Difference between revisions of "SOS 2009"

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State of the Society Report to The Augustan Society, Inc., August 2009

Whither Our Society? Where Shall Our Second Half-Century Take Us?

By Bruce A. Metcalf, FAS, Consul

The Augustan Society has had an exceptional history to date. By this I mean several things. First, that we have survived over fifty years; many organizations fade away long before that milestone. Second, we had the benefit of the singular vision of a singular visionary for that entire time; Sir Rodney’s personality is deeply embedded within our Society, and only extreme measures or great lengths of time could erase that (presuming we even wanted to). And finally, sadly, our organization came very close to dying when we lost him three years ago.

This unusual history places us in an unusual position. One not frequently found by the leaders of a non-profit organization of our age. We have the opportunity — nay, the responsibility — to redefine and rebuild our Society for our second half-century. We should do so deliberately, openly, and with our eyes wide open to both our rich traditions and to the new technology, opportunities, and challenges of this new age.

Let us start by looking back at our traditions, to see which of them are worthy of preservation. I do not mean by this that we should challenge our founding principles — we must continue to be a non-profit membership organization dedicated to the study of genealogy, heraldry, chivalry, royalty & monarchy, and history; to disseminating our accumulated knowledge for the public good; and to further the ideals of chivalry in society. That much is in our charter, and I dare anyone here to challenge those principles or argue the scope of our domain.

Neither can we afford to slight our tradition of taking very good care of our members. Not only have our more experienced members come to rely on this, not only is this a member benefit that cannot be had anywhere else, but it is a simple matter that such courtesy is part and parcel of “promoting the ideals of chivalry”. It has been difficult for your Consuls to reach the same level of service, largely because we don’t have the long history of corresponding with each of you that our Founder enjoyed. In order that we may accomplish more with the limited time at our disposal, we have taken to computer automation; but we do so not without trepidation, and with close attention that this does not in any way depersonalize our service or ourselves.

One prime example of this is the Renewal Reminders we send out. While their design is based on the forms previously used, we have worked hard to personalize each, advising which payments might be due, which may be paid in advance, and advertising only those Insignia to which we believe the recipient is entitled. [The press of time has eliminated this feature.] Clearly, much more work remains to be done in this field, but it may serve to demonstrate that computers, when thoughtfully applied to such routine duties, can render great aid to staff and member alike.

One tradition that was honored somewhat intermittently in the past is that of communications. We feel strongly that regular communications from Headquarters is essential — particularly while we resume activities — as the Newsletter will often be the only contact most members have. Sadly, very few members have taken the opportunity to reply, despite repeated invitations. We would very much prefer that the Newsletter were a conversation rather than an oration, but this has been very difficult to initiate. In the past, we had special publications like the ICI Members' Newsletter which was created almost entirely from members’ submissions. I should like nothing better than for our Newsletter to become more like that. Perhaps a change of name would help? [The newsletter is now titled Augustæum.]

Sir Rodney was also fond of sending of brief notes, sharing research finds, connecting members to one another, and such. Alas, he never kept copies, so we know of this only from the thankful replies he received, which were many. For your Consuls [or Headquarters Staff]] to resume this sort of correspondence will require us to gather large quantities of data about our members and their topics of study. Our own ignorance in some fields would still limit our ability in this field, but such raw data would give us a start. Perhaps we can find a member skilled in the creation of surveys to help us collect this data.

Perhaps I had just better start sending off birthday greetings as was once done, and ask members one at a time what they’ve been up to.

Probably the most visible activity of our Society has been our publications program. We have, over the years put out seventeen different magazines (and half again as many titles), not to mention those publications of the Octavian Society, International Chivalric Institute, Association of Knights Bachelor, Heraldry Society of the USA, and other Hartwell Company projects. We are blessed by this respected history of accomplishment, not least because the back issues (we lack only a few) continue to sell at a rate proportional to our advertising, but because even these old issues with Torrance addresses continue to attract attention, respect, and the occasional membership inquiry.

Our decision two years ago to merge all of our publications into a single Omnibus was the result of two things: a lack of material sufficient to publish any of our titles, and a lack of editors to produce them. While we have been pleased to see submissions increase to the point they are no longer the limiting factor, the absence of a cadre of Associate Editors continues to delay publication. This must be remedied, either with a handful of Associate Editors or a new Senior Editor, relegating Consuls to the role of mere Production Editor. This has been done in the past — it is time for it to be done again.

Whether we keep our publications together in an Omnibus or again separate them out matters little. We must, however, have a journal (or series of journals) of high scholarly quality, and with a regular publication schedule, to be taken seriously by others in the field. Both of these are equally important, but right now we can only achieve the first. There was a day when our journal was a monthly, produced by mimeograph with only those images that came from a typewriter or pen. Today, the low price of computers and printing permit us to easily crank out full-color publications with improved graphics and typesetting; production is no longer the great eater of time. But without quality material to publish it is for naught.

Much time, money, and affection was lavished on our public Headquarters. Your Consuls were fortunate to visit the homes of the Society in Hermosa Beach, San Pedro, Torrance, and Daggett; and now that Headquarters is inside our own home. Very frankly, except for those fortunate enough to visit, there was little difference in the performance of the Society on the issues listed above whether we were led from a drafty garage or an elegant villa, except that the more elegant our home, the more frugality it imposed on all other activities.

Let us be frank, we need a Headquarters. We need a place where our library collection can be made available. We need a place where our museum collection can be displayed to good purpose. [The Museum has since been discontinued.] We need a place where our staff, and more importantly, our volunteers can work. A physical address is essential for both volunteers and grants, both of which would be available to us. And yes, the Metcalfs need our dining room back!

We do have money for this. The purchase of the first Villa Augusti was made possible by a bequest from Cdr. George Balling. His gift came with the restriction that it could only be used for capital purchases, not maintenance. When we sold the Villa, we recovered most of this amount, about $300,000 [actually only $285,000 was recovered], and it is again available for capital purposes.

But do not think that this means we are ready to make a purchase. We lost the first Villa Augusti not because of heavy mortgage payments, as there were none, but there were the daily costs of ownership, from the electric bill to trash fees, and our Society could not sustain these. We must not repeat this error; we must make certain that such routine expenses are covered before expending our capital again.

To date, we have found no one willing to serve as the champion for Fundraising. This role, vital though it is to the long term survival of our Society, we have been unable to communicate in a way that motivates someone to step forward. We are disappointed by this, as it means we shall all have to wait that much longer before we can move into the second Villa Augusti.

What we may be able to do in the interim is to lease space. Perhaps not enough for a museum and chapel, but certainly for office space and probably for much of the library collection to become accessible. This will incur added expenses, but much of these can come from the interest earned by the idle capital fund, which is already paying for the storage facilities that now contain our library and museum collections. It will give us room to work, room to utilize volunteers ... and it will give the Metcalfs back their dining room.

Again, we have not yet been able to convince anyone to step forward and serve as the champion for this Headquarters. There is much work needed to make this come about, and perhaps some additional fundraising as well. While your Consuls will certainly be involved in the planning and site selection process, we cannot manage it all without neglecting our other duties. We are also disappointed by this.

A new area of activity for our Society has been our Websites. Previously moribund, a new design two years ago made it possible for us to not only list our back issues and reprints, but to take orders and payment for them online. We have also been able to take renewals, subscriptions, and even new member initiation fees online through our web site and PayPal. At present, over a third of our revenue arrives through such online activities, with a higher percentage each year.

We have recently commissioned a new design for our web site. This is not so much a cosmetic overhaul (though we hope it may prove more attractive) as it is a fundamental change in the underlying software. In addition to all of the current activities, the new site will also house our membership database, permitting members to update their own files, and allowing officers of the Society access to the data they need, without having to contact Headquarters Staff for support. Members will be able to log in, and the web site will respond to them in an individualized manner.

For example, only the insignia they are entitled to will be displayed for purchase, and all pricing will reflect the 20% member discount. Members of Orders [meaning Sub-Groups] will have access to restricted areas for those groups, while non-members will instead be directed to information pages. With sufficient volunteer support, we could even offer our web site in other languages. Most importantly, it will be easier for staff to update and maintain, saving valuable time. We hope to see this deployed by the end of the month; watch for it.

Computers are also enabling projects that would otherwise be unreasonably costly or burdensome. A volunteer program already well under way involves keyboarding all of our hundreds of back issues (later enhanced by OCR pre-processing). This is necessary because we lack originals for most, some are damaged, many are poor photocopies, and reprinting is required if we are to make them available. The results, as some of you have seen, are reprinted magazines on better stock, that are more legible, and in many cases, are now in color, which is of particular value for heraldry.

Once digitized, it is a simple matter to pull out all the articles, corrections, and letters on a given topic into a “Reprint”. We can also produce large print editions, or electronic editions for members overseas who cannot easily receive mail.

We do not anticipate putting our back issues online for free, or even paid access. At present, this has greater potential for abuse than for revenue. Yet we may still decide to do so and make such available as one more member benefit.

As you may know, we are working on an index to heraldry published by the Society. While valuable in itself, this data can be converted into a functioning Ordinary of Arms. While such can be published in the conventional way, it may prove to be a worthy public service to place this online where it might serve as a model for others, or as the seed for cooperative ventures where others will add their registrations or publications to our list.

Similarly, our Family of Augustans Project is compiling members’ lineages from royalty. Computers make it easy to merge these into a single genealogy, and this could be published in hard copy or displayed online. Again, the opportunity to work with other organizations also exists here, provided we’re the first.

Our Roster of Recognition of Orders of Chivalry is a fine document, but it is nearly invisible. Placing this online, along with links to the web sites of the various Orders, would not only bring our efforts deserved respect, but would be a service to the Orders and postulants alike.

Sir Rodney was wont to say, “The Augustan Society is whatever you want it to be. It will grow or shrink with the interests of the members, always changing, always the same.” I think this is the correct philosophy for our Society. It is why I do not weep for the programs I think valuable that receive no support, for if no members is interested, then they are not — for now — part of the Society’s program.

Your Consuls have watched our Society go from a spare room at the Hartwell home to a spare room at the Metcalf home, with many grander sites in between. Does this mean we have come full cycle and should now go quietly into that good night? Or does it mean that the spirit of Augustus endures such physical constraints and persists in the enthusiasm of our members, the labor of our volunteers, and the dedication of our staff?

In the end, “Whither Our Society” is a question that none need ask, but which all of us — by our actions and inaction — will answer, crafting from the raw materials of our own history and our own imaginations the Augustan Society for today and for next the half century to come.

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