[ANSTHRLD] Is this normal? Is there a tracer system?

[Jennifer Smith]

> Wouldn't it be a good safety net if the mailed submissions 
> were "announced"
> by an emailed, scanned copy of submissions? That way if the 
> stuff gets lost
> in the mail, at least one copy is received and we can 
> continue with the
> process instead of making people wait months, or years longer than
> necessary.

On face value this sounds like a good idea, but as Asterisk Herald I can
tell you that it's not worth much.

I *need* multiple copies of the various forms; I only file one copy myself
-- the rest go on to Laurel and Arbalest. Sure, theoretically I could print
a scanned copy, but that assumes that the printed one doesn't add on extra
margins and thus make the armory escutcheon too small, and that I'm willing
to spend the money on printer ink and coloring in the armory forms. Frankly,
I have enough work to do as it is!

When a submission is made, the submitter should get a complete set of forms
to keep. The local herald also gets one complete set of forms to keep, and
the rest go on to Asterisk Herald. In cases where stuff gets lost in the
mail (and it DOES happen), hopefully it'll be found out before more than a
month has gone by, and new copies can be made by either the submitter
themselves or by the local herald, from the copies they already have. 

When I get email (usually from a submitter, but worse sometimes from a
herald) that "nine months ago I submitted X...where is it?", well -- it's
frustrating. I certainly feel for the submitter whose stuff has obviously
disappeared into a black hole somewhere, but even just a *little* bit of
proactive behavior would have found the problem long before months and
months had gone by. (Not to mention the MONEY issues this brings
up...another rant entirely!)

When I was a local herald, I jealously kept track of everything I sent up to
Asterisk. If something looked delayed, you can bet I was sending email
immediately. 

The Heraldic Submissions Tracker (HST, at
http://heraldry.ansteorra.org/hst/) is invaluable. Theoretically I'm
updating it once a month, but occasionally forget to upload the updated
pages (cough cough). If you don't find what you're looking for in there, a
direct email to me will typically get an answer within a day or so. I don't
bite, really!

-Emma, Asterisk