Yorkshire group

[malgrimace]

As far as I'm aware, there isn't a group in the South Yorkshire area.

Unless someone can point me in the direction of a group I've missed - I'm interested in setting one up and already have 5-10 people interested in joining.

Who's game for this? 

[TimeTinker]

There is no South Yorkshire group (hitherto we haven't had groups but do organise meets and socialising) as such but there are a number of us here and active.  Myself, Lady Elsie, Valkyrie and Mr Underwood are just south of Doncaster, Mr Peter Harrow is in Sheffield, Aunty Ludmilla and her partner are in Chesterfield and we have had a few more turn up to our gatherings in Sheffield.

Always happy to meet up with fellow steampunks.

[malgrimace]

From experience of previous costuming hobbies, I'm just acustomed to a page or mailing list to help co-ordinate people. Would you be interested in joining one were it set up?

[TimeTinker]

I must be honest I don't see the point in trying to seperate off a Yorkshire group with its own page etc.  Brass Goggles has served to this point to keep people in touch and there is the VSS forum too at http://thevss.forumotion.com where you would be welcome to post events and they can be listed on the Victorian Steampunk Society's main calendar page too.  This serves to allow other people to meet up and not just the South Yorkshire folk since we get people from North and West Yorks and Notts attending meets too.  Mind you please tell us a little bit more about yourself and what you are proposing since we are always looking for creating more steaminess in the region.

[malgrimace]

Sorry I wasn't very clear on my intentions. I was thinking about setting up something like a page on facebook which will make it easier for Steamies in the S. Yorkshire area to meet and organise

[TimeTinker]

With the way steampunks interact at the moment you are probably better making sure south yorkshire steampunks are your friends and just posting on your normal facebook page then list meets etc here and with the VSS to attract new steampunks in the region.  A facebook page just makes stuff a bit exclusive and we try hard to be very inclusive.

What's your background in "costuming" and how long have you been into steampunk?  It would be good to meet up.

[malgrimace]

I've been in a Star Wars costuming group for the last 2 years and before that I was in the SCA for about 8 years

[TimeTinker]

We have a couple of friendly pubs in Sheffield.  We are looking for potential venues for Steampunk club nights where we can promote bands etc.  Many people here come from costume backgrounds (re-enactment, SF or LRP for example) although many do not.  There is a lot more to steampunk than just costuming. Which Star Wars group BTW? Are you in Sheff or Rotherham?  Have you got a potential meeting place in mind?

[malgrimace]

I figured there was more to it, and I'm very eager to learn everything I can!

I'm a member of the 99th Imperial Garrison (one of the charity focussed, fun orientated groups) which is spread around the UK but most of the members tend to be in the North.

I'm actually in Rotherham, but I own one of those fangled horseless carriages, so transports not really a problem either hehe

[JennyWren]

Not south yorkshire, but west yorkshire, still pretty close, always intrested in local get togethers

[malgrimace]

If you're on facebook, then please feel free to add me. facebook.com/gotngb (John Scholey).

[TimeTinker]

Steampunk in the UK does not have the sort of structures you may be familiar with from Star Wars and SCA participation.  We don't tend to have organised regional groups with group leaders etc but the scene is largely generated by people suggesting meeting places or setting up events which folks offer to attend.  

In fact many of us don't think of steampunk as "costume" as such it is more like clothes and everyday dressing for many although we do of course dress more elaborately for meets and events.

There is a growing music and entertainments scene which we are trying to expand.  Every steampunk has their own take on the genre and has the aspects of it that they find most interesting.  For some it is building and contrapting, for others costume, for some it is SF books, films etc and for others it is role play.  One thing binds us together - we are universally polite and welcoming and we share a love of the steampunk aesthetic.

People are often willing to travel to events even for just meets etc.  We have arranged camps and of course the UK Convivial (The Asylum) which saw more than 400 steampunks take over the City of Lincoln for a weekend in September.  It is for this reason that local pages etc don't really work since you could easily find someone turning up from a meet from 100 miles away or more.  Geographical here is great for keeping people in the know and many of us use facebook to talk to one another too.

There is one organisation in the form of the Victorian Steampunk Society.  This is a not for profit organisation which works to promote steampunk, organise events and increase awareness of the community in the wider world.  Anyone who attends events organised by the VSS automatically becomes an Associate of the society but the full members (who are very few) work  to organise things on behalf of the greater scene.  The VSS publishes a calendar of events so people can see what might be available to them too so any gatherings you might like to get going in South Yorks could easily be promoted there.

You are of course perfectly free to form a Yorkshire Group should you wish. I would humbly suggest that by doing so though you are perhaps less likely to get involved in the wider steampunk community.  

We would be more than happy to help you with organising and promoting meets and gatherings to increase the availabiltiy of steampunkiness in the region.  Please share your ideas etc since we may well have venues, resources and opportunities to assist.  Please don't think of steampunk as a costuming hobby though. It is a community of people who enjoysimilar things and each other's company.  

Welcome to the Steamy World, we all look forward to a chance to meet with you and your friends.

[Mr Peter Harrow, Esq]

Steampunk costume? What costume!

Steampunk tends to me non-herarchial, we don't really have leaders, its a bit like herding cats, but the VSS is the only real organisation extant to date. There is nothing stopping anyone from setting up their own organisation or events, so if you want to set up a steampunk costuming club, perfectly fine, but you have to remember, that most of us do more than just costuming, we make art and contraptions, write, read, make music, run events etc. There is no element of steampunk or neo-Victorian culture we do not explore and enjoy, as well rounded individuals.

I for example read and enjoy steampunk fiction and graphic novels, along with other SF and related genres, I make contraptions and art both for my own amusement and for the odd commission or donation to charity, and I help run all sorts of Conventions and Convivials. Costuming is perhaps the least of my interests in steampunk. I dress Chap all the time.

[Arceye]

I'm interested in keeping in touch with local Steampunks (I'm in Rotherham SY) but contact can be achieved within the Geographical section in here.

[TimeTinker]

I must point out the Papplewick gathering on Sunday 27th of December.  It is intended as a festive get together and they are steaming up the two big beam engines.  There should be around 30 of us attending and the plan is to  move on to the nearby Burnstump Inn for food and drinks in the early evening.

Papplewick is about 30-35 miles from Sheffield/Rotherham.  Anyone driving with space in their conveyance would likely find willing passengers too.

http://brassgoggles.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,20213.0/topicseen.html

[malgrimace]

Ah excellent. Unfortunately I'd more then likely be in civvies :\

[TimeTinker]

Not a problem Sir.  Dressing up is not an essential part of being a steampunk.  Come along and meet more of us.  We are a very mixed bag from various backgrounds but the one thing that brings us together is the Steampunk aesthetic and the enjoyment of socialising.  We look forward to seeing you.

[malgrimace]

I am working on a few bits on fleabay, so there's that passing chance I might have something vaguely in the spirit of things

[Mister Fox]

As well as here and the VSS, there's also the UK Steampunk Network.  If you're planning a get together or an event of any sort, then let us know at the Network and we'll put up a post about it and invite anyone who wants to come to attend.

If the costuming aspect of Steampunk is what you're interested in at the moment, have you considered setting up workshops?  Pass on the skills and enthusiasm to other Steampunks.  And keep hanging around places like this and we can pass on our own skills and enthusiasm in return!  As Mr Harrow pointed out, there's no real hierarchy or pecking order, so if you have an idea, a way you think you can contribute to the community, just go ahead and do it. 

Of course, it's easier organise events when you have a group of like-minded and sympathetic people.  As Tinker says, if you organise a sort of exclusive, closed group (I have no idea this is what you were talking about, just taking an extreme), then it might lead your group to develop in isolation from the wider community.  If you get together a group of like-minded people, organise day-trips and workshop days which you throw up to all and sundry, pool together to attend other events and reduce travel costs, that kind of thing, then great!

[TimeTinker]

I don't for one instant think that Malgrimace was actually talking about forming an insular group but hoped to point out the dangers of how a formal group can end up inward looking.  More importantly one thing that has become evident here is that steampunks are willing to travel and by sharing everything that we have going on this encourages cross fertilisation of ideas etc.   One of my fundamental aims for the Asylum was to get as many steampunks together in one place to create a "critical mass of creativity".  We certainly achieved that and ended up making lots of new friends.

I mean no disrespect to organised groups in other costuming scenes (e.g. Starwars, re-enactment etc) but one aspect that we certainly don't need in Steampunk is the control and standards they enforce.  Steampunk is aspirational - people should do things because they want to do them not because the group leader says they have to.  It's actually a big change in mindset to get people to understand it. This change is very liberating and empowering.

One thing we all seem to do very well is share our enthusiasm and good will.  This needs to continue and I am sure it will.  In my humble opinion it is not about organised groups but about networks of friends.  Of course the VSS is a group of people and we are organised but we limited membership of the VSS deliberately to discourage the sort of group politics etc that dogs social organisations from Bowling Clubs to SF Societies.  Everyone who attends an event is automatically an associate of the VSS and is shown full respect in their input and ideas but the actual management of those ideas is done by a small number of us to make sure things get done, to stop squabbles and disagreements.  This was a very conscious decision from the outset.  At the same time though we actively encourage and support other people in organising events etc.  We don't need heirarchies and titles, nor do we need egos and arrogance. I use the title of Chair of the VSS when dealling with the media, councils etc because it is useful and they expect that sort of thing.  In fact I am just another steampunk amongst many hundreds.  I am perhaps not being very clear since this is very much a philosophical argument so I will finish with.

Many of us love steampunk and will work to ensure it is a scene we can enjoy.  There are many of us in Yorkshire and we are very happy to network with our steampunk colleagues and share time and enjoyment.  We also want to ensure that the scene is available to  the whole of the UK if not the World.

I'm steampunk and I'm proud! (to paraphrase The Commitments)

[Mister Fox]

One of my fundamental aims for the Asylum was to get as many steampunks together in one place to create a "critical mass of creativity".

I'll say!  The Asylum really was something spectacular, and full credit to the VSS for making it happen.

I've never really been a group or society person, less so the further back in my life you go.  The Steampunk community is the first group or community I've ever laid tentative claim to being part of.  I know that it seems to be a part of human nature, though, to gather in small groups, draw lines in the sand and defend your lines with insane determination.  The Steampunk community isn't like that, not at all, and like everyone else in this thread I'd very much like to keep it that way.  I did not mean to put words in anyone's mouths, and I apologise if I came across that way.

I just wanted to convey the idea that it can be fun and productive to have a semi-organised 'crew' (I don't think it's possible to get Steampunks to be any more orangised than 'semi') with whom you can attend events, organise day trips, tea shop get-togethers, perhaps organise a reading circle or a regular sewing evening (it can be very useful to purposefully put aside time for hobbies to ensure they don't get crushed under the weight of day-to-day life), but you shouldn't fall into the trap of making your crew an island.  Everyone in the community has something to teach you and something to learn, and it would be a loss to the community and to the the crew if they existed in splendid isolation.

Maybe one day I'll perfect the art of being coherent and doing a reasonable job of sharing my views in a single post, instead of coming to some approximation of what I mean after I've offended people...

[TimeTinker]

Well said Sir and we already have several fine "Crews" leading by example.  They offer support, opportunity and a chance to create larger joint projects and presentations and should be applauded for that.  They do not go around joined at the hip however but allow individuals to participate in other steaminess outside the "crew".

Perhaps this is the way forward combining smaller "groups" in the wider community. 

[Sir Ninian Marsh]

I'm a member of the 99th Imperial Garrison (one of the charity focussed, fun orientated groups) which is spread around the UK but most of the members tend to be in the North.

Greetings Malgrimace, I'm from a similar costuming background. My wife and I are members of the UK Garrison (wife is the CO).

We're attending the Papplewick event on the 27th , it'd be good to meet you

[malgrimace]

Oh I've never had the chance to break bread with the UKG before.

After concidering what you've all said, I've set up a page for the area. This is NOT a group.

It's purpose is quite simple, in that people in the area will be able to realise they are not alone in the area. I've no intention of leading, or creation a splinter group or anything. It's intended simply to open a few peoples eyes

I hope that makes sense 

[TimeTinker]

That makes perfect sense.

May I suggest you add clear links to this place, the VSS and Steampunk Network on the page to help people find their place in the wider steampunk world too.

Mr Peter Harrow is in Sheffield just across the Tinsley viaduct.  He is certainly looking for a lift but may well be able to get over to a convenient rendesvous in Rotherham too.

We look forward to meeting you on the 27th.