As revealed by our Kingdom Social Media Officer, THL Sumayya al Ghaziyya, on the latest episode of AE Live, the Kingdom of Æthelmearc now has two new communication outlets: Instagram and Discord!
Our Instagram Social Media Deputy, THL Astridr Vigaskegg, writes:
Follow us on Instagram @scaaethelmearc!
Joining Instagram is easy! You can download the app on your phone or tablet through the App Store for iPhone or iPad and the Play Store for Android. If you don’t have a mobile device, you can simply visit instagram.com. Since Instagram is now owned by Facebook, if you already have a Facebook account, you can simply click “Login with Facebook.” Otherwise you can sign up with an email address.
Follow us @scaaethelmearc and tag us in your SCA-related posts with any of these hashtags: #aethelmearc #æthelmearc #kingdomofaethelmearc #kingdomofæthelmearc #mySCA
Our Discord Social Media Deputy is THL Owen Tegg, and he writes:
Join the Kingdom in chatting on the Æthelmearc Discord server! Here’s the invite link: https://discord.gg/J6SFAkMRFn .
For questions, contact THL Owen at owentaeger@gmail.com or on Discord at owen#3698.
Wait… what exactly is Discord?
*It’s part communications app, part social media portal. It’s similar to Skype or Slack, but much more versatile, with an easy-to-use interface. With 250 million users, it’s widely used by the gaming community, growing quickly into a way to coordinate all kinds of hobbyist communities. Discord supports video calls, voice chats, and texts, and each interest server (like our Kingdom server) can have many sub channels. Try it out today! (And look for other SCA communities on Discord, – there are lots – like the “The Known World”, “SCA Bardic Social”, and even one for our own Barony-Marche of the Debatable Lands)
Greetings to the Æthelmearc Local Seneschals, Local Social Media Officers, and other interested parties, from Baroness Hilda, Kingdom Social Media Officer.
It has recently come to my attention that some local seneschals have not been receiving emails from the Seneschals’ Email list. This list is not used frequently, but it was the channel I had been using to notify seneschals on social media matters. Emails were send July 20, September 7, and October 22, as well as one on another topic on October 26. If you are a local seneschal and have not received these emails, please email ae.deputy@aethelmearc.org.
For those who have not heard, the SCA, Inc. updated Social Media Policy in June, and had subsequently given until the end of October for branches to come into compliance. You can read the Society Social Media Policy here: http://socsen.sca.org/social-media/. Here are the highlights:
Each local branch is encouraged to have a dedicated Local Social Media Officer (LSMO).While having someone dedicated is not a requirement, it is a requirement that someone in the local branch have official oversight of the group’s social media outlets(could be an existing officer, a deputy, etc., depending on local policy, custom, or needs). This LSMO will report to the Kingdom Social Media Officer (KSMO) quarterly, and when the person changes. If you aren’t sure if your branch’s LSMO is on the Kingdom Social Media roster and Facebook group, please contact me (ae.socialmedia@aethelmearc.org).
Each local branch must have at least a Facebook Page. Local branches can have more social media outlets than this, and on several different approved outlets (Twitter, Instagram, etc.), but must have a Facebook Page.
Important note: Facebook Pages and Facebook Groups are two different things, with different capabilities.
If a branch creates a Facebook (or other social media) event that corresponds with an SCA event, then that Facebook event must have been created from an Official Outlet. It is highly encouraged to come from their Facebook Page (not Facebook Group), as that outlet will allow for anyone to respond. Facebook events that correspond with SCA events are not allowed to be hosted by individuals or 3rdparties.
A couple of notes on this rule:
–Any Facebook events that correspond with December SCA events that don’t comply with this rule may stay as-is. Any Facebook events that correspond with January 2019 and beyond SCA events need to comply with this rule. Seneschals, LSMOs, and Event Stewards should address this with any existing Facebook events.
–This rule does not apply to social media “events” for meetings and practices. Just social media events that correspond to actual SCA events.
–Event Stewards and LSMO’s must have administrative control over these Facebook.social media events.
–If your local branch is not comfortable creating a Facebook event for your SCA event, and you want to, it can easily be created from the Kingdom Facebook Page. Email ae.sociamedia@aethelmearc.org, or message the “Kingdom of Aethelmearc” Facebook Page.
–There have been some questions about this particular rule. The Society put it into effect for some pretty good reasons, most of which have to do with other Kingdoms. Feel free to contact me if you want to chat about it.
Notes on what makes a social media outlet “Official” for a branch. Any Social Media Outlet or Site that is specifically for your local branch is considered Official. It does not matter if you have “Unofficial” in the title or about section. Any other Social Media Outlets or Sites (including household, guild, fan groups and communities)that conduct official businessare considered Official and should be treated as such. (SMO oversight, etc.)
There are restrictions on what official business can be initially announced officially on Social Media Outlets (pg. 2 of the policies – http://socsen.sca.org/social-media/). However, subsequent announcements, and other types of communication for group events, etc., from a branch officer or deputy (including event stewards), are official business. These items can be mentioned on social media before being announced, but are not considered official until they have gone through the appropriate communication channels.
A few more highlights about the rules that are not new to the June 2018 update:
–Each Official Social Media Outlet must have at least two administrators, with equal admin access rights. One of the two required admins must be the LSMO, or the officer filling that role. The other is encouraged to be the group Seneschal or Webminister.
–Each Social Media Outlet/Site must include the Disclaimer in the “about” or similar section.). Wording is in the policy.
–See the policy for restrictions on all social media content and expectations of conduct on social media by anyone in the SCA.
If anyone has any questions or concerns, feel free to email me at ae.socialmedia@aethelmearc.org, message the Kingdom of Aethelmearc Facebook Page, or you may contact the Society Social Media Officer, Sir Tiberius, at socialmedia@sca.org for Society-level questions.
Interim Kingdom Social Media Officer Baroness Hilda has asked the Gazette to share the following with the populace:
At Coronation/Harvest Raids, we will hold an open Q&A session about Social Media Policy in the SCA at 2 p.m. Saturday in the main hall. (If you can’t make that time, find me at the event, or online for questions or to chat.)
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media outlets cannot be the sole source of information.
Hence, anything related to events, practices, meetings, important conversations, and the like, must also be sent to an official listserv/email list, written in an official newsletter, and/or placed on an official website for those who are not on the social media sites. This does not include non-official posts and non-official discussions.
This policy is contained within the SCA Social Media policies found on SCA.org.
Thank you for your attention, cooperation, and understanding.
The Rialto Bridge, inspiration for a generation of online SCAdians.
Forty years ago, we waited eagerly for our Kingdom newsletter to arrive so we could plan our event-going for the next month, and the calendar was full of choices. (I remember a time in Storvik, where I started, when we actually voted to limit ourselves to two events a month in the Barony.) We had collating parties for the local newsletters, and phone trees kept everyone updated with breaking news. Then a new age dawned in the 80s with a revolutionary computer breakthrough – the Rialto – a Usenet Newsgroup found at rec.org.sca. Suddenly you could keep in touch with old friends, make new ones, and share cat pictures (well, not really – we were still a long way from internet graphics) (actually, we were still a long way away from the internet).
Laurelcat wants you to use social media!
Today, we are faced with an SCA media bombardment on everything from garb to armor to upcoming events. We can purchase the kit of our dreams with a few keystrokes, and share memes with SCAdians in Lochac. And we can market our events online. In fact, in today’s world of dwindling event attendance, savvy social media use is a necessity.
Paid membership in Æthelmearc in 2015 ranged from 1703 to 1840 people during 2015. Unpaid participants likely account for at least half that number again. That means there is a potential in-Kingdom audience of around 3000 people for everything we do.
The days when you could depend on a single blurb in the newsletter to populate your event are long gone. Luckily, the days when you can reach thousands in our Kingdom and beyond with event news, items for sale, or crash space requests are here (albeit at times overwhelming). To help you get the word out, here is a list of Æthelmearc-specific media and marketing venues that are generally open to postings by individuals.
THE OFFICIAL VENUES: There are still only two official venues for information in the Kingdom, the Æstel and the Kingdom website.
For an event to be official (an official event is one at which official business such as courts can be held; see Chronicler policy for publication requirements for insurance for local events with no official business), it must appear on both the Kingdom calendar and in the Æstel before the event. To register your event, go here. Æstel deadline is the first of the previous month for the next month’s issue, so make sure you submit your event flier in plenty of time. Make sure your flier contains the necessary 6 points to make it an official event announcement.
Most groups also have an official website, and the event announcement should go up there in great detail and as a matter of course.
THE LARGER UNOFFICIAL VENUES:
The two largest unofficial media venues in Æthelmearc are the Gazette and the AE mailing lists. The Kingdom also maintains a Facebook page, where you can make visitor posts in the left column.
The Æthelmearc Gazette publishes event announcements (and we love to have pictures to go with them!), officer reports, after-event reports, research articles and news in general. The Gazette has become the most-seen unofficial media source in the Kingdom with 3-400 page views on average per day in 2015 and growing. As an autocrat, you are welcome to submit not only your event announcements, but also last-minute changes, menus and more. Go to the Submissions page at the top of this blog, and send us your news! You can also follow us on Facebook.
Information on subscribing to the unofficial Æthelmearc mailing lists can be found here. The lists have just over 600 subscribers, so they are a great way to reach a portion of the populace, especially those who are not on Facebook. Any subscriber may post to both the discussion and the announcement list.
Most of these groups also have several adjunct pages or groups for special interests like fighting or A&S – just do a FB search with the group name to see what comes up – if you have an embroidery event, then a local group’s A&S page might be a good place to market that.
• Æthelmearc Special Interest Facebook Pages
There are many special interest pages where it might be appropriate to market your event or items. Here are a few: Æthelmearc Yard Sale/Swap Meet has for sale and wanted postings from members. Garb, books, supplies, and armor are just some of the things you can find here. There is also a curated list of merchants. Æthelmearc Crash Space is a clearing house for crash space requests and offers for events. Æthelmearc Equestrian is for events and things of interest to the equestrian community. Æthelmearc History is self explanatory. Æthelmearc Scribes is for the scribal community. Æthelmearc Rapier Army is for the fencing community. Æthelmearc Marshals is for the heavy fighting marshal community.
A FB search with the keyword Æthelmearc, and then clicking on groups and pages at the top will bring up many more special interest pages, all of which can act as marketing venues.
EVENT PAGES: Event web pages hosted on an official group website, or independently but acting as an official page, fall under the purview of the Kingdom and local webministers. You can find the Webminister policies here.
Facebook event pages are an extremely effective way to invite friends (and have them invite friends in turn) to your event. The SCA has a good tipsheet on using Facebook to promote your event, which you can find here. Use of a Facebook Event Page has become virtually de rigueur in today’s social media marketing world.
In most cases, Facebook Event Pages will fall under the purview of the SCA social media policies. You can find them, along with other helpful social media guides here.
OTHER ONLINE MARKETING RESOURCES: Most groups still have local yahoo groups and mailing lists. Email the appropriate group seneschal to see if they will post your information on these. Local chroniclers are usually happy to have content for their newsletters as well – you will find that listing in each issue of the Æstel or by contacting the Kingdom Chronicler.
Today’s SCAdian has ways to spread the word we could only have dreamt of when we started this wonderful adventure – go out and use them!
As revealed by our Kingdom Social Media Officer, THL Sumayya al Ghaziyya, on the latest episode of AE Live, the Kingdom of Æthelmearc now has two new communication outlets: Instagram and Discord!
Greetings to the Æthelmearc Local Seneschals, Local Social Media Officers, and other interested parties, from Baroness Hilda, Kingdom Social Media Officer.
