Ask not what you can do for your S.C.A.
Presidents love the Valiance Proposal, at least they should! It has recently come up that the President (Leslie Vaughn) of the S.C.A. is stepping down. Now recently at the discussions at Pennsic related to the Proposal, it was suggested that for the long game, we look at stacking the Board with people that are friendly to the Proposal. This is a good idea, though I hope it won’t come to this, and that it gets passed and enacted before then.
In the meantime, let us all thank Leslie for her service in a task that is likely thankless and daunting.
Whats the President got to do with it?
Nothing much really I guess. As with our own system of Government, the President can be a figure head. The real power lies with the B.o.D., as with our own Gov, the real power lies in Congress. Where goes the figure head, so too may follow the populace though. It may not be the place or position for the President to comment or support such things. Though there would be conversations in backrooms etc that may help to curry favor.
Next stop, Melpitas and the B.o.D.!
Though some may disagree and view this as an abstraction, apparently it doesnt require much support to get on the B.o.D., with this in mind, when a seat becomes available, why not ask the candidates about, and/or support those who are sympathetic to our causes? Is this not what we should be doing? I would think other groups are promoting candidates that share their ideals, so should we.
As always, stay vigilant, and always look for ways to keep this movement going forward!
Be well friends!
YIS respectfully,
Lord Cameron de Grey
Or, on a bend purpure between a wheel of cheese and a squirrel sable, three pheons palewise Or
Back to Martial Peerage Page
Leslie Vaughns E-Mail: president@sca.org
(FROM: Susan Carrol-Clarke via FB)
It might be helpful to understand a little of the process of how one joins the BoD. First step is to get the name on the candidates’ list. Pretty much anyone can nominate themselves. The second step is commentary. Anyone can send commentary to the BoD at any time about any candidate. Apparently they get very few comments. The third step is the interview. A new position on the Board comes available about every six months, and they interview well in advance so that there is a smooth transition. I had my name on the list for a couple of years as a nominee, and I was interviewed, so I am familiar with how this works. It’s not true that the Board is “a bunch of lawyers”. At different times, they will be looking for people with different skillsets – finance, legal, IT, project management, education, communications, etc. (They were looking for finance when I was interviewed–which wasn’t me smile emoticon ). They are trying to get a good mix on the Board at all times–the Board isn’t an operational Board that actually does the work; that’s what the Society and Corporate officers are for, but they do need to understand the issues and find the right people. Time/experience in the SCA is also crucial. A strong nominee is going to be one with Kingdom/Society-level experience, probably a Peer, with sufficient time to devote to the job. So the key to getting the Board “stacked” would be twofold: First, contacting the current nominees from your kingdom, making sure they are aware of the proposal, allowing them to ask questions, and getting their support. Second, finding new strong candidates who are willing to be nominated and who know about the proposal and support it. Remember, the Board’s concern is a well-rounded governing body, not just our favourite issue. Being on the Board is a huge time commitment, and it can be mentally straining as well (be ready to be blamed for everything and to be considered “evil”, for instance).
A published list of those candidates and their positions on issues would be very helpful. Kinda like the presidential thing. No, we don’t need a debate panel!!!