NB: A summary can never be as nuanced as a full discussion - if time permits please read the whole document here, or at least the bits that may interest you the most!
Strategic benefits:
The SCA Kingdom of Lochac is a formally organised and highly self-governing SCA uber-group covering Australia, New Zealand and their Antarctic territories.
This list concentrates on the likely positives (a solutions-focused appraisal); negatives that have been raised are discussed in greater detail in other FAQ items.
Corpora (Oct 19, 2019) says Principalities need to have at least 100 members.
Between 2012 and 2017, NZ had had a stable subscribing adult membership of around 160-170; by early 2020 this had grown to a high of 214, by late 2023 it was nearly 250.*
(* Membership numbers were expected to drop as a result of COVID effects but this did not happen, quite the opposite.)
This long period was considered to see whether NZ’s popular 3-year membership option has affected or inflated paid memberships (as has been suggested); this does not appear to be the case.
Concern has been raised regarding the ability of New Zealand to provide the extra layer of Principality Officers needed, particularly given commonly-expressed concerns regarding difficulties in filling group officer positions.
According to Corpora (Section VII.A.3), Principality Officers generally parallel that of the Kingdom. The word generally (my bold) means that a Principality would not require officers beyond Corpora’s standard six – Seneschal, Herald, Marshal, Arts and Sciences, Exchequer and Chronicler – without good reason.
In 2008-9, there was a brief attempt to create regional Seneschals, but the role wasn't defined or well-supported; they had no mandate or definition in Kingdom Law; and little or no understanding from the populace or group Seneschals. So they did not prosper.
If we beefed up SCANZ we could transfer almost all NZ-wide aspects of SCA Offices to SCANZ counterparts, to deal with all out-of-game/real world tasks and projects. SCANZ, after all, reflects and supports our local legal requirements.
SCANZ is not, however, a day-to-day operational body – it deals with governance. Thus, it may struggle to deliver the level of services that Kingdom and group Officers provide. Demarcation of responsibilities, liability and communications would need to be very clearly defined and adhered to.
When Offices are discussed, the conversation tends to focus – often solely – on the negative aspects and difficulties of the job. It is not common to hear any positive aspects, whether enhancement of a service ethic; improving experience and CV-relatable skills; contributing to group guidance and governance; working with good teams and forming valuable networks and relationships; satisfaction in seeing growth and development for groups, people and events.
We have the heraldic ability and experience to develop, consult and decide on this. The Kingdom's chief herald has indicated that there no administrative problem with pre-registering several potential designs and names to "NZ Groups" against the possibility that one or more of them might be used after a formal Principality poll.
This area is often cited by groups as the most difficult/contentious point of going Principality, with tricky timing and sometimes significant delays in the process, so is something that should be tackled early on if a decision is made to proceed.