Noble Cousins!
Would people in your area like to learn more about designing and executing beautiful scrolls, serving as herald in court or during a tournament, how to design premodern names and heraldic devices, how to incorporate your armory into your clothing and equipment, or how to participate in the name and armory review process?
Or maybe you would just like to hang out for a day with a bunch of interesting people from across the kingdom and even a few other kingdoms? The preferred time is after Labor Day this year and ideally not in the same month as Æcademy.
Heralds & Scribes is a fun and fairly easy event for which to serve as autocrat. I am about to give you a wish list. However, a lot of different sites can be made to work.
Basically, you need to secure a site with plenty of classrooms and provide lunch. Typically, the more classrooms the better. The scribes particularly like to have a scriptorium where they can practice calligraphy together. Scribes also like to have a display area for samples of their work. It would be good to have a display area for heraldic objects as well. Ideally, several of the classrooms should accommodate projection equipment. The scriptorium and at least one of the classrooms should accommodate “messy classes” where scribes actually practice their art. Built in internet access is nice, but we can probably find people with hotspots.
Beyond the various classroom areas, there should be a commons area for people to hang out and eat lunch. The most recent collegium had heraldic activities running from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., the last two hours of which were devoted to a Q&A session with a College of Arms officer followed by a general meeting of the Æthelmearc College of Heralds. The event staff cleaned and restored the other classrooms during this period.
Who to contact:
- Silver Buccle Principal Herald: Master Kameshima-kyo Zentarou Umakai
- Sylvan Signet: Baroness Alexandra dei Campagnella
- Scribal Education Deputy: Mistress Yvianne de Castel d’Avignon (for questions about site and scheduling needs)
- Keystone Herald: Magistra Sólveig Throndardottir
Note: There will be a staff change with at least the office of Silver Buccle this Spring. However, please do not let that deter you. Please provide the new staff people with an excellent site for this Autumn! Please send in event proposals as soon as you can.
Thank you very much for considering my request.
In service to Æthelmearc, Sólveig
Anyone interested in the heraldic side of the Symposium or who wishes to chat about how to run a scholae in general should feel free to contact me as well. I was the Heraldic Class Coordinator for Heralds and Scribes last year and was the autocrat for a Heraldic and Scribal Symposium in Carolingia.
Two things which are missing from the announcement:
You will need to appoint a classroom coordinator who will work with the heraldic and scribal education deputies. The deputies are responsible for recruiting teachers, sequencing classes, and making specific room assignments. The local classroom coordinator is the on-site person who is responsible for identifying potential classrooms, securing needed facilities in those rooms, negotiating the macro-schedule with the two education deputies, and effectively allocating time blocks to the two education coordinators. The classroom coordinator eventually publishes the composite schedule online and is the person best prepared to layout and print the site-booklet (which typically includes a site map) for use at the event itself.
You should appoint a hospitality coordinator. This person helps find housing for people coming in from out of town. Many people coming in from out of kingdom vastly prefer crash space to staying in a hotel. The hospitality coordinator should also negotiate a “conference rate” with a local hotel or motel. With the increasing cost of transportation and an economy which has been stagnant for decades, we really should be appointing hospitality coordinators for all of our events.
Yes – Both of these are jobs, but they are both manageable. They do involve a time commitment before the event. However, these can generally take place at times of your choosing.