The following is the two emails that I sent out to all of the strategy club members for the meeting on Tuesday, May 26, 2009. For those who want to participate in strategy club, but did NOT receive the emails, here they are. Please read both of them fully in full context so that you know exactly what I am talking at the time that I sent those emails and what I am going to be talking about during the meeting. It looks long, but I just copied and pasted the text of the emails.
I sent the second email to clear up the confusion about the meeting places in the first email.
There is a .zip file that was included in the first email named "larp.zip" which has the files that the first email is referring to. The second email did NOT come with any attachments. I cannot upload this file to the forum directly, because of limited upload size (file is 4.9MB, current space is) 54.7 KB (at the time of this writing). I will sign up for a file hosting service soon in order to host the file.
Every time I send an email out to all Strategy Club members, I usually post it on the forum right afterwards, sorry for the delay.
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[1st email start]
Please read this entire message.
I know it is a long read, but there is a lot to address for the next
meeting.
Please save this email, and make sure that it does not end up in your
"Junk" folder.
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Topic 0: Meeting Dates:
The last two meetings are on
Tuesday, May 26, 2009 (5/26/2009)
at Princess Ann Park.
and
Tuesday, June 9, 2009 (6/9/2009)
at Princess Ann Park.
Unless otherwise specified.
Meet at Rm 202 first until me and Josh get there,
so that everybody knows where to go at Princess Ann Park.
If there is inclement on any of the two meeting dates, we will just have
the meeting in Rm 202.
Topic 1: Larp-ing
Larp-ing will work for the Strategy Club.
The things that have been confirmed so far:
1. It CANNOT be affiliated with Landstown High school the school
system in any way. The reasons are obvious. Mr. Shaneyfelt can
come, but he cannot be the one hosting it. I, Josh and other
"legal" adults would have to be the ones hosting it. We would have
to host it after the school year is over, in order to avoid any
conflicts with the school system. The event has to be an
UNOFFICIAL Strategy Club activity, separate and unrelated from
what we do at school. We have not officially decided on a date
yet, but we will confirm a date for the next meeting. Make sure to
pay attention at the next meeting.
2. The members will have to make their own weapons, shields, and
armor. Making this items are not expensive. An average player
would only have to spend $10-20 for all of the materials,
depending on where he/she bought it from and how much he/she
already has in their house. Don't worry, once all of your
equipment is made and tested to be "battle-safe", you don't have
to shell out any more money. Well, unless you really want to go
"all-out". Depending on if the participants want to donate their
leftover material, we MAY have enough to make a few spare swords,
but DON'T count on it. Josh and Me will bring a sword and shield
for demonstration purposes at the meeting at Princess Ann Park.
3. Please READ the documentation, or at least take a glance at it, so
that everybody knows what to expect when they get there. At a first
glance, the rules for this game may be complex, but once you get the
gist of it down, it is very easy to play. We will NOT scrutinize at
every single rule, but we will expect the participants to follow the
general ones There is nothing worse than having take a large portion of
time out of the event just to explain the entire set of directions to a
few people because nobody bothered to read them. We will spend only a
few minutes going over the rules, so make sure that you have at least
looked through them.
4. I have four places in mind for this event so far.
A. The first place is Princess Ann Park, the closest to
Landstown High School. Everybody (Mostly everybody) knows where this
park is, so actually getting there should be no problem whatsoever.
The only real problem is this: If many people are at the park on a
regular basis during the summer, having a peaceful time, and we decide
to have it, somebody may decide that our event is "disturbing the peace"
and call the authorities. I do not know for sure if there is a law that
prohibits larp-ing at a city park (will have to look into it), but as
long as the participants do NOT bother non-participants that are
enjoying the park and do NOT destroy any property, we should be able to
have it there without any conflicts. However, if a significant amount of
people show up at the park on a regular basis during the summer months,
we may have to have it somewhere more secluded from the public's attention.
B. Our second option is redwood park on General Booth Blvd. From
Landstown, it is a longer drive away, but there are open, private fields
in which we can large battles in without many trees being in the way.
Again, it is a city park, so I do not know if there is a law against it,
but I highly doubt that the park will be so crowded during the summer
months that will we not have sufficient room.
C. The 3rd (and probably best choice) is the open, somewhat private,
but easy to get to, patch of land near Josh's house. It is not a park,
so we do NOT have to worry about laws, disturbing other people, or
damaging any property. Nobody in the neighborhood owns that patch of
land, so we would not be trespassing. The land is between some house and
a small forest, so we would have to make sure not to cause too much of a
ruckus during night.
D. The 4th choice (which is also just as good as the 3rd choice) is a
public park also near where Josh lives. What makes this park different
fro Princess Ann Park and Redwood is that NOBODY ever seems to be there,
not even children. It is deserted. There is a big wide open field there.
The best places are circled in red the picture:
location_larping_best_places.png
If anybody has any others places in mind, please contact me as soon as
possible.
The easiest way to get to any of these two places (choices 3 and 4)
would just be to go to Josh's house first.
Here is the link to the directions:
www.mapquest.com/mq/7-sFQZ6qqaIf that link somehow does not work,
simply go to mapquest.com and type in
for the start:
2001 Concert Dr
Virginia Beach, VA 23456-8088
And for the Finish:
1832 Finsbury Ln
Virginia Beach, VA 23454-5018
Or if that doesn't work:
Simple directions:
1) Start at Landstown High School.
2) Go down Princess Anne Rd and turn left on Dam Neck Rd
3) Keep going down Dam Neck Rd until you get to London Bridge Rd and
turn right.
4) Go down London Bridge Rd and turn Left on Weybridge Dr.
5) Turn right on Finsbury lane and keep going until you get to
1832 Finsbury lane (on the left side of the road.)
5. There will be a small entrance fee in order to participate in the
event. The entrance fee will be $5. There will also be concessions
(probably just chips and drinks), but we have not decided for sure. The
money will be for the Strategy Club next year.
6. For the sake of simplicity at the event, I have decided to base
the actual rules off of Dagorhir. Dagorhir is NOT a "fancy" LARP with
magical spells and long quests.
(From the About page): "Dagorhir is social, and allows for interaction
among a diverse group of people. Role-playing games restrict social
interaction to one’s immediate friends. Computer games are even more
limiting in this respect. Dagorhir’s participants include a vast range
of people, including college professors and high school students,
construction workers and accountants, computer geeks and goths."
The game takes place in the nitty-gritty middle ages, before the
invention of firearms, where large armies would battle it out to the
death for glory and gold. It is similar to the battles in The Lord of
the Rings and Alexander; pure, raw, and simple.
The rules will not be strictly enforced as in an actually Dagorhir game,
but there will be some general rules that participants will have to
follow.
Here are the links for what Dagorhir (and larp-ing actually is) in more
detail. Students, please do NOT try to access these sites at a school
computer. They will probably be blocked.
Here is the main site:
www.dagorhir.com/About Dagorhir (Please Read):
www.dagorhir.com/dagorhir/dagorhir.htmHere is the page to actually make the gear:
www.dagorhir.com/gearTo make a simple sword:
www.dagorhir.com/gear/content/weapon_tutorials/howtomakeabluesword.swfTo make a simple shield:
dagorhir.com/gear/content/weapon_tutorials/spiral_shield.phpTo make simple armor:
www.dagorhir.com/aratari/images/rules/First_Timer.gifWhat not to do:
www.dagorhir.com/aratari/images/rules/Spud.gifAt these sites, you will find everything about what LARP-ing generally
is: a safe, realistic, and fun recreational activity that combines the
fantasy theme with physical activity. NOT a fanatical, uncontrolled, and
vicious beat-down. Please tell your parents that it is a safe,
realistic, and fun recreational activity, so that they will NOT
formulate the wrong opinion about what Larp-ing actually is. If executed
and regulated correctly, Dagorhir is no more dangerous than a game of
football or soccer.
You're probably still wondering what this has to do with strategy. The
answer is simple. Back in the mid-evil days, firearms did not exist, so
there was much strategy between leaders on how to defeat the enemy with
limited men.
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Topic 2: Logo
If you haven't seen the logo yet, it is in the zip file as :
strategy_club_logo_tiles.jpg
in the "logo" folder
or you can find it on the forum in the "T-shirt Designs, Logos, &
Pictures" sub-board in the "LOGO DESIGN" thread.
exact url:
lhsstrategyclub.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=logo&action=display&thread=51If anybody still wants to introduce their own logo, there is still time
before the next meeting. Simply email it to me or post it on the forum.
In order to make a bit of profit for the Strategy Club, the price of the
T-Shirts will be $5. We will bring one t-shirt for show.
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Topic 3: Officers
If there is time, we will decide for officers for next year by voting.
Although some of the persons receiving this email will not agree with
me, after experiencing the struggles of being the President of Strategy
Club, I believe that
Zach (from Chess Club)
should be the LHS Strategy Club President because he is a well rounded,
optimistic, and responsible person that has a found interest for various
types of Strategy related games. Although his is particularly skilled at
chess, he does not let it addicting and distracting, unlike a good
amount (not every one) of (sorry I have to point this out) Yu-Gi-Oh card
players. He does not let his interest in games distract him from paying
attention to the officers when they are speaking. If he becomes
president, he will NOT totally ban the game from the club, but will open
the club up to a variety of games and activities.
I believe that any person in the Strategy Club who is open-minded, is
willing to try new games, and is not an addict should place their vote
for Zach.
The leaders for next year's club should be voted into office because of
their qualifications, NOT because of how popular they are.
If you want the "Strategy" Club to still be the "Strategy Club" for
future years to come and not the "Yu-Gi-Oh" club, then you should vote
for Zach.
Zach for LHS Strategy Club President.
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Topic 4: Emails:
I have given the Strategy Club email list ONLY to Strategy Club officers
and affiliating teachers. Basically, it is a text file that contains the
email addresses of the Strategy Club members that have given their email
addresses to me so far (as of this email posting). This is so that the
Officers and Teachers can email all the members in case somebody comes
up with a new idea, or in case of an emergence posting, etc. I do not
have to be the one emailing everybody all the time.
However, I am not going to give the email addresses to every member of
Strategy Club unless they want it to be able to make announcements to
everybody. If you want the email address list, email me a request or get
it from another officer.
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Topic 5: Other events/projects/fundraisers
At the Meeting on:
Tuesday, May 26, 2009 (5/26/2009)
at Princess Ann Park.
We will be attempting to play a game of "Multi-Plane" Risk.
If you have the game Risk and want to bring it or want to donate it, now
is the time. It will be similar to regular Risk, but with multiple
planes, making the game more brutal and lengthy.
Speaking of donations, if anybody has any Strategy related games (board,
card, rpg, wargame, etc) that have been gathering dust and are not
wanted anymore, then please donate them to the Strategy Club. Any
donation, big or small, would be greatly appreciated.
If anybody has any ideas for fundraisers, please tell and put it on the
forum.
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I know that this is a lot of information to take in, but unfortunately
there are only two meetings left before the end of the school year.
These elaborate emails I am sending to everybody are necessary so that
every member of the strategy club is up to speed on what is going on.
I have designated the Piper, Josh, to do most of the talking for the
last two meetings since he appears to be the better speaker. He will do
his best to summarize what I have said in this email in 15 minutes or less.
Next year, the club will have more time to prepare for large events.
Hopefully more members will sign up for the forum so that the President
and other officers will not have to send such elaborate emails just to
keep everybody up to speed.
All I ask is that the members completely stop what they are doing for 15
minutes and give him and the rest of officers your undivided attention.
After the presentation, you can go back to whatever it is you are doing.
If there ANY questions, comments, complaints, or concerns about anything
I have said in this email, anything Josh is going to say at the next
meeting, or anything in general. Feel free to contact the club by these
means:
email (President): riceball@lavabit.com
email (Vice President): ferer56@yahoo.com
email (Secretary): lovelessfight@yahoo.com
email (Piper): jaganime@cox.net
or
piratenovelist@yahoo.com
forum:
lhsstrategyclub.proboards.comidenti.ca:
strategyguy (friend):
identi.ca/strategyguy lhsstrategyclub:
identi.ca/group/lhsstrategyclubJabber (IM):
lhs_strategy_club: lhs_strategy_club@conference.jabber.org
firewatch (private): firewatch@jabber.org
-- Alex Brown Founder and President of The LHS Strategy Club Landstown High School "Don't worry. You always get free time, but how you spend it is up to you."
[1st email end]
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[2nd email start]
[If you did not receive the email titled: "Last two meetings: larp-ing +
logo + officers + other projects/fundraisers.", now would be a good time
to either email me asking for it, or finding it on the forum
<http://lhsstrategyclub.proboards.com>]
For the meeting on Tuesday, May 26 (5/26/2009)
Please meet at Rm 202, as normal for the "business" part of the meeting.
After business, we will go to the park to demonstrate the sword and
shield. If there is inclement weather on the 26th, we will have to stay
inside the classroom.
The "business" part of the meeting will consist of (in this order):
1) Electing/Nomination Officers for next year. Depending on the time we
have, we may either elect the Officers right there and then, or simply
just nominate officers and leave the elections to the last meeting.
We need to convince the super-majority (80-90%) of all the members
present and Mr. Shaneyfelt to add a section that will allow us to
actually AMEND the constitution. Being able to AMEND the constitution
will allow the club to establish set rules of conduct, procedures, etc.
When we do that, the constitution will then legit-ly allow us to have
elections near the end of the year.
The reason why I believe that we should have elections at the end of the
year instead of the beginning is to try and prevent the unexperienced
from taking office simply because they are overwhelmingly popular by new
members. This way, when the school year begins to come to a close, the
members can base their votes by what is really important:
Qualifications. After the members get the entire school year to actually
know each other, they will be able to FAIRLY decide who should become
their officers. Officers that will be able to maintain the club, are
mature and open-minded, and will work to make the club grow and expand.
NOT officers who will limit and deter the growth of the club by their
uncontrollable addiction in only a few, private interests and failure to
grasp the Larger picture of Strategy Club.
2) Logo Voting, Orders for T-Shirts. We have printed the logo on one and
will bring it to the next meeting for demonstration purposes. In order
for the Strategy Club to have some funds for next year, the T-shirts
(doesn't matter which size) will be sold for $4 each. If you have not
seen what the supposed logo is going to be, you should probably check it
out on the forum.
If anybody else still wants to introduce their logo for Strategy Club,
please reply to this email with the attached logo or post it on the
forum. The main logo so far is at
<http://lhsstrategyclub.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=logo>*T-shirt
Designs, Logos, & Pictures*
<http://lhsstrategyclub.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=logo> -> LOGO DESIGN
3) Information about Larp-ing: The members present need to decide on at
least a definite:
* Place
* Date
* Time
* Entrance Cost ($5-$7, under $10)
* # of person interested to come (so that we generally decide on how
much concessions we should start out with.)
Once we get these 5 important pieces of information established of, I
will be able to complete the simple, short, and informative ad that I
have been working on. The members will be able to tell other people
about the event and give them definite information.
The more persons that can come, the larger and more epic battles we can
have. However, in order to make that happen, the hosts (me, Josh,
Josh's mom) of this event need volunteers in order to help out with the
necessary "grunt" work (collecting entrance fees, weapon tester, weapon
testee, referee, concession manager, ID-Checks, crowd control, etc.) so
that the game is playable, safe, and fun for everybody. The volunteers
will be rotated around so that everybody will get a chance to
participate in the battles.
4) Other events and fundraisers. To keep the open-minded-ness of the
club, the Strategy Club needs to live up to its name. This means that we
need to do a wide variety of Strategy-related (board, card, rpg,
wargames, etc) activities in the meantime in order to allow the members
to experience new ideas and put money in the club's "pot of gold".
I have no quarrels against any game in particular, not even a certain
card game I could mention, but if the club becomes absorbed in one game,
it will deteriorate. Deteriorate because the few members that do want to
enjoy a variety of games will have few people to share his/her mixed
passions with because the rest of the members are stuck into one game.
After the "business" part is fully taken off (if all goes well, should
take no more than 30-35, 40 minutes max to complete everything), we will
then go to Princess Ann Park to demonstrate the generic sword and shield
and have other events (Multi-Plane Risk). A little fresh air would us
all some good. Unfortunately, Mr. Shaneyfelt cannot come with us because
if he did, it would count as a club "field trip", even though is it a
short walk away. He would have to get a bus just to get over there.
I hope that this email clears up the confusion that was generated by
the: "larp-ing + logo + officers + other projects/fundraisers" email
(Supreme Being about 95% of humanity believes in), please save the LHS
Strategy Club when Josh and I have left for college.
-- Alex Brown Founder and President of The LHS Strategy Club Landstown High School Don't worry. You will always get free time, but how you spend it is up to you.
[2nd email end]
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