A&S Competitions

[James Crouchet]

On Sat, 25 Mar 1995 STDDLY at TINY_TIM.SHSU.EDU wrote:

[...]
> 
> > bran writes:
> > 
> > >I have pleaded with autocrats to give me lists of those who slaved
> > >away in the "back room" to make their events successful. I can count 
> > >the number of lists received on the fingers on one hand. I request of 
> > >the populace, that they give me recommendations for individuals who 
> > >they believe are due recognition. All too often, they would rather 
> > >complain than simply say "x really ought to have an AoA."
> > 
> > I'm sorry your populace has been so stingy with names of deserving 
> > people. IMHO because I live in a shire, we've not had this problem, 
> > because we know that there is no one (ie Baron) who will recommend 
> > people. We have to do it ourselves or it won't get done.
> 
> It is a universal problem. Some people actually think that their 
> recommendations  will not be used by the crown just because they do 
> not have the "strength" of awards behind them.

And this problem is made worse by the fact that those who DO have the 
_strength of awards_ to feel confident in their recommendations are often 
so swamped with their own duties they do not get to see the work put in 
by the would-be-AoA. This is not snootyness, it is a matter of 
obligations and time.

For example, our baron, Jeremy, also acts as Lord High Chancelor for 
Ansteorra. Between this baronial duties and his kingdom duties he does 
not have time to hang out at gate guard or in the kitchen. When the 
cleanup crews are working he is discussing what the kingdom's next move 
will be with the king. HE IS DOING THE WORK HE SHOULD BE DOING, but he 
cannot know who cleaned up or cooked or watched the gate unless someone 
tells him.

To some degree this affects everyone who becomes involved enough in the 
SCA to earn an award. They go on to new duties and leave what they use to 
do to someone new.  This is certianly true of anyone who is part of a 
_circle_.

So the answer seems to be recommend your peers(small p)! Look for those 
near your level who work hard or excell in what they do and recommend 
them.  If you do not feel comfortable recommending them to the crown, 
recommend them to someone of higher rank than yourself and see if they 
will recommend them to the crown.