[Sca-cooks] Requirements for a Laurel

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach Michael Gunter:
>I had an interesting conversation with the Crown and a Laurel the
>other night and we got to talking about what is required for
>consideration. I was told flat out that I would not ever be eligible
>because I don't enter competitions.
>
>I have to admit that I was a bit shocked to hear that. But they
>insisted that the only way you can get recognized is if you either
>are apprenticed to a Laurel who pushes you constantly or you
>enter competitions so your work can be judged.
>
>Um....cooking feasts for 400 and handing out documentation
>for each dish isn't? Teaching and cooking for 20 years isn't enough?
>Being a judge for kingdom A&S competitions and counselling competitors
>in presentation isn't enough?
>
>This isn't a gripe about whether or not I should be a Laurel but I just
>want to know if other Laurels or candidates feel that if you don't
>enter competitions you can't ever become a Laurel. I personally
>have no desire to enter competitions although I think I'm a decent
>judge of what needs to be done.
>
>So....what do you consider the requirements are for a Laurel?

I think this is a matter of interkingdom anthropology. I'd say what 
you were told was perhaps an oversimplification, either of how things 
should be in your kingdom or how they actually are.

All it takes is for your kingdom's laurellate and/or Crowns to decide 
to change it. I'd say that in the East, the view is not that you have 
to compete, but that competition is a useful tool. In my time as the 
EK's MoAS, I spent a little over four years encouraging competitions 
for those that like them, but because I don't especially like them. 
and thought there was a significant, if non-vocal portion of the 
populace who didn't want to participate in them, but who were doing 
some really noteworthy A&S work. We established several alternative, 
non-competitive formats, ranging from the static display at many of 
our RP events and others, to my own pet, preferred format, the Expo 
or interactive display, essentially a trade show with artisans 
working at their craft and responding to questions from passersby. 
While not a Laurel's Prize Tourney, these Expos tend to get a lot of 
Laurels participating on various levels.

So. What would I have as requirements for a Laurel in cookery 
(bearing in mind that some kingdoms may still not specify art form)?

Impact on an area equal to or larger larger than your local group -- 
the people who make these decisions need, essentially, to consider 
where the art is with you versus where it'd be without you. This can 
be done with feast work, but teaching, publishing in SCA venues, 
workshops, etc., are all valuable for getting your message across, 
whatever that may be. While, as Jadwiga stated, there has been a 
vocal pro-competition lobby among East Kingdom Laurels, I've 
generally avoided them, being in two in my life (one in a cookery and 
one in a brewing category; got the first perfect score in the cooking 
category in the history of that event, basically so I could say I had 
done that and forget about it).

Make it look easy. This is less a matter of skill (although it 
certainly helps) than one of remaining calm in the face of adversity 
or emergency. One of the main goals of a laurel (IMO) is to be a 
poster child for your art form, and set an example to the populace. 
Essentially, to make them say, "that is so cool, I want to learn to 
do that."

Be approachable and user-friendly; remember that the tongue can be a 
deadly weapon, and try to consider the possible ramifications of what 
you say before you say it.

Exercise some leadership in the community of your fellow-artisans. 
Sometimes this can mean knowing when to keep your mouth shut as much 
as knowing when to speak, and what to say.

But if this all comes down to, do I think you need to compete, the 
answer is no.

Adamantius