SOS 2012
State of The Augustan Society, Inc. — August 2012
submitted by Consuls
We are now at the end of a most interesting year (in the proverbial sense of “interesting” where it is equivalent to “cursed”). It included a good number of fresh starts, substantial progress on a number of fronts, and slippage on but few. Sadly, the past two months also displayed evidence that not everyone accepts the authority of the By-Laws and Board of Directors, but even that has now largely been resolved.
The downward trend in our membership that began in the last years of Sir Rodney's tenure appears to have been arrested, if not yet reversed. Our website has been the key tool for this, as fewer than one member per year has been brought in by any other means. That people are willing to send us $146 based solely upon what they see on our website, without even asking for a sample Augustan Omnibus, argues strongly that the website is is a tool we must support and continually expand.
One step we could take that might help with the membership total is is to discontinue the somewhat pointless practice of electing new members. The website could very easily be set up to permit “instant membership”, as is common in other organizations. This would of course trigger other changes, such as the loss of the postnominals “MAS” (since membership would no longer represent an honor).
Another approach would be to ask that potential members be asked to show some evidence of their scholarship in the fields of study, perhaps by publication, perhaps by submission of a sourced lineage. This would be a move in the opposite direction, but it too would eliminate the sham from membership elections. Other options exist to be explored.
The Augustan Omnibus is now on a semi-annual schedule, and the Omnibus Editor is asking that we increase that to three issues per year. It has yet to be shown that the rate of submissions will be sufficient to maintain that rate of publication, but it does give one hope that our journal may return to its former size, frequency, and prominence in the field.
Augustæum has proven a worthy tool, both for staying in more regular contact that the Augustan Omnibus schedule will permit, and particularly for giving management the means for quick communications with the membership. In an age of electronic communications, it's difficult to keep ahead of the rumors, but we seem to be keeping up well. Indeed, letters received that say, “Why didn't I know about this earlier?” are thus actually quite reassuring.
The Augustan Society Roll of Arms project has had a rocky history of late. With an inactive HOAA, it was taken on by the Publications Committee. First a color reprint of Volume I was targeted, then the focus was switched to a new Volume IV. More change may well be in the offing. The major challenge is with obtaining translations of the blazons into “English”, as our Vice-Deputy Justiciar Generals are not uniformly responsive. This project, along with new Registrations of Arms, badly needs a traffic manager; someone to track which blazons are ready, which have gone to the artist, right through to delivery of certificates.
The Library Cataloging Project has finally begun in earnest, with over 300 books entered into the Online Public Access Catalog to date. We invite Directors and interested members to visit the site at <library.augustansociety.org> and see for yourselves. Use login “guest” and password “please”. Work continues almost daily. [Note: No login is required to use most features of the catalog.]
The associated "Buy-A-Box" program has generated substantial revenue which has been put to the purchase of acid-free storage boxes and steel shelving. We now have enough shelving for half our Library storage unit, and nearly that many boxes. We do not ask for another assessment at this time, as we think it appropriate to let the cataloging catch up. We will ask for more once we do.
Our storage facilities have been substantially reorganized in the past few months. The Library Collection was moved from a dark 15×15' room to one 10×25' with lights (and an aisle!). The office files and back issue storage have been moved into a 7×25' unit, again with lights. The Museum Collection remains in a 15×15' room, packed quite solidly, awaiting someone with enough concern to begin conservation (and deaccession) efforts. These changes make only a small difference in our expenses, but they greatly aid staff's ability to access materials and respond to requests, especially now that the materials aren't stuffed in various rooms of their house.
Three of our four review committees, Heraldry, Chivalry, and Royalty & Nobility, all now have active chairmen, and all are reviewing submissions and making recommendations to the Board in a timely fashion. It will take a bit of time for all of them to firm up their procedures and achieve the sort of response time we all want, but their clear dedication to their duties is most satisfying. We hope that the Genealogy Committee will soon find an active Chairman and join them.
We do have some research committees, primarily the Descents from Antiquity and Family of Augustans, which have been moving slowly, but are far from dead. And even those many committees that are presently dormant are but that … they can be reactivated at the whim of a single willing member.
The Order of the Augustan Eagle is filling out its Council, and has been tasked with several long-range projects, such as the “Mission Statement”. We think this is the right group to take on such issues that involve significant changes to our traditions and practices, and we expect proposals for more dramatic changes in the near future, which should rightly be referred first to the OAE.
The Hereditary Order of Armigerous Augustans has been dormant the past five years, save for the nearly independent Heraldry Committee. In short, this group needs to be revitalized or euthanized. Barring the emergence of a champion, we recommend it be placed on dormant status. This will require an amendment to the qualifications for entrance to the OAE, and the Heraldry Committee can easily be spun off as independent.
The Noble Company of the Rose has also been dormant for five years, but a new Magister Rosae recently elected may change that … once he gets his new duties as Treasurer and the Audit Committee Chairman under his belt. I recommend that we offer him our patience.
The five [now four] Lineage Groups have not attracted any members to their ranks in the past year. However, we have received an increasing number of calls from non-members wishing to join them. We feel that serious consideration should be given to opening up membership in these groups to non-members. It would provide a source of revenue—the original purpose of these groups—and they may thereby offer a path to membership in the Society that such individuals might not otherwise consider.
One lesson learned in the past year is that too much of our operations are focused on the Consuls. We have become the bottleneck in most programs, and this is not good. True, some things must necessarily be done at headquarters, and it is not possible at present to include volunteers in our operations here, but other projects that could be as easily managed elsewhere are now on a list for “outsourcing”. We look for your support in this change, as it will be necessary if we are to expand our operations.
In order to deal with this bottleneck constructively, Consuls need the Board to set priorities and goals in a clear way. The recent call for a “Mission Statement” was an effort in this direction that got re-routed. This effort to set priorities needs to be restarted and given serious attention in short order that the Society's energies are directed as the Board wishes, and not at the whim of a couple of volunteers.
Whatever our priorities, expansion and growth will be highly dependent upon our regaining a public Headquarters, and for that we will require a major fundraising campaign such as that recently outlined. While we must soon to decide if it should be delayed until 2013, it cannot be put off much longer, for our costs are rising faster than our investments. Such a Headquarters is mandatory if we are to attract volunteers, grants, and credibility. It will also be needed once the present Consuls are no longer able to host our operations, and their mortality means that date could arrive without warning. Other than possibly maintaining our web presence and publication schedule, there is no greater imperative for our Society in the next decade. We recommend the campaign begin this October.
If the past two months offer any lesson, it is that with very few exceptions, Augustans care deeply about the Society, and are willing to step up to such challenges as may be presented. This is most gratifying, especially to those of us who have sometimes felt that we were laboring alone in the trenches. Perhaps by reminding us all of how important the Society is to each of us, the incident has not been without value.
There have been times recently when the rhetoric has adopted “us v. them” terminology. I bid you abandon such labels. There will always be issues that bring individual Augustans together, issues about which some of us have no care, and issues about which we must find a way we can agree to disagree. This is as it should be.
But I have seen many groups torn asunder by a misplaced sense of loyalty or an inflated sense of authority. For some, these matters can trump all else, even justice and truth. From this unworthy mindset can come acts that will be viewed as evil by others, while seeming virtuous to the actors. As Directors, and indeed as Augustans, I would remind you that your loyalty to all of us is greater than your loyalty to any one of us (Consuls included), and that the authority of your offices is strictly limited. This is no monarchy; only our By-Laws reign supreme. Know that they will always have your Consuls' first allegiance.
Finally, we wish to express our sincere and humble appreciation for the acts of confidence and spontaneous gestures of support offered by Officer and Member alike in recent weeks. Considering that our fiscal compensation is almost beneath notice, it is these shows of confidence that sustain us in our efforts on the Society's behalf.
