East Kingdom Gazette

Covering the Eastern Realm of the SCA

On the Scheduling of Awards

by East Kingdom Gazette
arms East PrinceIn response to a question on the East Kingdom Facebook group, I wrote the following post about how awards are scheduled, at least for Caoilfhionn’s and my time on the Throne.
Here is the process when we give an award. It may vary slightly reign to reign, but I believe that this is a good general outline.
  1. We set our Royal Progress calendar. It is based around required events, visiting several parts of the Kingdom, events we really want to attend, and our availability (in that order).
  2. We make decisions about who we will give various awards to (after pollings if applicable). This is usually started by a recommendations. So, if you feel someone deserves an award, write a recommendation.
  3. We send these off to our Royal Scheduler. This job is essential, difficult, and totally under-appreciated. The scheduler reaches out to people around the award recipient to figure out at what event the award(s) should be given, based on some of the following:
    1. What events are left of the Royals’ calendar?
    2. Which of those events will the recipient be attending?
    3. What is the closest event to the recipient?
    4. What event is the most appropriate to the award?
    5. How full is the docket for the event in question.Often times, step #3 involves a great deal of back and forth, and plans often change.
  4. Once the schedule is set, the scheduler works with the Signet’s office to make sure that a scroll is being created.
The last piece that is hardest to codify is who are we communicating with to schedule? Is it the right person? Let’s say Caoilfhionn and I chose to give Squire Bob an AoA. If we know that Squire Bob is squired to Sir Kickass, then we would likely have our scheduler talk to Sir Kickass to figure out the best option. If we don’t know that a) Bob’s a squire or B) Who Bob is squired to, then that makes the job tougher. In that case, we usually start with the person writing the recommendation. That’s why we ask for your contact info when you write a recommendation.
I hope this helps you understand the general process, and we welcome further questions.
-Brennan, Princeps

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