do a certain event? Bring it up with your friends
at the Barony meeting. Want to arrange to have a nice lunchboard
at some event? Talk it over with your household. Want to try some
complicated project? Go to your peer.  Even when they come to
Virginia, the perception is that the BoD is far away. The Barony,
the household, the local peer, etc. are all relatively easy to
reach. The BoD doesn't visit that often, and one member is
expected to speak for several kingdoms, which they may or may not
have ever extensively visited. Our ombudsman, for instance, lives
in Calontir, and is ombudsman also for the Arts & Sciences,
Drachenwald, and Ealdormere.  That's, um, quite a range.

Perhaps, she continued, the BoD ought to think about moving
corporate functions, like the mailing lists, down to the
kingdoms. In place of charging individual members, move
membership in the national group to the kingdoms, who could then
have individual memberships, in which people could sign up for
newsletters, and then the kingdoms could afford to be national
group members. This is a common model for big non-profits, since,
in the end, the volunteer labor is local and easy to recruit for
local causes, but not as easy to recruit for larger causes. 

Recruitment into the game has been very successful.
Unfortunately, this leads to a communications breakdown between
the national level and the local level, as more people enter
without any connection to the people at the top, especially when
there are so few people at the top-seven board members, plus
about a dozen corporate officers. 

Pedro (and Devora)

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Craig Levin				Librarians Rule: Oook!