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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I have a Ph.D. in Operations Research, which is the
mathematics of optimization and decision theory. It is an elementary
principle of optimization that, before you can decide what is "best", you have
to decide how "best" is measured. You need an "objective function" -- a
measurement of any possible setup which precisely determines what setup is
better than abnother.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>What is your objective function? What are you
trying to make bigger or smaller or more popular, or more effective, or
whatever? Until you know what purpose would be served by your "qualifier"
for Kingdom Eisteddfod, you can't tell whether a given proposal is better or
worse.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>So what's the point of having qualifiers?
Don't tell me your proposal -- whether you want branch bards, or ex-Premier
Bards, or whatever. What is the goal of having qualifiers?
Until we agree on that, there's no point in discussing various proposals, just
as there's no point arguing over what highway to take until we know what ciy we
want to reach.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Here's mine:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I want Kingdom Eisteddfod to be an event that bards
can come to and enjoy participating in, resulting in a Premier Bard we can all
respect.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It's not true that all the current branch bards are
better competitors than all those who don't currently hold the title, just as
it's not true that all the baronial champions are better fighters than those who
don't currently hold a title. Therefore, holding a current local bard's
title has no value for me as an entrance requirement.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I don't think telling anybody who wants to enter
that he or she is ineligible serves any worthwhile purpose. I don't think
making somebody take on the job of focussing on a single branch this year
because he wants to travel around the kingdom focussing on the whole kingdom
serves any purpose. It would lead to local bards who did not particularly
want to be the bard of that particular group, but who needed it as a stepping
stone to what they really wanted.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If a bard wants to enter Premier Bard and can't,
then that lessens the event for me.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If a bard becomes a group bard for any other reason
than to be bard of that group, then that lessens the local competition for
me.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>What's the goal? We need a goal before a
proposal to achieve it.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Robin of Gilwell / Jay
Rudin</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>