omnibus – The Village

Pilfering Personal Peerage Pie?!

In regards to the Omnibus Peerage, one argument that is heard: We will water down the concept/reality of what Peerage is by including more. I will attempt to dismantle that theory. I will use certain groups as examples, but this is a ubiquitous argument and is not limited to, or singling out any specific group. They are examples. Nothing more, nothing less.

Driving in ones lane

Who is made ‘less’? When someone is elevated, they are elevated for what they master in, in their lane. Meaning this candidate is a master of the thing they are, in the space they chose. Someone who is recognized as a Laurel for their woodworking mastery will not be a detriment (nor necessarily as boon for that matter) to the Equestrian community. These two worlds might collide in a weird Venn-y diagram-my world, but not likely. Both will enjoy the benefits of having one so recognized in their ranks, continuing to do what they do, in their mastered field.

What this means is that one being recognized or elevated in their space in no way detracts from the other. Presumably these people are recognized for the work they have done, and hopefully continue to do. These individuals will be asked for support by the Society and Crown on their areas of expertise. It is about singling out individuals who are masters and thought leaders in their space. It identifies people who can be depended on for wisdom and intelligence. In other words, there is no pie. Anyone recognized as a Peer already, is not harmed or damaged in any way. Their voice rendered no less valued, their mastery not diminished in any way.

Peers… they live!

Whether we agree on the mechanics of how and why, one thing we should all agree on, is that Peers already exist, they simply haven’t been recognized as such. In each wonderful area that exists in the Society we could go to those communities, and ask, “Who is the most amazing person in your ‘space’?”. I would wager that any person who is active in that space, has at least one immediate answer. I would further bet that many of those people named would already be Peers in that area. The glaring exception would be people in specific groups in the SCA (eg: archery). Given that they do exist, that by any metric ever used to determine worthiness, a person meets or exceeds them all, why AREN’T they a Peer?

They can be a Peer already

“If they are an archer, they can become a Laurel!” If the argument is to be believed, that ‘granting a Martial Peerage would water down the pool’, then by recognizing an archer as a Laurel, or a Martial Peer would literally take the same space. Meaning regardless of what the individual is a candidate for, you are still adding N+1. So why not recognize them for who they are?

Take the example of an archer is recognized for their art and not their mastery of the martial skill (of which their art is derivative) couldn’t that be insulting? Perhaps this is hard for some to understand because they don’t know much about archery specifically, but this example can be overlaid to anything else. An example I think most people can recognize is this: There is a candidate in the fighting community who exemplifies all Peer traits, is a master of their martial form, derived arts such as making armor, weapons, teaching, and more… Would any member of the Chiv community accept them being made a Laurel for their armor making skill in lieu of a Knight for everything they are? Would that not be insulting to all the dedication and value they bring to every other aspect of the Society?

Let’s do both!

The Society and Crown have recognized individuals as multiple Peers, again and again. If they argument is to be believed that we cannot ‘water down’ the Peerages, then why do multiple Peers exist? Certainly there are members of the Laurel who are also members of the Chiv, and in each space, deserving. Using the water down argument, recognizing someone as a Peer in another space would be wasteful.

But it isn’t, and anyone who knows a worthy individual who holds multiple Peerages, has them for a reason. WHAT are those reasons? The reasons one conjures are the same exact reasons used for allowing recognition for individuals for who they are and what they do, not ASPECTS of who they are and what they do.

Dude, shut up

I will for now, but I’ll conclude with this. If the concept of Peerage is a necessary one, and we as a Society value those candidates, let us recognize those individuals for who and what they are. Respect their space as we continue to respect yours.

In service to the Dream in equity…

Why Are You Doing This? – Omnibus Support

Valiance Proposal Unofficial Badges

The Poll…

I was recently in a conversation with a new friend, who is not terribly familiar with the Proposal, or people’s motivations. They asked about my motivations, and it occurred to me, there may be a group of people who are doing this so they can become peers. It hadn’t occurred to me before.

Prior to that conversation, there was another with a wonderful person who is already a Peer, and the same friend. In this conversation I made the case that, “One should’t seek Peerage as a goal, rather as an ideal.” Luckily I was exposed in a deliberate and informed manner, some counter arguments: The merits of seeking this position and what it can mean.

Having considered the arguments and doing my best to look at this issue through the lens of persons on the ‘outside’, as well as those approaching this from a different perspective, I believed a simple poll would help inform not only myself, but I hoped to get a direct answer from a range of people gauge ‘truth’ from other’s perspectives. It has been pointed out unconstructively, “The poll is poorly written’. Despite not being an expert in this field, I attempted to draft a simple, direct poll that got to the heart of: ‘motive’ of support. However a fair point was made regarding bias of support despite being a poll about support.

The poll was live over the span of a few months and shared on social media and Discord to groups related to the Proposal, or those who might be affected by it.

Now the results…

Personally…

I have now, and always been a supporter for a few reasons:

There is no valid defensible reason for NOT having a Peerage that covers all martial areas* as does the Laurel for Arts This would directly cover the three pillars of Society: Arts, Service, and Martial**
The Society, from lack of a direct path to peerage, have potentially lost out, or pushed away, many people who are Peers, some who have been for decades.
Intentionally NOT having a path for specific segments of Society for who and what they are is damaging to the individuals, AND The Society

About Me

To anyone reading who doesn’t know me, I am a relative nobody in this Society who values friendship and camaraderie above all else. I have ZERO ambitions. When I show up, I want others to have a good time, be engaged, informed, and have fun. Even if it means acting a fool in the process. Self deprecating humor has served me well in my life and has sucked the wind out of detractors. No, there is no hidden message or meaning here. If you ask, I’ll tell you. If I have enemies, Id like to know why. No, I’m not perfect (insert line about glass houses etc here).

Opinions on the poll

The poll has supported (what my have been my obvious bias in the writing) this is something that needs to happen, and those who fight for it, are not doing it for themselves. Assuming the best in people (as I like to do) I believed this would be the case. There are so many worthy individuals who would be in line before me. I truly hope, and believe, others feel the same way. I still don’t think people should strive for an honor or ‘position’, though I can understand some arguments for it.

This issue for me is the #FirstWorldProblem of application of civil rights in the SCA. Of course pale in contrast to ‘real world issues’, it is very important nonetheless. Leaving out specific segments of Society, or having to ‘find ways’ to honor them because there is no direct path, is (IMHO) disgraceful. Further, bolstering a bias through exclusion has been detrimental to the social fabric of the Society. I can’t prove that, I can only speak from personal experience.

Wrapping it up

There is certainly a lot more to say here. Friends who know me will believe me when I say I can gas on and on, and am very driven on this topic. What is also clear is that I wear my heart on my sleeve in this area. Thats OK. I believe, despite decades of the Society saying ‘NO’, that we will get there.

It isn’t about me. It is about the amazing people in this Society who have long deserved recognition. Period. I believe this unofficial poll shows that many others feel the same. That’s my take-away, and I hope yours as well.

* please share your reasons for opposing!

** are there other segments of Society not covered by this?

Post Pennsic Valiance Meeting Wrap Up

In Attendance: Edward of thorn, Baron Edward harbinger, Maria donald, Mistress arwenna of kelzey, Glynnis gwynneth, Fergus, and Cameron de Grey

More wanted to come, but could not because of conflicts. We can, and should be organizing these meetings when and where we can. The more people we can get discussing the issues, and successes, the better informed we all are. This allows us to shape a more consistent message and narrative. Now on to the meeting notes in the order they were taken, with additional clarification and context.

It was brought to the groups attention there may be another group with a separate proposal similar to the Valiance. Is there another Peerage order?

We discussed various ways that we can get people together. Both in spirit and real terms. There may be a need to get varying disciplines to communicate better as well as work together. What forms this would take were not discussed necessarily but a few ideas were floated. Such as getting thrown weapons and target archery as close to each other as possible so a participant can do both easily.

Promotion of various disciplines: Darts, Atl atl, combat targets. There are some locales that are restricted in their options. This may be an opportunity for the populace to step up, or request their specific head marshal consider specific activities if not already covered locally/Kingdom-wide.

There are period example of knights who were archers. This was brought up as a rebuttal to an assumed argument that people who engage in certain activities may not possess PLQs re martial form.

Relegated to the back seat. Re archery. It is up to us to ensure that events and activities are happening (related). We can work to bring missile weapons closer to the fore. Depending on the event, this would bring greater visibility. We can work with staff and autocrats to ensure the ‘thing’ happens at all. I have personally reached out to MiCs to ask and ensure Combat Archery could happen. There was space, it simply wasn’t considered.

Laurel for different arts as peerage for martial skills – It was re-iterated here that the Valiance proposal can, and most closely resembles the Laurel. In that it covers all disciplines. One not need be a master of all. PLQs and mastery of one, as empirically referenced in the Laurelate, can be enough depending.

What can we do to get visibility – More discussion on what we can to to increase visibility.

Go out be visible – carry your martial forms with you eg: axes
Be amazing – regardless of whether the peerage exists. we as a community can bring greater honor to the whole by doing our best to be visible, teach, assist, organize. Energy expended is honor returned.

Documentation of numbers – broken down below

Record practices, numbers – This discussion has been started here, and a poll regarding same is here.
Record growth – keep track of how a martial form has grown. tracking participation YoY
Sign in at events – one form of tracking can be sign in at events. another more structured form is authorizations in Kingdom
scoring system – use the scoring site to enter and track all participants regardless of scoring intent. A score of zero would be entered so they wont necessarily show up, but their participation will be recorded

Start local and work up. Go to baronial meetings. This means show up at your local meeting. Discuss your martial area and others. Ensure that positive discussions are being had and promoted. Is there a budget for equipment? Need for an A&S night to help produce materials? Branding? Heraldry?

Valiance sponsored – we are a loose group of supporters, but we can sponsor events under the Valiance ‘brand’. Use our martial skills to promote the proposal!

Universal branding – consistency in branding of the proposal. Many people recognize the symbology. There are variations. The overall design variations however should be minor enough to convey they are all the same idea.

Register the symbols so others can transfer – We can get the populace to register potential symbols of the proposal and then transfer them to the S.C.A. when the Order is created.

Each meeting do a mail in – Every single meeting the BoD has, campaign them. Remind them we are here. We are not going away. The Order has too long been easily dismissed.

Waivers at practices? – Not sure what was referenced here and hopefully the person who brought this up can clarify

Separate martial forms in mol signup – Some Kingdoms apparently lump in siege and CA with Rattan. There is information being lost here in that we can’t discreetly track participation for specific disciplines.

Active yearly participation versus active per event – It is useful, whatever potentially agreed upon method for tacking participation, that we have a way to separate the idea of unique engagement with a martial skill versus repeated. eg: I am an archer, but I may attend many archery events in a year.

Change the reporting to account for numbers – in the theme of tracking participation, some Kingdoms, Baronies, etc do not track participation per event or practice. We can start recording these numbers and bubbling them up. This however requires longer conversations with our leadership: specific head marshal and Kingdom Marshals.

Hard numbers – Using a system to glean hard numbers. Such as the proposed idea of entering all participants into the scoring site regardless of whether it was a scoring shoot. This would not preclude a group from scoring several events in a single day. If the sign in sheets where created with the competitions, and various martial forms, in mind then all can be accommodates cleanly and easily.

Tournaments IKCAC, Missile Weapon Community – Promote more tournaments. Get higher ranking participation such as Baronage, and Royalty when possible. Competitions such as the IKCAC and Missile Weapon Tourney can be promoted and included in many events, safely and easily.

Award recommendations for their field – Lets make sure we are recommending those worthy for awards specifically for the martial field(s)

text in italics were the original notes taken from the meeting

Meet and Greet for the Omnibus Peerage at Pennsic

Greetings friends one and all!

Its that time of year where a young persons fancy turns to thoughts of Peerage for those who are deserving…

This year at Pennsic we are pleased to announce at least one meeting regarding the Valiance Proposal (Omnibus Peerage). We will be meeting at the Thrown Weapons tent on the main battlefield at Sunday August 5th at 5:30 pm. Scheduled for one hour depending. Look for the banner!

This will be an open forum to discuss any issues or concerns about what the Peerage aims to achieve, walk each other through the process, or simply answer questions.

Our last large meeting was very productive. We had an array of positions on the proposal and discussed them openly. Very civil conversations and all voices were welcome.

This is the environment we want to foster this year. Bring your thoughts and concerns, or simply listen.

This Society is made great by those that care for, and nurture it.

Share the flier, and get involved!

Flyer for the Pennsic Valiance Proposal Meeting

Read a review of how our last meeting at Pennsic went!