Thank you all for picking up (downloading) this Fall 2024 edition of Ben Dunfirth’s Baronial newsletter, the Clarion. This is my first newsletter as baronial chronicler so as is my prerogative I’ve remodeled a bit, put on a fresh coat of paint, and shuffled around the furniture.
What to expect
At a time when most SCA discussion happens in either highly-visible but ephemeral social media channels or in private discussion, our baronial newsletter serves as a more durable record of the game we play. This means we will continue to report the awards and achievements of our barony’s members, as well as document events as best we can through photos and the written word. News on upcoming events will also be included, though admittedly you are more likely to seek out the most up-to-date event details online.
What I am particularly keen on is making space in our newsletter for sharing our thoughts, projects, and stories: with few of us maintaining our own websites, most online sharing doesn’t lend itself well to longer posts (like deep research) or later recall (ever tried to find something that was posted more than a month ago in a Facebook group?).
I especially want to encourage contributors who would like to write about “the game” itself— discussion of our game often takes place in the arena of the comment section or in scandalized, hushed discussions about so-and-so. Publishing only four times a year, the Clarion is a “slow” channel where we can reflect on what game we want to play and how to get there, in a format that doesn’t encourage focusing on the latest gaffe or misjudgement.
Why is everything sideways?
You’ll notice that the Clarion has gone landscape! My experimentation with this newsletter owes a lot to zine design, and this layout serves as a tribute to that format. I want this newsletter to be a place where nothing’s too small to be worth sharing and there’s room for everyone to bring their own ideas to the table.
“Under Construction”
Because I am working in a different publishing software than my wonderful predecessor, formats and templating for this newsletter are starting from scratch.
Do not be surprised if some sections are a little bare-bones as I hit the ground running.
Cheers,
—Asce, Ben Dunfirth Chronicler
