How One Gets Noticed

[Gunnora Hallakarva]

Britta the Red said:
>Glad this discussion came up..again. I have a question for all the peers
>to answer. I (and probably many people) know persons who should be
>considered at least, for Laurels and Pelicans. Since those are
>"inviation only" areas of the SCA, how do they get noticed?

As a Laurel, I try to travel to as many A&S events as I can afford so that I
can see the work of the kingdom's artisans.  I try to drag my self to the
far edges of the kingdom at least once each year for this purpose.  Since
this kind of travel to look at potential Laurels is part of the job
description, a candidate for the peerage should likewise show that they can
travel and spread their knowledge and talent outside their local area.  We
all have mundane lives and expenses, so this must be commeasurate with one's
financial ability.

But even if an artist doesn't travel, when they are doing amazing artwork,
people talk about it.  They come back home from the Shire of X and say to
their friends, "Oh my god!  Did you see the 42 story marzipan scultpture
that Lady Almond Paste created?  Oh it was amazing!  She had gilded this and
frappeed that and she actually researched period dyes and made her own food
colors..."  It is a good bet that the word fame that Lady Almond Paste is
getting for her spectacular efforts will travel and be heard by the peers
and the Crown.  Not every candidate for the Laurel is doing "knock you dead
and strike you blind" artwork, but the ones who do get recognized because
excellence earns lots of word fame.

OK, how about Lord Adobe, who does the most amazing period mud brick
structures, but can't afford to travel.  His work is not the spectacular and
glittery kind of creation that gets talked about, but in his field of
endeavor, he is absolutely expert.  How does he get noticed?  He can choose
to write articles for T.I., Black Star, and Compleat Anachronist to
disseminate his work... this fulfills the requirement that a peerage
candidate should teach.  That gets him some exposure and notice.  But if
somehow us clod-heads in the Laurel circle don't seem to notice this
paragon, what can be done?  The simplest and best thing to do if you notice
a peerage-quality person with no peerage yet is to go to members of that
peerage and reccomend the person to them.  If you tell me that I must make
an effort to get up to see Lord Adobe's bricks, then I'll probably make the
effort, or else I'll speak to others in Lord Adobe's area to see what other
folks think about him.  Another thing you should do is sit down and write a
letter or reccomendation to the Crown and tell them the fellow should be a
peer, and carefully explain why you think so.

Before I close, let me mention one caveat.  It is not just enough to be a
kick-ass artist to be a Laurel.  You have to teach, you shuold have some
knowledge of the courtly graces (period games, a dance or two, be able to
entertain, know something about fighting).  More important is that the
individual show leadership.  Most important is that the person is showing
personal maturity.  

Reasons why someone may be consistently "overlooked" for a Laurel?  Some
extreme reasons are: They whine loud and long to everyone about how unfair
it is that they don't have a Laurel.  They get drunk and obnoxious all the
time at events.  They are sweet as candy to peers, but hateful and cruel to
those lower in rank.  They throw horrible temper tantrums at the drop of the
hat.  Et cetera ad nauseam.

Less extreme reasons include the fact that we usually don't crowd awards.
If a person just got their Iris, we'll usually let them wait a while and
enjoy the Iris a bit first... as Mari points out, the couple of weeks BEFORE
she found out she was going to be made a Laurel were the best of her life,
because folks kept coming up to her and saying, "Why aren't you a Laurel?  I
can't believe that they gave Lady Spinach Pie a Laurel before you got yours!
You are such an excellent artist, why don't those idiots in the Circle
notice you?  etc."  This kind of ego boo feels extremely good.  And no one
will ever say those things to you AFTER you have the peerage. 


Wassail,
::GUNNORA::

Gunnora Hallakarva
Herskerinde
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