<html><body>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">-------------- Forwarded Message: -------------- <BR>From: "Jason Williams" <jwilliams@director.sca.org> <BR>To: <announcements@sca.org> <BR>Subject: [Announcements] Chairman's Quarterly Letter to the Membership <BR>Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 14:48:02 +0000 <BR><BR>Chairman’s Quarterly Letter to the Membership <BR><BR>During my earlier days in the SCA, I recall thinking that the Board of <BR>Directors was this mysterious entity that served an unclear purpose. "We <BR>must need one," I thought. "It wouldn't exist if we didn't." But how it <BR>affected my enjoyment of the SCA was entirely puzzling to me. <BR><BR>So why does the Board exist, what does it do and how does it affect your <BR>participation in the SCA? <BR><BR>First a little background. The SCA was incorporated in its early days in <BR>1969, and filed as a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation in the State of <BR>California in 19
71. This move was needed because the SCA was growing by <BR>leaps and bounds, and some sort of organization was required to allow the <BR>"game-side" activities to continue, while creating a management structure <BR>to handle increasing business and legal demands from the modern world. <BR>State and Federal laws require all non-profit and for-profit corporations <BR>to have boards of directors. They exist to provide governance for the <BR>corporation and to ensure that it meets its stated purpose. <BR><BR>The SCA's Board of Directors is unique in that it serves dual functions: <BR>we ensure that the SCA meets all of its legal and financial obligations <BR>mandated by applicable legislation, and we also serve to support the SCA's <BR>game-side activities so everyone can have a good time. No matter which <BR>function we happen to be serving at a given time, the foremost question we <BR>have in our minds when we consider any action is, "how will this benefit <BR>the SCA's membe
rship?" <BR><BR>Managing the Corporate side of the SCA requires a number of officers, <BR>including a Board of seven Directors. One Director serves as Chairman, and <BR>another as the Vice Chair. Generally, Directors are elected by the Board <BR>every six months and serve three-and-a-half-year terms. However, there are <BR>occasions (such as when a Director must step down before the regular term <BR>is over) when elections must occur out of sequence and terms are shorter. <BR>In extreme cases, a Director's term can be extended by up to six months. <BR><BR>All volunteers, the Directors work in three primary ways: we meet once a <BR>quarter in various locations across North America; we hold at least one <BR>conference call between the regular meetings; and we converse via e-mail <BR>on a daily basis. <BR><BR>The Board establishes the rules of the SCA's historical recreation <BR>activities and sets up minimum administrative requirements for officers <BR>and branches. The Board
is also the final arbiter of the interpretations <BR>of these rules made by the SCA's officers. While the Board may delegate <BR>management of the day-to-day operations of the SCA to other officers, we <BR>are still ultimately responsible for the decisions they make. <BR><BR>Among the larger tasks the Board is faced with are the following: <BR><BR>* Budget management <BR>* Oversight of Corporate and Society officers <BR>* Sanctions review <BR>* Review of the Governing Documents <BR>* Final resolution of game-side conflicts and issues <BR><BR>An annual budget of approximately $1.2 million sounds impressive at first. <BR>But it's amazing how quickly that money gets eaten up. Publications and <BR>insurance account for almost half of that figure. At budget-planning time, <BR>a lot of hard decisions need to be made. Do we raise membership costs? How <BR>can we cut office expenditures? Is it time to hire professional IT <BR>support? Because the bulk of our revenue comes from membe
rship fees, we <BR>have to make decisions that will directly or indirectly benefit the <BR>members the most. <BR><BR>There are about 14 Corporate and Society Officers and standing committees <BR>that report directly to the Board. For the most part, these individuals <BR>and groups work autonomously, but their rulings and advice still need to <BR>be reviewed by the Board. Each quarter, they file a report detailing the <BR>activities of their office's or group's activities. The Board must ensure <BR>that policy decisions are in line with the Governing Documents and that <BR>the decisions do not have any unforeseen consequences. <BR><BR>A sad reality of the SCA, and perhaps the most trying, is the need to take <BR>disciplinary action against certain individuals for their behavior. This <BR>can take the form of anything from a temporary suspension of rank and <BR>title to a permanent ban on participation in any SCA activities. Almost <BR>all requests for sanctions come from the
Kingdoms. These requests are <BR>thoroughly reviewed and investigated by the Society Seneschal's office <BR>before being brought to the Board. It is our job to verify that all <BR>procedures were followed properly and to go over the information presented <BR>by both sides, without bias, before rendering judgment. <BR><BR>The Governing Documents of the SCA are what codify how the Corporation <BR>does business, and, together with the various Officers' Handbooks, <BR>determine how the historical re-creation activities of the SCA work. As we <BR>grow, changes need to be written into to these documents to make them more <BR>effective. Frequently, a small change in one part can affect other parts. <BR>In conjunction with the SCA's President and the Society Seneschal, the <BR>Board carefully reviews any proposed changes for consistency and <BR>unintended results before putting the changes out for comment by the <BR>membership. <BR><BR>Sometimes, issues arise within a branch of the
SCA. Most of the time, <BR>these issues are resolved in house, without any involvement from Board. <BR>And that's just the way we prefer it. But despite the best efforts of <BR>those involved, there are instances when the Board is asked to step in. <BR>This is usually a last resort, and the results seldom come out completely <BR>in favor of anyone. Much like reviewing sanctions, the Board must examine <BR>large amounts of material related to the matter and make a final ruling. <BR><BR>>From reading the above, it may seem as though the Board is largely a <BR>reactive body. While that may be true to a degree, we have lately made it <BR>a point to become more proactive. We recently held a long-range planning <BR>meeting to discuss ideas that will take the SCA into the future by <BR>improving both Corporate operations and the game-side experience. <BR>Additionally, we dedicate a portion of every quarterly meeting to <BR>long-range planning topics. Ideas currently under consid
eration include <BR>improving the SCA's flagship publication, Tournaments Illuminated, <BR>releasing a revision of the Known World Handbook and offering more <BR>benefits with paid membership, just to name a few. <BR><BR>There are a great many other tasks that the Board manages on a daily <BR>basis, most of them administrative in nature. But the lion's share of what <BR>we do supports the membership so that everyone can continue to enjoy the <BR>benefits of being part of the largest historic re-creation group in the <BR>world. The Board makes every effort to do what is best for the SCA to <BR>ensure it will be here for another 40 years and beyond. <BR><BR>Jason Williams – Chairman, SCA, Inc. <BR>(Duke John ap Gwyndaf, KSCA, OL) <BR>chairman@sca.org <BR><BR>Next quarter: myths, misconceptions and answers. <BR><BR><BR>Jason Williams - Chairman, SCA, Inc. <BR>(Duke John ap Gwyndaf, KSCA, OL) <BR><BR><BR><BR>Comments are strongly encouraged and can be sent to: <BR>SCA Inc. <BR>B
ox 360789 <BR>Milpitas, CA 95036 <BR><BR>You may also email comments@sca.org or reply to this message. <BR><BR>This announcement is an official informational release by the Society for <BR>Creative Anachronism , Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce this <BR>announcement in its entirety in newsletters, websites and electronic mailing <BR>lists. <BR><BR>_______________________________________________ <BR>Announcements mailing list <BR>To unsubscribe or change your settings, visit: <BR>http://lists.sca.org/listinfo/announcements <BR><BR>To change the email address you receive these messages at, visit the URL <BR>listed above, subscribe to with your new email address. Once this is <BR>completed, return to the URL listed above and unsubscribe your old email <BR>address. </BLOCKQUOTE></body></html>