My Thoughts on the SCA and Retention

Much of my thoughts on retention come from a different perspective.  Growing up Mormon and serving a mission, I learned a lot about enticing people to join, "bringing people into the fold", etc., but the problem they always had was retention.  Once people join, how do you keep them from burning out or turning away...When I left that religion I was hounded by missionaries and members trying to "retain" me and my family.  It literally took removing my name from church records and threatening legal action to get them to cease and desist.   In my mind, retention is a weird term to use in relationship to a hobby.   

Now I realize for many, this is more than a hobby, its a non-profit, a source of education, a way of life for many. However, when attracted new people, the first step is to get rid of weird unfamiliar terminology and speak common terms/plain language.  

Second, understand that there are different levels of involvement for people and that being a "filthy casual" is absolutely okay.  Especially in the fighting arena, I feel like there is so much emphasis on "walking the path to knighthood" (which I have chosen to do, albeit at my pace with guidance from my knight), that I think people forget not everyone wants to spend all their time focused on every aspect of the combat. 

Third issue, which for me was cost related was the investment it takes to get into this hobby.  We try to make things accessible via loaner garb, loaner armor, etc., and I think people do an amazing job of rehoming things to new people to help out with that, but I also felt like there was a pressure to create a medieval presence that initially prevented me from fully participating.  It took me about a year of going to the weekly local meetings/fight practices before I was confident enough that my family was dressed sufficiently to venture to an actual event. Could we have been loaned clothes, maybe, I didn't even know that was an option at the time.  I couldn't use much of the loaner armor when I started because my physical shape and size was so different than the norm, luckily I had help and guidance to throw together a kit. 

Obviously, as a group, we have a desire for people to join, to show up, participate and contribute.  But the reality is that it takes effort to run events, to participate, and sometimes life gets in the way. One of the best things we can do is be more accessible, and flexible in accounting for burnout and hardships in people's lives. It is absolutely okay to take breaks when life gets hard. It is okay for a person to pursue involvement for a few years and shift directions in life and choose to do something else. It's fine if someone doesn't want to dedicate 100% of their free time to a single hobby. I think the SCA has a large population of neurodivergent folks, social outcasts, and other geeky types that enjoy hyperfocus, intense interests, and sometimes we fail to recognize that not everyone needs to be just like us.  

Being present my first gender-neutral scroll, with They/Them pronouns. 

Diversity is equally important, and if you go to an event they don't always seem very diverse.  When it came out that I was non-binary, I literally had a local member come up to me at an event and tell me that I looked like a man so they'd probably get it wrong, then they proceeded to go on a rant about their heterosexuality and not understanding my gender preference....not exactly something that makes one feel welcome, and had I not been a member for some time...I may have chosen not to return.  The common use of "Lord" and "Lady", while people are attempting to be polite, it can make those of us who don't identify with either uncomfortable (don't judge a book by its' cover). It isn't hard to ask a person their gender identity, or just so "please", "thank you", or "excuse me" without referencing any gender identity to those you may not know. In fact it comes across as way less weird than "Excuse me, my lord" as you try to move your stuff past me (I get that I look like a extremely masculine with my shaved head and beard, but my gender is more than what my physical body looks like, and more accurately resides in how I think or process information). For the record, gender does not equal sexuality either.  I hear so many people complain about "wokeness", and hating all these "new" identities, but the reality is that gender has always existed outside of the binary options of man or woman, and sexuality is a spectrum that is not attached to gender norms (this is a whole conversation series in itself and as such won't be addressed much here).  There is still so much heteronormativity built into the SCA that those of us that fall outside of that often feel like outliers, and I'm not even able to comprehend what minority races must feel like when they show up to an event and see a sea of white faces. No one wants to be the "token" *insert descriptor here* friend at events. 

We can do better, we need to foster a friendly environment that shows all people that we care for them, that we want to spend time with them, and that we miss them, regardless of what their participation time looks like. I feel like I was extremely fortunate that early on in my involvement I met people who took me under their wing, invited me into their homes, helped me build armor, sew clothes, get to events, etc. Further, these same people invested in me outside of my participation in the hobby.  They cared about me and my family, and showed that I was more than just a presence in their life a few weekends out of the year. 

I don't have a solution for "retention", but I believe that continued membership depends upon the evolution of the organizations ability to engage new people, the ability of those in positions of power to help establish diversity, inclusion and equity across the organization.  Acceptance of the desires and methods of engagement for younger generations, who are the future of the organization.  Sometimes the SCA can seem extremely rigid and inflexible to change.  Understandably so, as any organization with 50+ years of traditions and established culture, change can be difficult.  People don't want to see something they've enjoyed for years to become something they may not like as much, much like a toddler who only eats chicken nuggets or waffles is hesitant to try new food, when they know what they like. Anyways, sorry for the rambling, but my hope is that people can try to accept that change is the future, that in order for the organization to succeed and prosper, it needs diversity, and some old habits need to be placed aside.  

Best regards,

Torstein Hartviksson