[MR] On giving awards to groups of people

[Clerk of Precedence, Kingdom of Atlantia]

Greetings! More and more frequently I am seeing households, guilds, and
fighting units receive awards that were originally intended to be given to
individuals. Did you know that in order for the individual members of the
unit to receive the award, they need to be specifically named?

As an example:

King Foo the Barbarian and Queen Fi the Glorious open court. They call in
the Household of Companionable Roommates, and talk about the awesome things
they've heard about the work the Household's been doing. They award the
Household the Award of the Really Awesome Shiny Thing.

They close court, and life goes on. The herald submits the court report as
the "Household of Companionable Roommates" received the award of the Really
Awesome Shiny Thing. Now comes the catch.

Joe, Mary, Jim, and Patty were at the event that day and came forward. Bill,
Sarah, and Jack had to work at their modern jobs that day and weren't in
court. Barbara, Denise, and Howard were helping with a lot of the good
deeds, but they aren't members of the household. Brian is technically a
member of the household but hasn't actually been around for the last five
years. Joe and Patty are the heads of the household. Who gets to have the
Really Awesome Shiny Thing? The answer? Technically, the household gets to
have the Really Awesome Shiny Thing when it's together as a household.
Unless King Foo and Queen Fi specifically say "Household of Companionable
Roommates  - Joe, Mary, Jim, Patty, Bill, Sarah, and Jack" then the award
belongs to the household only. If Brian then shows up later and says "Hey,
I'm in that household! I want to have the Really Awesome Shiny Thing too!"
it could get messy. Therefore, if an award is given to a group, then the
award belongs to the group, not the individuals within the group.

The point? It is important that when you recommend your friends for awards,
you are specific about whom you are recommending. If you are the one giving
the award, have your retainer check with the Baron/Baroness or Seneschal
associated with the group to get names before court. If names are not
submitted, the individuals did not receive the award.

As always, if you have any questions, please contact me! It's likely that I
just confused everyone - but this is also an important issue that's cropping
up again and again, and even more so lately.


~Lady Glynis Gwynedd, Finsterwald Pursuivant
Clerk of Precedence, Kingdom of Atlantia