[Mid] Awards stuff

Yeah, Taffy (love you! and good to see you on my birthday last
Saturday!), I think it can lay a guilt trip on an awards recipient
if they're chastised for not being at court.

Sometimes it can be humorous, but _some_ folk tend to be sensitive.
I guess I've had one too many conflict management and sensitivity
courses (I should have a PhD in Psychology by now).

There are several schools of thought on this particular issue.
Here's a scenario.

Say I've recommended you for an award. Say I've given TRM a list of
ten events that you told me you would be at. Say I've managed to
wheedle you into going to each one, even though things came up at
home that you should have dealt with....only to find out that TRM
decided not to give the award...because in the end, THEY decide
whether or not to do it. Just because you recommend someone is not
an instant guarantee that it's going to happen.

I've held up my end, as you suggested, and gotten you to those
events, even though you may have begun to suspect Something Was Up.
You probably should have stayed home and raked leaves on one
weekend, should have winterized the house on another, but you went
to the events....and then didn't get the award I'd recommended you
for.

There's only so much that I can do, as the recommender. As the
recommendee, there's only so much YOU can do...and as the ones who
make the decision in the end, there's only so much that TRM can
do...

However, with the online awards recommendation form, it is MUCH
easier for TRM. They have the _option_ to contact the person making
the recommendation and ask them to be sure the person is in
attendance. They probably don't have the luxury of time to use it,
but if they do, the option is now there.

Now...we're back to that scenario. I've given TRM a list of ten
events. We've managed to get you to five of them, but now you're
saying "I really have to clean the dog poop out of my yard and rake
the leaves and put up the storm windows. I can do it this weekend or
next weekend, what do you think? Will you be disappointed if we
don't go to X event this weekend? I know you're counting on me for a
ride."

Say I happen to have heard from TRM that you're going to be given
the award at the seventh event on your list, and we're approaching
the sixth event...I can say "well, I'll help you with your yard work
this weekend if you can drive me to the event NEXT weekend. I'd
really rather go to that one anyway. Do we have a deal?"

This way, everyone wins...you get the dog poop out of your yard,
the leaves are raked, the storm windows put up, you had my help
doing it, I know you're getting a goodie and I know you'll be there
to get it. And TRM get to see your face when your name is called.

There are no easy answers...I don't think the royalty want to be
deluged by a bunch of emails and phone calls and postcards from
people who mean well and want to help out, when They themselves may
not have had the time to sort through all the recommendation
letters, emails, etc. to make a decision and commission the scrolls
via the signet.

There comes a point when we need to give Their Majesties some
breathing room, even though it might mean that there will be times
when awards recipients are not present in court.

It might be possible sometime that TRM have a large enough staff of
trusted volunteers where they can safely delegate responsibility to
someone to contact those who make recommendations in a timely manner
prior to an event when someone's going to get an award, but that
takes a lot of planning...and considering we're a volunteer
organization and most of us have 40-hr+ week jobs outside the
home... you can see how our time gets limited pretty quickly.

Our Society is also expanding, population-wise, at a tremendous
rate. It may seem that more and more people are not coming to Court,
but it may be that the numbers are high, but the _percentage_ is not
higher than it has been in the past.

On the other hand....if an autocrat or the seneschal of a group
hosting an upcoming event were to respectfully contact TRM a couple
weeks before their event to inquire about awards recipients (rather
than EVERYONE who recommended ANYONE for an award at that particular
event) to ask "who from my area should I be sure should attend?" it
might be workable.

I can't speak for TRM or TRH, this is just a suggestion.

M. Siobhan
(I got a carrot magnet on my birthday) :-) But no spankings! :-(
From: "Judith Kirk" <Kirk@ucs5.cc.wmich.edu>
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Received on Wed Nov 3 12:00:23 1999