[MR] New Orders: An Opinion

[Edvard Gayer]

Personal opinions follow.  (Yes, even Vard has an opinion about things from 
time to time... <g>)

In correspondence shared on a different list, I have learned that Their 
Majesties have considered, but discarded, the possibility of elevating the 
current Orders of Merit (Golden Dolphin, Pearl, and Sea Stag) to the Grant 
level.  Coming out of Curia, I did not understand that the Crown had 
intended that the people they were trying to reward with the creation of new 
GoA Orders were those already within the current Orders, and that They do 
not believe it prudent to pursue the wholesale elevation of several hundred 
individuals.

As a member of the College of Heralds, I had known for nearly a month prior 
to Curia that a Grant-level award proposal was being prepared for 
presentation.  Also, as Baronial Clerk of the Precedence, and am very 
familiar with all of Atlantia’s awards and the precedence that each of them 
convey to their holders.  Now that the specifics of the proposal have been 
presented, together with amplifying information referenced above from Their 
Majesties, I have had the opportunity to give this matter quite a bit of 
thought.  I have also conducted some outside research on my own, and have 
examined the Baronial and Kingdom Orders of Precedence with the intent of 
generating an informed opinion.

Having concluded my research, I would like to share the following 
observations:

POINT ONE - While encouraging people to aspire to greatness is wonderful, a 
very large majority of Atlantians are neither Dolphins nor Pearls.  I have 
examined my Barony’s OP, pre-supposing that it represents an average 
cross-section of Atlantians as a whole.  We have 46 individuals with AoAs, 
but only eight of them have a Dolphin and/or Pearl.  This is roughly a 6:1 
ratio.  Thus, for every six Armigers, only one of them hold a Dolphin or 
Pearl.

[To support my supposition that Dun Carraig represents a cross-section of 
the Kingdom, I have compared our numbers to those published recently by the 
Kingdom Clerk of Precedence.  In the Kingdom OP, there of 2738 people listed 
with awards.  Of those, there are 256 (9.3%) with Golden Dolphins and 265 
(9.6%) with Pearls.  In Dun Carraig, of 52 people listed, six (11.5%) have 
Pearls and seven (13.4%) have Dolphins.  Given the small sample size, the 
numbers track fairly well within an acceptable level of confidence.]

POINT TWO - The Dolphins and Pearls, as members of polling orders, appear to 
have unintentionally ratcheted-up the standards that they expect of 
prospective new members to the point of being more difficult now for your 
average Armiger to attain than ever before.  Though this is unfortunate, it 
is also something that is perfectly natural and should have been predicted.  
"I'm a member of a club that was hard to get into.  If I let just anybody 
into that club, it will devalue my own membership and the work I did to get 
here.  Thus I hold them to as high a standard as I think I was held."  It's 
human nature, nothing wrong with that, but it nonetheless manifests itself 
as an inexorable "raising of the bar".

[These observations are also supported by the numbers within my Barony.  For 
those who have Pearls, the average time from AoA to Pearl has increased from 
3.5 years in the mid-to-late 1980’s to 4.7 years now.  For the Golden 
Dolphin, growth is even more dramatic.  The average time from AoA to Dolphin 
was 2.0 years in the 1980’s, it grew to 3.3 years in the early 1990’s, and 
since 1997 it has grown to 4.7 years.  One of our most recent recipients 
waited over 14 years to receive his Dolphin.  Had I included his data point 
in my analysis, the average current wait would bloom to over seven years!  
There is clear evidence that it takes more work today to gain the same 
recognition than it did when the orders were formed, and that increase is 
both measurable and consistent.]

POINT THREE - I spent this past weekend out of Kingdom, and solicited the 
opinion of several members of the Laurelate, Pelicanry, and Chivalry there.  
The unanimous opinion of these Gentles was that since our orders are of a 
polling nature, they are functioning well above the AoA-level.  In the 
opinion of these Peers, our current orders are *already* at the Grant level, 
even if the Crown and award structure has not formalized that reality yet.  
They went on to tell me that as an award, they would value a Dolphin over a 
Fret, and would much rather have a Pearl than an Oak or Willow, even though 
*all* of these awards are of identical precedence.  This results seems 
consistent with points 1 and 2 above.

POINT FOUR - If an adjustment to the award structure is followed-through 
upon, then based on Their Majesties recent comments, it appears that we will 
see a new set of orders *above* the current ones.  I can surmise that this 
change will be accompanied by instructions for the members of the current 
orders to "lower the bar" so that people may be admitted based on lesser 
accomplishments.  Will this be easy?  Doubtful, as this runs against human 
nature.  Will this mean that those who received Dolphins/Pearls prior to the 
impending change will have received a more valuable award than those who may 
follow them?  Very likely, as I fully expect that those Dolphins and Pearls 
awarded after this change becomes reality will be effectively thought of as 
“lite” versions of their predecessors.  Personally, I have neither award and 
would consider it an honor were I someday invited to join either order.  But 
if mine were the first Dolphin "lite" or Pearl "lite" awarded, I would never 
know whether I had earned the recognition honestly, or if it was merely the 
result of some sort of capitulation.  The award would be unfortunately 
tainted, and that’s not how we should to go about rewarding people.

In conclusion, though I have heard the Dolphin and Pearl often referred to 
as “AoA-level” awards, the truth is that they are not.  They are already 
defacto Grant level awards, and those who hold them should be rightfully 
proud of the hard work they performed to achieve that level.  I believe the 
award structure is already too stratified, and that advancement beyond the 
true AoA level has been made much, much too difficult.  If another layer of 
awards is deemed necessary in order to provide people with more incentive to 
achieve greater accomplishments, then that incentive should be targeted at 
the larger audience, not upon those who have already achieved relative 
greatness.  As someone else said, "For those of us who sit in the bleachers, 
we really don't much care what pins the Football Players and Cheerleaders 
give to each other".  Most of Atlantia sits in the bleachers.

It is not in my nature to sit on my haunches, pointing my finger at what I 
believe to be a flawed system without offering to help fix it.  Here is my 
proposal:

FIRST - If Grant level awards are to be created, we must elevate the 
*current* orders to that level and create new AoA level awards beneath them. 
  This would allow the current order members to rightfully maintain their 
strict standards for admitting new members, would recognize them for having 
ALREADY accomplished Grant level work (as measured by other Kingdoms), and 
would completely avoid the "Dolphin/Pearl vs. Dolphin/Pearl lite" 
divisiveness that would inevitably result were the other path followed.  
Speaking as a herald, the "wholesale elevation" concern that the Crown has 
made mention of is merely a paperwork exercise -- these Gentles have already 
elevated themselves well beyond the Grant level, and should be recognized 
for such.

SECOND - If Grant level awards are to be created, regardless of where the 
current orders go, the AoA level awards should CEASE to be polling orders so 
as to prevent the same type of requirements creep from happening there as 
has already occurred.  We've been down that road before.  This would also 
allow the Kingdom to reward those who work hard, but who may have 
under-developed diplomacy or tact genes.  Like it or not, when people vote, 
it is natural for them to consider how a specific prospective member will 
make the rest of the order "look".  Those who are not particularly likeable, 
or who perhaps are unskilled in specific social graces will be held to a 
higher standard than other, more politically-correct candidates.  Though 
understandable, this is nonetheless unfair, and runs contrary to an award 
structure whose intent is to encourage people to do work hard and create 
good things.  Remove the polling aspect from the so-called AoA-level awards 
and you will have true AoA-level awards.

THREE - Whether Grant level awards are created or not, we must consider the 
creation a non-armigerous service award.  Under our current award structure, 
the lowest service-specific award is the Golden Dolphin.  There is no Silver 
Nautilus, Kraken, or Yew Bow for service, nor does Atlantia have an award 
similar to the Purple Fret (Middle) or Burdened Tyger (East) to recognize 
the work of those who serve.  Waiting for a polling order to provide said 
recognition risks discouraging people, resulting in not only a loss of their 
service, but a weakening of our volunteer-based Society as well.

I submit these observations and recommendations with the hopes of furthering 
education and discussion of this very important issue.  Regardless of 
whether you agree with me or not, please write to the Crown and share with 
Them your thoughts on this matter.  They will be implementing a decision 
that will last well beyond Their Reign, and They want to make the best 
decision for Atlantia, and her citizens, that They can.

I remain loyally and respectfully yours,
// Vard //

Lord Edvard Gayer, Companion of the Gryphon’s Plume
Pursuivant, Atlantian College of Heralds
Clerk of the Precedence, Barony of Dun Carraig
Secretary, L’Academie Atlantienne de la Danse
(and an assortment of other stuff <grin>)


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