SCA Community

So, a few days ago a new SCA based website was launched and I'm actually quite excited about it.

When we first joined the SCA finding information was very hit or miss, it seems to be scattered all over the place and takes a fair bit of Google searching to find what you're looking for. There are personal websites, various blogs, Kingdom wiki's, LiveJournal, Facebook, not to mention the hundreds if not thousands of Yahoo mailing lists. The one thing I was always looking for was that one magical website where everyone gathered to exchange information, that one online SCA community where I could learn from others and say "hi, this is me".

I was always (and still am) amazed that there isn't a central forum-based community, even on an individual Kingdom level, instead the SCA as a whole chooses to use clunky mailing lists. Don't get me wrong, they're a great resource but can be annoying and difficult to "search" through for the information you're looking for. Not to mention the active ones fill up your inbox pretty quickly, even in digest mode.

I've since found and joined a lot of mailing lists / websites but I'd still love that one place where everyone frequents and I'm hoping that the SCA adopts this new community and turns it into the "go-to" place. I think the SCA needs it and I think that it will do a lot towards encouraging new people to stick around if they can actually see activity. The most important thing being that it's all in ONE PLACE. However, the site will only ever be as good as the users make it.

The internet is a VERY powerful and effective marketing tool.

Taken directly from the homepage of SCACommunity.com

[...] I started this website to centralize a location for those in the SCA to interact, learn different trades and be able to buy and sell period goods online. Over the years I have found many different websites that I liked which had great SCA information. However, many disappeared over the years or I forgot the domain name.

My goal is to bring all of that information to one site. You will be able to watch tutorials on making garb and chainmaille, read blogs written by other members, look for upcoming events in your area, and buy, sell and trade goods. On top of all that, scacommunity.com is a social network where you can keep in touch with friends and make new ones! We will be adding new features to the website in the months to come as well. We encourage all of our members to become active in participating on the website, please see our volunteer page. Please enjoy the experience and as always we love hearing feedback from our users.

Cheers,

Lord Christoph
Director of Web Development

They've already had a bunch of sign-ups and the more we all promote it the better over time it will become. Forums are in the works which I think will be a huge benefit and I'm hoping that they eventually replace all the segmented Yahoo groups with regards activity. Think about it, why be subscribed to NUMEROUS mailing lists cluttering your inbox when, instead, you can frequent an active forum that incorporates all the various SCA activities in one place?

I have no affiliation with the site or its creators/owners. I just think it has the potential to be a very powerful and effective community,bringing together everything in one place, and because of that I choose to help promote it.