An Tir Dearg

Good eye, Tibby. Now how can we make sure we get adult participation and not just kids? I think we should consider something like no minors can participate at the demo and set the minimum age up to 18, but make exceptions for promising 16-17 year old candidates.

Anyone have ideas on how we get the adults to step out of their comfort zone and try this without being embarassed in front of their friends? It seems like we need to make them feel like they are succeeding at something rather than just getting destroyed by vets when they step onto the field. The great dilemma, how do we hook "grown-ups" who are there with their friends?

I wholeheartedly agree with the idea of singling out adults and the promising teenager.

Perhaps we can try food?

I'd be willing to bring my megasaurus propane grill and cook up hotdogs, only available to those adults who participate in a two-out-of-three round. Depending on the event, this may or may not be legal though.

What if we also created one of those swiveling jousting dummies that could have a shield on one side and a flail on the other that would strike back at the participant? Perhaps overkill, but it might give some confidence?

If that's too much, perhaps some sort of skill test that was simple to create / re-set but took a fair amount of athleticism to do well at......targets of some sort? Sounds better for archery now that i've typed it out, but perhaps others can flesh it out.

And finally, maybe a small skirmish would be fitting as I've read about on the Bel boards where (if enough folks are present) only the new people fight, with all the vets heralding. Once every 30-60 minutes, vets take the field for a vet-only battle to show how its supposed to go down.

I'd also like to make business cards with the realm, bel, and geddon websites and our practice location/time. I think they'd be easier to keep hold of as a receiver, and easier to transport around instead of loose leaf fliers. What does everyone think about that? I think I'd be able to have them made up in a small batch out of pocket, no reimbursement from realm funds.

You can buy special printer paper at business supply stores for printing business cards, after that, it's just a matter of throwing something decent together as an image and print it a hundred times in word.

I made up some business cards a little while back and I believe I still have more paper and the template. They looked pretty good, IMHO, but they'd need to be updated with contact info, etc. It'd be great if we all had some with us to give out to random people all the time; at least that was my original vision.

The target thing and the pell idea are both great for getting people a chance to try it without risking competitive embarrassment. Even just bringing a heavy bag for them to swing at could be a good intro to using the gear. I'd be happy to bring mine, but it hangs from a tree so I don't have a portable stand.

The real trick is getting adults to try it without a) feeling too embarrassed in front of everyone or b) risking their egos being bruised. So it needs to be friendly and not too competitive and it needs to feel like everyone is doing it. Maybe it would be best to start rounds at intervals to create an artificial demand and glut of people interspersed with showcase fights by veterans. Maybe we should plant seed fighters in the crowd? ;)

Its hard to get adults out to try it,as we all know buy the comments that are thrown our way on Wednesday nights but it would be good to target more adults, I have found its hard to have people "put their money were their mouth is" I talk to alot of people at Smiths I have invited alot of people, They are just scared, Most guys have a sweet spot for mid-evil time dont know one guy that hasnt ever picked a stick and prtended it was a sword. We just need to figure out how to tap into that again.