DEMOS – What are Demos and How Can I Help?
(Taught April 7, 2016 for the Aire Faucon Newcomer A&S Night)
One) Why does the SCA do Demos?
SCA is a not-for-profit because we are a free educational group
(A&S and Chatelaine are the most important offices for maintaining this government designation – demos and classes are required!)
Two) What is a demo?
An activity primarily aimed at OUTSIDE the SCA population or has a high degree of interaction with non-SCAdians.
Three) Demo types
- Martial Centric
- Art Centric for special interest club (gaming, herbs, etc),
- Fundraiser (example dinner for church),
- Participating as a club in big days (Lincolnton),
- Children educational function – showing up at a school/library/scouts (day function or classroom only or camp),
- Support for medieval things – movie came out (Robin Hood), book (Harry Potter), orchestra, school play (Camelot)
- Event style (free event),
- Practices/meetings in public locations;
- Size variation: one person or group etc.,
- Purpose: membership raising or educational only,
Four) Types of people needed
- Topic centric people: Fighters (rapier & heavy), A&S
- General A&S display
- Hands-on activities (important for children activities) – A&S (calligraphy, spinning), throwing beanbags at a dragon, touching/wearing the armor
- Talkers – heralds/MCs describing the fighting; overseeing A&S table
- Warm Bodies – crowd control, setup/cleanup, answering questions, bringing water, and look like we are more than just our front men
Five) Linguistics
- Avoid specialized SCA Language – Club president rather than Seneschal, Treasurer for Exchequer, Modern for Mundane/Muggle
- Put Best Foot Forward – No “I was so drunk” stories; No “avoid this person, I hate them” directions; no cool games like “Pie the Peer” – Best behavior, best language. This is a “job interview” type environment; we are trying to get people to “hire on” with us or at least respect us enough to want to learn from us.
Six) Upcoming demos (as of April 2016 for Canton of Aire Faucon and local area)
- Gaming store (April 9th – our canton);
- Imaginon Library demo by Charlesbury Crossing (April 23 )
- ConCarolina’s Table & Demo (June 3-5 – http://www.concarolinas.org/)
- Flight of the Falcon (demo-like event August 20th);
- Weekly Fighter Practices at Charlesbury Crossing at Freedom Park;
- Monthly newcomer meeting at Books-a-million