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Image Taken By Will Eichler at Picket Post, May 2016
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE AUTHENTIC LIVING HISTORY COMMUNITY
It has been three years since I returned to The Authentic Campaigner. During these years, The AC has been on a mission. With the growth of social media, it became necessary to expand outside the borders of these forums. Since the 150ths ended in 2015, the conventional wisdom has been that the hobby is contracting. I have seen countless discussions on the forums and on social media to this effect. "The hobby is aging". "We don't have any movies to spark interest in the Civil War anymore". "The numbers at events have been declining". "I'm getting out". Well, that all may be true, but not in OUR hobby.
If you look at the EBUFU event schedule for 2017, we have just as many or more choices than we had ten years ago. Younger members and veterans alike are stepping up to organize events. Our numbers are not decreasing, but INCREASING. Wauhatchie already has over 340 people registered. It is on track to be the largest EBUFU event since Bummers in 2009. As a hobby, we have had impressive adjuncts at Shiloh in 2012, Gettysburg in 2013, Bentonville in 2015 and Perryville in 2016. Now that the adjuncts are largely over, our trends are not going down.
Through social media, the authentic hobby now has an unprecedented opportunity to take our message directly to the masses. This is happening on a broad scale. In my opinion, the authentic hobby (ironically) has been much more adept at adjusting our recruiting strategies than the mainstream wing of the hobby has been. What do you think?
I don't think there is any evidence that the mainstream hobby is attracting more people. Do you? The days of the mega-events are long gone. By all accounts, since the peak of the 125th Anniversary events in the late 80's the attendance at large-scale reenactments has been on a consistently downward trend. While, starting in the 1990's the attendance at authentic events, which started as small scale efforts, has increased, but, like reenacting as a whole, the trend has not been entirely consistent. I think we can all agree that in the authentic hobby, there was a lag in attendees and the number of event choices during the 150th event cycle declined. During that period, the authentic side of the hobby lost control of its schedule. Adjuncts were the rule of the day. The authentic hobby suffered from the same attrition from age, retirement and burnout that the mainstream hobby did. In my opinion, this was not a good era for us. I don't think it turned out as well as most of us expected.
What I see now is a younger crop of living historian rising from the ashes of the 150ths. At the next authentic event, look around. I guarantee that you will notice the younger faces. This is not to say that we don't have a core of guys who are getting older, but it does seem that, relatively speaking, we are doing a better job of filling in our ranks than the mainstream hobby is. Since we have smaller events, and will continue to have smaller-scale reenactments, this is one of our advantages. In essence, we don't need to attract large numbers to grow. We just need to build steadily, as we are now. This is accomplished by putting on events that attract the attention of the younger crowd. The more choices we have, the better chance we have to build. The platform for this growth, as I think most realize, is decidedly social media.
Not so long ago, the forums were the catalyst for growth and communication in the civil war reenacting hobby. The Civil War Reenacting Forum was the home base. Our forum, The Authentic Campaigner started small, but Paul Calloway kept this place on the cutting edge of technology. Long before the advent of social media, we had groups on this page. We had personal image galleries. Paul was way ahead of the curve. Now, we have closed many of those functions, not because they aren't worthwhile, but because they have been replaced by Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages. On the information side, we have had our crashes, but we have managed to maintain our database, with only a small loss of information from 2006. This was accomplished by continuously updating to newer and faster servers as technology evolved. It is because of Paul's foresight that all of the collective knowledge we have accumulated over the years has remained intact.
When I took over the forum from Paul in January of 2014, The Authentic Campaigner had already ventured into Facebook. We had a Twitter account. We kept up with the software updates over the years. But the visitors to the forums had declined dramatically from the high point in 2009. Times had changed. More of you were posting events on Facebook and other various social media outlets. The AC was no longer the hub for the event schedule. Our membership was scattered all over the web. It was time for the AC to become more than just a web page. Fortunately, we had an experienced staff here and I had been an administrator for the site for six years. So I saw an opportunity to build upon the solid foundation that Paul had built. To accomplish this, I submitted to him a bullet-point plan. Here it is, in its entirety. It was written on January 7, 2014 - Just over three years ago:
OVERALL PHILOSOPHY: The overall philosophy of the Authentic Campaigner should remain intact. If the site does not abide by its own standards, it ceases to provide its purpose. The core purpose of the site is two-fold.
1) To create the most valuable on-line presence and resource for those in Civil War Reenacting who want to improve their impression, exchange and contribute research, attend authentic events, buy and sell correct gear, and exchange ideas with like-minded historians. The AC should be the ultimate one-stop shop for the C/P/H community.
2) Attract more people to the web site and to C/P/H Civil War Living History in general. The standards should not change, but we must use the web site as a vehicle to stimulate and encourage interest in Civil War History. We are advocates for the C/P/H hobby. The AC influenced me when I was a beginner. It has influenced a lot of people and we need to regain this vital role in the hobby.
OVERHAUL THE OPERATION & APPEARANCE OF THE SITE:
• I am already in the process of checking that everything is working properly and that all images are coming up for icons, avatars, links, etc.
• Upload the vBulletin Version 5 Software - Further integration with Facebook is a must. For now, Facebook is the most widely used vehicle for communication on-line. Until the next thing comes along, we need to embrace this and capitalize on the potential audience it could provide.
• The user groups need to be streamlined. For security and to limit the chance that people will be able to access areas of the site that they shouldn’t.
• For clarity, the general rules should be reviewed, consolidated and revised. Sticky posts from over the years need to be “un-stuck” and replaced with the updated rules. The rules don’t need to be updated as much as they need to be clarified and simplified.
• Some of the older forums that aren’t used need to be taken down and archived in a hidden folder.
• We need to clean out the files on the server to maximize the storage available on the current server.
• Evaluate the modules on the front page and use fields that will encourage people into the site. Recent posts, photos, polls, etc.
• Update the logo. No radical changes. Same script. Just tweak it a little.
• Create a default appearance for the site that is unique. Allow users to choose their own, and create different custom skins that they can use to customize the site. Right now, the default appearance of the AC looks the same as Szabo’s. We need to have our own brand.
• Change the default font to Times New Roman. It looks more old-style and is universally accepted for web sites as a default font.
EVALUATE THE CURRENT STAFF:
During the transition, I want to talk to each of the moderators and administrators and find out what they want to do and whether they enjoy what they do at the site. I want people who are active in the hobby to moderate, and understand that some of the moderators have been there since the beginning and are a valuable resource. I would like to make a place for whoever wants to stay and contribute. I just want to know what they like to do the best and let them do it.
Overall, I would like to increase the size of the staff and give anyone the chance to leave if they desire. I want motivated people who want to improve, whether that means their impression; the hobby, or the AC, we should want to get better.
CREATE/UPDATE OPERATING BUDGET AND PROJECTIONS:
I would like to see the most recent financials for the site so I can create a budget and play with fee structures, projections, etc. This will help guide what will be necessary to increase the revenue of the site and understand the monthly and annual expenses.
BRING BACK EVENT FOLDERS/EVENT COMMITTEE:
Re-create a new group to evaluate events ahead of time and work with event coordinators to get their information posted on the AC. The AC should be the FIRST stop for events. Update site calendar with future events. We need to proactively promote the events and make recommendations with the folders. This will encourage people to participate and network.
CONCLUSION:
It is time to take the Authentic Campaigner to the next step. This can be achieved by making all necessary updates to the operation of the site, creating a larger and motivated staff and reaching out to Facebook, Twitter, and all available social media outlets that could promote the site. We need to seek out every technology that can increase user participation and interactivity. We need to regain our status as the primary cohesive engine for the authentic reenacting community and get back on the cutting edge of research, resources and technology. The first chapter of the AC has made it into an irreplaceable institution. It is now time for the next chapter.
THE MOST POWERFUL VOICE IN CIVIL WAR REENACTING:
This plan has now been implemented for three full years. The results are in line with my expectations. In terms of sheer numbers, The Authentic Campaigner has become the most powerful voice in civil war reenacting. You can do a search for yourself. This can be quantified.
Facebook - As of today, we have 10,461 followers on Facebook. Today, we have the largest following of any Civil War Reenacting site. Not just authentic reenacting, but ALL of Civil War reenacting. This platform is used to promote the AC site as well as events, authentic units, preservation, research and authenticity. Every time we "blast" out a post, it is reaching the 10,000+ that follow us and their friends and their friends and their friends. Occasionally, we boost specific posts. This allows us to reach outside of what I call the "reenacting bubble" to people who have an interest in the Civil War. When you boost a post, you can select a target audience. We have refined our target audience as we have collected demographic data over the last three years.
If you usually see our posts through your feed, take a moment to visit our page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheAuthenticCampaigner/
Twitter - We have 1,135 followers on Twitter. While this audience is smaller and certainly has some cross-over with the Facebook page, it allows us to reach a slightly different, and younger demographic. Because of the different format, the same messages that are posted on Facebook are altered to cater to the "140 words or less" crowd. Twitter has become the go-to place for internet chatter. This is why it is necessary for us to be there.
Have a look at our Twitter page: https://twitter.com/ACampaigner
Instagram - Instagram is our latest social media venture. In a little over a week, we have already attracted over 170 followers. Because we already have established Facebook and Twitter accounts, we can now cross-market to promote our participation on Instagram. The great thing about Instagram is that it is based entirely on photos and images. In other words, it is a very visual way for us to reach our audience. What better way to market what we do, than to show them what we do? This is one of the reasons we have decided to start the cover contest up again. You guys have some great images and what a perfect place to show people how to do it right.
Check out our new Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/authenticcampaigner/
If you add these avenues to the traffic that already comes here to the AC Forums, we are reaching anywhere from 10,000 - 50,000 people on a weekly basis. This number will continue to grow now that we are well-established on social media.
Going back to my earlier comment about the authentic hobby on Facebook, every EBUFU Event or Adjunct now has a web page AND a Facebook Page. Our community is very active AND connected on Facebook. Count your friend list and I'll bet that 80% of it are your reenacting friends. I know mine is. The authentic hobby has not only utilized social media. We have embraced it. I'm not quite certain why that is, but we really have. For better or worse, we now know more about each other than we ever did in the Era of the Forums. We know each other's likes and dislikes, politics and outside interests. In a way, we know each other better than we ever did.
And that is why I am posting this now. For all of us in the hobby, what we do is a labor of love. None of us get paid to do this. You know for yourself the money, time and expense that goes into your personal hobby. We all do it because we have a passion for it. To be frank, my primary goal when I took over the AC from Paul was not to create a monument for me or for the staff. My goal was only to magnify what we are as a whole. The authentic community is not large, but it is passionate and strong. When this passion is amplified, I think we can collectively accomplish great things. Personally, the AC gave me so much over the years. I'm forty-six now. I am thinking less about what this all means to us now and more about what we will all leave behind for the next generation.
COOPERATION IN THE HOBBY:
Now that we have control over our own schedule again, I think it is time to start thinking bigger. Wauhatchie is one of those efforts. Consider this. At Wauhatchie, the First Federal Division is coming as an adjunct to OUR event. Correct me if I'm wrong, but to my knowledge, this is the first attempt at creating a battalion effort at an EBUFU with a Reverse Adjunct. I believe that this is a direct result of all of the cooperation that was offered by our leadership to the mainstream hobby during the 150th cycle. In my opinion, there are two goals that can be accomplished by this:
1) Cooperation in the hobby breeds cohesiveness - not just for the authentic hobby, but for the entire hobby. While it is true that the authentic ranks are not suffering, the overall hobby has quite certainly contracted. I don't think there is any denying that. Speaking of the entire hobby, it seems to me that each and every one of us should do our part to keep interest in the Civil War alive for this generation. I think it is in all of our best interests to do so, whether you call yourself an authentic or not.
2) Grow the authentic hobby. The more we do to promote the events that we do and attract more people to "doing it right", the greater impact we can have on the overall authenticity of the Civil War Hobby.
GOING FORWARD:
Our community has its hub back. The AC has evolved from a list server to the forums and a full-blown web page and now it has become a brand on multiple platforms. All of this was built for each and every one of you. The more knowledge we can share the better we become. The more people we can reach, the larger our events can become. The more quality events we can produce as a community, the better our choices. With the combination of more choices and better events, there is no telling what we can do together.
The Authentic Campaigner belongs to you. Utilize it. The more material you provide to us, the more we have to amplify to the world. That is our goal here. To modify my mission statement three years ago:
Our goal is to seek out every technology that can increase user participation and interactivity. The Authentic Campaigner needs to continue our status as the primary cohesive engine for the authentic reenacting community and stay on the cutting edge of research, resources and technology. The first chapter of the AC has made it into an irreplaceable institution. It is now time for the next chapter. The next chapter for all of us is continued growth.
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