I generally tend to have a project list as long as my arm. Though the rest of the site talks about particular areas of interest, it can also be useful to see how everything comes together.
Kingdom Webminister
I first became involved in the office of Kingdom Webminister as Master Valgardr's deputy, when he first stepped into the position in January 2007. When he quit in July of the same year, I stepped in as his emergency deputy. In May 2008, at Spring Crown, AEthelmearc officially made the Webminister its own office, separating it from the office of the Chronicler (I believe we were the third Kingdom to do this, a few months before the same change happened at the Corporate level). Thus began my first full term. I asked for, and was granted, a second term two years later. I had some shoes to fill, taking on this job in the wake of Alaxandair and Valgardr, but I feel like I have left my own impression on the office as well. Website Redesign
While I was still Valgardr's deputy, I developed a new look for the Kingdom website. And just in time for our 10 year celebration! Though it has changed some over the years, most of it has remained familiar to regular visitors. I considered another redesign around the beginning of my last year (of my second term), but decided that I would prefer to improve some functional elements of the site in my remaining time and leave the option of stylistic changes to a successor (after all, that's often one of the first things a new webmaster does to a site). All of the usual elements went into consideration of the design including ease of navigation, ease of reading, compliance with accessibility standards, and cross-browser compatibility. Compilation of the Event Planning Resources
One of my first projects, at the suggestion of the Kingdom Chronicler Mistress Teresa Gabriella Montoya y Sevilla, was to compile a new section of event planning resources. This was intended to be a tool for new and old autocrats alike - collecting a lot of the necessary forms in one place, collecting information - historical and trends - on events throughout the Kingdom, and planning resources from all over the SCA. It was well received at the time, and seems to still be relevant years later. Officer Report Forms
Another relatively early development was a reporting form that could be quickly customized to a Kingdom officer's needs and send the required info to the officer via email. Through the modularity of the design, I was able to offer such reporting forms to all of the Kingdom officers, quite a few of whom accepted. I believe that all would agree that the ease of the online reporting methods yielded a general increase in reporting from local officers. Local officers receive a copy of their report for their own records, and may opt to have a copy sent to any other addresses specified (i.e. the local Seneschal, or Baronage). An option to have the appropriate regional officers CC'ed on the report was also included during set-up. Award Recommendation Form
I think Alaxandair may have built the recommendation form that was in use for even much of my own term, at least from the front. But eventually I got around to making some improvements, including return copies to the submitters and automatic forwarding to appropriate Order clerks. There were a few other suggestions for improvement of this process on the back-end, but these were held up because I felt they would work best if I could tie them into another project that never got under way for lack of support. Event Management System
Valgardr had written the initial version of this system for the Kingdom website, and for awhile I made incremental changes to it as needed. After about a year I felt I had a good idea of what we needed and the direction things were going in and re-wrote the code from the ground up. The new system allowed autocrats to log in and update their information at any time, notifying appropriate parties as to the changes made. This required enhanced security and an ability for users to securely retrieve their lost passwords. Management of events for the Kingdom calendar as well as for publication in the AEstel was still available to the Kingdom Webminister and Kingdom Chronicler through a separate interface. Eventually, more improvements were made so that event information was available directly on the Kingdom website along with dynamically generated Google maps indicating the event location (with a link to get directions). Regular Maintenance
I would feel remiss if I didn't take a pass at the day-to-day stuff that has gone into this project as well. The website requires regular maintenance: keeping officer information up to date, keep documents up to date, managing announcements and other content, turning over the photos and Royalty information upon request (and at least once per reign). Additionally, I must collect information to warrant Webministers across the Kingdom, new and existing. Collect quarterly reports and conduct compliance checks of all official websites throughout the Kingdom (over 50). Update and disseminate Kingdom Web policies as needed.
Kingdom Combat Archery Commander
At Spring Crown 2008, Her Majesty Branwen asked if I would serve as the Kingdom's CA Commander at Pennsic. Since I had already been teaching classes on Combat Archery and organizing small units in my area of the Kingdom, I agreed to take on this task. I was asked or permitted to keep the post for the following two Pennsics as well. Somewhere in there I also became the Regional CA Marshal. One of the greatest impacts that I made in this position was the development of common training and tactics manuals that could be used across the Kindgom. The idea was that this would allow archers from different areas to form into small, effective units without necessarily having trained together. I discuss the details here. I taught, and continue to teach, classes on this material around the Kingdom. I stepped down from this position in the spring of 2011 when it became apparent that I would not be at Pennsic XL to continue in the job.
Head of Kingdom Brewer's Guild
In December of 2005 I sparked the revitalization of the Kingdom Brewer's Guild through a series of discussions over shared interests, and the formation of a new mailing list which immediately garnered a lot of interest. As things got under way I found myself as the "Northern Guild Head" (Brandubh being the "Southern Guild Head"). Almost immediately we were asked if we could participate/contribute to the party being coordinated in AE Royal at the upcoming Pennsic - a tradition that I have coordinated (and contributed to) every year since (with the exception of Pennsic XL where I was not present). When Brandubh stepped down, after his appointment as Silver Buccle Herald, I became the sole guild head. In this capacity, I was also one of the primary authors of the Kindgom's Brewing Rubric, and have judged with it multiple times at Ice Dragon. I have taught classes on a variety of brewing topics, and hosted uncounted round table tastings/discussions - including the Knowne World Brewer's Round Table at Pennsic (again, with the exception of the year I was not there). I have also served as the guild's Webminister since September 2006.
Improve the authenticity of my Armoured Combat kit
This has been an ongoing project for a number of years, and I am finally getting to a place where I am relatively happy with it. More details are here.
Improve the look of my family's encampment
Being something of a woodworker, I've taken on a myriad of projects over the years to improve the look and functionality of our camp. I did a lot of this over the spring of 2007, but have been adding and improving since. To me, though functionality should be of prime importance, there is no reason that an item should not also be pleasing to the eye. More details can be found here.
Keeping the Dominion running
It's hard to really call this a project, since it's not really an item that goes on my to-do list, but when you are one of a small handful of people willing to jump in and do things - autocrat events, hold offices, etc - one gets a lot of opportunities to wear a lot of hats. One of the first offices I held was Steward, and I did so for 6 years. This position is an inventory manager (many other groups call this "Chamberlain"), so it was my responsibility to know where all of the property was at any given time. For the most part, I stored it all myself, but it also tended to be my job to haul things to events, and pack them up after events and haul them away again. I also served a year as the group's Deputy for A&S. For 3 years I served as the Dominion's Captain of Archers, running weekly archery practices and the range at many events. During this time I also obtained a national archery instructor certification because it was required by one of our event sites. I turned this over when a new and exuberant marshal was warranted in our group and wanted very much to run practices. From July 2006 to August 2008 I served a term as the group's Exchequer. I did not serve a second term because of many mundane changes going on in my life at the end of my first term (new job, new house, and my wife expecting). I have never ruled out the possibility that I may end up with this one again since I am organized enough to make the job look easy. I have been the Dominion's herald since our last one left the area in June 2007. Mostly I am a "book herald", helping people work on name and arms submissions, but I have helped to herald a few courts along the way as well (and not just in Myrkfaelinn). Besides offices, I have autocratted our largest event, Summer War Practice, twice and been "on staff" at many other events (assistant autocrat, Marshal in charge of various martial activities, kitchen assistant, tollner (especially when I was Exchequer). I've also run numerous A&S classes, facilitated armour- and weapon-building workshops, and helped out with gift baskets presented by the group.
Contributing throughout the Kingdom
Besides some of the more notable and time consuming positions mentioned above, I am one of those crazy people that jumps in to get things done. Again, it's a bit of a stretch to call this group a "project", but lumped together they do involve some time and effort. At Kingdom Twelfth Night in 2008, I took on the vacant Regional A&S Minister position for region 5. For the most part, this means that I bug the local A&S Ministers to submit their quarterly reports, but I have also helped to wrangle up teachers when AEcademies roll through my area. In May 2010, the neighboring region 4 had a vacancy in the same position and I was asked, as a favor to the Kingdom Minister of A&S to temporarily fill the position (though it's been a little more than temporary now). In August of 2008, I was appointed as the Regional Combat Archery Marshal, and in May 2009 I became the Regional Siege Marshal. It is worth noting that I was offered the position of Kingdom Siege Marshal in 2008, though I declined because of the numerous other positions I was holding at the time. Unfortunately, this meant that it took a little longer for Siege to really get started in our Kingdom. I also had the opportunity to become Kingdom Combat Archery Marshal, but turned it down for similar reasons.
I also feel it worth noting that in the fall of 2009 I was "strongly urged" to submit a letter of intent for Society Webminister (by the emergency deputy who was currently filling the position). I was basically told that if I put a letter in, I was the most likely to be appointed. After considering long and hard I declined the opportunity. 1) I was concerned about finding a suitable replacement for my Kingdom position on such short notice, 2) I had not completed all of the projects that I intended to for my Kingdom, 3) I was concerned about available time for the new job as my son was about 6 months old at the time. I have not entirely ruled out the possibility of putting in a letter when next the position becomes available.
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