Award timing

[Christopher Walden]

> From:          litch at eden.com (R.Michael Litchfield)

>The  argument that making the awards "too easy" will devalue them is utterly
> rediculous, the awards are worth NOTHING. They are at best a form of
> recognition, at worst they are a political football.

OK, Michael.  I'll play.

The awards have the potential to be worthless.  It depends largely 
upon the character of the granter  of the award and the recipiant.  
I'll grant you that our awards won't give you a special tax status or 
a lunch discount at Denny's, but I think they will show you people 
who are dedicated to the current and long-term trend of "Society" 
goals.

Ah, there's the rub!  My tastes tend more toward authenticity, so I 
am more impressed by a person who has received an award for "doing it 
right" than someone who has done "good enough."  Since I am not King, 
I do not appreciate the extraordinary effort that someone who 
received a service award for supporting the crown during their 
reign.  I appreciate more someone like Tivar who creates Rapier 
Combat for me to use.  I don't think this invalidates the other 
awards, though.

I agree with you that sometimes the people with the power to grant 
awards tend to treat them lightly.  When they do that, they devalue 
the award held by everyone else, and it becomes worth less.  I've 
also seen people who get an award forget that they have some 
responsibilities along with that who basically stop doing everything 
that they did to make them deserve the award.  People see these 
people and can't understand why they are awarded and don't get to 
hear the "back then" stories.

But I do think the awards are worth something, just as I think our 
King and Queen and Societal heirarchy are worth something.  They 
provide a structure and rules for what we do.  They shape our group 
into something that gives us a taste of the spirit of Renaissance and 
Medieval Society.  That spirit sets us apart from other groups who 
share a common interest, such as gaming clubs.  Aside from a few 
noisy aberations, most of the Society takes their honor seriously.  I 
think most take their awards seriously, too.

Antonio