Good ideas/discussions crossposted from listserve

[Pewter_of_Deodar]

The follwing is the start of a discussion from the listserve in which I solicited comments...

Daphne Therese Fraser <daphnebd@AOL.COM> wrote:
The excitement, at least in B3R, is generated amongst ourselves by conversations, sharing techniques and brews, and teaching each other. I don't even know how many brewers we have total. At least a dozen. I know that with the Lukas' creation of the B3R Beer Tree, the excitement is escalated each Spring in preparation for Lilies. I am proud of the fact that we only serve homebrews at the Lilies Party. To see the line of people waiting to taste or get more of what we created makes me feel accomplished. Doing things like the Beer Tree, or the magnificent bar for the Iowa party, not only add ambiance to our events, but help us brewers share with the p! opulace the fun we have with brewing. It doesn't have to be a "moment on the lips" type of science. Try to create something special ! ! for your presentation. I have wax stamps that I put on each of my bottles. I cast the stamp of my "brand" from a soap-stone mold and pewter. I have actually seen my souvenir attached to someone's belt at Gulf Wars. That was a reward for me!

 

[Pewter_of_Deodar]

Again, crossposted from the listserve...

M'lady (and members of the list),

Excellent response. Different people respond to different stimuli in different ways. What may motivate one of us may not even be a consideration for another. So I am glad that you did not focus on one particular type of motivation since I believe that we need all of them. Or at least having more and varied types of motivation will respond to a larger group of people. I do not want this to break down into a single discussion about SH's and laurels. It is a lot bigger and more important issue than just those levels of awards.

It sounds to me as if the brewers in Three Rivers have achieved a good level of local synergy. I congratulate you on that. Now the question becomes one of analyzing what your group has done to get there and applying it on a kingdomwide level in a way that makes sense in order to get a synergy at that level. While you may travel to your weekly meetings or local events to discuss brewing and share your wares, what would motivate you to travel quarterly to a statewide guild meeting (possibly Barony wide), twice a year to a kingdomwide guild meeting, and yearly to participate heavily in brewing related activities at Pennsic? And not just you. Quite honestly, you seems self motivated but many are obviously not. You might still look again at Rory's list and see where participation in kingdom le! vel brewing falls into your priorities. Maybe you live, breath, eat and sleep SCA. But many are not as highly dedicated as you might be. Apply the thinking to the others you know that brew. What trips their triggers? What would get them to travel and become involved more heavily? Would gaining ranks in a guild help? A structured set of criteria for advancement? Winning contests? Having purely brewing contests to win where you are not competing with all the other A&S items? Any possible motivations are a topic for discussion and potential ways we can improve our guild. Maybe we should collectively come up with a list of possibilities...

Thanks for your comments,
Pewter the Analyzer

 

[Pewter_of_Deodar]

Again, crossposted from the listserve. Note the list of good suggestions towards the end...

Daphne Therese Fraser <daphnebd@AOL.COM> wrote:
I had to take a little time to think about your last email. I was trying to get through my head if whether you were asking how you can motivate yourself and others, or how the guild can be motivated to be more active on a Kingdom level. I'll compromise, and try to answer both.

As for self motivation, well there's nothing I can say about what motivates others. For me, I try to improve my technique, or try something a bit more difficult with each venture I take. For instance, my first attempt at making cider was to try and make something to drink. The next batches were trying to improve the flavor, besides providing drinks for the Pennsic party and such. Now I'm attempting to make "period" ciders, by recreating recipes that I can dig up and decipher. My future plan is to only use fruit juices that I have pressed, not use commercial ciders. I'm actually excited about the challenge of making a high enough quality juice for brewing.

Ref: group motivation, with B3R I think it's more than just an SCA application for brewing. We share our brewing for other than SCA outings/get togethers. Lot of us brew for home consumption. Why buy, when you can brew? And then there is the overall group approval. The members of B3R really like our brews. It's not as if we get together and have weekly or even monthly meetings. We just appreciate our own, I guess. I don't see it as any great movement by the B3R brewers to keep everyone excited. We support each other. Every once and awhile someone will offer to present a class/clinic. That's how I got involved last year.

I think, though, for Kingdom level excitement, there has to be specific involvement by the members of the guild to promote brewers and their wares, and to entice newcomers. This may be accomplished by:
1. Advertising competitions/classes/meetings etc... not just on the Calon-brew list, but over the Calonlist and in the Mews. It takes planning ahead in a timely enough manner to be successful. We all know that it takes more than 2 weeks to brew (for most of us).
2. If you are an event steward, ask if the guild would like to hold a competition. If you are not the steward, ask if you can host a brew competition. Host tri-level competitions, that way all level brewers can feel that they can compete, not just the old dogs! (with much compliment to the old dogs!)
3. Donate prizes. People like getting spiffy stuff! We should have a stock-pile of ready made prizes for those "just in-case" moments. I found a really neat embroidery design of a monk tasting his wares that I plan on turning into a satchel (someday). This will be donated as a possible prize. I have some other ideas as well, but I have to move to AR first before jumping in too much.
4. Put a call out and ask if the brewers would like to provide the beverages for "such and such" event. Again, in a timely manner. It could be something as simple as a post revel. Or a meeting, such as a Laurel meeting at Lilies! That should get some people talking! ;-)
5. Host a class. We had four instructors for four different types of brewing for the class that I attended. It was absolutely great, filled with information, and tasting!
6. Be proactive in getting others to join in the brew-fun! Take someone new to a brew shop near you and show them around. Get others started!

Most importantly, I think, if you want the guild to grow, be active and get recognition, then the idividuals have to be active. Just sitting by waiting for some else to prod you into brewing won't happen. The shmoe next to you is probably doing the same thing. But you don't need everyday involvement to have an active group. Lulls are perfectly acceptable. It makes the next wave of brewing that more exciting.

Sorry if it seems that I grew into my soap box. And my apology is extended to any one who feels affronted by my statements. I mean no harm or disrespect. These are just my humble opinions.

Dafne

 

[Oskaar]

Good ideas.

Are you considering starting your own chapter? I think it would work out well if that was a possibility.

Cheers,

Oskaar

 

[Pewter_of_Deodar]

I honestly do not believe starting an official chapter is allowable without the blessing of the powers that be. I would rather have an active Kingdom guild that has an active local branch than to have an active local group that has no Kingdom group to associate to...

 

[Oskaar]

Not sure of the terminology chapter, guild, whatever. I guess maybe guild was what I was asking. Bottom line is if you can start your own and keep your kingdom affiliation in tact, it may be the way to go. It looked like you could do so from what I saw in the by-laws. Either way, sounds like the powers that be need to be more in touch with their guilds.

Cheers,

Oskaar

 

[Pewter_of_Deodar]

Oskaar,

You may be right but my real goal is to create a synergy at the Kingdom level, not locally. Locally my few friends discuss brewing and try each others stuff from time to time at our weekly SCA meetings. But even if we had everyone in our local group active, we'd have only 6 or 7 of us.

I see the problem as three-fold.

1. The king and queen having so much to do that there isn't time for them to pay enough attention to ANY guild, much less ours.

2. The recognition (only two laurels in brewing in 15 years) not indicative of the relative contributions to the Kingdom made by the brewers in relationship to other guilds.

3. The fact that the guild has no way to recognize it's members apart from the official (and supposedly fairly political) process of Leather Mallet, Silver Hammer, Laurel. The heavy fighters and archers for instance, have their own levels of recognition apart from the normal progression. I feel that it would help us to have this sort of mechanism available to us as well.

I will float some ideas at Pennsic with some of the brewers in the Kingdom and see what they think...

Peace,
Pewter

 

[Oskaar]

Hey dude,

I'm giving you suggestions for alternatives because it sounds like there needs to be improvement in the process, and that you want to facilitate that. Let me know if this is unconstructive.

Cheers,

Oskaar

 

[Pewter_of_Deodar]

I'm giving you suggestions for alternatives because it sounds like there needs to be improvement in the process, and that you want to facilitate that. Let me know if this is unconstructive.

Oskaar,

I appreciate all of your inputs. I am just trying to explain my personal goals. A local group would be a good first step if it contributed to the creation of a better guild organization at Kingdom level. Since groups like the one at Three Rivers evidently exist and thrive by themselves, yet seem to have absolutely zero impact towards creating any sort of substantial guild at Kingdom level, I am reluctant to consider that an even smaller local group in NE Iowa would have any impact on the Kingdom.

Sorry if it seemed that I was directing criticism at you for making the suggestions. Any and all ideas are welcome when you are brainstorming for solutions...

Peace,
Pewter

 

[Oskaar]

Cool,

Cheers,

Oskaar