<div>I didn't edit, because I think it's relevant....</div> <div><BR>What if there was a qualifier for the Eistefodd, as there is often a qualifier for other events -- say, a letter of intent, as one would for a tournament of this stature, and a number of competitions that needed to be entered, something to show experience.</div> <div><BR>And the group champions would be waived those entrance requirements, as the expectation would be that if you win a group champtionship, you will represent that group in front of the Kindgom, as part of the responsibility you have taken on.</div> <div> </div> <div>Just thoughts....</div> <div><BR>Esther<BR><BR><B><I>Michael Silverhands <silverhands@sbcglobal.net></I></B> wrote:</div> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid"><BR>On Oct 31, 2006, at 6:45 AM, Mike C. Baker wrote:<BR><BR>>>> Esther <REESE_ESTHER@YAHOO.COM>wrote:<BR>>>> A thought --
just a thought....<BR>>>><BR>>>> What if the Eisteffod was a bard off of the branch<BR>>> champions? It would<BR>>>> both strengthen the competition for local titled bards, and in turn<BR>>>> strengthen the Kingdom competition.<BR>>>><BR>><BR>> I would offer the "refinement" / extension that former Premier / <BR>> Kingdom<BR>> Bards would also be eligible (after a "one-year" / one term delay).<BR>><BR>> An intriguing proposal -- although unless and until reasonably uniform<BR>> selection criteria are in place, could ultimately leave matters in<BR>> similar conditions to current as far as skill levels represented are<BR>> concerned. Consider for example the newest incipient group with three<BR>> contenders drawn from their own local ranks versus the oldest /<BR>> most-active baronies with fields of contenders numbering thirty or <BR>> more<BR>> of the most experienced, well-qualified
entertainers...<BR>><BR>> But I still like the basic idea of preliminaries at other events.<BR>><BR>> Adieu, Amra / ttfn - Mike / Pax ... Kihe<BR><BR>Exactly. You can end up with some pretty green goobers in the <BR>Eisteddfod list, while many of the kingdom's best must stay home.<BR><BR>Also consider this: I've seen a young bard (who was having a good <BR>year) go out and win 5 branch championships. If the branch <BR>championships are the "prelim" to Kingdom, then 4 branches aren't <BR>going to be sending anyone in that scenario.<BR><BR>But if there's a need for a "filter" for those entering Eisteddfod <BR>(and I'm not sure that there is... just saying *if* there is), how <BR>about this: you must have won a branch or Kingdom bardic competition <BR>previously. Not necessarily that year's competition, just sometime.<BR><BR>That at least raises the bar to exclude absolute newcomers to bardic <BR>who've never won any competition anywhere before, but otherwise
<BR>doesn't exclude any of our "best and brightest".<BR><BR>If you want to lower the bar a bit, you could say that all entrants <BR>to Eisteddfod must have at least *competed* in a branch championship <BR>before. Or you could say they have to be sponsored by someone -- <BR>their branch nobility, a Peer, or a previous winner of Eisteddfod.<BR><BR>Or you could just leave it as it is: anyone with the courage to enter <BR>is free to do so. :-)<BR><BR>At the moment, I don't think the problem is "too many in the list". <BR>Quite the opposite.<BR><BR>Michael<BR>_______________________________________________<BR>Bards mailing list<BR>Bards@lists.ansteorra.org<BR>http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/bards-ansteorra.org<BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><p> 
<hr size=1>Cheap Talk? Check out Yahoo! Messenger's low <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mail_us/taglines/postman8/*http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=39663/*http://voice.yahoo.com"> PC-to-Phone call rates.</a>