I want to caveat up front that this is *not* a "yes, but" answer in the sense of "oh, that won't work, here's why" - you know I hate those answers. ;) This is a "why I struggle with this" answer, intended to solicit ways to ameliorate struggle.
(And I think "give them something to do that was worth their coming" is the HUGEST thing, and I have zero quarrel with it, and am continuing to turn over ideas.)
I spent a year being co-chatelaine with my beloved, and I had the opportunity to practice this sort of things firsthand. It really does work - particularly with regard to newer folks - make an effort to not only meet people, but stick around for more than five minutes. Make an active effort to spend time connecting with people you do not know and figuring out ways to knit them in, both to the organization and to your life. Simple and clear principle, really.
And one that is diametrically opposed to the things that people say they like about Olde Councile and STEs - hanging out with your extant friends around a common topic. So it is, in some part, a question of training people to acquire a new instinct which may be uncomfortable and unfamiliar. And I think, in order to really work, EVERYBODY has to do it; if you leave it to people whose official job it is, and the handful of extroverts we actually have, you get crispy fried chicken.
I credit a wise person with breaking this down to three ideas: time spent connecting with new-to-SCA folks, time spend connecting with new-to-you folks, time spent creating the something-worthwhile-to-do. If everybody involved spent, say, 30% of their time on one of these three things...
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Date: 2012-01-27 03:46 pm (UTC)(And I think "give them something to do that was worth their coming" is the HUGEST thing, and I have zero quarrel with it, and am continuing to turn over ideas.)
I spent a year being co-chatelaine with my beloved, and I had the opportunity to practice this sort of things firsthand. It really does work - particularly with regard to newer folks - make an effort to not only meet people, but stick around for more than five minutes. Make an active effort to spend time connecting with people you do not know and figuring out ways to knit them in, both to the organization and to your life. Simple and clear principle, really.
And one that is diametrically opposed to the things that people say they like about Olde Councile and STEs - hanging out with your extant friends around a common topic. So it is, in some part, a question of training people to acquire a new instinct which may be uncomfortable and unfamiliar. And I think, in order to really work, EVERYBODY has to do it; if you leave it to people whose official job it is, and the handful of extroverts we actually have, you get crispy fried chicken.
I credit a wise person with breaking this down to three ideas: time spent connecting with new-to-SCA folks, time spend connecting with new-to-you folks, time spent creating the something-worthwhile-to-do. If everybody involved spent, say, 30% of their time on one of these three things...