Name: Mistress Hilderun Hügelmann
Editor Area/Title: Region 2 Editor
What made you want to join the Gazette staff?
I was thrilled when Tiercelin reached out to me about it. I had a lot on my plate at the time, but I jumped at the chance anyway. The “official” channels of the SCA have been improving, through the generous dedication of officers and volunteers, but they’re just not at the same point yet as how we as a community share information online. I’d been a reader of the East Kingdom Gazette, and every time I read an article, I wished Æthelmearc had something similar. Vivat to Tiercelin for her vision, time and energy!
What do you like most about being on the Gazette staff?
It’s awesome helping to facilitate our Kingdom’s unofficial foray into modern communication. I especially love how fluidly the Gazette interacts with social media. How *fast* it is. A time-sensitive piece of information can reach hundreds of people in hours. People can subscribe via RSS feed, or we also push each article to our Facebook and G+ pages. I myself read it through Facebook.
Also, it’s been a joy to experience the generosity of photographers around the Kingdom. Several talented folks have given the Gazette blanket permission to use photos of events that they post to their Facebook pages. Other times, the editor or article’s author asks permission to use a photo, or provides pictures themselves. I think the use of imagery really enhances the experience, and lets our readers interact with the information on multiple levels.
How has the Gazette been received in your area?
Really seamlessly. The way I hear folks talk about articles, it’s like the Gazette has always been around. Occasionally, for a particularly interesting bit of news (like the Order of Defense), I’ll hear people talking about it online or in person, and it’s obvious that they’ve gotten their information from an article on the Gazette, or they’ve shared the Gazette’s link as a way to pass on information. It’s cool to be a part of that.
What kinds of articles would you like to encourage people to submit?.
I’d like to encourage all event stewards to submit event announcements and updates to the Gazette as a matter of course, after updating the official channels. We have lots of space, and the Gazette is a great way to help build buzz for fun and interesting activities that you may not have room to talk about in an official announcement.
It would also be wonderful to see some more great “think pieces” about the SCA and what we do. Because it’s a blog, and the links can be shared and re-shared, we have a very wide reach at times – for example, Master Daniel del Cavallo’s piece, “On the Peerage” reached over 3,000 SCAdians across the Known World, and Lord Magnus de Lyons great article, “The SCA and Recruiting in the World of Live Action Role Playing Games” recently reached over 1,000!