Meeting Rooms

With the dormancy of the College of Cour d’Or, we are no longer able to get rooms on campus for meetings and gatherings. While this represents a huge change, one that I personally am sad to see, we are not without options.

At this time we are holding meetings in two different places, TechShop in Bakery Square and Victory Pointe on the South Side.

Lady Rufinia Saavedra has graciously agreed to be our contact for the meeting room at TechShop (it’s available to members of TechShop only). She can be contacted at rufinasca(at)gmail(dot)com and as soon as permissions are secured, her information will be available on the website. Because it is a members-only reservation, Rufinia must be present at every meeting held, so there may be some restrictions for when meetings can be held dependent on her schedule. The room is free and there is ample free parking at Bakery Square. Directions to TechShop can be found http://www.victorypointe.com/. This room is also free, but parking may be a bit more challenging as it’s the South Side, but so far no one has reported having too many problems with finding a place to park.

We’re always looking for more locations to hold meetings and gatherings (and events!), if you have a suggestion, please send me email at seneschal(at)debatablelands(dot)org.

Odriana, Seneschal

Fencing Practice Resumes

Greetings,

Fencing practice resumes this Sunday at the PCC starting at 2 PM for our last week indoors.

Starting next week we will be moving to our outdoor location at the Washington Blvd parklet. We will also be resuming our summer start time next week of 1PM.

Loaner gear for both fencing and cut n’thrust is available.

Jorundr

March Barony Meeting – THIS SUNDAY

The comet-emblazoned banner of these debatable Lands.

This Sunday will be our Barony Meeting at the Pittsburgh Chinese Church (PCC) at 2:00 p.m. This is a little later than we normally meet, but due to the Church’s schedule, we need to move our start time. The meeting will start shortly after 2:00 p.m. and afterwards stay and spend some time with us. Bring a project or just yourself. The Seneschal will be bringing a small box of materials to make small favors that will be donated to the Baron and Baroness for the gift basket for Coronation.

The PCC is located at 8711 Old Perry Hwy, Pittsburgh, PA 15237 (Google Maps Link).

Call for Letters: Webminister

My term as your Webminister expires next month, and while I am willing to continue doing this job, I am also willing to give somebody else a chance. I can even serve as deputy to the new Webminister until they get their feet under them, if necessary. Heh, “web feet”.

The Webminister is responsible for the official Baronial web site and its related functions. The Webminister updates the information on the web site as requested, such as when office holders change or a new event is announced. Knowledge of HTML and basic web design is required. Some functions of the web site are written in PHP, and an understanding of PHP would be helpful. You must have a reliable computer, Internet connection, and email address. Your ZX81, 300 baud modem, and AOL address are probably not sufficient. Most changes to the current site can be made in a text editor and uploaded via FTP, so no special software is required. The web site is hosted by a commercial service provider, so the ability to pay hosting and domain registration fees via credit card is required, though you will be reimbursed by the Barony after you make payment.

The Webminister is also responsible for maintaining the list of email aliases. The hosting service also provides email forwarding so that senders can always send email to a Baronial officer without having to remember who currently holds that office and what that person’s address is. Updating the list of aliases involves logging into the hosting provider’s domain management web interface, so some ability to deal with that kind of thing is required. We always have problems with forwarded email landing in spam folders, so dealing with email problems is a constant task.

The Webminister is also responsible for maintaining and administrating the Baronial Blog. The Debatable Blog uses the WordPress system and all interactions with the site are through a web interface. Some knowledge of WordPress usage and administration would be helpful. If I stay as Webminister, I’m going to pester officers a lot more to post things to the blog.

The job of Webminister is not constant. It mostly consists of small amounts of work on a irregular basis, but occasionally requires a large amount of work in a short time period. Like when you discover the entire web site has been hacked to forward to a bootleg pharmacy site. The editorial policy of the website is available on the site. Some familiarity with the current policy, and an interest in upholding or improving on these traditions would be to your advantage.

The Webminister is not responsible for the Barony’s social media presence, as this is a function of the Seneschal’s office by society policy. Some coordination with the Seneschal or Social Media Deputy may be required, but they tend to be really nice about it.

If you are interested in standing for this position, please submit a letter of intent to the Webminister and Seneschal before the next officers’ meeting, which will be on April 5th, 2017. Candidates should be at the meeting if possible, as the elected officer will be expected at future meetings for the duration of their 2-year term.

St. Patrick’s Day Parade – March with the Debatable Lands!

Hello Debatable Lands!

Did you know that the Barony is marching in the Pittsburgh St. Patrick’s Day Parade this Saturday? Did you know you can come march, too?  Here’s the info from our organizer, Yingling:

We have been invited to march in the St Patrick’s Day Parade. This is an opportunity to introduce Pittsburgh to the Barony and the SCA. We have 30 slots for marchers and are alloted room for a truck pulling a trailer. However, the “30” is considered more of a guideline than a rule. The More the MErrier is the official stance!

Come on out and march with the Baroness. Show off your best garb and/or armor. Come fight! Come dance!

Some Rules:
This is a family event
No alcohol at any point during the parade.
No throwing things. (i.e. Candy or beads)
No political statements or displays.
No stopping the parade.
There must be a marcher at each of the 2 front tires of the truck as well as at the tires of the trailer.

The details:
The time to report is 9AM. The location is Liberty Ave, Strip District, between 21st and 26th Street.

I will be down there with our float which will consist of a White pick-em-up truck pulling an 18 foot flat bed trailer. The trailer will be sporting a cool banner we made for the barony. I’ll post on the Facebook event the exact location when I arrive.

The parade starts at 10 so there is enough time to finish armoring up/finishing touches on garb.
The parade is ~2 miles/45 minutes start to end.
They suggest parking in the Strip Dist and walking. I suggest meeting somewhere and carpooling into town.

There is room in the pick-up to store stuff during the parade. Or to ride if your feet hurt. The throne(obviously) and the benches on the trailer have been dibbed.

If anyone is interested in volunteering to drive the pick-up, it’ll be helpful. It is just an F-150 that will be pulling a trailer at slow speeds. Nothing tricky.

A suggestion was made last year that groups need to “Irish it up more”. So, dress in your finest garb and wear that ridiculous green bowler

Here’s the Facebook “event”: https://www.facebook.com/events/252072021882777/

See you there!
In Levitate et Caritate,
Baroness Hilda

BMDL Fiber Guild – March Meeting

Hello from Lady Lucetta DiCosimo! The BMDL Fiber Guild will have the March meeting on Tuesday, March 14th at 7PM, at Songbird Artistry, 4316 Penn Ave. in Lawrenceville (Google maps directions are available here). The topic is tablet and inkle weaving! Please bring your looms, your projects, and your favorite books, and your ideas! If you do not weave, that’s perfectly OK, just come to hang out with fiber minded people . We’ll see you all there!

Tea and snack will be happening, please contact me about any dietary restrictions at fiberguild(at)debatablelands(dot)org.