What do you expect to have to give up to accept this position? How will your participation in other Baronial activities change?

Master Aleksandr Ruslanovich and Lady Morwenna Westerne (other question responses)
Mistress Caitlin Davies and Master Justin du Coeur (other question responses)
Lord Diego Mundoz and Lady Godith Anyon (other question responses)
Lady Emmanuelle de Chenonceaux and Master Seamus Donn (other question responses)
Mistress Gwendolyn of Middlemarch and Lord Kali Harlansson of Gotland (other question responses)
Seigneur Jehan du Lac (other question responses)
Master John McGuire (other question responses)
Shi Hua Fu and Lady Yelizaveta Medvedeva (other question responses)

I will need to give up my role as principal of the Order of the Moon, because decisions on inductions are made by the baron and baroness in consultation with the principal. It will make our job harder to make these decisions without the counsel of one of the principals.

I am likely to give up my position as head of the Storyteller's Guild, as I do not feel the baron should appear to have a bias towards one of the groups in the barony.

Last, I would likely step down my activities within i Sebastiani. Currently I manage the troupe, direct many of the performances, as well as acting. It would be unfair to both i Sebastiani and the barony if I were to try and fulfill both roles.

Like Morwenna, I can easily see myself attending many practices or guild meetings that I might not were I not baron. I feel it is one of the major responsibilities of the office to know the thoughts of the populace and to be accessible to them.

Lady Morwenna Westerne :

My major time commitment is commedia, which I would certainly cut back if not stop all together.

As baroness, I will participate in some activities that I, as a private citizen, would not, because it is important for me to know the populace. One way of doing that is to attend meetings of guilds, boroughs, etc.

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Mistress Caitlin Davies :

As I said elsewhere - but which responses I don't think have been published - I would give up the office of Principal of the Daystar, and ask the order to select another. I would give up the office of Central Region Seneschal as well, in favor of my emergency deputy or another appointed by the Kingdom Seneschal. The latter is a stress magnet - and I couldn't do that and be baroness and do either one well. I would expect that I would irregularly attend more activities, including watching martial practices, for example, which I don't do now.

Master Justin du Coeur :

I don't expect to have to give up a huge amount. I'd have to stop being active at quite such a high level in other organizations, but that's largely already happened. I've already done a fair amount in other clubs (Master of my Masonic Lodge, Chair of Intercon), and gradually come to realize that the SCA is, in a very meaningful sense, my "home" -- I just plain enjoy it more. So I've been slowly backing away from other commitments for the past year, so I can concentrate more on the Society.

As for changing my participation in other Baronial activities, I expect there to be some mild shifting of priorities, but not terribly dramatic ones. I'm already something of a dilletante, visiting various guilds and such as they strike my fancy; I believe that's a strength in a B/B, who need to know the Barony as broadly as possible. I'd probably step that up a little, but I don't think it needs to get too extreme.

(The one specific change I'd make is getting back into armor, which would require some time and focus. I haven't fought in, oh, more years than I care to contemplate, but I feel that it's symbolically important for the Baron to be able to take the field with the troops.)

Beyond that task of getting out and visiting the various subgroups that make up the great Venn Diagram that is Carolingia, I don't think the job requires all that much *time* specifically; this isn't like being Royalty, with the various timesinks that entails. There are some other tasks involved, such as external relations with the Royals and the other Baronies, but those tend to happen at events on an as-needed basis.

As for my other jobs within the Society, I don't expect things to change dramatically. Being active on the questions@sca.org list is, frankly, recreational for me -- I'm only one of several people there, so I can answer questions as I have time, and I enjoy doing it. Running the Rolls Ethereal takes virtually no day-to-day effort, since it's largely automated. The Low Company would be an interesting question: if someone wanted to take it on actively, I'd probably let them have it, and otherwise continue to play and teach as I have time.

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Lady Godith Anyon :

Privacy and leisure time. I expect that we will become more involved in Baronial activities, even in areas where we have not previously been interested, so that we can keep a sense of the Barony as a whole.

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Lady Emmanuelle de Chenonceaux :

I will be increasing my involvement in Baronial activities. I suspect I will be taking up one of the martial arts in order to help defend our Barony, and represent us at Pennsic. I had been considering increasing my involment anyhow, but I suspect some of my other hobbies are going to take a time hit- or I will get better at organizing my time. Perhaps I will have to start using my beeswax notebook year round.

Master Seamus Donn :

I do not expect to have to give up anything. As above, under distasteful aspects, I think that everyone from King to Peasant should be able to play the SCA and still have a life. So it isn't so much that I would expect to give up anything, but rather ramp up my participation to the maximum my personal schedule allows to do it and still have a life.

My criteria for participation will change from what I want to do to what the Barony needs me to do. I'm more likely to go to a wider range of activities, than just the few that compose my primary interests.

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Mistress Gwendolyn of Middlemarch :

I expect I will have to give up some of my outside SCA activities, though not all. I think there is a certain perspective gained by having activities outside of the SCA that could be useful for the baronial coronet. I will not be taking on any more special projects, such as the ballet de cour and organizing the music for the winter feste event, until I have an idea of what kind of time (if any) I would have available. I anticipate that my activity in the barony would cover a broader base and be less intense in specific areas.

Lord Kali Harlansson of Gotland :

I expect to have to give up a lot of time, some of it "free" time (hah!) and some of it time I currently spend participating in other activities (commedia, other plays, Minuscule articles, teaching classes). While I would have to cut back on these activities, I would not want to drop them completely. Similarly, I do have other involvements outside the SCA; again, while I probably would cut back on them, I would not cut them out.

Gwendolyn and I each have families, and therefore have certain outside commitments that are irreducible. On the other hand they are two separate families, and separate commitments, and the hope is that this will give us a little extra flexibility to help us meet the Coronet's demands on our attention.

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Seigneur Jehan du Lac :

It would not be realistic to autocrat events (although mon sien compagnon may do so). I do not expect my involvement in fencing or the history seminars to change particularly.

I would probably have to give up keeping a tavern. However, it is impossible for me to stay out of the hospitality business, and I would fill that void in my life by trying to keep the estate proper to the lord of a great household of my time period, which includes providing hospitality. This means that at most events I attended I would set up a corner where people could expect to find a cold drink, a place to sit, and perhaps a nibble. And of course, there would be musicians; what is court, however provincial, without musicians? :). At outdoor events, a nice fly would do, at indoor events, a few oriental rugs, a table, perhaps one of those "indoor tents" I saw a nice pattern for...

I would have to give up more weekends. A baron/ess must attend all baronial events, all kingdom events if humanly possible (not necessarily driving to Canada in a blizzard, for example), major events held by our neighbors when possible, and Pennsic. Luckily, although I am a singleton (no co-baron/ess), I do have a fabulous support system at home (who is a very long-term SCAdian) and can bring formidable forces to bear in meeting these obligations.

I guess I wouldn't be able to serve myself at table. But it wouldn't stop me from serving the King & Queen.

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Master John McGuire :

Give Up:

Affect Other Activities:

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Shi Hua Fu and Lady Yelizaveta Medvedeva :

We expect mostly to reduce our commitments to non-SCA activities, though we also expect to have less opportunity to work on SCA research and other solitary personal pursuits. We would attempt to attend every local event, which would require even more time-management for handling personal affairs and errands. From her mundane business experience, Yeliz actually works better under pressure and enjoys multi-tasking. We would try to continue our current SCA activities, but because other groups will also need our attention, as long as we hold the position we expect to have to spread ourselves thinner in areas where we've been devoting a lot of time now.

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