Honestly, I believe you're incorrect -- indeed, I not only think you're wrong that so many people believe so poorly of the Board over this, *I* don't believe so poorly.
Pity.
I've had the pleasure, ever since the Capital C Crisis, and even more over the last few years, to learn more and more about non-profit management.
The SCA just plain sucks at it. This situation illustrates that for me, perfectly.
The financial precariousness of the SCA teeters precisely on the wrong thing, and a loss of merely a few thousand paid members would financially founder the SCA. The solution to that problem (other than changing the financial income model, which they also fail by avoiding) is to promote more and better support and participation.
Because of their management of this problem, they now have a choice of which SIDE of the issue they will alienate. They can't afford to alienate either side.
The right thing to do (in my opinion) is to bring everyone together more. To take the fetters off the Chivalry, and release an announcement which says in no uncertain terms something like "The day-to-day management of matters of inclusion in the existing Patent Orders is delegated by the Board to the Kingdoms. It is our feeling that these Patent Orders have been insufficiently rewarding participants who primarily exercise the additional military arts of the period. It is our strong expectation that the Kingdoms will develop concrete plans to address that over the next few years, to avoid the Board having to act."
I think that would do it - although it might generate a few more bits of hate mail. Reading those is part of the job.
no subject
Pity.
I've had the pleasure, ever since the Capital C Crisis, and even more over the last few years, to learn more and more about non-profit management.
The SCA just plain sucks at it. This situation illustrates that for me, perfectly.
The financial precariousness of the SCA teeters precisely on the wrong thing, and a loss of merely a few thousand paid members would financially founder the SCA. The solution to that problem (other than changing the financial income model, which they also fail by avoiding) is to promote more and better support and participation.
Because of their management of this problem, they now have a choice of which SIDE of the issue they will alienate. They can't afford to alienate either side.
The right thing to do (in my opinion) is to bring everyone together more. To take the fetters off the Chivalry, and release an announcement which says in no uncertain terms something like "The day-to-day management of matters of inclusion in the existing Patent Orders is delegated by the Board to the Kingdoms. It is our feeling that these Patent Orders have been insufficiently rewarding participants who primarily exercise the additional military arts of the period. It is our strong expectation that the Kingdoms will develop concrete plans to address that over the next few years, to avoid the Board having to act."
I think that would do it - although it might generate a few more bits of hate mail. Reading those is part of the job.