These are some of the classes that Vincent has offered in recent years. Some of them are more relevant than others and some are kept up to date regularly
Some of the handouts for these classes are available on the website – Unfortunately we found out that some of the resources were being used by non-SCA groups to recruit people away from the SCA.
We are glad people have fun in other hobbies, but we don’t have to help you take members away from ours. So some of the handouts have been taken down. If you are an active SCA member we can get a copy of these classes to you if you contact us.
Many of these classes are regularly offered at events around Calontir and surrounding Kingdoms. However now we can offer to remotely present some of these classes to groups around the world thanks to online virtual meetings.
During the last couple of years there have also been several ‘virtual only’ classes that have been presented. These can also be presented upon request if schedules and availability work out. Contact me if your group would like to take one of these classes virtually. You can e mail me here:
- Recruitment Project Shopping List
- Patterning Fitted Garments
- Calatrava Luggage Strap
- Star Luggage Strap
- The Costuming Guide
Classes
A&S Activity Kits for Recruitment, Retention and Other Purposes: AKA – A&S Loaner Gear
Ver. 2.1, 1/2/2023
This presentation describes a project designed to encourage personal ownership of A&S exploration, encourage active participation at meetings and aid people in their first explorations of A&S activities. The class will describe the process we went through to settle on the current design, describe the usage of the kits and discuss the design and materials found in them and how they connect to a broader recruitment and retention strategy.
Handout found Here:
Making the Sale: Recruitment
update coming soon – 2023
Ver 3.1 3/2/2023
Goal: Promote recruitment strategies by using a sales model to discuss the recruitment and retention process.
Description: This presentation is about us, as recruiters for our hobby, thinking about recruitment and retention in terms of a sales based model, and how it can change how we think about our recruitment resources, recruiting and talking to potential new members as well as themes to lead to positive, long term experiences.
Handout removed from online – – Online class available for SCA members – Contact Vincent if you need this information.
A Simple Shoe for Non-Cobblers and Non-Leather Workers
Feb 24, 2020
Vincent De Vere ver 3.5 1/26/2023
AKA Machine Sewn Shoes for Non-Cobblers
The need for period looking functional shoes trips up many of our members and causes unnecessary stress for any number of our friends. Although it is my firm belief that footwear should be among the last concerns new members worry about, I still endeavor to provide strategies to ease this concern. The intention of this class is to provide members with a process to create a functional pair of period looking shoes for around $20 in materials. Its intended audience is not those who have great skill in leather working, or those who are pursuing the fun associated with the most period correct approach to leather working.
Handout found Here:
5 Stages of Recruitment and Retention
ver 2.1 2/14/2022
This class covers a model used to describe the different stages many potential SCA members pass through as they go from first contact with the SCA to being fully contributing members. This model can serve as a guide for discussing the needs of the potential members, needed resources, the goals we have in relating to the potential member and potential challenges at different stages of the recruitment and retention process.
Handout removed from online – Contact Vincent if you need this information. – pre-recorded virtual class available to SCA members
Our Recruitment Resources
Ver 1.1 3/8/2023
Vincent De Vere, Axed Root, Calontir
A discussion about real world steps that can be taken to check the recruitment resources that are already in a group’s toolbox as well as things that can be done to put resources and strategies in place to work towards improvement.
This handout is not available online – SCA members should contact Vincent if they would like a copy. An online version of the class is available to SCA members
Regional Recruitment Infrastructure for Rural Groups – AKA – The SCAIowa Project
Update coming soon – 2023
Ver. 2.0, 2/14/2022
This is an introduction a project to create and improve recruitment and retention infrastructure and strategies as used in the state of Iowa. The introduction covers the creation of recruitment materials, recruitment infrastructure such as social media and linking together the materials, strategies and people into coordinated efforts to improve the rate of return on recruitment efforts.
Handout removed from online – Contact Vincent if you need this information.
Recruitment Totes and Displays: Organized Displays for Use at Demos and Events.
Ver. 1.0, 2019
update coming soon – 2023
This is a description of demo totes and display cases used in Axed Root in order to make our demo displays more captivating, flexible and easier to set up. This describes the idea behind using demo displays as well as how our set was constructed and how they connect to a broader recruitment and retention strategy. The class will also likely include some skills and techniques to aid in communication and presentation during demos.
Handout found here:
Adjustable and Flexible Loaner Clothing
Ver. v 4.1 1/2/2020
This class covers modifications made to three classic SCA costuming styles to produce adjustable fitted garments as well as highlighting other styles that have a flexible fit and extend the usefulness of the gold key. Originally intending to produce fitted and flattering garments for a range of body shapes and sizes for loaner clothing, others have used these for younger members who are growing and members who are fluctuating in size. This covers a modification done to Cotehardies, basic SCA Hangeroc (Norse apron dresses) and Bliaut as well as highlighting other flexible styles we have used like the Eura dress, chiton, stola and peplos. The target audience is those new to the SCA and those who help those new to the SCA.
Handout found here:
Exploring Tunic Options for Newcomers
Ver. 1.0, 2019
From the old SCA 2 seam T tunic to loaner clothing to buying clothing online, our new members and those who help clothe them have many options. This class will use the example of a tunic to talk about how we talk to new members about their SCA clothing needs and assist them explore the options and paths available to them.
Handout found here:
Basic Clothing and Accessories (That Aren’t Just a T Tunic)
Ver. 1.0, 1/28/2020
This class will discuss some key ideas for newer members, a self-check for skills and resources and a list of specific simple projects with links to examples, blogs or other online instructions. This is a general class that will look at a wide variety of items, define what the different items are and provide resources to patterns and instructions but not cover the construction of the items themselves. The goals for this class are designed for people new to historic costuming and those who help them.
Handout found here:
The SCAIowa Garb Guide
10th Anniversary Update
Ver. 1.0, 3/4/2022
In 2012 a project was started to create an archive of actual examples of historic clothing that members of the Kingdom of Calontir make and wear to events, from the basic and easily made garments for beginners and those not interested in costuming to the more advanced examples that inspire us all.
This resource in the form of a binder was used for 10 years to assist with recruitment and retention efforts. It allowed newer members to discover styles than interested them or simply connect the names of garments to the looks that they wanted to wear.
After 10 years (and lots of time sitting around during the pandemic) the eventual web based version of this project was launched. We are now working on updating and improving the resource for our own use in recruitment, but the fact that it is located online means others in the SCA can use it as well. This class discusses what the SCAIowa Garb Guide is, how it connects with and supports our recruitment and retention efforts and how we recommend others use this resource to benefit their newer members.
The online garb guide can be found at www.garbguide.org
Handout for class found here:
A New Member’s First Steps:
An Introduction to the SCA for New and Potential Members
This virtual class has now been formatted as a series of short introduction videos that new or potential members can access on demand.
Find the videos here- www.scaiowa.org
Helping the Newcomer Find Their Historic Clothing
Ver. 4.0 2/23/2022
Goal: To review strategies people may employ when helping new members find the historic clothing they need to participate.
Description: How we help a newcomer should reflect what assistance a newcomer needs. Not everyone who comes to us is on the same path or is starting in the same place. This class suggests a way to organize the conversation when helping a new member find their path to historic clothing.
Handout found here:
Personal Check up on Welcoming Newcomers
Ver. 1.0, 2019
This is an incomplete list of some of the questions we ask to check our progress on some of our goals related to creating a welcoming environment for members. This can be done as a personal checklist, but might be more effective as a group exercise in order to take advantage of multiple personal perspectives on the situation.
Handout currently unavailable online – contact Vincent for more information.
A Path towards Authenticity
Ver. 1.0, 2021
This class was a virtual presentation that was created by request of a group that was doing an online day of classes during the pandemic.
The goal is to foster a positive model of participation based on self-guided and self-paced learning and continued improvement at a pace that is right for the individual.
Many of the new members who find the SCA are discovering a game that presents an ever-increasing level of quality and authenticity, not only in the clothing that we wear but in many aspects of our hobby. This class is intended to identify the actual requirements for authenticity and highlight one model of participation that leads towards greater authenticity over time as members participate.
Online class only – contact Vincent for availability
SCA Recruitment for the Populace
Ver. 1.0, 2019
During the early stages of the pandemic a call was put out for a variety of classes to continue SCA learning on online when we could not gather together in person. We put together a series of classes that summarized a lot of information from already existing classes and trying to apply it to the unusual situation that we all found ourselves in.
Partly a review of things that we had been trying before the pandemic started and partly a prediction of some of the efforts that we would need to make in order to successfully recover from the downtime, each class was divided into three topics. The three parts of the class presented so far covered, in general, an overview of recruitment and retention efforts as well as the first two stages of the five stages of recruitment and retention we talked about in other classes.
These presentations were designed to be approximately 1 hour online presentation followed by question answer.
SCA Recruitment for the Populace Part 1: The Journey and the Destination
Ver 2.5 8/12/2021
The Path, The Destination, The Words we Use
The Words we Use: Part one the first topic discussed our use of jargon and how confusing jargon and unfamiliar vocabulary can be for new members. How these challenges to communication and the resulting confusion can interfere with our recruitment efforts
The Path: In this section we talk about the changes that happen to members as they evolve from people who have never heard about the SCA to fully contributing members of the SCA. The better we understand the changes that potential members go through the better we can help them make the transitions that lead towards all membership
The Destination: In this section of part 1 we discussed what full membership is. By gaining a better understanding of what we want potential members to be when they become full members. Then we have a better understanding of what information we want to give them early on in the process and as well as encouragements we want to make to them along the way.
SCA Recruitment for the Populace Part 2: Sales Resources
SCA Recruitment: That was then, This is now. • Exploring First Contact: Sales Resources • What Happens After the Sales Pitch?
Ver 1.5 8/12/2021
SCA Recruitment: That was then, This is now: In the first section of part 2 we discuss the importance of being willing to move forward even in a hobby that embraces the past. Recognizing valuable traditions that add to the fun and camaraderie that we enjoy but also identifying attitudes and traditions that hold back our ability to recruit new members
Exploring First Contact: Sales Resources: In the second section of part 2 we talked about the sales resources that we use to help grab people’s attention when we are at a variety of demos and recruitment opportunities.
What Happens After the Sales Pitch?: In the third section of part 2 we talk about the importance of making a connection between the demos and times of initial contact to the follow-up that needs to happen afterwards. The contacts and communication that makes someone transition from a person who has seen us at a demo to someone who is investigating more information about our hobby
SCA Recruitment for the Populace Part 3: Recruitment and the Rise of the Internet
The Missing Link – The virtual chatelaine– Spinning Our Web
The Missing Link: In the first section of part 3 we talk about the important connection between capturing people’s attention and getting them to dig further on their own to find information about the SCA
The Virtual Chatelaine: In the second section of part 3 we talk about some of the important online resources that we can put into place that provide the information to a potential new person to help them learn about our hobby and push them towards attending a meeting or event for the first time
Spinning Our Web: In the third section of part 3 we talk about the importance of forming interconnections between resources that are generated for recruitment and retention. The wide net of interconnected resources that we cast out in order to collect the people who have now heard about who we are but have not yet decided join us
Part four of the series would have covered ideas surrounding bringing members to their first meeting or event and helping them to feel welcomed and getting them participating. Part five would have talked about strategies we can use to support the new member and help them develop feelings of belonging and membership to the larger organization. Part 6 would have talked about ideas of membership as well as encouraging ownership and volunteerism in the SCA
Online class only
Stars and Garters 