While there certainly are members here that have been straight shaving for decades, I think the current revival is relatively young, but nevertheless here to stay. The social structure for the people indulging themselves into the merits of the straight razor is still in its early stages of natural development. A certain degree of anarchy is typical for that, and I think many guys like that. After all, straight razor shaving is a bit of a stray activity for the gamma male of humankind. Nevertheless, structures are bound to develop as time goes by. Look! We suddenly have a Wiki! Who would have thought that would happen, when the same idea was strongly dismissed less than 6 months ago by the majority of the then high profile members? We have a boom of gettogether's, and my estimate is it won't be long before we have an annually SRP Achievement Award instated for people who made a remarkable contribution to the revival of our art and hobby. (You already know who will be the first winner of the SRP-award and the Maestro Livi custom with the diamond inlay, that comes with it.:hmmm: The persons name ends with a double consonant).
Slowly more formalized structures will fill the voids. Some people will regret that and nostalgically look back to the times when the SR-community was just a forum on the worldwide web. They will tell you it just isn't the same anymore... Look at the Classifieds, and the complaints about how the coziness from the B/S/T-forum got lost.:) Still, the B/S/T is dead, outgrown, left behind for something better organised. That doesn't mean the coziness is gone. It just moved elsewhere.
The webcast, imho, is a promising new media tool for hosting classes about honing, shaving and other straight razor related topics.
In Belgium and Holland, one can follow straight razor shaving courses, and even seperate courses about honing. Most of them are organised by stores that sell shaving gear, and I'm told there's such huge interest that there's an actual waiting list. It's not entirely sure that everything they teach during those courses is equally valid. (I'm formulating carefully here).
Having a decent method for evaluation and instruction of people that want to teach about the art of shaving, or just like to have formal accreditation for their skills, should be of great help. I understand that the avarage shaver/collector/hobbyist would not really be interested, and that those who are already making money (not my goal) are not necessarily keen on expanding the group of players in the field.
As Bruno pointed out, for forum moderators, conflicting interests could arise when setting up such a system. But it wouldn't be difficult to keep the powers separated, and assign different people to the task of divising the SRP accreditation program.
Keeping the dream alive;),
Bart.