the general public

[ursula]

gwacie said, "Here's a topic for you: How does the general public perceive the SCA?"

I think that this is best covered by the geek hierarchy, with the caveat that members of the general public are unlikely to recognize or distinguish between lower levels of the hierarchy.

I thought about extending this entry with a snippet in which Kirk is, like, an ocelot or something fighting in Crown Tourney, but glasseye would disown me.

Comments

[gwacie.livejournal.com]

Okay, more prodding ;)

I was phrasing the question to go along with a discussion we've been having lately about how to attract new members to the SCA. It occurs to me that the general image of the SCA might put people off who otherwise would enjoy it. (Or do we not want to attract the non geekish?)

[ursula]

Uh, you're asking a herald. We're not exactly renowned for our social skills ;)

I think that if you're going to join the SCA without having friends who are already involved (and therefore presumably meet your geek tolerance) you need enough sheer enthusiasm for the idea of people dressing up in armour or medieval dresses to carry you through the awkward bits where you don't know anyone or understand what you're supposed to be doing, and it seems like it would be difficult to maintain that level of enthusiasm without ever having enjoyed any fantasy movie or literature.