Live! From The SCA BoD Meeting (AM).

.....We're here at the Embassy Suites in Tukwila in attendance at the public gathering of the Board of Directors Meeting of the SCA. The Embassy Suites make the hotel guests pay for connection to the Internet. But those who attend meetings down in the Conference Rooms get free access. A win!

.....The Board Meeting itself follows protocol via some form of Robert's Rules. But in actuality is rather loose in format, which makes it easier to ask questions and feel yourself to actually be part of the meeting, rather than as an 'audience' member. Which is the intent. I was here for the last Board Meeting in Tukwila and this one feels a little more loose, which is surprising. Mainly because as introductions were made it was easy to see the ongoing trend to have more of a corporate / business / technology background to be an effective member of the Board.

.....This meeting will be Master Ljotr's last as a Board member. He will turn around and become An Tir's Kingdom Seneschal come Twelfth Night. He's ready as he is not necessarily a Corporate Wonk and I get the feeling that the cumbersome process of being a Board is wearing him out.

.....Just some quick and loose notes as reminders. I may miss things, but I'm sure that others can fill in the blanks.

.....We spent the first half hour or so with introductions around the room, both Board and audience. All regions are rather well represented. And, as mentioned, the trend towards corporate / business / legal professions as members.

.....There was some discussion of the upcoming change to electronic Kingdom Newsletters. The IT folks are about to start play-testing the system now for the launch in the new year of 2012. Things are on track. A link will be sent to subscribers with password information to a central repository. I asked about the role of the stipend when the newsletters go electronic. Starting in January stipends will no longer be given to the Kingdoms. Which, if you think about all the details involved, will become a nice increase in income for Society in the larger picture. So I asked if there were any provisions for Society to provide funding to the individual Kingdoms to upgrade their technology / software to produce newsletters. The Board thought this a good question, but not for this setting and asked me to submit it formally. Which I think I'll do.

.....There is currently one formal proposal for a 50-year celebration from the West Kingdom, and a verbal one from Calontir. The Board needs to put together the criteria requirements for proposal submittals. There is a growing chorus of questions about 5YC, so the Board will step up the pace of putting together the requirements.

.....There was a flurry of approvals for incorporation on the state level. Maine, Mississippi, New York, and Rhode Island were incorporated on the State level. This doesn't mean any changes to the Corporation. The same Board covers the state as covers the International Board. But it does mean additional reporting requirements.

.....Some miscellaneous resolutions for the International branches and newsletter access. Most of it procedural.

.....Nice attendance. Almost all available seating was taken in the audience.

.....Just heard an IT report. Ensuring that the Corporate Officers all have appropriate electronic devices to keep and control data. Renee showed first hand the amount of paperwork that used to be involved in holding meetings and maintaining status. It is an incredible amount. And when you discuss copying and mailing costs, moving these expenses over to electronic media makes sense. But then I am not one that needs convincing. It has been many years since anyone has been heard to say that hard copy will always be a requirement. The keeping, storage and e-mailing of data was also a concern, in regards to future possible litigation and ability to acquire data as required.

.....Gulf Wars is incorporating in and of itself due to the amount of income it generates (in excess of $25,000). Maybe something to keep in mind for June Faires of the future? A reminder was made that Corporate income and financial statements are available for viewing online.

.....A reminder that Wiki-Media images cannot be used within SCA publications as their ownership cannot be nailed down. Every image used in SCA publications, no matter what the source (even a photograph of a primary source), must have a signed statement allowing its use.

.....The University of California, Riverside, is acting as a repository for SCA publications, especially those of an Arts and Sciences variety.

.....There was discussion on the use of private sites as platforms for SCA publications. If the owner leaves for some reason, it can be difficult to recover the publication, data, etc. SCA Corporate, or SCA acquired, web-sites should always provide the platform for official SCA hosting locations.

.......Knowne World Dance Symposium is scheduled for Midrealm in the middle of 2012. Also looks like there will be Symposiums on Glass and Metal-Working in the next year or so. I might be interested in attending one or both of them.

.....The Board makes effective use of Conference Calling, which again makes me want to at least try this method for the Western Regional Pelicans. I need to step up the pace on this one.

.....The Consolidated Doomsday Report is still coming together. As usual, extension to the IRS reports have been requested and accepted.

.....And then the Board broke for lunch. :-) The morning went by rather quickly, actually.

.....Aaron / Arontius.

The Board of Directors Meeting - PM

.....And here are the notes from the afternoon session:

.....Concerning the gender qualifications of Barons and Baronesses. According to the Office of the Seneschallate there is no specific wording in regards to gender of Baron and Baroness candidates. So it is up to the individual Kingdoms to make the determination in this regard. Those Kingdoms that are allowing, or are going to allow, those of the same gender to wear the Coronets of the Baronies, there is nothing in Corpora to disallow this. However, there is specific verbiage in Corpora in regards to King and Queen / Prince and Princess. The King and Queen / Prince and Princess must be of opposite gender. This was upheld and clarified to state that they must be of opposite gender.

.....The Census has been compiled and vetted and prepared for publication. It will be released a section at a time. The Peers Option discussion was voted to be released and approved. The Same Gender Consort Findings was voted to be released and approved. The Master Cross Tabs Findings was voted to be released and approved. It was discussed that an 'interpretation' of the findings be published, but the Board did not want to release an 'interpretation' as this could lead to an 'interpretation' that was incorrect. The Census findings can be found off of the sca.org web-site.

.....Should the Rapier Community have a peerage dedicated strictly to rapier combat? There was a definite leaning towards creating a peerage. So the Board wants to put this question out for specific commentary from the membership. This will be interesting to watch as the Census was not clear as many people answered by stating they wanted peerages for archery, thrown weapons, equestrian, etc. The Board really wants to hear the opinions of the Populace and try to get ahead of this issue. There was a LOT of data as part of the Census and it is taking far longer to compile than anticipated.

.....An interesting point on the Same Sex Gender question. The West Coast favored the Same Sex Gender. The Middle Kingdoms didn't lean one way or the other. The East Coast Kingdoms were generally against Same Sex Gender Crowns. Canada was generally in favor. I thought this was interesting. But the Board did not see a clear direction in the Census and will put this out for Commentary from the Populace.

.....Another interesting point that was brought up. Considering that it is primarily males who fight in Crowns and associate in fighting, will going in this direction eventually bring up a period in time where females would have less representation at the Crown level because Males would fight for Males more readily and females would be represented less? Fighting for Crown is a heavily male dominated event.

.....The Board took note that to make any changes to Corporate policy would require a unanimous vote amongst the Board members. This issue is complex and contentious, and reaching a set of wording and an idea that would work for all will require a lot of work and effort.

.....To send agenda items to the Board, ensure that e-mail is sent to 'directors@sca.org' and follow up with a phone call, FAX or letter to Renee to ensure that e-mail was received. It is IMPORTANT that verification is received from Renee that the question / Board request was actually received.

.....The Board is considering 1.) dropping the verbiage in question that is currently in Corpora, 2.) putting in verbiage that allows for same gender consorts but putting in protections against those who would use it for their own advancements, and 3.) putting in a more specific definition of 'inspiration' that allows for same gender consort, protects the Populace, and puts the onus on the Kingdoms to better define the concept. This is going to be a tough one to follow through to completion.

.....Ariel wanted the Board to come out with a CLEAR consensus or at least direction and timeline for what they want to do with the same gender question. The Board is working the issue and wants to come to consensus. They want to see the full results of the Census and they really want commentary from the Populace. At the same time they are working through the policy amongst the Board members.

.....Ansteorra is on track to have a same gender Baron and Baron this year, which the Board considers a MAJOR step on the road to consensus of this issue.

.....The Laurel Sovereign of Arms is asking the Board to give them SCA Server space for a heraldic program called 'HERALDSTICK' which mines web-sites around the world for heraldic information and collect the data into one place. An investigation needs to happen before the Board can allow this to happen to ensure all legal and ethical questions have been answered. Questions of bandwidth usage also must be addressed.

.....A combined Multi-State Combined Equestrian Waiver is a non-starter as the rules for each state are so different. So the waiver will be sent back to the Society Marshall for further work and guidance. The current Society Marshall's warrant runs out with this meeting and a six month extension was authorized by the Board, until January 28th. The Society Marshall wanted to go into Corpora and change the order of the 'Rules of the List'. To change Corpora requires a lot of effort and requests for commentary and this suggestion is going to be returned for clarification, as is the remainder of his requests.

.....Chatelaine report was super fast. As was the Chirurgeonate and Legal Committee. The Grand Council report was interesting, if difficult to follow. Most of the suggestions had to do with better communications between the Board and the Membership.

.....The Executive Session notes were then read. They went by quickly, although the fact that the Society Seneschal interviews were underway (with Nedezhda as a contender :-)) was noted.

.....The 'Volunteer Agreement' that required people to give up their intellectual property created in service to the SCA was rescinded. Good news!

.....Affiliates - Associate Kingdoms (Drachenwald, Lochac, etc.) that are members of the SCA Corporate Body, but have their own incorporation internationally. There was some misunderstanding on what the term 'affiliates' meant.

.....Good-byes were then given to Master Ljotr. He is a different voice on the Board and will be missed. Gifts were given, which included a Harley-Davidson T-Shirt (Ljotr now manages a Harley-Davidson store in Canada), another Harley-Davidson / Air Flight Museum T-Shirt, and a hand-made Thor's Hammer. Ljotr then said his good-byes to the Board. Very heart-felt statements were made.

.....The Board Meeting then was officially closed. Then the Subsidiary Meetings (for the separate state incorporations) were then opened. All actions taken on behalf of the larger Board meeting on behalf of the separate incorporations were officially accepted. Then the Subsidiary Meetings were officially closed.

.....Then the 'unofficial meetings' commenced. :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.