demos-msg - 12/3/08
Advice on SCA demos for education and recruitment.
NOTE: See also the files: Demos-as-Evts-art, SCA-Demos-art, recruitment-msg, SCA-PR-msg, new-groups-msg, evnt-stewards-msg, privvies-msg, waterbearing-msg.
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From: 00mjstum at leo.bsuvc.bsu.edu (Matthew J. Stum)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Lothar's Rules for Demos
Date: 9 Sep 93 14:18:19 GMT
tbarnes at silver.ucs.indiana.edu (thomas wrentmore barnes) writes:
[snip]
> At fighting demos, have the fighters play at fighting. No
> quibbling over blow calibration, no standing around feeling out the
> range, or psyching out your opponent. If the blow hits solidly, take it.
> Keep it moving. It helps to have a stage manager/M.C. to tell people
> what's going on, and to prompt the fighters, as well as marshalling.
> In this part of the world Duke Moonwulf does a mean fighting
> demo. Maybe Palymar, Alan, or Jafar could describe it.
Greetings!
I'm not Moonwulf, Palymar, Alan, or Jafar... but I've heard "da spiel"
enough that I thought I'd sit down and try to write it from memory one
day... I didn't include all of the schtick/explanations about the various
weapon forms... just the preamble:
(Items in {}'s are either actions performed by the speaker, or comments
made from the peanut-gallery, er, fighters...)
{after crowd has gathered to the sound of two fighters "shield-bashing"...}
"... we are the Society for Creative Anachronism; an international,
educational, not-for-profit organization that believes that the
Middle Ages should be studied actively, not passively. Like most
scholars we do the research, learn the facts, etc... but then we
go out and we _do_. We make and wear the clothes, we dance the
dances, we cook and eat the food, we brew and drink the liquor
{yeah! hubbah!}... but perhaps our most spectacular activity is
our re-creation of Medieval tournament combat."
{wield real broad-sword}
"The most common weapon of the Middle Ages was the broad sword; easily
capable of cutting off a limb, running a man through, or neatly and
cleanly removing a man's head from his body. (Or sometimes _not_ so
neatly and cleanly.)"
{wield rattan}
"However, we do not use steel and instead we make our weapons out
of rattan; a dense, fibrous plant grown in the Phillipines and
Indonesia who's purpose in life, when we can't rescue it, is
to become lawn furniture. {boo! hiss!}"
{bring out corpse-to-be}
"Our fighters are on their honor to act as if the weapons were
real. Therefore, you may see blows that have no apparent affect.
This might be for any of several reasons. They might hit with the
{bang} flat of the blade... or {tip} just the tip of the blade...
or the {slap} blow might glance off of the armor. And then there
are the blows that are just too wimpy, too feeble to penetrate
the armor. If you hit a warrior like this he's going to just
laugh at you and stomp you into the mud. But! To defeat your
opponent, to win the day, you must strike your opponent truly and
thus: {blam!}..."
{corpse fall down and go boom}
"A blow to the head or body is considered fatal. If a fighter is
hit on one of their limbs then he is honor-bound to continue the
fight without the use of that limb... which is a serious handicap
for us, but great good fun for you to watch. Our fighters are
encouraged to die as dramatically as possible... and as you can
see, some are more well-known for their dying than their fighting.
However, we are not into permanent injury or death and firmly
believe in ressurection..."
{gently tap corpse on the foot... he rises}
"... although, this may not be the case if you tried this at home
in your backyard with your little brother or sister... or your
mother-in-law for that matter. And so with that, may we have
our first two fighters!"
{as different weapon combinations are used they are _briefly_ described}
{demo ends in a couple "grand melees"}
--
Matt Stum Gwydion ap Myrddin Ball State University
00mjstum at bsuvc.bsu.edu Shire of Afonlyn, MK Muncie, IN USA
From: sclark at epas.utoronto.ca (Susan Clark)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: The things we do (or, Recruiting)
Date: 8 Sep 1993 18:25:13 -0400
Organization: EPAS Computing Facility, University of Toronto
Greetings....
The first time I ran a recruitment demo, I had a sign-up
list. Bad idea. There had to have been 50 names on that
list, and though we tried, phoning them all was rather time-consuming
and wasteful. The second time I ran a recruitment demo, I went to
passing out bookmarks with our meeting times and a contact
number. This was for new students, so we really played up the fact
that our meeting place was right on campus and that fight practices
were on Sundays right behind the library. We als designated a specific
meeting as "newcomer's night".
The last big information table I did was at the Orangeville
Medieval festival. Orangeville at the time did not have an SCA group,
but five or six experienced locals were just about to take that step.
Because of the nature of the Festival (drawing folks from all over),
I asked where the visitor was from and then wrote a local contact number
on a bookmark. For a lot of folks I was able to give a meeting place
as well. Incidentally, I was glad I broughtt my PIKESTAFFS along,
because I had two people request contacts in Scotland (this was
back when Drachenwald was a Principality), as well as the one each for
Atlanta, Meriedies, and An Tir (to whom I gave the corporate address).
Recruiting syles are highly dependant on the audience you're trying
to reach. One of the best ways of figuring out what works for your
group is to ask your own members how they found the SCA. And
BOY does good media attention work wonders! There have been
a good five or six articles in local papers in the past year on
the SCA, as well as the airing of the CBC special. We've had a period of
constant growth lately.....
Cheers!
Nicolaa/susan
sclark at epas.utoronto.ca
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: brandon at gauss.math.brown.edu (Joshua Brandon)
Subject: Re: The things we do (or, Recruiting)
Organization: Brown University Mathematics Department
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1993 18:06:35 GMT
Gunwaldt recommends for new people:
>A three fold one page flyer with pictures that they can take with them.
>Cheap, easy, & saves a lot of breath for those who give you more
>than 30 seconds.
I've had lots of experience with the big student activities demos that
Gabrielle was describing. Students collect a *lot* of pieces of paper
while they are there, and most of them never get read. A table full of
eye-catching objects and a good spiel will stick in people's minds a lot
longer. A lot of people on campus seemed to know who we were, even if they
weren't interested in joining.... (Note: sympathetic friends are *always*
useful, even if they don't feel like playing!)
---Simon
--
Joshua Brandon Brown Math Department brandon at gauss.math.brown.edu
"It's never too late to have a happy childhood!" ---Cutter John
YAZ/socrates
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: tbarnes at silver.ucs.indiana.edu (thomas wrentmore barnes)
Subject: Re: Lothar's Rules for Demos
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1993 00:51:54 GMT
A couple of other thoughts. It helps if you have a person in
armor to stand around and look picuresque. A photo album of nifty
pictures is a good thing to show, but you risk turning the demo into a
shire nostalgia session. Never stand in front of the booth, you block
the view of the stuff on the table and the people sitting or standing
behind the table. If you aren't actively working the crowd, sit in the
back of the booth or wander around so you don't get in the way.
Make your fliers pretty. 15th c. woodcuts or good photocopies of
MSS illuminations or renaissance art are all good. Our current flier has
a picture by Botticelli on it and the words "Society for Creative
Anachronism" smack dab in the middle of the page. Very effective.
I consider fliers to be expendable. Expect to give out 100 and
find 90 of them in the nearest trashcan. People who sign the sign up
list are more likely to be interested, unless they think they're signing
a petition :). You can cut costs if you can follow up on those folks via
email (if you are a campus group). Don't be a pain though. If people
aren't interested after 2 or 3 tries, they aren't interested. Drop them.
Also post info about your local group on the local BBS's or
campus newsgroup.
Hold fighter practices or other high-profile activities in areas
where there are likely to be a lot of passers-by. This will generate
attention and publicity.
At fighting demos, have the fighters play at fighting. No
quibbling over blow calibration, no standing around feeling out the
range, or psyching out your opponent. If the blow hits solidly, take it.
Keep it moving. It helps to have a stage manager/M.C. to tell people
what's going on, and to prompt the fighters, as well as marshalling.
In this part of the world Duke Moonwulf does a mean fighting
demo. Maybe Palymar, Alan, or Jafar could describe it.
Hope this helps,
Lothar \|/
0 (who thinks that free beer or cookies would really
pack them in!! ;)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: tbarnes at silver.ucs.indiana.edu (thomas wrentmore barnes)
Subject: Re: Lothar's Rules for Demos
Organization: Indiana University
Greetings from Lothar, yet more clarifications.
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1993 16:21:53 GMT
4) By photogenic and charismatic I don't mean that you have to
use people who look like Vogue models. Get people out there who
photograph well and who are wearing nifty garb. They will be
photographed. Also pitch the demographics of the demo team to the demo
audience. For a college campus demo, get college kids. For a crafts fair
that attracts a more general audience, get a mix of ages. Also choose
your people from those who regularly shave, bathe and brush their teeth.
There is a certain segment of the society who choose to recreate the
hygiene of the Middle Ags at its worst. This is a turn-off to modern
Americans who are used to higher standards of cleanliness.
Also, "cute young thangs" can be of either sex. It helps if the
CYT is charismatic and articulate tho. Beef/cheese-cake only goes so
far.
10) PROVIDE LIASON SERVICES. Have a copy of the Kingdom
newletter handy so you can give people from out of town the address of
the SCA group nearest to their town. The Kingdom newsletter will also
have the addresses of the Kingdom Seneschals of various other Kingdoms
so you can help people from out of kingdom- sort of...
If you know anything about it, politely give people information
about where they can find the local Renn Faire, Civic Theater,
Live-Action Role-Playing group, etc. but emphasize that you don't know
the details, since the SCA is a different organization (unless you
actively play with the group you are talking about.)
That's it.
Let the flames begin.
Lothar \|/
0
From: salley at niktow.canisius.edu (David Salley)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Lothar's Rules for Demos
Date: 11 Sep 93 08:45:51 GMT
Organization: Canisius College, Buffalo NY. 14208
Lothar writes:
> (who thinks that free beer or cookies would really pack them in!! ;)
^^^^^^^^^
*Sigh!* I realize this is said in jest, but please, don't even think of doing
it. Among the problems that occur off the top of my head; underage minors
who don't look it, alcoholics, police who want to know if you have a liquor
license. Free punch and cookies would be better, check Cariadoc's Cookbook
for period recipes and have the recipes (WITH CONTENTS!) available as another
flyer.
- Dagonell
SCA Persona : Lord Dagonell Collingwood of Emerald Lake, CSC, CK, CTr
Habitat : East Kingdom, AEthelmearc Principality, Rhydderich Hael Barony
Internet : salley at niktow.cs.canisius.edu
USnail-net : David P. Salley, 136 Shepard Street, Buffalo, New York 14212-2029
From: nusbache at epas.utoronto.ca (Aryk Nusbacher)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Recruiting
Date: 9 Sep 1993 13:36:05 -0400
Organization: EPAS Computing Facility, University of Toronto
It is vital to follow any display or demo with an immediate
involvement of some sort. That is, the display has to throw the new
recruit to the group, but the group has to catch the new recruit.
This "catching" has to be well-thought-out. While some people will
respond well to being told that there is a big road trip next week to
Coronation, others (who have just been given a cult awareness lecture)
will be scared off. A "welcome newbies" meeting might work, but a
sterling example of a regular meeting (if your group has interesting
non-business meetings) or practice might well work better. For
instance, if your group has regular lecture-meetings, an interesting
lecture on a non-Scadian topic (newcomers don't have the inside
vocabulary or interests yet to listen to SCA subjects) works well. If
your group has a fighting practice with lots of non-fighters in
attendance, you can make that the "catch", making sure that the new
people get talked to. A cooking meeting, calligraphy meeting, or
whatever, can serve the same purpose. You can pitch these at the
individuals whom you recruit.
Good luck (and send anybody interested in living history to me),
Aryk Nusbacher
PS: as to Tom Barnes's remark about Vogue models, perhaps he might be
able to arrange personal appearances at demos for Catherine Rose, the
Blonde Bombshell of Sternfeld.
From: tombrady at vtcc1.cc.vt.edu (Duncan MacKinnon)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Recruiting
Date: 10 Sep 1993 09:24 EDT
Organization: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia
In article <CD29F5.5Fp at usenet.ucs.indiana.edu>, tbarnes at silver.ucs.indiana.edu (thomas wrentmore barnes) writes...
>In article <CD1y0H.3zp at acsu.buffalo.edu> v081lu33 at ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu (Kenneth C Mondschein) writes:
>> I've been trying to get people here aware of us. While I have yet to
>>put up the intended flyers, my friend Eros and I went out and sparred on the
>>terrace in front of the dorms. Not much interest generated, but now we're
>>"the crazy guys with the swords." Hmmnn.
>> I suposse I'll have to go deface the fencing team's flyers by writing
>>"wimps" all over them...
> Don't do anything negative. Post your own fliers, don't deface
>the fencing team's stuff.
Greetings, all!
Lothar is quite right, of course. Positive publicity, while harder
to get, is FAR more effective than negative publicity.
We are about to hold our Fall Recruitment Demo here on the Virginia
Tech campus, and here's some of the things we've done in preparation:
-Flyers. Everywhere. Dorms, dining halls, academic buildings, local
businesses, and anywhere else there's a public bulletin board. Our
flyers this year are built around the "tholouze.gif" file available
from bransle.ucs.mun.ca, incorporated into text generated by Lotus
Freelance. It looks nice, and is a little different from the
picture of two guys whaling the bejeezus out of each other we've used
in years past - gives a better image, too, IMHO.
-We spent the last two evenings outside of the dining halls at dinner
time fighting and passing out flyers. We gave away 1200 over 2 days,
although probably ~50% of them wind up in the trash. Still, that
means we've reached 600 people.
-Announcements posted on the Student Center "Electronic Bulletin
Board."
-Flyers given to professors in medieval history, Latin, French, and
Music with the request that they announce the demo in class.
One final note: if you're lacking in fighters, or any other area
you would like to see at your demo, contact a neighboring group -
perhaps they could spare the people to lend a hand. The good folks
of the Shire of Isenfir (U of VA) are sending down some rapier fighters
in exchange for us sending some heavy fighters up to their demo the
next day (hope to see you here, Henry!).
Our goal this year was saturation of the incoming students, and
as many of the existing students as possible. Hopefully, we'll
have a good turnout at our demo tomorrow - couldn't be worse than the
"monsoon demo" of last year...
I'm always looking for new and interesting methods of recruitment.
If anyone is interested in exchanging some ideas, drop me a line
at brady at vtvm1.cc.vt.edu.
Good luck to all!
-Duncan
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Duncan MacKinnon of Tobermory Tom Brady
Barony of Black Diamond Virginia Tech
Kingdom of Atlantia Blacksburg, VA
Per pale potenty purpure and argent, in pale three roundels, counterchanged
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: tbarnes at silver.ucs.indiana.edu (thomas wrentmore barnes)
Subject: Re: Recruiting
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1993 17:43:23 GMT
In article <10SEP199309241790 at vtcc1.cc.vt.edu> brady at vtvm1.cc.vt.edu writes:
Re: Flier art.
We use period illustrations or relevant line drawings on our
fliers. Most black and white photographs photocopy reasonably well (or
scan in reasonably well, but they take a hellatious amount of disk
space). 15th and 16th c. book plates photocopy perfectly. Little did
those printers know that 400 years down the road that their stuff would
be a great source of copywrite free clip art.
I agree though, that if you can get a GOOD photograph of some
SCA activity, it is a good thing. Better yet though is LIVE SCA
activity.
Re: handing out lots of fliers:
How do you folks afford it! 1200 fliers means $60-120 depending
on local copy costs.
>-Flyers given to professors in medieval history, Latin, French, and
> Music with the request that they announce the demo in class.
This would be nice. At IU the medieval history department, such
as it is, seems to be anti-SCA. The other departments don't seem to have
a clue that we exist. How did you wrangle such a thing?
Lothar \|/
0
From: tombrady at vtcc1.cc.vt.edu (Duncan MacKinnon)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Recruiting
Date: 11 Sep 1993 08:43 EDT
Organization: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia
tbarnes at silver.ucs.indiana.edu (thomas wrentmore barnes) writes...
> Re: handing out lots of fliers:
>
> How do you folks afford it! 1200 fliers means $60-120 depending
>on local copy costs.
I should have been a bit clearer on this. We took our main flyer,
reduced it with a copier, and put 4 to a page. I made 300 copies
at $0.08 each for the first 100 and $0.04 for the other 200 for a
total of $16.
>>-Flyers given to professors in medieval history, Latin, French, and
>> Music with the request that they announce the demo in class.
> This would be nice. At IU the medieval history department, such
>as it is, seems to be anti-SCA. The other departments don't seem to have
>a clue that we exist. How did you wrangle such a thing?
We have a professor or two in the history department who seems quite
enamored with the SCA (we've done some demos for their classes). I
guess it comes down to a personality thing for the professors - either
they like us or they don't, and that guides how amenable they might
be to helping.
Slainte,
Duncan
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Duncan MacKinnon of Tobermory Tom Brady
Barony of Black Diamond Virginia Tech
Kingdom of Atlantia Blacksburg, VA
Per pale potenty purpure and argent, in pale three roundels, counterchanged
From: Tony.Jordan at f4229.n124.z1.fidonet.org (Tony Jordan)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Recruiting
Date: Mon, 13 Sep 1993 20:13:46
Another method of recruiting you may want to consider involves locating the fringe medievalist/fantasy groups and playing their game for a little while. You'd be suprised at how many of these folks have not heard of the SCA and have no idea what it really entails. I was brought into the SCA in this manner and am on my way to becoming a productive member.
The group (a household) which initiated this action has brought 20 solid new members into the fold (with another 30 or so that were recruited but preferred fantasy). As for the fact that these people have a 'fantasy mindset' to overcome, so what? A few polite suggestions as to what to wear to an event and the natural tendency for people to be hesitant in new surroundings generally takes care of this problem. And this isn't a matter of suddenly having to advise and care for a huge number of new members. The way my house took care of it was by recruiting two people they thought had potential. When those two people came back to us with tales of singing, dancing, fighting, and events like we'd only dreamed of, then the rest of us began to sniff around the edges of the camp trying to get in.
Just something else for you to consider.
Jester of Anglesea
* Origin: Herald's Point * Steppes/Ansteorra * 214-699-0057 (1:124/4229)
From: sherman at trln.lib.unc.edu (dennis r. sherman)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Customizing demos
Date: 21 Sep 1993 13:08:06 GMT
Organization: Triangle Research Libraries Network
Greetings to the Rialto from Robyyan.
Berwyn Aethelbryght says:
>Anyhoo, my reason for this post is to perhaps get some discussion going on
>what should be done at demos, what should be avoided, and how various groups
>change their demos to fit the expeced audience. Also what the purpose of
Rather than blather on about demos in general (Lothar did that
recently, and quite well), here's one idea for one type of demo:
One of the most common demo types around here is what I call the
"street fair" demo. (We're one booth among lots of others containing
artisans, charitable organizations, and political groups.) The
primary purpose from our point of view is recruitment, and making
contacts for the other most common demo, the "school" demo. One of
the things that works well with this kind of demo is the "trying on
hats" ploy. Get a mirror and *lots* of different kinds of hats,
displayed on some sort of tree. Get an outgoing type to stand with
the hats and mirror to convince people to try on a hat. This gets the
moderately interested ones standing in place long enough to talk with
them and maybe get them interested in some of the rest of the display.
--
Robyyan Torr d'Elandris Kapellenberg, Windmaster's Hill Atlantia
Dennis R. Sherman Triangle Research Libraries Network
dennis_sherman at unc.edu Univ. of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: nnpeters at watcgl.uwaterloo.ca (Neil N. Peterson)
Subject: Re: Customizing demos
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1993 18:26:48 GMT
Bert Garwood garwood at milo.UUCP wrote:
>This just occurred to me and I thought I'd ask around to see what is done
>other places. We're a new group, and haven't dome many demos yet, a couple
>at public festivals, 2 in grade schools, and one at the State Special
>Olympics. Each of these has a different audience, and presumably, the
>presentation of the demo should have a different focus. (So far we haven't
>done any at the University, but we only have a couple students in our
>ranks.. should we encourage them??)
Well for comparison milord Bryniau (my group) is 5 or 6 years old and does a
LOT of demos. We do collegiums, parades, schools, universities, and festivals.
Specifically my job in this canton is demo-co-ordinator, i.e. the guy who does
the front line contacts and setup and democrats about half of our demos. I
have had this job since about 6 months after our canton started. Call
all of that the introduction so you understand why I will say what I will.
Your first question .. should you encourage university students. YES. They
can be a BIG resource for a young group allowing you a meeting place, regular
fresh (enthusiastic) blood. Be careful, however, that your group does not
come to rely on the students to run itself as students have little things
like exams which can shut down the students for weeks at a time.
>My view of it is that when its at something like an arts festival int eh
>park, along with doing the dancing and fighting and A&S display, we should
>be encouraging discussion of the SCA as an organization with the idea of
>soliciting new members. In a classroom, however, that we should be focusing
>more on "Here's what life was like in the Middle Ages", and bring the
>society into it only so far as to explain why we are doing this. Our VERY
>FIRST scool dempo was in a classroom full of 6th graders, ant the
>chattelaine introduced us by saying, "We're the Society for Creative
>Anachronism, and that means `out of time'". (OK, she was nervous) I felt
>uncomfortable with the amount of time spent discussing what the SCA did as a
>club, and little attention was paid to what we've learned about history.
>The teachers liked it, and we were invited back for another class, which did
>spend more time on the educational/historical aspect. (The kids had made
>miniature castles using everything from sugat cubes to hockey pucks, had the
>room decorated with thier "devices", and were full of questions.
Different layouts should mean different demos. Our school demos are kept
apart from our public demos. In the schools we rarely even mention the SCA.
We go in "playing personna" and try by example to show the kids the middle
ages. "Faire" type demos are great for recruiting and you should mention the
SCA. If possible also set up a table with books and stuff and staff it with
a person willing to talk to the public about the SCA. It gives a focus for
those discussion about the SCA.
>At the State Special Olympics, we were there more for entertainment, with a
>couple organizers asking about the group. The high point was teaching the
>Olympians to dance the Montarde. Basically I saw it as a PR opportunity, to
>show the community that we're public spirited, and not a bunch of wackos.
>That apperance netted us an invitiation to the community July 4 festival, so
>I guess it worked.
Sounds like you did fine with it.
>Anyhoo, my reason for this post is to perhaps get some discussion going on
>what should be done at demos, what should be avoided, and how various groups
>change their demos to fit the expeced audience. Also what the purpose of
>the various types of demos are, and what results are expected. (new
>members, community acceptance, education, etc.) Have your actual results
>been what you expected? Have there been any real surprizes?
Types of demos and a bit about each...
School demos: (Usually grade 4-6)
Arrive at school with about 1 SCA member per 10 kids. Get dressed.
Have the teacher bring the kids in and introduce ourselves "I height Kyrie
Ragnar THorbergsson. As the christians count the years I was born 835 years
after the birth of their Christ. I am what you would call a viking". Once
they know who we all are break them up into groups (1 group per SCA member)
and send them off to talk to the SCA people. Rotate them through half the
SCA people and bring them back together. Teach them a simple dance (usually
Malteese since it is VERY simple and the speed game is fun for your kids).
Then run them through the rest of the SCA people. When talking to a group try
to have "hands-on" stuff available and talk about it and your personnas day to
day life but do it in personna. The kids seem to eat it up.
Parades:
LOUD showy combat and an MC along with one page handouts for the
crowds. (We seem to avarage 1 phone call per 50 or so flyers). HAM IT UP.
Static demos: in the park and what not. MOstly the same as parades. We
don't normally "stage" these demos but simply allow eveyone to have fun while
showing off what we do.
Other Demos:
There are two in particular I would like to talk about as they show
things the SCA can do but rarely does.
Collegium
(thanks again to Justin du Couer and Carolingia for the idea years ago).
We take over a building in the university here and for one saturday
during the summer offer "classes" on various aspects of the A&S in the middle
ages. (I will post last years list of classes later with some other stuff).
Charge $2 per class and this has brought us a pile of new members and four
hundred dollars a year in profits. Classes on bear making or wood carving,
etc go much farther than you would think. More on this in a later post.
"Faire"
Take a large park in the middle of a downtown core. Move it back to the
middle ages for a day. Keep a "light" tone to it. We had fighting, fencing
dancing, drinks and food and a couple of live bands. No "feast" no "royalty"
no carefully schedualed plans. And above all LOTS of carftsmen showing/selling
what they do. Add an info table and you are all set. Cost us a couple of
hundred dollars this year (which we won't need next year) but it was well
worth it in PR.
>This might be interesting.
Could be...
>Ld Berwyn AEthelbryght of Ackley (Who incidentally just tonight found out
>his device is registered) Purpure, three acorns Or within a bordure Or
>ermined purpure.
Over the next day or so I will post again on that "collegium" and also our
1 page handout. In addition we have just about finished a "resource" handbook
subtitled "How to use the SCA" which I will post in a while when the editor
is happier with it.
Ragnar
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: kreyling at lds.loral.com (Ed Kreyling 6966)
Subject: Re: Customizing demos
Organization: Loral Data Systems
Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1993 13:39:15 GMT
> Bert Garwood garwood at milo.UUCP wrote:
>>This just occurred to me and I thought I'd ask around to see what is done
>>other places. We're a new group, and haven't dome many demos yet, a couple
>>at public festivals, 2 in grade schools, and one at the State Special
>>Olympics.
>>
>>Anyhoo, my reason for this post is to perhaps get some discussion going on
>>what should be done at demos, what should be avoided, and how various groups
>>change their demos to fit the expeced audience. Also what the purpose of
>>the various types of demos are, and what results are expected. (new
>>members, community acceptance, education, etc.) Have your actual results
>>been what you expected? Have there been any real surprizes?
>
>Types of demos and a bit about each...
>
>Static demos: in the park and what not. MOstly the same as parades. We
>don't normally "stage" these demos but simply allow eveyone to have fun while
>showing off what we do.
>
>Other Demos:
> There are two in particular I would like to talk about as they show
>things the SCA can do but rarely does.
Greetings,
As a kingdom Trimaris has, at one time or another, taken part in all the demo
types you have mentioned. Additionally in the last 3 years several groups have
taken part in what could be described as theme/theatrical demo's. The Shire of
Brineside Moore (Sarasota, Fl.) is not what you might call heavy weapons
country. We have 4 laurels 1 pelican and some talk of having fighter practices.
So our demo's tend to center on history and A&S. Recently we have been
approached by the Desoto Historical Society to create a Desoto Landing Pagent.
Our members make or wear the costumes of the period and act out the scenes as
the key characters in explorations of H. Desoto. We do this every year during
the Desoto Celibration. The only time the SCA is mentioned is in the printed
programs and during the introduction of the players. We also have had living
history booths set up on the site for people to come and ask questions. It works
out great.
Last year we were approached by the Columbus Quincentenial Commission of Florida
to put on a Columbus 500 Celebration last October 12th. We handled such things
as a 500 year fashion show (with the help of some local living history groups),
Display booths on Navigation, History of Columbus, Early American History and
Crafts. Each era of the last 500 years was represented by a living history
group with the SCA handling 1492 - 1692 (just a little stretching).
Both these demo's worked great, but are obviously a matter of timing and can
not be setup without a GREAT amount of effort.
Another type of demo that we have found very successful is Movie opening demo's.
We have done everything from static A&S displays to dancing at the front of the
theater prior to the movie starting. Not only did we get great pr and new
members but each participant got 3 free passes from the manager. We also used
this plan for the Sarasota AIDS benifit in 1991.
Erik.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ed Kreyling | Master Erik of Telemark O.L.,O.P.
kreyling at world.lds.loral.com | Shire of Brineside Moor
Sarasota,Fl. USA | Kingdom of Trimaris, SCA
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: sclark at epas.utoronto.ca (Susan Clark)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Customizing demos
Date: 22 Sep 1993 11:17:22 -0400
Organization: EPAS Computing Facility, University of Toronto
Greetings.....
Sounds like you're already well on the way to customizing your demos.
Here's what our local group has been doing for schools the past few years:
The demo is a whole-day affair. In the morning, we first
assemble the kidstogether and introduce ourselves in persona,
telling a bit about when we were born, our families, where we live, what
we do, etc. (This is all in persona--noIn the SCA, I fence,
embroider, make costumes, and do research". we don't even
mention the SCA...) Then we split the class into smaller groups, who then
go around to a series of brief "classes" on armour, calligraphy,
costume, music, castles, etc, etc. (depending on the skills
of the people there).
After lunch, we move to a gym and teach the kids basic circle dances.
After about 40 minutes of this, it's recess time and the fighters start
armouring up. When the kids get back in, we run a fighting
demo, explaining a bit about the weapons, the armour, etc.
This is usually the first time we actually mention the SCA, so as to explain
the rules and such. Sometimes the kids get to act as "squires" and
help the fighters put on their armour; we also let them left
(but not use) the rattan weapo. We always emphasize that fighting is
dangerous and keep the kids behind a line on the gym floor.
The key to this type of demo is giving the kids a taste of
life in the Middle Ages. That means the people doing the demo have to
know a certain amount about it themselves. When people who
are less knowledgeable but willing sign up, we either give
them an info sheet to learn or pair them up with a more experienced person.
good luc!
Nicolaa/Susan
sclark at epa.utronto.ca
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: gary at sci34hub.sci.com (Gary Heston)
Subject: Re: Forwarding a School's Request For Help
Organization: SCI Systems, Inc., Huntsville, Al.
Date: Mon, 13 Dec 1993 03:32:10 GMT
PBOYNTON%SESCVA at snybufva.CS.snybuf.EDU (ROWENA NI DHONNCHAIDH) writes:
[ re: request from school teacher ]
> And can the SCA group in her area help her? She would love a visit
>in person. I just don't have the vaguest idea of who to contact in her area.
*Warning!*
In the United States, it is currently a Federal Felony to possess a
weapon on the grounds of a school covering grades 1 through 12. Knives,
swords, stilletos, clubs, pole arms, *all* of them. I think a rattan
sword would be considered a club. (Yes, firearms too.)
Either be *real* careful about what you take with you, or set up a
demo well off the school grounds and have *them* visit *you*.
Yet another stupidity, courtesy of the US Congress.
--
Gary Heston SCI Systems, Inc. gary at sci34hub.sci.com site admin
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: wklosky at nitro.mines.colorado.edu
Subject: Re: Forwarding a School's Request For Help
Date: Mon, 13 Dec 1993 19:30:11 GMT
Organization: rec.org.sca
gary at sci34hub.sci.com (Gary Heston) writes:
> PBOYNTON%SESCVA at snybufva.CS.snybuf.EDU (ROWENA NI DHONNCHAIDH) writes:
> [ re: request from school teacher ]
>> And can the SCA group in her area help her? She would love a visit
>>in person. I just don't have the vaguest idea of who to contact in her area.
>
>*Warning!*
>
>In the United States, it is currently a Federal Felony to possess a
>weapon on the grounds of a school covering grades 1 through 12. Knives,
>swords, stilletos, clubs, pole arms, *all* of them. I think a rattan
>sword would be considered a club. (Yes, firearms too.)
>
>Either be *real* careful about what you take with you, or set up a
>demo well off the school grounds and have *them* visit *you*.
>
>Yet another stupidity, courtesy of the US Congress.
--
Ummmmm....or make arrangements with the proper authorities (principal, local security, etc.) to let them know that you will be bringing these items on campus for "demonstration purposes only."
I have taken part in _many_ primary, secondary & university school demos. In most cases, you only need to get a letter to the authorities stating when and where you will have the swords, stick-jockery, etc., and receive a letter in return. Sometimes, you will need to show forms and sign stuff, and sometimes a phone call will do (I always get stuff in writing for the CYA protection that affords), but that all depends on the school.
I would imagine that you would be talking to the authorities about what you are going to be doing at their school anyway, as a matter of courtesy.:) Rules vary from place-to- place (even within the same county/city), so do ask well in advance.
branwynn ottersby
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: kreyling at lds.loral.com (Ed Kreyling 6966)
Subject: Re: Forwarding a School's Request For Help
Organization: Loral Data Systems
Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1993 14:27:36 GMT
wklosky at nitro.mines.colorado.edu writes:
>In article <1993Dec13.033210.12135 at sci34hub.sci.com> gary at sci34hub.sci.com (Gary Heston) writes:
>>*Warning!*
>>
>>In the United States, it is currently a Federal Felony to possess a
>>weapon on the grounds of a school covering grades 1 through 12. Knives,
>>swords, stilletos, clubs, pole arms, *all* of them. I think a rattan
>>sword would be considered a club. (Yes, firearms too.)
>>
>>Yet another stupidity, courtesy of the US Congress.
>>
>>--
>Ummmmm....or make arrangements with the proper authorities (principal, local security,
>etc.) to let them know that you will be bringing these items on campus for "demonstration
>purposes only."
>
>I have taken part in _many_ primary, secondary & university school demos. In most cases,
>you only need to get a letter to the authorities stating when and where you will have
>the swords, stick-jockery, etc., and receive a letter in return. Sometimes, you will need
>to show forms and sign stuff, and sometimes a phone call will do (I always get stuff in
>writing for the CYA protection that affords), but that all depends on the school.
>
>I would imagine that you would be talking to the authorities about what you are going
>to be doing at their school anyway, as a matter of courtesy.:) Rules vary from place-to-
>place (even within the same county/city), so do ask well in advance.
>
>branwynn ottersby
Lets also keep things in perspective. I have been doing school demo's for years
in several states. Since you are invited by a school official and the school
official is aware of what the demo will consist of (assuming you've told them),
they will probibly not call the police when they see the pole arms come out.
However if you start threatening pupils or teachers with weapons then you can be
arrested under this law. So be careful what you ask the pupils to do during the
demo. Do not put children in armor and hit them with sticks. Even if the
children like it, it is a sure bet that the parents will not.
For those who believe that the authorities will drive on site uninvited and
arrest you because they see some weapons laying on a demo table at a school,
remember it is also illegal to sell pickles in New York City but I believe
the police on the street have better things to do with their time.
Erik.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ed Kreyling | Master Erik of Telemark O.L.,O.P.
kreyling at world.lds.loral.com | Shire of Brineside Moor
Sarasota,Fl. USA | Kingdom of Trimaris, SCA
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: wklosky at nitro.mines.colorado.edu
Subject: Re: Forwarding a School's Request For Help
Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1993 16:58:48 GMT
Organization: rec.org.sca
kreyling at lds.loral.com (Ed Kreyling 6966) writes:
>Lets also keep things in perspective. I have been doing school demo's for years
>in several states. Since you are invited by a school official and the school
<snip> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Sometimes people give demos without _invitation_, such as demos for recruiting purposes on university campuses; in these cases, you _do_ need to get permission through the university's proper channels, which in some cases involves notification of folks like local security (so that they do not mistake you for everyday miscreants, but know that you are Miscreants with Permission :), etc.
I agree with you; it is unlikely that charges would ever be pressed for goodwill demos, or else home economics teachers across the country, and the professional chefs they bring in for demonstrations would risk arrest for chopping onions ("Son, that's a mighty big cleaver you got there. Would you mind stepping down to the station and explaining yourself?") :)
branwynn ottersby
From: salley at niktow.canisius.edu (David Salley)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Public Knowledge of the SCA (was Re: Blackballing SCA members)
Date: 27 May 94 16:25:05 GMT
Organization: Canisius College, Buffalo NY. 14208
Megan the Limner writes:
> > My wife was told at one interview that if they had know she was in the SCA,
> > they wouldn't have called her in for an interview at all.
> >
> > Tibor
>
> Megan here.
> I , in my 18 years of SCA participation , have VERY rarely come across
> any non-scadian who knew of the SCA. A few roommates of members or
> ex-significant others, perhaps, or family members, but very few indeed.
> And I speak to ALOT of people almost everyday, all over the country. I
> frequently mention the SCA in passing, and usually am met with blank
> stares.
> I cannot think that hers was a common experience. Sorry to deflate the
> egos of those whose lives center around the SCA, but we just ain't that
> big in the world at large to make such a splash.
Sorry, Megan! Try coming to Rhydderich Hael. We're just another social group
here in Buffalo; the Boy Scouts, the Elks, the Knights of Columbus, the SCA, ...
We do at least five demos a month, sometimes closer to ten. Normally, we
don't do demos at all in August, but this year the cub scouts DID ask us
so nicely. ;-) As a member of the demo crew who works third shift and can
attend school demos, I can't testify that we've hit EVERY school in an hour's
drive from Buffalo, it just SEEMS like it (My favorite _Return to Como-lot_
at the Como Park Middle School. ;-)
We've help the Central Library celebrate their 75th anniversary. The
mundanes crowded around us and virtually ignored the other presentations.
We were asked to take a breather during the VERY EXPENSIVE guest lecturer. ;-)
We ran two Renaissance Fairs for the Amherst Museum. We were color for
the Grand Opening of the new Amherst Library (Teaser for news that evening:
"It was the hottest day in July ever recorded and these folks [screen behind
him of us] were wearing metal clothes! Back after this message from our
sponsor.") We were color for a historical site. We were color for the Buffalo
museum's Leonardo da Vinci exhibit (They had a museum staff member dressed as
daVinci. Okay, if he's daVinci, _I'm_ going to _act_ like he's daVinci!
"Leo! Wonderful exhibit!" "Why thank you my good friend!" "How's the new
painting coming along? Have you gotten the model to smile yet?" My angelic
innocent face was locked in place, he was stunned speechless, the audience
was roaring! We both lost it and had to hold each other up.)
We've done demos for 5,000 the Amherst Museum Fairs; we've done demos for 5,
the Buffalo Herbalists Guild. We've traded demos with the Royal Scottish
Country Dance Society. We've done chains of demos, "How did you hear of
us?" "I was at a demo you did for..." with up to ten links in the chain.
Our baronial history has dozens of playbills listing us as "historical
consultants" and even "costume department". We attend Shakespeare in the
Park at least once a season (Standard procedure: garb matching Bill's
England as much as possible, speak forsoothly about this _new_ play, give
out cookies and sekajanben and business cards from the ever-full picnic
basket, teach children to juggle, dance, sing, etc. We were there for the
opening of Hamlet. Unknown to anyone because it was supposed to be a big
surprize, it was all going to be done in modern dress to make it 'relevant'.
When the actors got up on the open stage, the first several rows of the
audience rebuked them! The play is going to open in less than ten minutes
and the actors are already in costume, so get off the stage!)
When _Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves_ officially opened, we attended in garb
and found out the theatres were going nuts looking for us (They called all
the archery ranges, but never called any library, museum or school *sigh*)
They wanted us to do demos for their sneak preview parties. Probably just
as well we didn't go, they wanted an exhibition of firing flaming arrows.
(The burning toilet paper was put out by wind sheer (200 lb bow), various
other methods didn't work, the acetylyne fuel capsule and fourth of july
sparkler worked a little too well, fortunately the arrow carried the blast
away from everyone and no one got hurt [I'm NOT making this up!])
The main library acquired a 14th cent. Italian dance manual. I was copying
it for several days running during their rare book room hour. We did a demo.
The next day I went back to the library to continue. "Why didn't say you were
with the SCA???" They had photocopied it.
I could go on and on and on here. We hand out dozens of business cards.
We schedule demos as much as three months in advance, by request. We don't
have to make ourselves known anymore, people come to us for information,
demos, costume design, museum displays, etc. If we did all the demos we
were asked to do, we wouldn't be able to schedule events for ourselves.
Here in Buffalo, the SCA _is_ well known.
> Megan
> ==
> In 1994: Linda Anfuso
> In the Current Middle Ages: Megan ni Laine de Belle Rive
- Dagonell
SCA Persona : Lord Dagonell Collingwood of Emerald Lake, CSC, CK, CTr
Habitat : East Kingdom, AEthelmearc Principality, Rhydderich Hael Barony
Internet : salley at niktow.cs.canisius.edu
USnail-net : David P. Salley, 136 Shepard Street, Buffalo, New York 14212-2029
From: vanness at aludra.usc.edu (William E. Van Ness)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Demos Ideas
Date: 12 May 1994 17:52:49 -0700
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
jowall at nmsu.EDU (Jonathan Ian Wall) writes:
>I am Ld Bela Magyar, Hospitaller to the Outlands southern regions. I am
>compiling different Ideas from all the kingdoms for ways to make all forms
>of Demos interesting. Demos have always been my favorite aspect of the
>SCA and now my job makes me responsible for them. Any Ideas I get will be
>given to members of the Outlands so that they may benifit. Please send
>these I deas to my Address as it makes it easier for me to make hard
>copies. My address is jowall at dante.nmsu.edu.
>Thank You
>Bela Magyar
Years ago, I was fortunate enough to autocrat a "demo" for the school I was
attending. We set up a Gold Key, and exchanged student IDs for loaner garb.
During the evening, we held a traditional SCA feast and invited those students
who wished to join us, garb required. We found that, not only did the students
get an idea as to what a private SCA event was like, the garb made them feel
more a part of the action, and therefore they interacted more. And, I might
add, we got every stitch of loaner garb back!
In addition to this, I can only suggest that you offer as many different
activities as possible, so as to have more to tempt any possible newcomer.
Yours in Service,
Ld. William Keith Fitz Garanhir
From: jab2 at stl.stc.co.uk (Jennifer Ann Bray)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Pennsic Boundary Value Problem
Date: 19 May 94 16:16:51
Organization: STC Technology Ltd., London Road, Harlow, UK.
I have followed this thread on boundarys with interest. I do many
outdoor craft demonstrations throughout the British summer. This means
that I must try to protect myself, my equipment and my wolfhound from
scorching sun alternating with rain by the bucketload.
I usually take a viking tent, and modify it by propping up the canvas
on one side by adding an extra pole at either end of the tent. This
gives both a shady area and a waterproof refuge.
The problem is that the public who come to see the demonstrations
immediately see this as a private area and are visibly worried about
entering even if I invite them under the shade. I can't cope with a
day in the baking sun, even with factor 20 sun block I start to look
like a lobster, so I have to try and lure people in. I've found that a
line of interesting things leading into the tent's shade works quite
well, by the time they've looked at the third basket they've forgotten
all about the tent.
Groups of tents are even worse. we used to arrange three of our
group's tents in a U shape, with the open end of the U facing a path
where members of the public walked by. They would cluster in a crowd
on the pathway, but wouldn't step off to approach us. Even when
invited they were shy. Eventually we resorted to getting a few
fighters not involved in the craft demos to dress in 20th century
costume and wander around. This seemed to work pretty well as "bait"
to draw the public in!
The best thing for luring people in though is Tara (the wolfhound).
Despite her large size people show no fear of her at all and will
happily wander past any boundary to pat her and rub her ears. This is
good when you want the public to come in, but at the end of a day when
hundreds of people have rubbed her ears, and she is starting to look
very long suffering it can be difficult to get her somewhere where I
can keep an eye on her but the public can't get at her. In cold
weather she's had fleece and cloaks thrown over her to disguise her,
but this isn't practical in warm weather. We're seriously
contemplating getting her a tent of her own where she can hide when
she's looking fed up.
Odd isn't it how people won't cross boundarys at a human's invitation.
but happily ignore them when an animals involved? Is this a peculiarly
British thing or does it happen in the states as well?
Jennifer/Rannveik
Vanaheim Vikings
From: 0003900943 at mcimail.COM (Marla Lecin)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Medieval Scout Camp Ideas
Date: 20 May 1994 11:35:14 -0400
Greetings from Jessa d'Avondale!
Our canton once ran a 1 day event for Girl Scouts. The Scouts signed up for
a variety of classes - juggling, calligraphy, dance, heraldry, mask-making,
needlepoint, etc. We also put on a tournament for exhibition, and had
archery (I don't recall if the Scouts shot also). We served them a feast,
and had a masked ball later in the evening.
For an event that runs several days, you might think about including:
1) Longer classes. How about letting them make their own costumes on the
first day? If you supply fabric and give them simple choices, this could be
a 2-3 hour class. Or, having craftsmen demonstrate their work, and allowing
the Scouts to work on some piece of their own.
2) Cooking. Start with a (typically vague) period recipe, break the Scouts
into groups of 3-4, and let them come up with their own variations of the
finished dish. Finish with taste-test comparisons.
3) A quest. Scouts must solve riddles or answer questions correctly in
order to reach the end of the quest. These can be based on period riddles,
stories, etc.
4) "Color War". We had this every year at camp. Divide the Scouts into
two groups (Saxons vs. Normans, English vs. French), and have them compete
for points. The points could be things that you have taught them during
the course of the week - archery, pell-work, medieval games (Blind-Man's
Bluff, Last Couple in Hell), heraldic terms (maybe a quiz or a scavenger
hunt).
5) And don't forget singing and dancing (every day! :-) Boy, if I had
a captive audience to teach dancing to for a week, we'd have a crack
Verceppe squad by Saturday!
Good luck!
Jessa
From: una at bregeuf.stonemarche.org (Honour Horne-Jaruk)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: list of occupations-the total so far
Summary: More occupations! More needed!
Date: Fri, 27 May 94 00:38:54 EDT
Respected friends:
About three weeks ago I posted a request for names of midieval
occupations, for use in a demo. I got lists back from several people, who may
or may not have gotten thank-you notes because my Email is misbehaving.
I also got a request to explain how I was going to use them. SO:
here's who helped (Bless you, friends!) -
Damon de Folo, JABray at bnr.co.uk(no other name given), Dorothea of
Caer-Myrddin, Henry (HW) Troup, Damien of Baden, MartenB at aol.com (no other
name given), and Tabitha. You kept me from falling on my face, folks. Thanks!
Since MartenB at aol.com already reposted his list to the Rialto, I'll
save bandwidth by skipping his list- There were considerable numbers of
duplicates. The rest, in no particular order-
Saltboiler,Delver,Linkman,Almoner,Waferer,Threadmaker,Begger,Footpad,
Jailer,Cartwright,Skinner,Glassblower,Dairymaid,Lady,Barker,Thatcher,Wood-
cutter,Senaschal,Beekeeper,Papermaker,Linenspinner,Troubadour,Landlord,Astro-
loger,Confectioner,Guardsman,Scullion,Chantry Priest,Bearleader,Bard,Herald,
Privycleaner,Pardoner,Pursuivant,Parish Priest,Sexton,Stewsman,Shrimper,
Netmaker,Falconer,Bargeman,Panter,Chaplain,Clark,Tutor,Midwife,Bodyservant,
Taverner,Scrivener,Archer,Quartermaster,Sapper,Burglar,Friar,Canon,Sherrif,
Charcoalburner,Drycooper,Woolcomber,Seamstress,Clothier,Pickpocket,Poacher,
Fuller,Lacemaker,Glover,Executioner,Ditcher,Tentsman,Bonecarver,Knight,
Sheepshearer,Horsetrainer,Tapester,Tyler,Gamekeeper,Alewyfe,Reeve,Nun,Parker,
Goatherd,Silkwoman,Cobbler,Ferryman,Navigator,Fence,Wheelwright,Mapmaker
Mason,Crofter,Gravedigger,Player,Userer,Cordwainer,Tumbler,Chapman,Thresher,
Waterseller,Costermonger,Smelter,Cheesemaker,Banker,Weirkeeper,Cutler,Hayward,
Canaller,Cowherd,Fowler,Poulterer,Architect,Chaplain,Butler,Oyster Raker,
Groom,Molecatcher,Bath Attendent,Plowman,Cannoneer,Drayman,Bailiff,Constable,
Chamberlain,Carver,Judge,Swineherd,Watchman,Drywaller,Spinster,Farrier,
Sawyer,Limner,Bricklayer,Sailmaker,Shingler,Stillroom Maid,Quarryman,Vintner,
Laundress,Cook,Scholar,Pavier,Wet nurse,Master of Hounds, and Nurse.
...Which still adds up to only 248 trades, including both this list
and the MartinB one. So if anybody has more to add, sing out- My original goal
was 500 total. (Please Email me as well as posting, since my feed sometimes
eats posts. Thanks.)
Now for how it was supposed to work: We were told we'd have two hours
with each group, to be split between heraldry, dancing, fencing, and whatever
I came up with. So I was planning to hand out cards with the trade name on the
blank side and a description on the lined side, then lead the kids through
1: How few of these were even scrape-the-bottom rank nobility, and 2: How many
of these were tied to the land or castle and did not have freedom to travel.
But.. First, I lost my list of 40 farm-related occupations (The ones
performed by serfs, villeins, and cottars). This helped skew the list very
heavily toward late-period and city trades. Then, I arrived to find our
Herald/Fencer unavailable and our time cut to one hour each.
So I accomplished #1 by having the kids with Noble cards stand up (In
each group of +/- 150, that turned out to be two kids) and telling them that
everybody else was a "working stiff" just like their parents and teachers are
today. The look of shock on their faces was worth the work all by itself.
(Poor things, they've gotten their history from fairy tales and Robin Hood,
and even the outlaws are _really_ Earls)- Serious reality-check time.
Since the skew made idea #2 impossible, I then explained about modern
surnames coming from midieval trade and place names, and the rest of my part
of the demo was spent telling them what their own last names meant in the
Middle Ages- Which was brutal, since that's quite unmistakably Herald's work,
and I'm not one. Even though I could only translate about half the names, they
loved it. It was especially nice for the kids whose names are easy to make
fun of nowadays, such as Crooker and Fou- they _loved_ hearing the period
versions. With long demos I sincerely recommend having the Herald try this. If
there isn't time to throw it open to the floor, you may want to get name lists
from the teachers and choose a few from each class.
All in all, it worked and worked well. I'll certainly do it again-
(More! Send me more!) and I recommend it to all of you.
If you've read this far, thanks again.
(Friend) Honour Horne-Jaruk, R.S.F.
Alizaunde, Demoiselle de Bregeuf, C.O.L. SCA
From: ansteorra at eden.com (3/1/95)
To: ansteorra at eden.com
How about them Cavaliers!
We did a bank grand opening one time. Very rich. They though we ye olde
history types were most amusing.
We have a general policy about demos. If we are doing a school or
educational group, or if it is a recruiting or PR demo we do it free
(though we DO accept donations if they choose to give them). If we are
working as actors or entertainment we expect a donation to be made to the
barony. This helps keep folks from using us as a free service and taking
jobs away from actors and entertainers. It also brings in a bit of cash.
We also work three different Ren fairs each year. At the two that are
local we run our own games and keep some or all of the proceeds for our
treasury. We have invested some funds in backdrops and equipment for our
games, but we have long since recouped those costs and turned a healthy
profit. The third fair (TRF) pays our barony on a per-person, per-hour
worked basis.
This combination of activities has kept our barony financially
comfortable for years now. We have a nice, large pavilion, excellent
thrones, good cookware and assorted other items that make our lives more
pleasant at events -- all paid for from our treasury.
This is all just food for thought for those of you who may be struggling
to make ends meet in your areas. After all, the more groups that have
good stuff, the better all the SCA's events look.
Savian
From: Mario Nigrovic <cyrus at netzone.com>
To: Mark.S Harris
Date: Fri, 29 Mar 1996
Subject: Re: Demo help
Greetings from Melisend!
We have had great success in the Tri-Baronies area (Phoenix
metro) with combat archery shoots at live targets. You dress
one of your people up in armor and let the demo attendees take
potshots at them with combat arrows. I have also had
tremendous success with a dress the dummy demonstration. I
take my dress dummy (Lady Dumais, doncha know) and dress her
in full Tudor from the drawers out. It amazes poeple how many
layers of clothing they wore back then! Something I have
wanted to do for some time is bring out period music and teach
people the songs (perhaps giving them copies to take home)
people are surprised at how many period songs they know
(especially christmas carols). We have also had success with
bringing out shield shaped cardboard and letting kids design
their coat of arms with crayons or markers. This can be
accompanied by written instructions (posters of field
divisions and common charges is helpful here) or a live
demonstrator. The kids also like to make favors for Mom and
Dad. We bring out scraps of fabric (already cut to size and
with clean finished edges), trim, buttons, rhinestones, etc.
and let the kids sew and glue to their hearts content. I have
also seen a suggestion for taking a roll of butcher paper and
having someone line-draw the Bayeux Tapestry (or portions
thereof) and then letting the kids color it in. Again, having
a live demonstrator to explain what they are doing elevates it
from just crafts to education.
Hope these suggestions help. Since I work out of my home, I
volunteer to hit all our day-time demos. This does, however,
mean that a lot of my ideas are geared toward school children.
Good luck!
--
Melisend de Chartres
Cindy Nigrovic <cyrus at NetZone.Com>
From: Nils Hammer <nh0g+ at andrew.cmu.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Demo help
Date: Fri, 29 Mar 1996 14:17:57 -0500
Organization: Computer Science Department, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
I strongly reccommend some sort of craft work if possible in demos.
At a recent demo here the person carding and spinning wool was
very well received by children. She gave them hands-on things to do.
My favorite thing to do is conversationaly answering people's questions.
When someone asks "ain't that a 20th century british helmet on you?"
(well, yes) I turn it into a discussion of the gradual evolution of technology.
Of course, this is not something you can formally plan to do.
I think that when you can tie period stuff to modern reallity it makes the
things we do more relevant and vivid for the listener.
Nils K. Hammer
nh0g at andrew.cmu.edu
From: Lisa Carter <zkr26 at ttacs1.ttu.edu>
To: ansteorra at eden.com
Date: Tue, 02 Jul 1996 21:09:36 -0600 (CST)
Subject: Re: War of the Staked Plain
> Along the line of demos and PR, what is this "Fourth on Broadway" and
> what does Bonwicke do for this? How much participation do you get from
> the gentles of Bonwicke?
Broadway is one of the "old" streets here in Lubbock that runs down
town. It is brick lined and quite nice. The city of Lubbock holds a 4th
on Broadway on the 4th of July. There is a parade and a number of
vendors. Over half of the city shows up at 8:00 am and leaves around
7:00 pm. We have a *float* with riders and those who do light and heavey
walk along the side. Those who do Middle Eastern dance also walk along
the side of the float and dance. After we have a number of demos. Usually
the whole Barony shows...talk about free publicity!
Kayleigh
From: gray at ibis.cs.umass.edu (Lyle Gray)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Living History- How does it work?
Date: 18 Jul 1996 15:06:30 GMT
Organization: CMPSCI Department, UMass Amherst
Steve Hand (shand at ssg.com.au) wrote:
: One more point, how do you do "demos". Do you get rid of all the
: non-accurate people for a day or do you simply say "we're the SCA oing a
: demo of what the SCA do" and make no claims about representing anything
: that actually happened.
Depends on the demo, Steve. In some cases, yes, the non-accurate people are
asked to be absent during the demo (actually, it usually works the other way
'round -- the most accurate people are specifically invited, or a demo team is
created). There are some members who do demos _in_persona_ (medieval persona,
not SCA persona), and answer questions appropriately (in mostly modern
English, however).
Then, there are demos that are done for entertainment, rather than education.
Those are usually less strict, and, as you say, "doing a demo of what the SCA
do."
------------------------------------------------------ NON ANIMAM CONTINE
Lyle H. Gray Internet (personal): gray at cs.umass.edu
Phone: (860) 728-6777, FAX: (860) 247-0249
From: wiltshir at sover.net (S. Wiltshire)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: switching to europe for school demo
Date: Mon, 16 Dec 1996 01:09:42 GMT
Organization: SoVerNet, Inc.
rockefel at blue.weeg.uiowa.edu (L. Rockefeller) wrote:
> but I was hoping to retain myself as my
>actual personae...to still be Feng Yin-yue and discuss it the way a
>chinese of period would talk about that bizzare place of religious
>intolerance known as europe. However, the teacher really wants me to
>wear EUROPEAN CLOTHES...which are really uncomfortable to me.
> Anyone have some advice or ways to provide the class what they
>need and want without compromising who I am in SCA?
Greetings, I'm pretty new to this era of re-enactment, but I do
school demos in 18th century costume pretty frequently. If you feel
strongly that you want to keep your persona in this, how about
*sharing* this demo with a European persona that you know well, and
would be willing to do this with you?
For instance, you could come to the class in your garb, and
introduce the European to them in *your* terms, with *your take* on
who, what they are... then let the European fire back, so to speak.
If anything, it would show some nice diversity in Middle Ages history
in one fell swoop, the kids could learn a litte about the Europeans
and your people, and you could have your cake and eat it, too. ;-)
Sadia of the Qipchaq Khanate (a work in progress... ;-) )
From: flanna at pobox.alaska.net
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: dancing at demos
Date: Fri, 21 Mar 1997 22:05:32 GMT
Organization: Internet Alaska Inc.
albinsal at pilot.msu.EDU (Sally V Albin) wrote:
>I was reading old Rialtos and I came across a discussion about demos. One of
>the things debated was whether or not to leave the belly dancers home because
>the mundanes wouldn't understand. My local group does a demo for a local
>school every year so I decided to test this theory. My belly dance outfit
>consists of pants, skirt, short chemise, long vest, head scarf, hip scarf, and
>a bunch of jingly jewelry. The kids couldn't have cared less. The teachers
>loved it and almost begged me to dance for the kids. Luckily I had forgotten
>my music, because I'm not a real good dancer, yet. My vote--if it's handled
>right, bring anybody you want to, mundanes can be smarter than we think.
>Beth
The funny thing is, if you haul up several of the kids to dance with
you..class clowns LOVE this..and teach them some very basic stuff,
nobody will notice that you aren't "professional" level yourself! In
fact, most of the attention will be on the kids and you may have to
watch that they don't get too carried away and fall down! Veils can be
lots of fun for this if you limit the number you give to the boys in
your group...they tend to start the towel snap thing if possible!
What you were saying, without being specific, is that belidai can be a
lot of fun for demos if the dancers leave their cabaret costumes and
any live reptile dance partners at home and instead perform wearing
Middle Eastern clothing; I agree. (Of course if I were to wear my
metal bra up here in Alaska most of the year I'd freeze off parts my
husband would rather I didn't anyhow!)
Good luck and happy dancing!
Flanna
From: Erik Langhans <modius at cityscope.net>
To: "ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG" <ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG>
Subject: ANST - SCA Status
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 22:45:22 -0600
Here is a pass along from Dona Teresa the Society Chatelain:
"We are a 501(c)3 organization as classified by the Federal Government
through the Internal Revenue Service. That is what gives us non-profit
status with the IRS. Many, many other organizations in the United States
also have this status, and it has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with
education. We, as an organization, could never hold another demo ever and it
would not jeopardize our non-profit status EVER with the IRS! I am a
Development professional for a living now, and I can assure you that that is
the case. The BoD and several of the Society officers that I have had the
good fortune to work with also can confirm this. The many church groups,
famliy foundations, and service organizations - all of the myriad types of
organizations that are 501(c)3 organizations - are not required by law to
perform educational activities, and neither are we.
However we, as an organization that has at it's core the ideals of sharing
our love of history with others, have made it an almost moral obligation on
the part of our members to participate in the educational aspect of what we
call the Society for Creative Anachronism. That is what is true and right
for US within our organization. The IRS, I assure, doesn't give a damn one
way or another. But we sure do - and that is a Good Thing."
Thus ends the pass along.
Modius
Date: Tue, 11 Nov 1997 10:19:42 -0800
To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG
From: Lee Forgue <eilis at haas.berkeley.edu>
Subject: Re: ANST - SCA Status
At 10:45 PM 11/10/97 -0600, Modius wrote:
>Here is a pass along from Dona Teresa the Society Chatelain
>
>"We are a 501(c)3 organization as classified by the Federal Government
>through the Internal Revenue Service. That is what gives us non-profit
>status with the IRS. Many, many other organizations in the United States
>also have this status, and it has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with
>education. We, as an organization, could never hold another demo ever and it
>would not jeopardize our non-profit status EVER with the IRS! I am a
>Development professional for a living now, and I can assure you that that is
>the case. The BoD and several of the Society officers that I have had the
>good fortune to work with also can confirm this. The many church groups,
>famliy foundations, and service organizations - all of the myriad types of
>organizations that are 501(c)3 organizations - are not required by law to
>perform educational activities, and neither are we.
>
>However we, as an organization that has at it's core the ideals of sharing
>our love of history with others, have made it an almost moral obligation on
>the part of our members to participate in the educational aspect of what we
>call the Society for Creative Anachronism. That is what is true and right
>for US within our organization. The IRS, I assure, doesn't give a damn one
>way or another. But we sure do - and that is a Good Thing."
>
>Thus ends the pass along.
I would not ordinarily jump in and contradict someone, but there is serious
misinformation contained in the above statement.
The SCA is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. These are classified as
educational non-profits by the IRS. Religious organizations, family
foundations, and service organizations are also classed as 501 corporations
-- but they are not all 501(c)3. For instance, religious organizations may
be 501(c)3 (religious), but may also be 501(d) and service organizations
(Elks, Moose, etc.) are 501(c)8 or 501(c)10. They are classified
differently from us by the IRS. There are many different classes of
non-profit, and educational is only one of them.
The SCA is organized as an educational corporation -- Section II of our
Articles of Incorporation states: "This corporation is a nonprofit public
benefit corporation and is not organized for the private gain of any
person. It is organized under the Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law
for charitable purposes. The purposes for which this corporation is formed
include: a) Research and education in the field of pre-17th-Century Western
Culture. b) Generally, to engage in research, publish material of
relevance and interest to the field of pre-17th-Century Western Culture; to
present activities and events which re-create the environment of said era,
such as, but not limited to, tournaments, jousts, fairs, dances, classes,
et cetera; to acquire authentic or reproduced replicas of chattels
representative of said era; and to collect a library." Our primary purpose
is education. This does not oblige us to demos -- the main education done
by the members of the SCA is the education of other members.
Therefore Teresa is right when she says that we do not have to do demos to
keep our non-profit status, but she is wrong about exactly why that is true
and wrong in some of what she says about non-profit status. I hope that
this is helpful in getting things straight.
--- eilis o'boirne
ex-Director, SCA Inc.
From: ldcharls at swbell.net
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Demo Logistics: Examples Wanted
Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 10:48:53 +0000
Organization: Southwestern Bell Internet Services, Richardson, TX
Cynthia Virtue wrote:
> These are the sort of questions for which I'm interested in the answers: Who
> organizes them? Do you have committes whose job it is to do it? Do you hand
> it off to your Chatelain/e(s) or Stewards? Or are they ad hoc? How many do
> you do a year, how big is your SCA branch, and how many folks go out to a
> particular demo? What topics do you cover, and how long do you stay?
Our barony (of about 80-100) does about 10 of these a year, and this
year I've been at most of them. Our Seneschal either plans them herself
or delegates to someone (often myself, this year) since our Hospitaler
works during the day. We usually have from 3-6 people at a given demo,
though we've done them before with as many as 12. How long we stay is up
to the teachers at the school (the coordinator for the demo finds this
out if the seneschal doesn't already know it.) The exact topics we cover
depends on the people present, but we generally include 'weapons &
armor', 'food', 'fuedalism', and 'children in the middle ages'.
What we have found works really well (and what we try to get the
school to go with) is to break up our discussions into a series of
30-minute "mini classes", with about 15 minutes of talk and 15 minutes
of Q&A. This allows us to cover a subject concisely, with a smaller
number of kids at a time. It also has the advantage of letting us deal
with larger numbers of kids without crowding (you just feed more groups
through the rotation). Then, if we plan to have fighting, we can get
them all in one place (outside or in a gym) so the fighters aren't
having to fight for three straight hours.
The big keys are to work with the school in setting it up, and finding
out if the teachers want you to cover a certain topic. We also insist on
WRITTEN permission to bring any weapons onto school grounds, an
especially good idea in light of recent events.
Lord Charles MacKinnon
Barony of Bryn Gwlad
Kingdom of Ansteorra
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: djheydt at kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
Subject: Re: Knight skewers girl
Organization: Kithrup Enterprises, Ltd.
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1998 02:01:37 GMT
james koch <alchem at en.com> wrote:
[Cleveland near-miss snipped]
> The moral of the story is this. Don't fight that close to the
>crowd regardless of what you are using.
Once, back in the mists of time, so far back that My Lord Husband
was still fighting, we did a demo at the local Ren Faire. We were
on a little stage raised maybe two feet up off the ground. The
audience were seated on the earth all around and tended to creep
up over the sides of the stage like Helium-II, making us nervous.
Then Master Frederick of Holland got a blow in the groin. This
was, mind you, before fighters wore cups. Fortunately it wasn't
a very hard shot. Flieg noticed it all right, but he wasn't in
writhing agony.
But he lay down on the stage and writhed in agony anyway, and you
never saw people back up while sitting down so fast in your life.
They kept a respectful distance for the rest of the demo.
Later on, when Hal had built himself a steel groinplate with a
padded underside (fighters *still* weren't wearing cups) and wore
it modestly concealed under his gambezon, we did a preliminary
routine wherein the spokesman would take a stick of rattan, set
Hal in front of the audience and say, "My lords and ladies, do
please keep well back from the edge of the stage. This is why."
*WHACK!!!*
"We're wearing armour. You're not."
Worked pretty well.
Dorothea of Caer-Myrddin Dorothy J. Heydt
Mists/Mists/West Albany, California
PRO DEO ET REGE djheydt at kithrup.com
Date: Mon, 07 Jun 1999 18:50:44 -0400
From: Carol Thomas <scbooks at neca.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: a demo tidbit
This weekend I was part of a demo for over 100 Girl Scouts, in groups up to
20. Was supposed to hold their interest for half an hour....and lived
through it. The girls were really quite cooperative.
I was on the general topic of clothing, fabrics & embroidery. The big hit
was clearly the pennanular cloakpin!
I had two, and passed them around quickly, so they could puzzle over them.
Then I just took one and showed them how it worked. Had to do it 4 to 5
times, working my way around the group so they could see, but they were
fascinated.
So, am passing this piece of trivia along, hoping someone will find it
helpful someday.
Carllein
Date: Tue, 8 Jun 1999 10:48:53 -0500
From: "Helen Schultz (KHvS in the SCA)" <meistern at netusa1.net>
To: <sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu>
Subject: Re: a demo tidbit
Carlein & List:
This was a wonderful idea, I will remember to show off a pennanular pin the
next time I do a demo! ... Now, let me add one of mine, please. I have
found that anytime a demo is done for children giving them something to
touch and feel is very important to the learning process.
Our group goes into the classroom of a local elementary school every other
year to help a couple of the teachers with their block on Medieval History.
We usually do this on a one-at-a time basis, talking about what each of us
knows the most of... I usually do C&I and clothing/eating-type things.
Others in the group go in to talk about coinage, armor, weaponry, and then
have a full day of Medieval Faire with them at the end of the school year.
We ALWAYS bring things the children can touch.
For C&I, I always "sacrifice" a sheet of gold leaf (loose) to show them
just how thin and fragile it is, and also a sheet of paten gold to allow
them to actually touch it. I bring in the couple pages of real manuscripts
and actually let them look at them closely!! They haven't disappointed me
yet (damaging them), and have treated them with the respect we all have for
these antiquities. I also allow them to touch my feather quills and such.
Our coinage person had some of the real things (in protectors) and also
passes them around for the children to actually look at the types of coins
used. Our armor and weapons people do the same. Then, during our big
demo, we do mini classes of about 20 minutes each where the children who
did not get to see us during the year visit. This year, they also bussed
in students from another school to join in our demo.
The children all gather a lot of good information without realizing it --
they just think they are having fun <ha! the joke's on them!! grin>
Meisterin Katarina Helene von Schoenborn, OL
Shire of Narrental (Peru, Indiana) -- Middle Kingdom
Date: Tue, 8 Jun 1999 14:32:47 -0500 (CDT)
From: Pat Andersen <panderse at unlinfo.unl.edu>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: a demo tidbit
>This weekend I was part of a demo for over 100 Girl Scouts, in groups up to
>20. Was supposed to hold their interest for half an hour....
When it was my turn as part of a group going into the school I asked the
kids to raise their hands if they'd had measles, mumps, etc., if they'd had
appendicitis or tonsilitis operations, if they knew they were Caesarian
section babies or if they'd spent time in a baby incubator. Then I told
everyone who hadn't raised their hands to stand up. I told the class of
about 30 thirteen year old kids that if they were living in the Middle Ages
those standing were adults and the rest of them were dead. [Both times I've
done this there were only 1-3 survivors.] That really got them talking the
size of families; about health issues and how things have changed.
L. Etienette
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 18:21:33 EDT
From: Bronwynmgn at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - THIS is 'period' cooking? (long)
michael.gunter at fnc.fujitsu.com writes:
<< In January I taught a class at a collegium type event, it's the first
teaching I'd done outside of canton meetings. The idea behind my class was
that medieval food is not weird but in fact can be quite familiar. I got the
idea becauce in my first reading on the subject, which was "Two-Fifteenth
Century Cookbooks" I kept encountering recipes that sounded like "down
home" cooking to me! >>
Whenever I do a demo inclding period cooking I read off or write several
period recipes on the board and have the audience figure out what they are.
Sometimes they get them before I've finished reading. The ones I usually use
for this are macrows (mac and cheese), payn purdew or something similar,
cryspes or one of the other "funnel cake" recipes, and -oops, I forgotten the
name, but the fried cheese sticks. Oh, pipefarces.
Brangwayna Morgan
Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2000 22:18:59 -0700
From: Anne-Marie Rousseau <acrouss at gte.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Re:period food/demo's
>> But at public demos, we play our New World Old World food
>> game...we have a large pile of recognisable foodstuffs....a
>> can of corn. A can of cocoa. A bag of rice. A vanilla bottle.
>> Peanut butter. Canned greenbeans. a Head of garlic. We ask
>> them to divide the foods into two piles...what would Columbus
>> have known about before his little trip and what after. Its fun,
>> it gets people talking about history and food and how much our
>> diet has changed, etc. If they play and "win" they get a prize. A
>> small pamphlet of medieval recipes, for example. we give 'em
>> out to the "losers" too....:)
>
>What a GREAT idea! Do you mind if I lift it? I like the way it makes
>people interact with the concept. :)
>
>(And I think it might be safer than serving food to the public.)
>
>- Clotild
fine with me to borrow the idea :). be sure all your "experts" agree on
stuff, and its useful to have a reference book or two handy to look things
up to disuade the people who insist that the irish ate potatoes in the
middle ages :)
good luck!
- --AM
Date: Fri, 5 May 2000 13:53:07 -0400
From: Christine A Seelye-King <mermayde at juno.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Food guessing game for demos
On Fri, 5 May 2000 13:35:44 -0400 (EDT) Robin Carrollmann <harper at idt.net> writes:
> Very recently, someone posted about a "guess which foods are New
> World" game that they invite people to play at demos. It involved sorting
> foods (a can of corn, a bottle of cinnamon, etc.) into two piles. I
> didn't keep the post, but I may be going to a demo tomorrow, and I think it
> would be a neat idea. Can someone re-send that message to me?
> Brighid
Yep, we're planning on using this idea next weekend at the annual
"Celtic Festival" at a local university that has very medieval castle
looking buildings. We were discussing making it specific to the British
Isles, but haven't gotten any farther than that. Here is the relevant
portion of Anne-Marie's post.
Christianna
But at public demos, we play our New World Old World food
game...we have a large pile of recognisable foodstuffs....a can of corn.
A can of cocoa. A bag of rice. A vanilla bottle. Peanut butter. Canned
greenbeans. a Head of garlic. We ask them to divide the foods into two
piles...what would Columbus haveknown about before his little trip and what
after. Its fun, it gets people talking about history and food and how much
our diet has changed, etc. If they play and "win" they get a prize. A small
pamphlet of medieval recipes, for example. we give 'em out to the "losers"
too....:)
there are ideas in the works to have variations like planning menus, what
foods were available in which season, etc.
good luck!
- --AM
Date: Sun, 7 May 2000 09:48:11 -0400
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Food guessing game for demos
I went to the demo yesterday at Britfest (a British car show). The food
game was a hit. We were kinda tucked away in a corner, and not a lot
of people came into our area, but I was able to coax most of the people
who wandered by the SCA table to give it a try. I had a large wooden
bowl with the following foods:
a jar of rice
a can of green peas
a can of sweet corn
a jar of chili peppers
a can of chick peas
a bottle of cinnamon
a can of tomatoes
a can of cocoa
a jar of powdered mustard
a can of potatoes
I challenged people to sort the old world foods from the new... and gave
the hint that there were 5 of each. No one got a perfect score. A
surprising number of people stumbled over easy things like corn (I
though most Americans would remember the grade-school stories about
the Indians teaching the settlers to plant corn).
Most of the people played as a group -- a couple or a parent with kids or
bunch of 20-something friends. It was pleasant and amusing to see
them arguing passionately over the choices. ("Joe, NOT the tomatoes!"
"Dad, they could have had rice with trade from the Orient -- remember
Marco Polo?") They swapped some items back and forth and
eventually would have two equal piles. "Final answer?" I asked some of
them, and got a chuckle.
Afterwards, I praised them for their efforts, and sorted the piles
correctly, delivering some tidbits of food history as I did. As I moved the
chick peas, for instance, I talked about most beans being New World. I
talked about how much of medieval cuisine would be familiar to modern
folks -- roast meats, fruits, noodles with cheese. I mentioned some of
the differences, but in a state that probably has more Indian restaurants
per capita than any other, cinnamon in meat dishes doesn't come
across as very weird. I stressed that medieval people were like us in
enjoying good food. Then pointing to the can of cocoa, I'd say, "They
didn't have chocolate or Snickers Bars, but they did like sweet things
and they did have candy." And I'd open up the covered tins and offer
them samples of marzipan and gingerbrede (redaction from the
Miscellany).
For those who showed particular interest, I pulled out volume 1 of
_Thousand Eggs_ and turned to the recipe for stewed beef, showing
them the original Middle English, the translation into modernized
English, and the redacted recipe. I explained that medieval recipes
were like your grandmother's recipes ("take some of this and add
enough of that"), and most of them could relate very well to that.
All in all, I think it worked extremely well. The game was more popular
than I would have expected with adults. Most people seemed to walk
away with a "gee, that's interesting... I never knew that" attitude. I do
think the game made it possible to convey more information than I could
have managed with a passive display.
My thanks for the great idea, I will definitely try it again.
Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)
Date: Sun, 7 May 2000 20:39:39 -0400
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Food guessing game for demos
And it came to pass on 7 May 00,, that Christine A Seelye-King wrote:
> And thanks for your review, that will definitely help us out next
> weekend!
Doing equal numbers of Old World and New World foods was helpful.
People knew what they were shooting for. And although I thought that
certain foods would be just too obvious, that often was not the case.
> Was the gingerbread your 'prize' for participating in the game?
> I know AM said that she had little booklets of recipes, I was wondering
> about what else would make good 'winnings'.
> Christianna
Yes, I brought the gingerbrede and the marzipan to give out as prizes
(or parting gifts). I didn't have any recipe booklets, and wouldn't have
been able to produce any on the spur of the moment. And I figured that
although not everyone likes to cook, almost everyone likes to eat. And I
also thought that offering medieval munchies was another way to prove
that period food was tasty and not particularly weird. At first I was only
going to make the gingerbrede, but then I thought it might be good to
have an alternative that wasn't as spicy. And since I had a pound of
almond meal left over from all that Passover baking, and sugar and
rosewater are staples in my house...
As for other prizes -- it would depend on how many you expect to hand
out. A wooden spoon, perhaps decorated with a ribbon, would be
appropriate and inexpensive. However, if you expect to hand out scores
of prizes, that might not work.
Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)
Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 13:02:06 -0400
From: Christine A Seelye-King <mermayde at juno.com>
Subject: SC - Food Guessing Game
Thank you Anne-Marie!
We had a weekend-long demo this weekend, our 14th year at the local
Celtic Festival. I have painted woad tatoos at this event, spun, we've
done candle dipping, and last year we had a display of various spices
with some of each ground so folks could smell and taste them. All of
these activities have been very well received, but none so well as the
food guessing game we ran this weekend. This is how we ran it:
Lady Teamhair (Tara) and I brought two tablecloths, one a print of a
Roman mosaic, and one a woven (Am.) Indian design. We laid them side by
side, and put a square green cloth napkin in the back center of them. We
laid out two signs, one in an OE font that said "Old World", and one in
something modern that said "New World". We then placed 16 foods on the
"neutral space" (napkin) and told folks they had to sort them out (this
took some time to explain to some people, but some grasped it right away.
Sunday's crowd was much brighter than Saturday's, and more got it
completely correct the second day. We wondered if the answers had been
posted on the net?)
The foods we had were:
corn
jalepenos
cocoa
tomatos
potato
vanilla beans
pumpkin
green beans
and
lentils
barley
olives stuffed with garlic
cinnamon
hazelnuts
turnip greens
mustard seed
cherries
Lots of folks came by to play, many would go and find friends and bring
them back to play. Teamhair was standing in line at the food booths
listening to people in various lines talking about playing the food game.
We gave out samples of medieval gingerbread for playing the game, which
was liked by just about everybody that tried it. Teamhair had made a
version without ginger to have an alternative, we decided that there was
a reason the gingerbread spice combination had survived as long as it had
the way it was! We had several parents remark what a good learning tool
it was, and lots of families played together, which the parents also
liked. Many SCA folks that played made comments like "Well, we've had
this at SCA feasts, so that must be period" and we would say, "You've
seen everything on this table at feasts, it's not necessarily so!" One
fellow said he knew the potatoes, tomatoes, and corn were wrong from the
discussions on the Kingdom list about them.
So, it was a rousing success, and one we'll do again, I'm sure. We gave
credit where credit was due, so AM's word-fame was spread through the
Barony of the South Downs.
Thanks again,
Christianna
Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 08:02:07 -0400
From: Elaine Koogler <ekoogler at chesapeake.net>
Subject: SC - Food presentation at demo
I want to thank you for your suggestion for doing a discussion of period
foods at demos. The one to which I refer is where you have foods from
both the old and new worlds and ask the participants to determine which
is which. We tried this this past weekend at a demo for Girl Scouts at
a campground in our Barony. The ages of the children ranged from 6 -
15...and almost impossible range to handle and maintian interest.
However, this demo did! Even the adults were intrigued.
Because we were dealing with groups of about 15 girls at each "session",
we simply held up an item and asked the girls to identify "old" or "new"
world. This was after a discussion of why new world foodstuffs were not
known in the Middle Ages. I guess the thing that really blew me away
was that almost all of the groups did not know (or, as I believe, had
forgotten) that corn was new world!
Kiri
Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 23:22:54 -0400
From: Darice Moore <magistra at tampabay.rr.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Food presentation at demo
Christine A Seelye-King wrote:
> Yep, chalk up another success story, Anne-Marie, this demo idea is a hit
> across the nation!
We had a fun time with it too! We ran a small local demo a few weeks
ago - just a "day in the park" - and had the food demo as part of the
art/sci exhibits. People loved it. We put all the items in a basket;
most people just pointed and said "old, new, old, old, new..." rather
than pulling the items out. (Couldn't blame 'em, as the carrots did
start to wilt somewhat in the heat...)
We gave everyone a recipe brochure with a variety of simple recipes that
could be produced from "supermarket" foods: Cameline Beef Brewet, Pevre
Gresse (indicated to be served with sliced cold meats), Tart in Ymbre
Day and Gingerbrede, and some general information about period cooking
in the SCA.
If anyone wants a copy of the brochure for use at their own demos,
e-mail me at magistra at tampabay.rr.com and I'll send the file to you -
it's a PageMaker file at the moment but will be converted to .pdf soon.
- - Clotild
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 19:12:51 -0400
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Culinary Demo Ideas
And it came to pass on 11 Jul 00,, that E. Rain wrote:
[much snippage]
> what we're already planning:
> * a bunch of foods like barley & spices & the like in thier natural vs processed forms, with some
> info on what it takes to get between the two. *
> Any other things folks have done? any suggestions for refining or adding
> to the plans above?
How about bringing a mortar and pestle and something to grind in it?
Let the visitors see for themselves what kind of work went into medieval
food preparation. Kids love an excuse to bang and thump.
Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 22:03:26 -0700
From: "E. Rain" <raghead at liripipe.com>
Subject: SC - RE: sca-cooks V1 #2436
Hi again from Eden,
Brighid suggested re my request for demo ideas:
> How about bringing a mortar and pestle and something to grind in it?
> Let the visitors see for themselves what kind of work went
> into medieval food preparation. Kids love an excuse to bang and thump.
you know I thought the same thing, & I've tried it two years in a row now to
resounding disinterest. I suspect if I had a whacking big medieval mortar
they'd love it, but my dinky little spice mortar sets neither hearts nor
hands a-thumping :->
they have some old holy water founts at an antique store near here that look
mighty similar to medieval mortars & I stare at them with great lust in my
heart - don't worry, they've been deconsecrated, I think it's OK to lust
after them now ;->
Eden
Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 08:38:41 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jenne Heise <jenne at tulgey.browser.net>
Subject: Re: SC - RE: sca-cooks V1 #2436
> you know I thought the same thing, & I've tried it two years in a row now to
> resounding disinterest. I suspect if I had a whacking big medieval mortar
> they'd love it, but my dinky little spice mortar sets neither hearts nor
> hands a-thumping :->
Hm. I had them grind scented spices together to make a powder that they
mixed with corn starch to make a scented powder to take home. It was
awfully popular.
I do a scratch'n'sniff demo where I let them grate nutmegs and smell all
kinds of spices and taste candied ginger, if they want.
Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, mka Jennifer Heise jenne at tulgey.browser.net
Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 14:36:34 EDT
From: Devra at aol.com
Subject: SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #2437 - demo
One thing that I've had some success with is working with marzipan.
Make up some batches in different colors, and make some nice sample models -- a rose, a snake, a lilly, a cat, a shield.
You'll need the following:
babywipes or wetnaps to clean off hands before & after
toothpicks for modelling work
waxed paper covering work surface
small paper plates or waxed bags to carry off artwork
rolling pins
Then let them mess around to their pleasure. A round orange ball, marked all over with the side of a grater, and stuck with a whole clove, makes a nice fruit!
Devra the baker
Poison Pen Press
Date: Thu, 05 Oct 2000 21:40:54 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - demo idea
Marion MacGregor wrote:
> > I was hoping for a few ideas about something I could make
> > for an upcoming demo we have here in Bridge. It is being
> > held at a Boyscout camp and I am sure mostly will be
> > attended by them with their parents. something on the "not
> > so difficult side" that can withstand being out all day,
> > period, served in small portions, and "mundane friendly"
> > Any suggestions?
> > Lady Marion MacGregor
Gyngebrede in little balls works very well at demos, and is easy to
make. Ditto marzipan (I'm a sucker for the little fruit-shaped marzipan,
and they were probably pretty widespread in mid-to-late-period, there
being examples in 16th-century German and early-17th-century English
sources, IIRC.
Oh, how about wafers?
Adamantius
From: "james rich" <7152 at cableone.net>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Dolls as period clothing display
Date: Sun, 26 Nov 2000 13:06:43 -0600
Yes. I had begun before I ever joined the SCA to work on historical
fashions for modern 11 1/2 " fashion dolls (like Barbie TM). I even had a
few of my patterns published in Doll Designs Magazine. However, since I use
the modern dolls as a basis, I don't enter them in most A&S competitions. I
*do* use them on the display table at demos, since the questions they
generate are useful. With them I can span the entire range of *period*
fashions. I have also used them as gifts to others in the SCA. The
advantage of clothing dolls is that they use a *lot* less fabric 8-) ! (
Most of my dolls dress a great deal better than *I*!) The disadvantage is
that authenticity is a lot more difficult to achieve on such a small scale,
and the rigid posture of the dolls makes it necessary to make other types of
compromises on openings and so forth. Still, it's a lot of fun to do. I
certainly encourage you to try.
Aelfwenna
[note - See the file dolls-msg for more details on dolls in period]
"Andrea Hicks" <maridonna at worldnet.att.net> wrote:
> I am wondering if anyone has used dolls as display or to display A&S
> entry clothing? I cannot afford the way I want to dress as I am a *very*
> large woman and have limited funds. I love all clothing styles in the
> SCA period. In my copious time (yea, right) I was considering making
> different clothes for a 28 inch girl doll I have. It takes the same
> research for the smaller clothing as adult clothing. I also read that
> wealthy children dressed pretty much the same as adults; I have also
> seen numerous paintings of this. This will certainly be Creative, fun,
> and educational for me and hopefully fun for children when they see the
> doll and her clothing. I can go into as much detail as I want without
> going broke. The doll can wear the heavy velvets and tapestry dresses
> without sweating!!
>
> Any info greatly appreciated.
> --
> Andrea/Maridonna
From: CAC <giovanna51 at yahoo.com>
Date: May 9, 2005 6:44:36 AM CDT
To: ansteorra <ansteorra at ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Ansteorra] Kingdom of Heaven demo: FYI
I am here to relate news of The Loch Soilleir demo for
The Kingdom of Heaven movie at the Cinemark Theater in
Webster,Texas, Saturday, May 7 from 2-5.
We had a great demo with grey clouds and wind overhead.
Thank goodness for that. It would have been extremely hot
against the theater wall if the sun had been out. I did
bring a covered igloo with water because of my concern.
I had a large ad poster made at Kinkos' a few weeks
before and the manager posted it on an easel in the lobby
where people could see it. We had flyers on a small table
under it, advertising the demo. I also put flyers at
Bally's Fitness Center (get the thought?) :) We had at
least 50 picked up from there and put 100 at a gaming store
in the area.
We gave the manager, at his request, some banners to
hang in the theater. He was so excited by the demo. He came
out and took pictures the whole time.
I advertised several times on-line to the surrounding
Barony's lists.
I had approximately 53-55 members show up to do the
demo. I wish to thank not only my own Barony, but Stargate
as well for helping.
We gave ourselves an hour to set up. We layed
carpeting down, put up a Royal Pavillion, as we had Royalty
attending and fighting as well. It was fun; Like a baby
event!
We rotated Civalric with Rapier and even had some
funny juggling over the "bridge" we put on our mini-field.
Along the sidewalk, were booths with members giving
information about: archery, knives and thrown weapons(along
with the history), illumination, charter painting (the
names of visitors were painted on small parchments and
given to them), and fiber arts. There was also beading and
weaving under the pavillion. We also had some drumming and
dancing outside as well as European dancing inside the
theater lobby.
Pros: quite a few flyers and business cards were
given out. I had several baskets strategically placed with
SCA flyers and pencils, blank paper, etc. at many areas for
our use. Many people were very interested, some in youth
boffer. I wish I had gotten someone to just count the
visitors!! It was very well attended by movie goers.
Cons: we should have some small cards made up on mini
clipboards so interested persons could give contact info. I
had blank cards in the baskets but they weren't used very
much.
It is also difficult to get definite numbers of
Populace attending and an idea of the craft they will be
displaying. So, I hoped for the best until it finally came
together and I could breathe! But, as usual, my awesome
Barony came through with flying colors! I should have known
not to worry! :)
Another thing would be to have posters with pictures of
Gulf War and eventing fun. I had this ready but the wind
was extreme at times.
The biggest problem was that horses showed up without
asking in advance and it was a big concern for all. We had
many sidewalk discussions on this one! The theater however
thought it was so hilarious that they picked the newest
teenage employee to pick up a pile of horse poop with only
rubber gloves on , taking pictures and cackling the whole
time. I bet he won't live that one down for a long time. We
tried to pick it up but they refused, saying a picture was
worth a thousand words and cackling some more!
I will contact all newbie info I got by Wednesday and
see how it goes. It also will be interesting to see how
many call from seeing the demo.
I hope I didn't bore with the news but I hope we all
learn from it and make it even better for the next one.
Lady Giovanna Lena Caronna
Coastal Regional Waterbearer
Kingdom of Ansteorra
Waterbearer for Loch Soilleir
Hospitaler for the Loch
Date: Wed, 02 Apr 2008 10:42:10 -0400
From: euriol <euriol at ptd.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Food for a Demo
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Another nice thing about the gingerbread is that it makes a great
"hands-on" demo. Just put the ingredients out and let the attendees have
their own hand at it. I've been saving the small tins from altoids (mints &
fruit sours) in order to allow people to take home their own creation of
gingerbread.
Euriol
On Wed, 2 Apr 2008 09:33:55 -0500 (CDT), "Pixel, Goddess and Queen"
<pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com> wrote:
>> They are HAVING pizza. I want to also have something that tastes
>> "medieval", whatever that means. Something nicely spiced and different,
>> just not so different they wont taste it. Saffron, cubebs, cinnamon, oh my!
>>
>> Ranvaig
>
> Ilsebet suggested, and I heartily concur, gingerbread. It tastes medieval,
> it's quick and easy, and it's amazingly addictive.
>
> Margaret FitzWilliam
Date: Thu, 03 Apr 2008 09:31:05 -0400
From: euriol <euriol at ptd.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Food for a Demo
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
On Wed, 2 Apr 2008 23:52:09 -0400, ranvaig at columbus.rr.com wrote:
>> Medieval style gingerbread?
>
>> Another nice thing about the gingerbread is that it makes a great
>> "hands-on" demo. Just put the ingredients out and let the
>> attendees have their own hand at it.
>
> I do wonder how you handled that. The hot honey would be hard to manage
> and messy, and the gyngerbrede was only manageable at all when it was
> still pretty warm.
>
> Ranvaig
Well my understanding of the recipe is to clarify the honey... so using
your typical honey from the grocery store is already clean in this matter.
Sure you can use it warm, but unless you want to get the sugar in the honey
so hot as to bring it anywhere from soft ball to hard crack stage it
doesn't seem to be indicated in the recipe. (At least this is my own
interpretation). When I've done this with kids I just give them a bowl,
they mix the ingredients themselves and just enough of the clover honey to
make it stick together. Of course with the kids, I keep plenty of wipes on
hand for all the messy fingers.
"Take a quart of hony, & sethe it, & skeme it clene; take Safroun, pouder
Pepir, & ?row ?er-on; take gratyd Brede, & make it so chargeaunt* ?at it
wol be y-lechyd; ?en take pouder Canelle, & straw ?er-on y-now; ?en make
yt [leaf 28.] square, lyke as ?ou wolt leche yt; take when ?ou lechyst
hyt, an caste Box leves a-bouyn, y-stykyd ?er-on, on clowys. And ?if ?ou
wolt haue it Red, coloure it with Saunderys y-now."
Euriol
Date: Thu, 3 Apr 2008 13:50:35 -0400
From: ranvaig at columbus.rr.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Food for a Demo
To: euriol at ptd.net, Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
> When I've done this with kids I just give them a bowl,
> they mix the ingredients themselves and just enough of the clover honey to
> make it stick together. Of course with the kids, I keep plenty of
> wipes on hand for all the messy fingers.
I can certainly understand doing it that way with kids.
But I think the honey does need to be hot, the texture changed
significantly as it cooled down. By the time I cut up the last ones,
they were getting very hard to cut and were only slightly sticky.
Like a candy rather than honey bread.
Ranvaig
Date: Thu, 03 Apr 2008 17:26:30 -0400
From: devra at aol.com
Subject: [Sca-cooks] gingerbred
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
This is a version I've used successfully with kids and adults.
Gyngerbred (from the redaction of Ruth Frey, out of Two 15th Century
Cookbooks)
2 C honey
2 t cinnamon
1 t ginger
.5 t ground black pepper or long pepper
.25 t ground cloves
3 - 5 threads of saffron
4 C dry bread crumbs (commercial crumbs are fine)
topping : mixed cinnamon and sugar, plus bay leaves
1. Bring spices and honey to a boil in a good-sized pot.
2. Turn off heat and stir in bread crumbs a cup at a time.
3. Spread mix on large rectangle of waxed paper. Top with similar
piece, and roll to approximately .25 inch thickness.
4. Remove top piece of paper, sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mix, and
score with sharp knife into 1 inch squares. *Alternatively, cut out
with cookie cutters dipped into sugar mix. Let cool a bit first if
you do this.*
5. When cool enough to handle, cut or break squares apart and
complete cooling on rack. You may want to turn the pieces to dry on
both sides.
6. Line a cookie tin with aluminium foil or waxed paper and place
gyngerbred therein, sprinkling each layer with cinnamon/sugar and
placing 1 - 2 bay leaves on top. Put more waxed paper and continue to
layer. Cover box with lid.
7. Let cookies stand at least a week in moderately cool place so that
the crumbs can absorb moisture from the honey.
DON'T boil the honey after it comes to boil, or you'll have hard-
crack bricks. When dough cools, you can also form it into walnut-
sized balls and roll them in the sugar. Cookie cutters work nicely
with kids, but make sure the cutters are medium sized, as gigantic
cookies will fall apart.
Devra
<the end>