Re: why do we....?

[Robert J Welenc <rjwelenc@erols.com>]

Poster: Robert J Welenc <rjwelenc@erols.com>

At 07:20 AM 7/22/98 -0400, Brenna of Lyonsbane wrote:
>
>Poster: Brenna of Lyonsbane <sunnie@exis.net>
>
>This is just a "why do we" post about heraldry.  I have two
questions
>about submissions.

My good cousin Julien has answered most of the lady's questions quite
competently, but I think a little more detail is necessary for the
following one.

>2)  With the legnth of time it takes to get a submission back (and
the
>number of times heraldry is returned before an acceptance-I think 5
>being the norm in the people I have asked about it), why do we not
allow
>persons to enter 3 or even 5 different blazons at once?  

The short answer, my lady, is TIME.

The long answer:  let's just postulate for a minute, that everybody
was told to submit 5 potential devices, all at once.

To correctly and competently check a device for conflict takes
between 5 and 30 minutes, deopneding on the field, the charges
chosen, and their arrangement.  Let's say that yours average out at
about 10 minutes each.  50 minutes of work for the local herald -- no
big deal.

Now your devices are forwarded to Golden Dolphin Herald.  He must
check all of them again. The number of submissions from Atlantia
varies from month to month, but 20 is a good average.  If each of the
19 other submitters also has 5 potential devices, that is 100
potential devices for him to check.  At 10 minutes each, that is 1000
minutes -- 16.66 hours.  For ease in figuring, I'll call it  17
man-hours.

Now Golden Dolphin must prepare a Letter of Intent with all the
submissions for this month.  These are sent to about 50 senior
heralds throughout the Known World for checking yet again. These
heralds comment not only on conflict but on drawing style and
periodness.  If only 10 of those heralds comment on Atlantia's 100
submissions, that is another 170 man-hours of checking.

Finally your submission makes its way to Laurel Queen of Arms with
all the others for that month.  There are 15 kingdoms of the Known
World; if each of them generates 100 potential devices, that is 1500
submissions to check for conflict.  If  10 heralds have commented on
each one, that means that 250 man-hours have already gone into
checking them, and probably another 100+ hours to generate *15,000*
comments.  Laurel *and Laurel alone* must read this commentary;  she
cannot delegate this, as these comments are the basis for making her
decisions.  If she spends only 30 seconds on each one, that means it
will take 125 hours to read over them -- over 15 eight-hour days.

Now Laurel must decide which 300 of those 1500 potential devices to
register, and which 1200 to throw away.  Deity-of-your-choice alone
knows how long that will take; since it takes a full day's work to
decide on the submissions at an ordinary one-device-per-submitter
Laurel meeting, my guess is that it would take a minimum of 3 to 4
days, probably more.

So you see, it just isn't possible to do, my lady.  All SCA heralds,
Laurel included, are volunteers.  We don't get paid for doing this;
we do it because we enjoy it and we want to help our clients.   For
us to do the kind of thing you suggest, a fair number of us would
have to be full-time, *paid* employees of SCA Inc.  Your current $19
name-and-device submission fee goes mostly to pay postage -- how much
do you think it would have to be to pay even minimum-wage salary for
maybe 10-15 people?  I don't know, but I can tell you what it would
cost you in England, should Queen Elizabeth award you arms -- 1500
pounds, about $2600 at today's exchange rate.  And you don't get
*any* choice there -- you get the arms they design for you.

In Service to Atlantia and Atlantians,

Lady Alanna Volchevo Lesa
Partan Herald, Barony of Lochmere
Laurel Minion
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