[Ravensfort] Demise of the Artisan of the Season....

[AMH/DBLJ]

In fairness to ya'll, this has not been the best year to try to organize
something new.  Too many distractions from too many angles.

Marius

I love my country, but I fear it's government.



"David R. Hoffpauir" wrote:

> **Disclaimer**
>
> Before I even start, I'd like to emphasize this is not intended to ruffle
> feathers or dispute the decision of the B&B concerning scrapping of the
> Artisan of the Season award.  If anything I hope to motivate folks to "get
> off their duff" and really do something to support and ensure the success of
> the new award in whatever form it takes.  Good ideas must sustain themselves
> and can't be propped up by will of law and a good artisan program must first
> give public recognition, above and outside the group, plus provide an avenue
> for the B&B to obtain items for gift baskets required at Coronation and
> various Kingdom presence events like Pennsic and Gulf War.  That's one of
> the basic duties of the B&B position and it's a tough juggling act
> sometimes, but one that says so much to the rest of the world.
>
> During our tenure as B&B, we heard A LOT of "WE WANT A BARONIAL LEVEL
> ARTISAN AWARD" and we supported it as something that was really needed.
> However, there is a huge difference between pacifiers and pizza.  The last
> thing we wanted was something that'd get sucked on for a while, then spit
> out because it was a cheap fix, superficial, and non-armigious. Besides, why
> give a Baronial cookie, when almost anyone who's devoted enough time to be
> deserving of recognition will have likely developed their skill to a level
> worthy of a Kingdom level, armigious, Sable Thistle?
>
> To understand our approach and our final attempt at establishing "something"
> for the artisans, you gotta go way back (at least for me).  The history of
> the artisan award started a year or more before we stepped up as B&B.
> Baroness Alex pretty much led the charge, but was adamant that it would be
> an award "of, by, and for" the people.  Some may not agree, but, hey this
> was nine years ago, I'm a lot fatter with fewer brain cells, sue me, that's
> how I remember it.  Anyway, she had some ideas, names and such for the
> award, but put it back onto the populous to come up with criteria, scrolls,
> award name, etc.  She and Kief could have said "this is the way it's gonna
> be," but didn't, leaving things up to the artisans and the populous to
> conceive and execute.  Well we inherited the lack on an award and a list of
> potential names, none of which anyone could agree on.  So, our first attempt
> to structure the award came early on, within our first year as B&B.  There
> was lots of chatter about it for about two months, then it fell flat.  Now
> lemme say, it was always our belief and modus operandi that good ideas
> nurture and grow of there own accord, bad ideas flop.  No use feeding a dead
> cow.  We had made known what was expected, our reasons for putting it back
> onto the group, etc., and "nobody did nothing."
>
> In the following couple of years it was mentioned on and off.  We always
> gave full reign to whoever brought it up to organize the artisans with the
> same thought in mind that it should not be something "we" did as B&B, but
> something that the populous did because it's what they wanted and would
> support.  Here again we could have said "this is the way it's gonna be" but
> in light of democracy, good management practices, and the wisdom of Norman
> Vincent Peale, we didn't.  However, our desire to have an award never ...er,
> "wavered, faltered, or failed." ahem.
>
> During Gunthar and Sara's reign (3 yr ago, I think) there was a lot of
> discussion amongst the Landed Nobles and the Crown about local level awards
> and we were given strong encouragement, by the Crown, to create local level
> orders and awards (non-armigous, of course).  This time we did stump for an
> award, publicly, for about six months.  In the end we had another list of
> names and an equally dead cow.
>
> This was five and a half years into our tenure and we knew that time was
> ticking on how much longer we'd be the B&B.  We really didn't want to leave
> the artisan issue unfinished and it became apparent that no group decision
> was going to be made, so, in consultation with the A&S Minister and others,
> we came up with the "Artisan of the Season" idea last year.  Maybe it was
> crammed down the craw, but hey the populous/artisans had had their chance
> and it was "this is how it's gonna be" time.  We heard nothing but gritchin,
> complaining, and criticism from day one.   Why, because it "required"
> recipients to do something once they received the public recognition of the
> award (ahem, sorta like being a Peer, i.e. teach others, pass on works to be
> used by the crown, make medallions, organize guilds, you know "artisan
> stuff"). It was hoped that the recipients would band together and slowly
> form some sort of cohesive unit of folks, similar to an Order, that would
> lead the artistic direction of the group.  It also built upon itself by
> slowly bringing more and more people into the decision making process and
> provided definite goals for its members.
>
> I've heard a hundred times, "we need to recognize the artisans".  Well the
> AoS idea did that and a heck of a lot more.  I'm darn proud it and, at
> least, it had more substance than a cheap piece of paper with some paint on
> it.
>
> Now we have the chance to go in a completely new direction and I hope it
> works, but dammit, real stuff ain't jaw flappin, it's work, commitment, and
> organization, all the things this group is notoriously good at.  I'm not
> privy to the "new idea" for the award.  Frankly, I don't care, I just don't
> want to see it flop or become a pacifier.  Our artisans do good work and
> deserve to have their work paraded to the Kingdom and the Knowne World.  I,
> we, had our shot at it and, truth be known, the populous let us down.  Let's
> not let it happen again.
>
> dsd and Chrystal
> -(well at least I'll tell her later)
> dsd
>
> David R. Hoffpauir
> GIS/DBA
> Texas Research Institute for Environmental Studies-
> Sam Houston State University,
> Huntsville, Tx
> env_drh at shsu.edu
> 936-294-4995 work
> 936-294-3822 fax
>
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