A question to the Kingdom A&S Minister, Master Philip White:
“Do I have to get permission from my local A&S office in order to arts and sciences stuff in my local group?”
A reply from the Minister:
Short answer?
No. Of course not. Please go out and make the arts and sciences happen! Meet with your friends and do cool stuff.
(Keep in mind anything not approved by the local branch is not an official SCA activity.)
Long answer?
It’s not about permission. It is about being a good neighbor.
Here’s what the rules say about how society events are defined.
“All Society events must be sponsored by official branches of the Society, registered with the Seneschal of the sponsoring branch, publicized at least to the members of that branch, and conducted according to Society rules.”
So, if you want to be “an official SCA” activity then you do need to work with your local group according to that group’s rules and customs. Otherwise you activity would not be considered “an official SCA” activity. That’s okay, too.
Now, how to go about it a good way? Check in with your local group and find out what is going on. What’s happening around town?
Talk to the A&S Minister, the Seneschal, and the Crown’s representatives. Talk about it at your local meetings. Check in with the other people running meetings.
You’re going to want to play along well with everyone.
It means you can get help from the group. And that you’ll be able to help them too.
You can coordinate about avoiding schedule conflicts. You can talk about sharing resources like meeting locations and materials. And you can talk about the interested populace members and where they would want to go to things.
You local A&S Officer is not a gatekeeper to who gets to do A&S activities. They’re your resource. Work with them!
Have fun! Teach! Learn!
Your Servant to Command,
~p.w.