ANST - Peers Quit Competing?

[C.L. Ward]

Baron Bors said (among many other interestiing thoughts):
>HOWEVER- I find it amazing how once one becomes a peer in the realm, how 
>quickly they quite competing.  

Well, most of the knights do continue to compete actively, even if they do
not do so in your immediate area.  And the type of person who becomes a
Pelican would have to be hog-tied and sedated to keep them from doing work
at an event unless they are totally burned out.

But you do have a point about Laurels not competing.  However, there are
some *darned* reasons for it (I won't say yet if they are darned good or
darned bad).

(1) Lots of people think it's unfair to have a Laurel compete against them.  

I think this is a Darned Bad reason.  I applaud the attitude of the young
gentleman a couple of LPT's ago who not only declared that he didn't want
to be placed in the children's division but expected and wanted to compete
with the adults, he told us that he's prefer to compete with the Laurels,
against the best of the best.  Now to my mind *that's* the ideal attitude.
There are plenty of Laurels who would like to compete in A&S -- some of us
became Laurels because we are competitive and like to show our work and if
possible win.

(2) Some competitions *specifically* exclude Laurels from entering,
although if this happens there is frequently a "Laurels' Display Area".  

This is another Darned Bad reason.  Usually very few the Laurels who do
have items ready fetch them for a display.

(3) How can a Laurel enter the competition and still judge the competition,
after all, they would probably be asked to judge the same area(s) they
entered in, wouldn't they?  And there isn't enough time to get there and
set up the display and still make the pre-judging meetings.  And what about
those displays where the artisan is expected to stay at the table?

This is a marginally good reason.  It *is* difficult to judge a category
that one is entered in.  I'd say that we should encourage Laurels to enter,
so long as they can judge another field other than the one they are entered
in.  In a "body of work" competition or a "general static arts" where
everything is all lumped together and scored numerically, the Laurel should
be able to both enter and judge so long as they don't have to judge their
own work.

I personally think that the Laurels *should* compete as often as possible
-- you don't see the knights swearing off fighting as soon as the belt and
chain are laid on, do you?

I can't think of how many times folks have said to me, "I need help with my
widget, but I don't know which Laurel to ask -- I don't know what any of
them *do* -- this is a direct effect of the fact that most Laurels don't
continue competing, or don't compete as often.  

I've been toying with the idea of establishing an Ansteorra Laurels Webpage
for the general public that lists us all, our areas of expertise, our
apprentices and what they do, which of us is willing to teach and where,
plus some general essays on judging, what it means to be a Laurel, what it
means to be an apprentice and so forth.  I'll be interested in seeing what
Lord Krzysztof Kopernik comes up with for the "framework" for the Laurels'
section of the website.  No doubt the entire Laurels Circle will get
involved in what goes up on the webpage, but I'd certainly like to help get
one started.

In the meantime, until we can get more Laurels competing, and until we can
get a specialty listing available, anyone is welcome to contact me directly
and I will guide you to a Laurel (or other skilled artisan) who can help
you.  Since I moderate both the Ansteorra Laurels List *and* the Known
World Laurels List, I can probably locate an expert somewhere in almost any
field.


Wæs Þu Hæl (Waes Thu Hael)

::GUNNORA::

Gunnora Hallakarva
Baroness to the Court of Ansteorra
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Ek eigi visa þik hversu oðlask Lofstirrlauf-Kruna heldr hversu na Hersis-Aðal
(Ek eigi thik hversu odhlask Lofstirrlauf-Kruna heldr hversu na Hersis-Adhal)

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