Still slowly plugging away at this writing thing....

[mariedeblois]

I pulled out something today that I haven't worked on in a month or two and did a little bit more updating to it, and realized that soon I'm going to need feedback and more ideas on what I'm forgetting.

This is the article "A Brief Treatise on the Care and Feeding of a College of Heralds" (aka "How to be a good principal herald"). So, without

Comments

[dr_zrfq]

What skills do you think a PH should have?

1. The skill to tell royalty where to stuff it in such a way that they actually will. (This goes for *any* great officer.)

2. Managerial stuff. Organization is one key skill (though this does **NOT** equate to "neat desk"). Delegation is another. There are more.

3. Enough skill in all aspects of heraldry to tell when someone (or some area in general) needs help.

What kind of problems do you see in your local College of Heralds?

We don't have enough good mid-level people. Hell, it seems we have hardly any. Apologies to mistressrhi, as she's doing a bang-up job in general. But it doesn't seem to matter who's in charge, we're having a problem getting advanced beginner folks to the next level

[mariedeblois]

Yes, management skills is definitely on the list I've got already, and I can see now that I really should add a "dealing with The Hats" section - thanks!

I concur on that problem - it seems to be pandemic across the whole SCA, and no solutions anywhere to be found.

[mariedeblois]

So, I was thinking more in terms of having a "troubleshooting" section and looking for small-size problems (for example: "never get reports from a group", "when an office changes hands a lot", "when people badmouth heralds", etc.) and solutions.

[mariedeblois]

[grin] Likewise, and I just friended you. :)

Please do feel free to post it there - as noted, I'll allow anonymous commenting on this post (though it's screened initially). I think most heralds also know my email address. ;)

[mariedeblois]

Interesting. I was about to say that I think the PH spot is nowhere near the "OMG PAPARWORKZ" level that external submissions herald is, but then I remembered that you're in CAID, where the PH does both.

[grin] Maybe "how to be a SH and not die of papercuts" is the next article to write. :)

[aryanhwy]

What skills do you think a PH should have?

The make or break skill for me is ability to communicate. If you don't have the time to put together a letter for your kingdom newsletter 10/12 months of the year, then you're too busy to be a PH. Prompt responses (within 2-3) days of emails -- even if it's just a "I'm busy right now and will get back with a real answer next week" -- is also I think crucial.

[mariedeblois]

Good suggestion. I've got several paragraphs drafted up about ways to communicate, and I can add more to emphasize how critical it is.

[masahide]

How about things like workable reporting structures, organization processes, deputies and division of duties, etc.

I think it would also be good to include a checklist of duties to be performed at various times, etc.

[mariedeblois]

I've got some stuff like that, but due to significant inter-kingdom differences, I think a checklist is probably difficult-to-impossible to make (or make useful).

What kinds of reporting structures and organizations would you suggest? I've got some ideas (and indeed some are already in my draft), but I'd be interested to hear other suggestions.

[masahide]

On the checklists, I was thinking things like "send out reminders of quarterly reports due on X dates; Yearly in Summer (by X date) put out requests for bids for Kingdom Heralds and Scribes" that kind of thing

[mariedeblois]

Those are some good questions a PH should consider, indeed. I don't think there's a One True Way that would work for everyone, so I don't want to be very prescriptivist in the nitty gritty details, but putting some ideas on possible ways seems like a good idea. Thanks!