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(after thinking about this a bit, I've made this a public entry. I might lock it if the need arises)
During the St. Eligius event, which I did not attend, it was announced at a Maunche (and probably a Laurel, but I don't have direct information on that) meeting that the Polling Orders will not receive advanced notice of who will be elevated. We may get the heads up that at event XYZ someone will be elevated. This is apparently done due to information leaking out before it's due.
I knew something was done different when the first Laurel writ of that polling was handed out and I hadn't received a notification, as I have been received since I got my Maunche. From the various discussions elseweb, I have gathered that this used to be a thing before TRMs decided to let us all know. I was not happy that this decision was not announced to the polling mailing lists, but instead word of mouth had to take over.
Aside from that, I have certain additional issues with this current approach, regarding both the Peerages and the OHMs.
Now the only people who will know in advance (other than the awards coordinator and Signet) will be the person who wrote the candidate in, and whomever that same person put into the recommendation award (family, peer, etc), assuming these people are known to the recommender; I have written awards for people I know next to nothing, only because of the merit they have exhibited. The recent surge of "Court Wills" present in people's EK Wiki articles are helpful up to a point, but not all gentles choose to have one.
So, if Lady Musical Jane Doe is to receive a Maunche, and I only play with her at events, and don't know much else about her other than to advise Yes on the polling, unless the recommender realizes that maybe Jane would like her "tribe" to be around for her special moment, there's no way for me to know to be there for her. Do I have a bias towards people of my own art? You bet I do. So does everyone else.
Turning after an award receipt to see a swarm of people ready to welcome you can be stress inducing for some, but exuberant to many. The lack of knowledge beforehand could make for smaller percentages of orders present to an event (assuming that people specifically travel to an event if a new member of their order will be made. I know I do).
Turning after an award receipt to only see a handful of people.. well, that happened over the weekend and the recipient felt slighted. He was reassured of the opposite, however I should have felt the same.
Peerages can be some more manageable, assuming there will be writs given, but even then we are looking in a couple of months as opposed to almost half a year. There are practical reasons for people who want to help with an elevation to know well in advance, such as the organization of the vigil, regalia and scroll. When TRMs announced in August 2017 that they'd offer me elevation in December, the ball started rolling then. I received a medallion from a lady whose work I greatly admire, and I have no idea whether she offered because she found out about it on the polling list, or whether my recommender approached her. If it is the former, that spontaneous act of kindness from people that are not in our inner of inner circles, will be lost.
I can speak of myself that I was every eager to find out who the next Laurels would be, so that I could make time out of thin air to go play at their vigil, if they'd need me. Given that I need rides to events, I need some time in advance to plan that. I have no idea how to go about that now, other than wait for a writ, if it happens.
And of course, all of this happens because we (collectively SCA-we) cater into the idea of surprising the recipient. The "gotcha!" moment. The verklempt face. The "OH YOU GUISE" comments. Is this a good thing? Is this a bad thing? Yes and no. I had specifically requested a writ in my In Case Of Peerage document because I could not afford to be surprised. I could not afford to be surprised to receive my Maunche, either, especially when it was given to an event in NJ. I almost didn't go. So, it was suggested to me that I should really really go.
I was thankful for that. As thankful as "you'll get your bloody Maunche, you dumbass, so while at it, put a nice gown on", should someone say it out loud.
To me, what makes the receipt of an award special is not the surprise of the moment you walk into court not knowing what's going on. It's what happens after that. The praise on the document text. The tangible proof that what I do mattered. And the support of my fellow order siblings that line to greet me. Knowing in advance changes none of those things, no matter what the award is.
So I guess I'll try to navigate this one through, and hopefully I will manage to greet as many fellow order members as each one's veil of secrecy allows. The will of the Crown is exactly that, after all, and I am not gonna argue about that. But, to offer advice to it, that's part of my LSA (Laurel Service Agreement), and I'll be here all week.
During the St. Eligius event, which I did not attend, it was announced at a Maunche (and probably a Laurel, but I don't have direct information on that) meeting that the Polling Orders will not receive advanced notice of who will be elevated. We may get the heads up that at event XYZ someone will be elevated. This is apparently done due to information leaking out before it's due.
I knew something was done different when the first Laurel writ of that polling was handed out and I hadn't received a notification, as I have been received since I got my Maunche. From the various discussions elseweb, I have gathered that this used to be a thing before TRMs decided to let us all know. I was not happy that this decision was not announced to the polling mailing lists, but instead word of mouth had to take over.
Aside from that, I have certain additional issues with this current approach, regarding both the Peerages and the OHMs.
Now the only people who will know in advance (other than the awards coordinator and Signet) will be the person who wrote the candidate in, and whomever that same person put into the recommendation award (family, peer, etc), assuming these people are known to the recommender; I have written awards for people I know next to nothing, only because of the merit they have exhibited. The recent surge of "Court Wills" present in people's EK Wiki articles are helpful up to a point, but not all gentles choose to have one.
So, if Lady Musical Jane Doe is to receive a Maunche, and I only play with her at events, and don't know much else about her other than to advise Yes on the polling, unless the recommender realizes that maybe Jane would like her "tribe" to be around for her special moment, there's no way for me to know to be there for her. Do I have a bias towards people of my own art? You bet I do. So does everyone else.
Turning after an award receipt to see a swarm of people ready to welcome you can be stress inducing for some, but exuberant to many. The lack of knowledge beforehand could make for smaller percentages of orders present to an event (assuming that people specifically travel to an event if a new member of their order will be made. I know I do).
Turning after an award receipt to only see a handful of people.. well, that happened over the weekend and the recipient felt slighted. He was reassured of the opposite, however I should have felt the same.
Peerages can be some more manageable, assuming there will be writs given, but even then we are looking in a couple of months as opposed to almost half a year. There are practical reasons for people who want to help with an elevation to know well in advance, such as the organization of the vigil, regalia and scroll. When TRMs announced in August 2017 that they'd offer me elevation in December, the ball started rolling then. I received a medallion from a lady whose work I greatly admire, and I have no idea whether she offered because she found out about it on the polling list, or whether my recommender approached her. If it is the former, that spontaneous act of kindness from people that are not in our inner of inner circles, will be lost.
I can speak of myself that I was every eager to find out who the next Laurels would be, so that I could make time out of thin air to go play at their vigil, if they'd need me. Given that I need rides to events, I need some time in advance to plan that. I have no idea how to go about that now, other than wait for a writ, if it happens.
And of course, all of this happens because we (collectively SCA-we) cater into the idea of surprising the recipient. The "gotcha!" moment. The verklempt face. The "OH YOU GUISE" comments. Is this a good thing? Is this a bad thing? Yes and no. I had specifically requested a writ in my In Case Of Peerage document because I could not afford to be surprised. I could not afford to be surprised to receive my Maunche, either, especially when it was given to an event in NJ. I almost didn't go. So, it was suggested to me that I should really really go.
I was thankful for that. As thankful as "you'll get your bloody Maunche, you dumbass, so while at it, put a nice gown on", should someone say it out loud.
To me, what makes the receipt of an award special is not the surprise of the moment you walk into court not knowing what's going on. It's what happens after that. The praise on the document text. The tangible proof that what I do mattered. And the support of my fellow order siblings that line to greet me. Knowing in advance changes none of those things, no matter what the award is.
So I guess I'll try to navigate this one through, and hopefully I will manage to greet as many fellow order members as each one's veil of secrecy allows. The will of the Crown is exactly that, after all, and I am not gonna argue about that. But, to offer advice to it, that's part of my LSA (Laurel Service Agreement), and I'll be here all week.
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