Board Report: -

Report from the Grand Council: Quarter 4, 2007

A. COMMITTEE ACTIVITY

The committee began the quarter involved in a discussion of possible organizational or program changes which might help mitigate liability, along with other discussions related to risk management, and its possible implications for the SCA.

A topic was then suggested from outside the council, dealing with persons with disabilities, and the related topic of personal liability versus authority when an SCA member hosts a function on his/her own property.

This topic was set aside when the Council received a directive from the Board mandating a change in the way the GC elist functions, as well as changing the ways in which topics can be introduced for consideration by the Council. The rest of the Quarter was spent dealing with the resulting changes in internal policies, as well as required revisions to the Council’s Charter to bring the Charter into compliance with these new directives.

Motion:

Replace the current “Section VII. Open Discussions” paragraphs B, C, and D with:

B. Direct posting of messages to the list is restricted to GC members and, if they request the ability, the directors of the Board of the SCA, Inc., particularly the Board’s GC Ombudsman.

C. The GC encourages relevant commentary from anyone interested in the Council’s work. The moderator may forward any relevant messages from anyone without the ability to post directly, unless the moderator believes the content is so abusive that discussion will be hindered. Similarly, any member of the GC may use their best judgment to forward messages sent to them on the same basis.

D. The moderator will work with sufficient deputies to insure that appropriate messages are forwarded to the list in a timely fashion when the moderator is unable to do so.

This motion passed with 28 affirmatives (9 YES, 19 yes), 2 nays (both “no”), and 3 abstentions for a weighted vote of +35.

Motion:

Change the following sections:

II RELATION TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS

C. The Board will submit topics to be discussed to the GC. In addition, GC members will propose topics for discussion, however those proposed by the Board will take priority.

IV GRAND COUNCIL MEMBER RESPONSIBILITIES

B. Officers: (drawn from the members of the Grand Council for one year terms, ending May 31st).

1. Chairman: Leads and keeps discussions on topic, tracks and keeps the agenda, schedules discussion of and voting on proposals, chooses members of work groups and committees when the number of volunteers exceeds a convenient size

3. Secretary: Writes and sends quarterly report to Board. Publishes rough and semi-final draft to mailing list at set intervals before report deadline. Is encouraged to post monthly summaries of the GC agenda and current subjects of discussion, with contact information, to the GC website, Rialto and Kingdom email lists, and Kingdom newsletters. (Whether the newsletter actually carries the information is at the

discretion of the editor.)

to:

II RELATION TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS

C. The Board will submit topics to be discussed to the GC. In addition, GC members may also propose topics for discussion; however, such topics shall be approved by the Board before discussions on that topic may take place. A list of approved discussion topics shall be maintained by the GC, and new topic proposals shall be added to that list as they are approved by the Board. In all cases, topics proposed by the Board will take priority.

IV GRAND COUNCIL MEMBER RESPONSIBILITIES

B. Officers: (drawn from the members of the Grand Council for one year terms, ending May 31st).

1. Chairman: Leads and keeps discussions on topic, tracks and keeps agenda, schedules discussion of and voting on proposals, chooses members of work groups and committees when the number of volunteers exceeds a convenient size, forwards proposed discussion topics to the Board on behalf of the GC, works with Secretary to maintain a list of approved discussion topics

This motion passed with a tally of 29 yeas and 1 abstention.

These amendments to the Charter of the Grand Council are hereby submitted to the Board of Directors for their approval.

In addition, the Council examined issues surrounding the selection of Council members. No motions arose from this discussion.

B. COMMITTEE STATUS AND COMMENDATIONS

Resignations:

Aelric of Battle (Kingdom Representative, Drachenwald)

Ellen de Wynter (at-large, Northshield)

Hathawulf Spearbreaker (at-large, An Tir)

Madinia Devereaux O'Tuatail (Kingdom Representative, Ealdomere)

Morgan Buchanan (at-large, Ansteorra)

Conrad von Zuberbuhler (Kingdom Representative, Artemisia)

Additions:

Ariel of Lindisfarne became the Kingdom Representative of Drachenwald.

C. PUBLISHABLE SUMMARY

The Grand Council examined a number of topics during the fourth quarter of 2007, and also underwent procedural changes to be implemented as of January 1, 2008.

Topics discussed include:

The need for formal risk assessment and risk management procedures as part of the Corporation’s long and short-term planning activities. This included specific discussions of risks and rewards of youth activities, and personal consumption of alcohol at SCA events.

Potential concerns when holding SCA-related activities at one’s home, or using personal equipment and materials, including the rights of personal property owners to restrict access to said property.

The role and importance of Kingdom Representatives to the Council

Selection criteria for at-large members of the Council

The Grand Council list will continue to be accessible for anyone to read. However, by direction of the Board of Directors, posting privileges will be restricted to Council members only as of January 1, 2008. Non-members of the Council may submit potential on-topic contributions to a List Moderator, or discuss their concerns with a current Council member. The Council is currently making adjustments to its procedures to comply with this directive.

D. CONFIDENTIAL

Nothing to report

E. DISCUSSIONS

Risk Management and Personal/Corporate Liability regarding SCA-related activities

There were three main focuses of this discussion – policies and procedures regarding youth activities, policies and procedures regarding alcohol, and the potential impact of various organizational models and structures in limiting liability, and therefore mitigating risk, in these as well as other areas.

There was a general agreement that much, but not all, of the Boy Scouts of America model could be adopted for use with SCA youth activities. While there were some questions about the success, or even desirability, of many of the current youth programs and activities, Youth Combat was specifically mentioned as a great SCA success story for focused youth programs. Beyond martial activities, however, there was substantial disagreement as to whether having separate Youth programs, particularly for youth 12 and over, was actually more beneficial than simply including those youth in the existing adult activities.

Many commenters expressed concern with the potential loss of volunteers for supervising youth activities that might occur as a result of the new and proposed youth activity policies. However, most agreed that such steps were necessary, and no practical alternatives were suggested. There were some comments that this might result in a reduction in the scale of specific youth-oriented activities offered at many SCA events, but most also felt this would be acceptable if it did occur.

There was some overlap between the discussion of youth in the SCA and the discussions about alcohol. Specifically, some Councilors and non-Council commenters were concerned about under- age drinking at SCA events. While many suggestions were made, most were regarding individual responsibility and accountability on the part of those adults bringing alcohol to events. A few called for an SCA-wide ban on alcohol consumption, but the consensus was that this was unwarranted and that simply enforcing existing rules would be adequate. As one Councilor stated, “alcohol is as much a part of SCA culture as it was a part of period European culture.” The consensus was that this is an issue best handled at the local level, through increased awareness.

Throughout the above discussions, suggestions were made regarding the need for risk management in general to become a greater part of all Society-level planning, such as business plans and similar strategic planning initiatives. In particular, affiliate corporations were suggested as a way to localize risk internationally, as well as allowing the affiliates to better respond to the specific legal environments encountered outside the US. While there were some questions as to whether this would apply equally to Canada, or even whether regional corporations within the US might be beneficial, it was generally believed this would be a question best addressed by the Legal Committee.

Accommodating Disabilities and Personal Liability/Authority When Hosting and SCA-Related Function on Private Property.

This discussion was prompted by a question submitted to the Council by a member of the SCA populace. Specifically, this person was seeking advice regarding a situation in which an SCA member was hosting an SCA-related “project night” in his/her home, using his/her own tools, and felt one of the attendees could not participate safely. However, because that attendee was disabled, he/she was reluctant to ask said person not to participate.

This quickly grew to include a number of issues – the degree of “openness” required under Corpora, the rights of a homeowner/renter versus the obligations of an SCA member to include other members, and even the applicability of ADA and related legislation. The Council reached a consensus that ADA-related concerns should be directed to the Principality or Kingdom Seneschalate. No other consensus was reached regarding these issues, as a more pressing issue was presented to the Council by the Board, ending this line of inquiry.

Announcement of the Decision by the Board of Directors to Partially Restructure the Grand Council and Its Electronic Discussion List

Initial reaction centered around a question as to whether this meant that non-GC members could read the list, but not post to it, or whether they would be restricted from all list access. There were substantial concerns that restricting readership would create an impression that the Council was operating in secret, and also that it would greatly damage recruiting, and therefore the long-term health of the Council, as many Council members became interested and learned how the Council functions by reading the list before they were members. Many of the older Council members and long-term observers were active when the Council list was moderated for non-members, so there was confidence that a “read-only” mode for Council non-members would be acceptable.

Once the Council Chairman received confirmation that this was indeed an acceptable implementation, the Council turned its attention to administrative issues surrounding this and related changes.

Specifically, the Council has been relying on outside volunteers for many list-related administrative chores. These volunteers must be replaced by Council members. Since all topics discussed by the Council would now be approved by the Board, and the Council was encouraged to submit potential topics for approval, a mechanism had to be created for tracking and submitting those topics. These changes also necessitated revising portions of the Council’s operating Charter, so that it would correspond to the new procedures.

Those changes are summarized in the proposed amendments to the Charter presented in Section A, above. The tracking of topics to be addressed as time permits, and also the submission of suggested topics for approval by the Board, are addressed by the creation of section F and G in the Council’s quarterly report, as seen below.

In addition, the Council addressed the issue of the ideal number of Councilors. This discussion encompassed comments on the comparative roles of Kingdom Representatives and at-large Councilors. At one point, it was suggested that the Council adopt a bicameral structure, with one sub council composed entirely of Kingdom Representatives and another composed entirely of at-large Councilors. However, it was generally felt that this would add administrative structure while yielding no particular benefit, and the idea was withdrawn.

A consensus was reached that a useful rule of thumb for sizing the Grand Council would be to index the number of at-large councilors to the number of Kingdom Representatives. The accepted ratio is no fewer than 1.5, and no more than 2, at-large Councilors for every potential Kingdom Representative. At present, this would result in 29 – 38 at-large Councilors or a total Council size of 48 – 57 if all 19 Kingdoms had an appointed Representative. As this is believed to fall within the Chairman’s authority under the current Charter, no revision was necessary.

The last topic discussed was the selection criteria for new Councilors. This discussion was ongoing at the time this report was prepared, but a consensus appeared to be emerging that a procedure that emphasized creativity and communications skills over SCA rank, title, or other accomplishments was desired.

F. PREVIOUSLY APPROVED DISCUSSION TOPICS, TO BE ADDRESSED AS TIME PERMITS

This is a new item. Therefore there are no such topics at this time.

G. SUGGESTED FUTURE OR ON-GOING DISCUSSION TOPICS

Creating a 10-year plan

Creating a business plan

Recruiting and retention of Society level officers

APPENDIX: LIST OF COUNCIL MEMBERS CONTRIBUTING TO THE DISCUSSIONS

SCA Name	Kingdom Rep/at-large	Kingdom
Annalies Grossmund	At large	Calontir
Ariel of Lindisfarne	Kingdom	Drachenwald
AsaHito	At large	Atlantia
Berengaria de Montfort de Carcasson	At large	An Tir
Brenden ap Llewelyn	At large	An Tir
Daniel de Blare	Kingdom	West
Dietrich von Vogelsang	At large	Caid
Elias Gedney	At large	East
Flanna Dunwalton	At large	West
Fridrikr Tomasson av Knusslig Hamm	Kingdom	Aethelmearc
Ian Cradoc	At large	Atenveldt
Kat MacLochlainn	At large	Ansteorra
Katriona ni Chonarain	Kingdom	Northshield
Kevin Eriôl	At large	Meridies
Marion “Leyland” O’Lee	At large	Calontir
Megan nic Alister of Thornwood	At large	West
Orla Carey	Kingdom	Atlantia
Roger of Belden Abbey	Kingdom	An Tir
Theodora of Trebizond	At large	Artemisia
Therasia von Tux	At large	Artemisia
Wulfred Hansard of Richmond	At large	Atlantia