Question

Is it time for Stormvale to rethink its habit of having most meetings in private homes?

We actually almost always met in public locations throughout most of our history. Revels were sometimes in private homes, but we were fortunate in being able to obtain meeting space at the University of Michigan-Flint, Red Dragon Hobby Shop, Mundy Presbyterian Church, Flint Public Library, Mott Middle College, and the Grand Blanc MacFarlane Library. We also met for a long time at the Black Dragon Farm location, although that was also a private home.

So our recent rotation of populace meetings and revels in private homes, with the occasional revel in semi-public rooms at the Collingwood Village Apartments in Davison, is a relative change. It doesn't seem to be a problem, exactly. For a long time, the SCA generally discouraged meetings of this kind simply because experience tends to show that it discourages some new members, who are more shy about introducing themselves in someone's home rather than a public place. I haven't heard complaints about this, but maybe we wouldn't.

A more immediate question is whether we may have literally outgrown the practice. There were a reported 17 attendees at the February 17 populace meeting, and about 33 people at the February 19 revel. There were 17 at a recent Artisan's Guild meeting, too. I haven't heard about attendance at either the February 24 meeting or tonight's March 2 meeting, but I wonder whether we may not have reached the point where we will effectively cap our membership at the number that will rationally fit in one of our homes!

I'm not suggesting a solution, just asking the question.