[Northkeep] Herald's office and the dearth of applicants

[Kevinkeary]

Fellow Northkeepers,

Your current herald, Adalia, has informed you and likely will again at Populace Monday that she is stepping down from the position. Her warrant expires 7/11/11, give or take a day. This opening has been announced for over two months and published in at least the last two newsletters. As of this time I, as Northern Regional Herald, have received NO applications for the office. Both she and I have at times talked with a few of you about applying, and what the responsibilities of the office are. (I gave a class on that subject, called a 'warranting class' because until you've had it your warrant for the office has to be considered provisional, at wInterkingdom.)

If you have any interest in the office, please contact me. Contact Adalia first or as well if you like, but contact me. If you have not had the class, I will explain what your responsibilities would be, and arrange for you to take the class as soon as possible. If you are unsure what is involved in applying for a baronial office, I will explain that.

The office of Herald is a required office for a branch with nobility, like our barony. We cannot allow the office to become vacant. Remember that there are several people who have held this office who are still active and resident in the barony that you can call on for advice or assistance: Adalia, Talana, Catrin, Anton, Zahava, and me just off the top of my head. If I haven't heard from someone by Populace, I am going to start noodging people who have voiced interest in the past. We have to have a herald, and in a barony this size, it's obvious to those outside that we HAVE to have several people who can fill the office. We who live here know how talented we are and that we have DOZENS of such people.

You don't have to speak publicly, you just have to make sure someone is available and capable and ready to do so.
You don't have to be able to draw, you just have to know people who can.
You don't have to answer heraldic questions -- although you will learn to do so -- you just have to be able to point people to where they can get the answers.
You don't have to handle money, that's the Reeve's job.
You don't have to fill out people's submissions for registering names and armory, that's their responsibility. You do have to make sure they have accurate and adequate advice, the submissions are adequate, and mail the submissions.
You do have to fill out paperwork -- it IS an office in a bureaucracy. One report a month and one report an event we host. And both are on preformatted forms that just need to be filled out. They are ridiculously simple.
You do need to be a paid member and agree to maintain a paid membership for your term of office.

Please think about it. I want applications to me as soon as possible. I want at least one viable candidate before the end of the month, preferrably by Populace. I have to make a decision before Red Tape, and would much prefer to do it a week or two before that.

Kevin, Nordsteorra Herald