femkes_follies (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
femkes_follies) wrote2010-12-27 04:36 pm
femkes_follies) wrote2010-12-27 04:36 pm
Entry tags:
Deep Thoughts and Other Wonders (on the Nature of Volunteer Organiziations)
I got to thinking this past weekend, while bouncing a few things off Dad (thoughts, questions, Caramel puff corn....).
We occasionally comment on small groups and lack of willing officers and how it leads to people wearing too many hats.
What we don't always consider, however, is that the way the SCA structures its officer divisions in some ways combines disparate duties under a single title. Let me give you a "fer instance" or two.
Herald: There a voice Heralds, there are list Heralds, there are Protocol Heralds, and there are book Heralds. Very few people are good or even interested in all aspects. However, a local group Heralds is expected to maintain the OP, herald Court in the event of a Royal Visit (often the Kingdom Herald is there to do this, but there are instances in which the local Herald is just "it."), AND assist members with name and armory submissions. This, I posit, is a poor breakdown of job descriptions. Because, let's face it, most local heralds that I've met are exceedingly poor and usually disinterested book Heralds. They have no wish to learn the submissions process, and therefore they give out Very Bad Advice and lend heavily toward the poor image the CoA has with the general membership. Those folks who DO like book heraldry often avoid stepping up as a group Pursuivant on the possibility that they might someday have to herald Court. It would make a heck of a lot more sense to make the group Herald responsible for the OP and Court-based stuff, while having At-large Consulting Heralds who are trained at submissions. We get half-way there with consulting tables, but still.
Web Minister: OK, let's face facts. A lot of local group pages are an affront to nature. The fact is, a lot of folks who consider themselves "tech savvy" - learned HTML 1.0 in 1997 and never kept up. Think I'm exagerating? (Sorry, Lettice, but this sucker makes my retinas bleed on several levels, in addition to being WAY out of compliance with corporate policy). The problem? Well, first that aforementioned lack of updating coding skills. The other issue is that the intersection of groups of folks who can code with groups of folks who can manage aesthetics and graphical design to any degree is vanishingly small. And yet, we lump them all into one group. No, I don't know how to solve this one. I'd noodled on the concept of suggesting would-be WebMin's ask their groups to purchase a good web development book. (As the typical SCAdian webMin can't or won't drop $20-30 on a book...) However, it doesn't make a lot of sense for the Canton/Shire/Barony to own a book that will be outdated by the time the office changes. Maybe a list of good on-line resources for basic development skills. The other aspect - good design - is more challenging. It would be nice if a pool of folks with talent in that aspect could be developed who could design a graphical layout, and then just send it to the WebMin of a given group to be sliced and used in the creation of the code layout. But I'm not sure how that would work in practice.
Fuzzy chains of Command: Traditionally, in this neck of the woods, Regional officers pretty much collate reports. They have responsibilities... but no authority. They don't exist as an independent body, so they don't talk to each other. They are, strictly, deputies of their Kingdom superiors. But more can be made of it, with a little effort. While the Regional deputy for a given office doesn't have the authority to require much of anything and can bring no sanctions for noncompliance - beyond reporting to their superior - they CAN encourage things. They CAN call meetings at events. The Regional Chatelaine and Chronicler have been known to do so. Some of the others could do so as well. (It might not be bad for the Regional Marshall to sit the Group Marshalls down and have a heart-to-heart on their reporting responisbilities, as an example). It's one of those areas where the officers have exactly as much authority as they exercise... so long as no one intervenes from above. But they don't have to be just decorative...
We occasionally comment on small groups and lack of willing officers and how it leads to people wearing too many hats.
What we don't always consider, however, is that the way the SCA structures its officer divisions in some ways combines disparate duties under a single title. Let me give you a "fer instance" or two.
Herald: There a voice Heralds, there are list Heralds, there are Protocol Heralds, and there are book Heralds. Very few people are good or even interested in all aspects. However, a local group Heralds is expected to maintain the OP, herald Court in the event of a Royal Visit (often the Kingdom Herald is there to do this, but there are instances in which the local Herald is just "it."), AND assist members with name and armory submissions. This, I posit, is a poor breakdown of job descriptions. Because, let's face it, most local heralds that I've met are exceedingly poor and usually disinterested book Heralds. They have no wish to learn the submissions process, and therefore they give out Very Bad Advice and lend heavily toward the poor image the CoA has with the general membership. Those folks who DO like book heraldry often avoid stepping up as a group Pursuivant on the possibility that they might someday have to herald Court. It would make a heck of a lot more sense to make the group Herald responsible for the OP and Court-based stuff, while having At-large Consulting Heralds who are trained at submissions. We get half-way there with consulting tables, but still.
Web Minister: OK, let's face facts. A lot of local group pages are an affront to nature. The fact is, a lot of folks who consider themselves "tech savvy" - learned HTML 1.0 in 1997 and never kept up. Think I'm exagerating? (Sorry, Lettice, but this sucker makes my retinas bleed on several levels, in addition to being WAY out of compliance with corporate policy). The problem? Well, first that aforementioned lack of updating coding skills. The other issue is that the intersection of groups of folks who can code with groups of folks who can manage aesthetics and graphical design to any degree is vanishingly small. And yet, we lump them all into one group. No, I don't know how to solve this one. I'd noodled on the concept of suggesting would-be WebMin's ask their groups to purchase a good web development book. (As the typical SCAdian webMin can't or won't drop $20-30 on a book...) However, it doesn't make a lot of sense for the Canton/Shire/Barony to own a book that will be outdated by the time the office changes. Maybe a list of good on-line resources for basic development skills. The other aspect - good design - is more challenging. It would be nice if a pool of folks with talent in that aspect could be developed who could design a graphical layout, and then just send it to the WebMin of a given group to be sliced and used in the creation of the code layout. But I'm not sure how that would work in practice.
Fuzzy chains of Command: Traditionally, in this neck of the woods, Regional officers pretty much collate reports. They have responsibilities... but no authority. They don't exist as an independent body, so they don't talk to each other. They are, strictly, deputies of their Kingdom superiors. But more can be made of it, with a little effort. While the Regional deputy for a given office doesn't have the authority to require much of anything and can bring no sanctions for noncompliance - beyond reporting to their superior - they CAN encourage things. They CAN call meetings at events. The Regional Chatelaine and Chronicler have been known to do so. Some of the others could do so as well. (It might not be bad for the Regional Marshall to sit the Group Marshalls down and have a heart-to-heart on their reporting responisbilities, as an example). It's one of those areas where the officers have exactly as much authority as they exercise... so long as no one intervenes from above. But they don't have to be just decorative...