Hail the Lunar Festival!
We all remember what a stunning debut The Orient made last year with it's first-ever "Lunar Festival," going on to celebrate far-eastern festivals in Japan, China, India, and more. Well, our second-annual Lunar Festival will start January 29 (running to February 5), and if rumors are a guide, it will be even more fun than last year. Read all about it in this month's Orient World News, and watch for notice of events on the
Orient Festival Planning Guide!
Private Enterprise and History
One of the great pleasures at AW is stumbling over a real work of art – or history – created by one of our members just to share his/her love of what we do here, and the potential of the Web for sharing it (the demis, happily, call it "member-driven content"). A nifty new entry is Kallistos Alexandros’
The Museion on Delos.
Kallistos’ idea is to take the historical island of Delos and build an ‘art gallery’ there that not only highlights the arts of Greece, but adds the art of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Rome. It’s connected with the Hellas Group Delian Dreams, and members can add to various ‘rooms’ as their expertise grows.
Once inside, each ‘Hall” creatively links to web resources from just all over, with images of arts, resources in literature, stories about ‘lesser’ arts, and more. It’s quite a production. Hail, Kallistos, and all those who worked with you on this project. Quickly nominated, the Museion has been added to the AW Gems List, the ongoing list of stand-alone projects that comprise the "best" of our AW knowledge and talent. Congratulations, Kallistos!
Another project in the works for the group Fundaminae Romae is to create a web site outlining some of the great stories about Roman heroes and heroines (Horatius at the Bridge, anyone?), and they’ve appealed for graphics talent and those interested in working in researching the 12 “Livy’s Lives” that will paint a verbal and visual portrait of Rome’s early history. Anyone interested in working with the project, contact Maria Marius or Heraklia Aelius.
These are just two examples of the kind of presentations that you can now find all over Google when you type in a subject from ancient history – often, it brings people right to our own doors. Thanks to all those whose hard work helps expand our resources at AW. And - speaking of private enterprise! - take a look at the next bit!
2006 Multi-Group Festival Planning
Not only Worlds, or 'hoods, but groups are getting in on the act of "private enterprise" festivals. On May 10th-12th, 2006, Ancient Worlds will be holding a Multi-group festival for groups anchored in Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The keynote event of this festival will be a "Science Fair Exhibit" where groups members, as well as anyone at this site, can display their 'projects', set in the "near-ancient" world of medieval and Renaissance time (our RenFair members will love this!) For more info, check out the Planning Thread!
Springfest '06 Dates Announced!
As you all know, last fall (for Goldfest) we tried a new "take" on our semi-annual festivals: rather than having all eight worlds participate at one time, only four worlds (Hellas, Mesopotamia, Germania, and Orient) created a four-day "Goldfest" in the fall, and this spring, the remaining worlds (Egypt, Rome, Celtia and The Americas) will build "Springfest '06" during April 20-23, 2006. Plans are underway, and let's just say - it involves a 'bragging competition' for achievements among the gods of the four worlds!
Volunteers are always welcomed during festival preparations. If you wish to be involved, use our wonderful new volunteer database, sign up on our Volunteer thread, or contact any scribe of the four worlds (or any demi) and tell them what you'd like to help with.
Revitalizing Groups
At current count, AncientWorlds offers no fewer than 229 groups, created by members over the past four years for various 'niche' interests, ranging from broad historical to heavy partying. Many of the groups have suffered from losing their original founders, or from lack of sustained development. However, there are many ways to revitalize an existing group, and several are currently on the way back from disuse.
One interesting way to 'grow' existing groups is to cross-link their interests with other groups of like subject. At the group Venezia,as one example, Marduk Hammurabi is associating the activities of his group with others, including Byzantium, the Age of Chivalry and Renaissance and Raptures. Other 'hot' ideas including linking a group with a particular 'hood of AncientWorlds that impacts it, and working to coordinate information and activities between the two.
The first thing to do, if you see an inactive group you'd love to redevelop, is to contact the scribes in that world. It's a courtesy to contact the former leaders to see if they are still interested in the group. If not, working with the scribes and demis, you can work on developing that group anew. It requires hard work, but as several of our formerly inactive groups are slowly returning to viability, it's worth the effort!
