[MR] Re: acorn

[david wendelken]

I've read the huge volume of emails on this topic with some amusement.

I would note that we in the SCA try to be polite in all things, and sometimes we confuse ourselves as to what politeness means.   It does not mean that we all must agree with one another.  It is possible to disagree without being disagreeable about it!

Nor does being polite mean that we never say things that might hurt someone's feelings.  It means that we speak the truth as we understand it, in a polite and friendly manner, in an honest attempt to learn more or make things better.   We can not be responsible for how people feel, only for how we act.    Sometimes the truth hurts.  Sometimes it brings joy.  Sometimes both!

Duke Logan's explanation of how the current process works was very helpful.

In it, as I remember it, he explained that due to the way 3rd class postage works combined with the current due-dates for getting event info published in the Acorn, it was quite likely that the Acorn might arrive late.
His Grace explained that this is the post-office's fault and suggested that people pony up the additional $10 in order to get the newsletter on time.

That's very sound advice if we continue to use the current process.  Until the process changes, I would suggest you do just that.

I went back and checked the SCA membership form just to be sure, and the SCA sells a "newsletter" with it's membership - not a "club magazine".  As such, it should contain "news" not "history".  

If we **know when we sell it** that a purchased membership AS IT IS SOLD BY THE SCA is unlikely to receive "news" rather than "historical data" in the "newsletter", then I would argue that the SCA is at fault.  The SCA set up the deadlines and the process that we use with 3rd class mail, not the post office.  The post office offers a service and we have chosen to use it wrong.

Why can't the deadlines be moved a week or so earlier in the prior month?  If an event staff is so disorganized that they can't get a flyer in on time, it's likely that they shouldn't be hosting the event anyway.

Why don't we have the SCA (at kingdom request) send membership info in a simple datafile to the kingdoms as it changes?  That way, kingdoms could print their own labels whenever they needed them.    It might save on postage and aggravation.

Plus, the data could be useful for the kingdom in many other ways.

andras