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Re: Delinquent quarterly reports




Poster: "H L. Falls" <hlf@holmes.acc.virginia.edu>

 
> Poster: Heather Swann <swannh@psi.com>
> 
> >Landi wrote:
> >>
> >>    So a bunch of folks get together and decide they want to hold a
> >> Medieval Faire, but nobody can think of anything medieval to do.  So
> >> finally one fellow pipes up, "Well, I'm in the SCA -- let's require
> >> a few reports!"
> >> 
> >> --Landi, watching his favorite hobby drown in red tape... <sigh...>
> >
> >Landi,
> >
> >Few people like paperwork and administrivia. 
> >><snip>
>  And if your branch office
> >folds because one of those people failed to file the requisite report at
> >the requisite time, don't blame the system. Instead, think about what you
> >could have done to help prevent the group from folding.
> >
> >In service,
> >Corun
> >
> Aw, shucks, we know that, Corun, and we appreciate the folks who do the
> work....I've held a few local offices myself so I know how that goes...
> 
> I'm sure Landi was just expressing that sentiment we all feel when we have
> to fill out the paperwork/take out the trash/clean up after the
> event......natural, understandable, and universal, I think!  I have to
> admit sometimes the paperwork seems a little much, but we still keep coming
> back to play!  :)  Just the way the modern world works, I suspect....  ;)
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Miri

   Thanks for the support Miri!  :-)

   Fact is, I *do* understand the necessity of mundane financial
accountability, and the *need* for senechal's and exchequer's 
reports (as Corun so well explained in the part of his article 
that you snipped).  I *do* understand the *need* to report anything
that would affect the SCA, Inc., such as injuries, site damage,
and the like.  I even understand the *desirability* of MoAS, 
Heraldic, and Marshallate reports, BUT...

   *Desirable* is not the same thing as *necessary*.  If a group's
"Warm Body Persuivant" isn't providing the Heraldic services the
group needs (whether or not he files a quarterly report saying 
"I didn't do anything again..."), work *with* the group to find
someone who *is* interested in the job -- don't kill the whole
group!  And if the MoAS is so wrapped up in the Ren. Italian-theme
evening for the group *and* the early music concert she's playing
in next week *and* ... that she forgets to file a report on time,
*don't* just whip out your bureaucratic club and threaten to 
bludgeon everyone in the vicinity into submission because you didn't
get your piece of paper!  And so forth...

   In short, the Senechal's and Exchequer's reports are (and should
include everything) *necessary* and you would be justified in 
suspending the group if those are habitually delinquent.  The other
reports are *desirable*, and delinquency should result in investigation
and, if necessary, replacement of the disfunctional officer, but *NOT*
suspension of the group.  That just smacks too much of high-level
power-tripping...

   IMHO, YMMV, etc...  

   By the way, apologies to anyone I may have offended.  I make
no secret of my dislike for the (as I see it) overly bureaucratic, 
heavy-handed, top-down *system* of the SCA, Inc., but I have only 
respect for the individuals actually *doing* the jobs...

   (Incidentally, Corun, in my twenty-couple years of hanging around
the Society, I've come to realize that I have little talent to do,
less talent to lead others, and (obviously! :-) insufficient patience
to shuffle paperwork.  So suggestions would be welcome in terms of 
"...think about what you could have done to help prevent the group 
from folding.")

> I may or may not be the Real Miriam this month...I forget.........
  
   Lesee...  Weren't you the Real Miriam for Pennsic?  If so, that
would make you the Surreal Miriam this month...  ;-)

--Landi
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