Communication
Or, how to find out what is going on. There are many ways for you to be informed about what is happening within the Society.
At Group level
Through your group leader - the first responsibility of a group leader is communication and they should be in a position to brief you on the season's activities. If you have Provincial membership, the Provincial Members Coordinator plays the same role.
The Runestaff
This is our Society newsletter and is published approximately 4 times per year. If you elect to receive a paper copy, your group leader will receive your copy so please remember to collect it. It is posted directly to you if you have Provincial membership or copies are always available at https://docs.vikingsonline.org.uk/departments/44/files.
The Broadsheet
The Broadsheet is published once every two months. The Broadsheet contains information about rules and procedures which might be relevant to particular time of the season. Articles in the Broadsheet take the form of either Regular Rules Reminders (RRR) or 'How to' guides. the content will remain fairly static from year to year, but the rules and links will be updated as required. Copies are always available at https://docs.vikingsonline.org.uk/departments/44/files.
January -
March -
May
July How to communicate with the Press, RRR - Drugs and Alcohol, RRR - Plastic Camp, RRR Banner Carrying
September - How to Hear What's Going On, how to Access Kit checks, How to nominate someone for an award, How to tell a group with a safeguarding culture
November RRR First Aid, RRR Event Booking, How to Carry out a site Visit
January RRR Expectations of Members, How to Access a Craft Test, How Items Become Unacceptable, Minor, Medium & Major Shows, RRR The Two Hit Rule Combat & Missiles
VMAIL
All members may join our in house user group (VMAIL) which is now the major communication stream where all major events and important announcements will appear on VMAIL. If you would like to join please mail the Admin Officer (admin[at]vikingsonline.org.uk) with your name and group. This is also an excellent forum for asking advice.
Also available:
- Authenti-vike A mailing list for those interested in discussing matters of authenticity. Please contact Jeppe Christensen <jeppe.christ[at]gmail.com> if you wish to join.
- Vikings-RTT. A list for RTT's and group training officers to discuss combat matters. Please apply to Paul Murphy (paul[at]ousekjarr.org) to join.
In addition, many groups have their own private mailing lists.
Web Pages
Details of all events members can attend will appear on the Members Calendar as well as being advertised on VMAIL.
Members information
In addition to the information on this Wiki, there are many, more detailed guides available on DocStore at https://docs.vikingsonline.org.uk – your Group Leader can access more for you.
Social media
Follow us on Twitter @TheVikingsUK
Follow us on Instagram @TheVikingsUK
There is both a public FaceBook page https://www.facebook.com/vikingsonline and 2 members-only pages. For more information on Internal Communications and rules of usage see this guide.
The Vikings Official is an official communication channel for:
- Information about shows to enable people to attend e.g times, dates, access, maps, timetables, datelines etc.
- Society announcements e.g re banquet, training events, department training weekends, membership renewals
- Calls for volunteers or action from HoDs or others where approved in advance and confirmed by HC to admins
- Links to the Runestaff
- Annual remembrance
- Virtual Training Events
The Vikings Longhouse (Discussion) is a social forum for:
- Adverts (Wednesdays only, please see rules below for more information)
- Photos/media links following shows
- Thank you’s
- Shares from other Viking related pages
- Requests for help/info from members
- Lost property
- General hobby related discussions
Members wishing to join the forums have to be invited via a Facebook friend who is already in the forums and done individually for both forums. (This is a Facebook process issue not an admin issue) Alternatively, please contact an admin who can generate a link invitation, however it should be noted this is a slower process due to links needing to be generated and taking into account that admins are volunteers so may not see emails or messages immediately. Once an invite has been sent those wishing to be added must answer the group questions and agree to the rules. Until these have been answered in full, admins will not accept the invited person into the forum. Those who have answers pending will periodically be rejected, typically if left pending for more than a month.
Text Alert
We subscribe to a Text Alert service which sends a text message in the event of urgent "Alerts" being needed, for example, major events being cancelled on the day due to a flash flood (yes it has happened). This is a service that could save you driving pointless miles.
To sign up, please email Gareth Evans (safety[at]vikingsonline.org.uk) with your Mobile number. When we need to alert people we will send the alert to all registered phones. This will come through with the name "The Vikings" so there is no confusion. There is not the ability to reply to the message, and it is to be taken as Gospel, as only specific officers can do this. To send a message via this service you will need to contact any member of The High Council, or specifically, Gareth Evans.
Obviously the text will be followed up with a more detailed email, but this is to get the message out there quickly.