Here are the minutes from the Shire Meeting of 19th November 2018. We’ll be posting these to the website in future, rather than leaving them languishing in email.

Present: Aodh, Sela, Anneleyn, Alays, Aoife, Mícheál, Sebastian, Jasper, Agnes, Aodhan

Location: The Clockwork Door

Meeting opened.

1: Officer Reports

(A) Exchequer – Aoife

We’re up to date on reports.
Summary of financial status handed out at meeting.
€1428 in bank, lower than it has been because of deposit for Newgrange Lodge. Need to discuss finances for Coronet, particularly how to pay site. Instituting new form for lost receipts. Draft of form handed out at meeting.
In talks with Kingdom to start doing electronic transfers.
Please send in any reports or forms via email, or hand them to Exchequer at the next meeting.

(B) Webminister – Sela

Refers to report in FB comment on the agenda post in Dun in Mara group.
Summarised: website was redone recently, it’s looking pretty good, am pulling useful info from FB for it.

Agnes: I would like it recorded that you’ve done fantastic work with it, and I’m sure the rest of the officers are very thankful for it.

(C) Archery marshal – Mícheál

Everything is going ok.

Alays: was quite tough recently to put loaner sets together for new people to shoot.
Mícheál: we tend to have enough loaner gear but the strings aren’t so good on them; it’s something I’ll look into. New equipment will cost money but I can assess that.

ACTION: Mícheál to price up (or get someone else to price up) arrows, and make sure there is gear on the way at some point in the near future.

(D) Acting Knight Marshal – Agnes

Refers to report in FB comment on agenda post in Dun in Mara group.
Summarised: 7 active fighters in armour, which is really good. More would be great.
Next year hoping to acquire some loaner helms, would like to use shire finances.

Have a question about costs: Cernac says that the HEMA people are paying part of it. How does this work in practice?

Aoife: I was not aware of that much. May have been handled on the fly in the past. I’ve paid ahead until the end of the year for both heavy and archery.
Agnes: We are currently paying for the whole hire of the room but the SCA is only getting to use part of that time. Would like to find out from Cernac how payment is working out.

Agnes is now an authorising marshal.

(E) Fencing – represented by Jasper

We’re doing well.

(F) Herald – Thora

No report.

(G) Minister of Arts and Scientists – Anneleyn

We’ve had three fortnightly sessions so far. If it gets colder, we’ll need heating.
Aoife: Archery venue may be an alternative option.
Aodh: We can get heat in Synge St but it’s on/off for the whole building and costs €50 a night.

Aoife: Caitriona notified some of us about canvas and polycotton sheeting being available.
ACTION: Anneleyn will get in contact with Cait for stuff for banners.

(H) Seneschal

With A&S practices running regularly, we are by several measures the most active shire in the kingdom.

Discussion on FB recently concerning shire mailing list. Nobody’s using it except me anyway. Proposition is to replace it with email newsletter via tinyletter, a sending-only medium (not discussion list.) Officers can post directly, others can send to officer and have it sent on. Ideally we’ll collate stuff and send it out periodically.

ACTION: Close listserv list, open tinyletter list, go from there. Drew will contact each person who’s on the list and whose emails aren’t bouncing and ask for affirmative consent to be added to the new list.

Pont Alarch have very very fine sweatshirts and t-shirts. I’d like to look into this. Would like to have Dun in Mara stuff available. E.g. hoodies, t-shirts, mugs, bottle openers, towels.

Planning to make leaflets about what Dun in Mara is and does to hand to newcomers/people who come to practice. Would like a volunteer to help. Agnes volunteers.
Alays: combine with leaflet for Worldcon?
Aodh: Possibly, can at least serve as a baseline.

Social media: I’ve been posting to twitter because we have content on website. If any of you come across other stuff that’s useful (e.g. museum exhibitions) then please let me know. Also happy to get volunteers to help run the account. Ping me separately.
We’re well covered on FB. Page is ok, group works perfectly well.
We should probably make use of Instagram. Does anyone here understand it?
[A table full of old people shake their heads].
Aoife volunteers, requests photos to start off.

Mental Health First Aid: Sebastian describes a programme run by Bill Cunningham. Cost of programme for 20 people is €6000. Can call out in 2s and 3s to Stillorgan for €300 a head.
Aoife notes we may have an issue with not being able to take responsibility without also taking liability.
ACTION: Aodh will take it to CIC (particularly since we’d also need approval to spend money on something that may not be directly SCA related.)

2: Election of Knight Marshal

Aodh asks if anyone requires a closed election?

[Discussion of defaulting to closed election if more than one candidate. Agreed.]

No closed election requested.

Agnes is elected knight marshal, unanimous.

3: Proposed closure of office of Webminister

Sela recounts rationale from post to Dun in Mara FB group.
In summary: hand over technical management of shire website to Insulae Draconis artificers (which includes Sela and Aodh), and close the office of webminister. In its place, open the position of Chronicler, who will be responsible for gathering content for the website (and perhaps other communication.) Sela puts herself forward as Chronicler.

Agnes: We currently have social media roles being handled by multiple people. Chronicler should be able to choose to delegate, or not, social media roles etc; so that if it’s delegated and then another chronicler steps up, they can take that duty back rather than be stuck working with someone they choose not to.
Sela agrees

Agnes: Proposed newsletter thing, is that chronicler job?
Sela: maybe eventually, but let’s not rush.
Aodh: proposed chronicler will take care of putting stuff on the website, and social media and for now not the mailing list (but we may change this later.) Like any officer, they may delegate part of their duties.

ACTION: Webminister role is removed. Position of Chronicler is created.

4: Election of Chronicler

Closed election: not requested.
Sela is elected Chronicler, unanimous.

5: Past events

Champions of Lough Devnaree

Jasper: Yeah it’s done.
Aoife: Would be nice to have receipts from Clara.

6: Future events

(A) Chaucer’s Tavern

Aodh: Vitus event steward, Aodh site liaison and head cook.
We’ll be taking money via Brown Paper Tickets. Vitus has set it up. Bookings will be tested in the coming days with a small group, and go live shortly thereafter.

(B) Coronet of Fools

Aodhan: Site booking is made, deposit cheque has been sent.
Next steps is sorting booking and rooms. Need to figure out family rate factored in with planned payment through a ticket system (not BPT) including how to set it up.
Aodh: Happy to set down a rule that family rates only apply to dorms.
Aodhan: Will check what flexibility the ticket system has for this sort of thing.
Inclination to open it very shortly after twelfth night.
Will select marshal in charge closer to time.

7: Prospective events

Cruinniú

Agnes: Order of Chivalry had retreat weekend a month or two ago; word came back to me that people there said it was a really good event and they’d love to have something like that again. Would be good if we could find timing for it. I will have a look at weekends that will suit.

We have possibility of a knight from Atenveldt coming to teach. His lady is a laurel in Middle Eastern dancing. We might be able to do a fighting/dancing weekend.

If I can’t find a suitable weekend, we’ll just have to let it go. Something where we can get people who can teach us, that’s not too close to other similar weekends.

8: Dun in Mara at Pride

Aodh: would be very good for Dun in Mara to have representation at Dublin Pride. We believe we can get into it fro nothing being non profit. If people are ok, I’ll follow it up and see what we need to do. Propose to open it up not just to Dun in Mara but anyone in SCA.
Agnes: Is there anything in Corpora/CIC that might stop us?
Aodh: Don’t believe so, and there have been SCA groups at Pride in the US.
ACTION: Aodh will verify above.

9: Fencing Location

Aodh: Fencing wishes to move to a larger studio in 2019. I don’t see any issue with this as long as it remains breaking even with money.
Aoife: If we continue prepaying for a quarter, the upshot is that we prob need to keep €1000 in account as a cushion.
Approved.

10: Armoured Combat Location

Agnes: Not in desperate need of new location yet, but it would make things easier. If we have seven people there at any given time, not everyone can take the floor at the same time.
Bosco’s is booked on Thursdays and a bit expensive. (Though we can look again once we understand the HEMA contribution.). Suggestions welcome - needs to be accessible by public transport and parking.

11: AOB

Aoife: would like to put on the agenda for next meeting, dedicated email accounts for officers that can be handed from person to person.
Aodhan: For next meeting, election of new captain of archers (so Micheal doesn’t burn out.)

Meeting closed after 60 minutes.