[MR] Wanted: Golden Dolphin Herald

[E. L. Wimett]

Both Kingdom Law and my own inclination dictate that I step down from the
Golden Dolphin office at Twelfth Night in January, 2008, when I shall have
served in that position for four years.

To allow for an orderly transition, anyone interested in serving as Golden
Dolphin should apply by 15 September, 2007.  Letters of application,
including a Society resume and any supporting documentation (e.g., plans for
the office, explanations of relevant Society or mundane experience that may
not show on your resume, etc.) should be sent either by email or snail mail
to Triton and myself at the addresses shown in Acorn.

The Golden Dolphin Herald is responsible for all submissions processing
within the Kingdom of Atlantia.  Duties include preparation of a monthly
Internal Letter of Intent circulated for commentary to internal commenters,
a monthly External Letter of Intent to the College of Arms based on internal
commentary and monthly responses to external commentary in defence of
Atlantian submissions as well as the maintenance of all submissions files.
Golden Dolphin or a designated surrogate must also send letters to all
submitters notifying them of any acceptance, pend or return by the Golden
Dolphin office and/or the Laurel office, post Letters of Acceptance and
Return with the same information to the Atlantian Heralds' web page and
publish the results of all submissions in the Acorn together with any
changes of policy which directly impact submissions processing.  Golden
Dolphin is also responsible for organizing official kingdom heraldic
consultation tables in Atlantia.  Some of these duties such as consultation
tables and notification letters can be delegated, but the central
submissions processing duties may not.

Over the past three and a half years, the average time required for
fulfillment of these duties, exclusive of attendance at events to run
consultation tables, has typically run between 20 and 40 hours a month.
(The high end occurs immediately after Pennsic where Atlantia generally
receives >100 submission elements!)  Based on experience, delegating the
generation of notification letters and some fiscal duties of the office
would probably lower that workload by no more than two or three hours a
month and might actually increase it as information would have to be
prepared and circulated to the relevant deputies.

Logistic requirements for the office include space to accommodate
approximate five five-drawer file cabinets, two medium-sized bookshelves
worth of books, sundry boxes of current files and paperwork resources and
the office's duplexing copier/scanner.  A computer has been a minimum
requirement for some years now, but the advent of the OSCAR system and the
internal letter of intent system that is now official policy for Atlantia
make reliable access to the internet and internet mail essential.  I have
been using Microsoft Office running on a Windows PC, but appropriate
software on a Mac would also work.  (If you are interested in the detailed
logistics of the office, including the software used, etc., please contact
me for technical information.)

The knowledge and experience required in an applicant for Golden Dolphin
Herald are a bit more difficult to quantify.  Absolutely essential is a
basic familiarity with book heraldry and the Society's Rules for Submissions
and Administrative Handbook.  (You cannot adequately evaluate the input from
commenters or explain problems with submissions to submitters unless you
have that familiarity!)  Equally essential is a demonstrated ability to
process paperwork in a timely and orderly manner and clearly communicate the
results of that processing to others.  You do NOT need twenty years of
experience in Society book heraldry, but at least some experience as an
internal commenter and participant at Atlantian consultation tables is
strongly recommended.  You will have lots of help available from Triton,
from other senior heralds and from me (I'll still be commenting internally
and externally!), but you must be willing to commit a good chunk of your
time to this largely "behind the scenes" office for at least two years.

Alisoun, Golden Dolphin