Writing Award Recommendations
What is an Award Recommendation?
Within the SCA, awards are given to people for accomplishments — being good at rapier combat, for example, or serving as a local officer and/or running/helping at events. An award recommendation is a written suggestion to the Crown or Baronial Nobles that a particular person has done something commendable and is worthy of recognition for whatever area it is that they excel in.
Why Should I Write an Award Recommendation?
There are four main reasons that writing an award recommendation can be a good thing.
- One: The Crown cannot be everywhere at once! By writing an award recommendation, you are alerting the Crown to good deeds that they may not have been otherwise aware of.
- Two: The more recommendations the Crown gets about a person, the more likely they are to act on the information. A single letter about a person is all well and good, but if multiple people support the idea of an individual receiving recognition, the better it is.
- Three: You get to see terrific people receive awards that they well deserve!
- Four: The SCA is a volunteer organization, a diverse group of people writing folks in helps those doing the quite work get recognized.
So, How Do I Do This?
Writing an award recommendation is much easier than it would seem! There is a handy form on the East Kingdom website (URL listed at the end) that will send your recommendation directly to the Crown. There are a few pieces of information that you will need:
- Your mundane and SCA names
- The local group you belong to
- Your phone number and email address
- The mundane and SCA names of the person you’re recommending.
- The local group of the person you’re recommending.
- The award you’re recommending them for
- The reason you’re recommending them..
- Links to their EK wiki page, photo of the person, and any relevant blogs they have.
If you’re missing a piece of information about the person, that’s okay; just fill out what you know. The most important parts are the person’s SCA name, and why you are recommending them to be recognized. The why is especially important and needs to be taken seriously. Here are a couple of examples of good and bad reasoning when writing recommendations:
- Bad: I really like Lord MacGuffin he’s my friend and a nice person and I think he deserves this award
- Good: Lord MacGuffin is always volunteering at events. Not only is he always helping out in the kitchen, but he also makes sure to aid those around him with whatever they may need. He also serves as our local chatelaine and was the feast steward for our Twelfth Night event.
- Bad: Angus is great at fighting
- Good: Angus is a great new fighter. He shows a significant amount of prowess on the field; he takes time to teach and always treats his opponents with the utmost courtesy. He came in second during the Baron’s Champion list at Twelfth Night and won the Ice Weasel Tournament.
The more information that you can supply about the person’s achievements, the better! Having multiple good points about an individual can help the Crown decide what award is appropriate for them.
Points to Consider
- Write someone in early. If it is for an Order of High merit or above the person will have to be polled by the crown so advice can be given. Beyond that scheduling an award takes time and general the Signet and scribes of the East Kingdom should be given at least eight weeks to work their magic.
- Please check to see if they already have the word by checking the order of precedence.
- Don’t be surprised if it takes some time for the award to be issued. Crowns can receive quite a lot of recommendations at once and sometimes must push some awards to a later date to make sure that they are not overloading their court/scribes; other times, a person recommended to them may have just gotten an award.
- Please don’t tell the person in question that you have recommended them for an award. It sometimes happens that the Crown may choose a different award for the person, or may choose not to give them an award at that time. By telling them that you have written in for them, you are getting their hopes up for something that may not happen.
- Keep a list of people who you have / should write in and for what award. If helps you to remember to do it (and who you wrote in).
- Keep a copy of your award recommendations. As with any writing review and practice helps you get better at it and for many reasons you might have cause to resubmit the person at a later date, so will save a lot of time editing/updating a previous submission then starting over.
Pertinent Links
- A list of the orders and awards of the East Kingdom is available in the East Kingdom Wiki. Full and authoritative descriptions can be found in East Kingdom Law, available on the Kingdom Seneschal’s website.
- The Order of Precedence shows the awards that each individual has received.
- Recommend someone for an award! If you’re uncertain of how to write a recommendation, or what happens after you do, see this helpful article in the East Kingdom Wiki about Recommending Someone for an Award.
- Example Pelican award recommendation
