Copy of Zodiacus Report...

[Aodhan Ite an Fhithich]

Dia duit!

 [Replying to a message of Marc Carlson  to All]

 MC>   Now I'm not a herald and therefore may be totally confused about
 MC> this   (my understanding of the Heraldic paperchase is mostly from
 MC> the perspective   of a casual observer), but I was under the
 MC> impression that the herald's    reports were linked to courts held,
 MC> not events (which is why there were    two reports for the Northern
 MC> Region Tribute/A&S Collegium - Wiesenfeuer    (02/24/96 and
 MC> 02/25/96).     

Since *most* events only have one Court at which awards are given out
(Coronations being the main exception), I usually speak of events and not
Courts.  Also, I'm not really interested in getting reports saying no awards
were given out at Opening Courts or Closing Courts, since all that usually
happens at those is the Crown (or other Noble) says "Hi! Thanks for coming,
have fun and play fair." and "It was fun, now git on home."  I can't get people
to report on important Courts; expecting reports on these trivial Courts would
only be ten times as frustrating, and would just fill the files with useless
paper.

Also, 99.99% of the time, if an award is given out during Opening Court, it
does not affect the precedence of that award relative to those given out that
evening (the only exception I can think of being someone elevated to a Peerage
in the morning, sitting in Circle in the afternoon and voting on a candidate
who is then elevated that evening).

Occasionaly, an award will be given out on Sunday (someone who couldn't be
found Saturday night or someone who did especially well in the Sunday
tournament), in which case I *do* list that as a separate Court.  The award
having been given out on a different day, it has different precedence from any
similarly ranked awards given out the evening before.

 MC> The reason I bring this up is because I believe the
 MC> reason you didn't   receive a report for wInterkingdom VII -
 MC> Northkeep (01/27/96) is because   there was no court held at all
 MC> (since the Crown did not attend, and did not   name anyone to hold
 MC> court in their names).  I may be completely offbase here,   of
 MC> course, but I am curious.     

I CAN'T know that the Crown DIDN'T appoint someone as proxy, and thus no awards
were given out, UNLESS I get a report from someone saying so.  wInterkingdom is
one of two annual events for Northkeep, so I would actually be somewhat
surprised if there were no gentles that needed formal recognition.  The only
way I can be sure that an award has not gone unreported is if I have a report
for every event (and even that won't work 100%).

Or, consider Gnome Vale's Margrave Tourney last November (which I believe was
their first event).  In any new group, there are always one or two people who
pull everything together and somehow manage to get everyone organized enough to
hold their first event.  This was certainly the case in the two groups I was
involved in the founding of (I started in the SCA when the Shadowlands was
formed and was the 2nd Chronicler there and was the founding Seneschal of Loch
Soilleir).  Pulling off your first event is a Very Big Thing to a new group. 
It is not at all unusual for those people who pulled the group together and
made it all happen to receive their Awards of Arms at the group's first event. 
When this happens, it's the Biggest Thing to happen to that group so far, and
remains a major milestone in their history for years (eventually overshadowed
by their first Peer).

So, one would expect to receive an Awards Report from a new group's first
event.  But it's not always the case that there is someone to be recognized at
that first event.  Maybe they haven't quite gelled and waiting is in order.  As
it turns out, this was not the case; it just took someone *4* months to get
their arse in gear and send in the report.  I sure hope the good folk in Gnome
Vale were not too bummed out when their awards weren't listed in the Black Star
with the rest of the awards given out that month.  (And that's another Big
Thing to a new player; receiving the award in Court in a major rush, but seeing
it announced to whole Kingdom in the Black Star is an equal, if not bigger,
rush.)

 MC> Obviously I have misunderstood
 MC> something.  Would someone please clarify   it for me. 

In a nutshell, it's all about database integrity.  Every bit of missing data
weakens a database; enough missing data renders the data you do have worthless.

slan go foill,

Aodhan
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Baron Aodhan Ite an Fhithich     aodhan at dobharchu.org
Master of the Laurel
Dobharchu Herald
Zodiacus Herald