ANST - Kingdom A&S...

[Dennis and/or Dory Grace]

Hi all, Aquilanne here.

First off, let me just say what a joy this Kingdom A&S was. It was truly
impressive. I have to say that one of the things that impressed me most was
the quality of work by folk a year or less into their artform. This bodes
great promise for the future of Ansteorra's artistic wealth. I was also
pleased to see both Laurels and non-Laurels alike displaying and competing.
This demonstrates a tremendous respect for and pride in our fair kingdom.

On to a couple questions Pug posed to the list: 

>  One thing that confused me, and maybe this was just because I wasn't a
>  judge so didn't see it, was that not every display had documentation or
>  even a description of what you were looking at.

This is because some displays were there for the Nobles' Prize Tourney only
and were not competing in Kingdom A&S itself. Those displays were not
required to have documentation. Sorry for the confusion; we're working on
standardizing the structure of Kingdom A&S so that in the future everyone
will know what to expect. 

>On the other
>  hand, other items had several pages of documentation regarding the topic
>  at hand and was way too much information for some. (ie. me) I don't know
>  if this is done or possible, but I think it would be a good idea to give
>  people guidelines for how to document what they are displaying.

Once again, this was just because we've not yet had a chance to standardize
criteria yet, but we're working on it too! 

>  Another was, from what I partially saw, was that lots of judges seemed
>  to give verbal commentary and not written. I would be quite useful to
>  the student of the art to actually have some of the information
>  transfered to be written down so they can refer to it again later.
>  This may have been different among different judges and I tried not to
>  pay too close attention during the judgings. As well, this is a minor
>  issue since at least they were trying to assist and it's easier to
>  rattle things off of grab someone else to discuss it as well. I just
>  think the highlights of this should be written down.

I have to admit that I was one of the guilty ones not writing much down. In
my own defense, I must say that I got so caught up in talking with folks
that I just plain forgot to write much down except for some book references
and my email address a couple times (I *do* get so easily distracted ;->).
Someone made a suggestion of writing down highlights during conversations
with entrants (sorry, I don't remember who right now; who suggested it?); I
very much like this idea and will incorporate it next time I judge
face-to-face. 

>  As well, there were commentary sheets for the populace at large to
>  write on for each of the entraints. Unfortunately it seemed that most
>  people didn't bother doing this.

It's true; folks get a bit phobic about putting pen to paper. I'm not sure
how to encourage more written input from the populace at large.
Announcements at the beginning of the event? Reminders during? Any other
ideas out there?

> Although I know I didn't wish to
>  comment on topics I didn't know, I did at least take the words to
>  heart of one of the new artisans present when they stated "I don't
>  care if you aren't an expert. Sometimes it's just useful to have
>  people say what they did and did not enjoy about something." After
>  this, I made sure to go around and try to comment either verbally, or
>  preferablly in writting, about the entrees that I did have enough
>  knowledge about to try and help them. (Of course these were all
>  vintning entries.) I did discuss some of the other items with artists
>  who were at their displays though.

And bless you for doing so. When I first started out competing in
Atenveldt, most A&S competitions were structured so that entries were
anonymous, so written critique and comments were very important, and I
remember how excited I was to see the writing on my form and how
disappointed I was when it was sparse or blank. I'm sure you helped make
some folks' day by taking the time to write your comments.

Let me add my thanks to all the other thanks going out to Bonwicke for
hosting this truly impressive event. The site was very nice, the food was
good, and the company incomparable. A special thanks to Their Excellencies
Kaleigh and Drake for putting up with such an influx of neighbors; the
warmth and cheer of Their hospitality is cherished by us all.

Aquilanne


Dory Grace--The Inkwell
denouncer of Tytyvylus & warrior crone
amazing at mail.utexas.edu
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