First Steps
- Contact your Regional MoAS. If in doubt who your Regional MoAS is, or you live in an area without a Regional MoAS, contact the Kingdom MoAS. Provide that officer with the following information:
- your SCA name
- your legal name
- your membership number
- your membership expiration date
- You should join the Drachenwald MoAS email list by writing to the Kingdom MoAS.
During your term of office
Keep an archive of your work and reports, you should have received an archive from your successor and should in turn provide your successor with a complete record.
- Nordmark Law states that Nordmark archives should be turned over within one month of the official changeover.
When your term of office draws to a close train your successor. It is recommended that you seek out a successor, get local support for this new MoAS and begin training them at least three months in advance of your warrant expiration.
When in doubt about any duties described below, please contact your Regional MoAS. They are there to be used as a resource. Each Regional MoAS had volunteered for this position to help all artisans in their region. They will be willing to help you with any questions you may have, such as helping run competitions, displays, finding resources, etc.
Reporting
You will be expected to send a report to your Regional MoAS (or directly to kingdom MoAS) each quarter, no later than the date given by your Regional MoAS.
When reporting please make sure you use the reporting system preferred by your Regional MoAS.
- This is e-mail in most cases.
- A specific format may be used.
- Often it’s possible to report in local language (for example German, Finnish, or Swedish).
Your report should include your contact information, a list of any classes held at events your group hosted, your group’s A&S Nights/Meetings (if any), classes held at your group’s A&S Nights, group activities, and descriptions of individual projects.
One of the most rewarding aspects of the A&S position is the knowledge it provides to recommend deserving artisans for Drachenwald awards, Principality awards, Baronial awards, etc. You should use the information provided for reports to back up these recommendations.
You in turn may receive a copy of the regional report from your Regional MoAS. Please feel free to share these reports with your group. These reports can also be helpful when recommending artisans outside your local group for recognition.
Assisting other Artisans
Your job is also to provide assistance to other artisans in the local group. This assistance should include encouraging all artisans in your local group, even if you have no knowledge of the arts or sciences they practice. You will also act as a local contact for all arts and sciences. You don’t have to know everything, just how to get artisans in contact with other artisans in their field. When someone comes to you with a question regarding learning a new art or science, you are encouraged to pair them with someone in your local group who already practices that art or science. If no local practitioner exists, then refer them to any relevant resources such as the Kingdom Laurel listing.
A&S Meetings
Where possible you may be expected to arrange regular A&S meetings. These can be weekly, monthly, or quarterly depending on what is practical for your group. It is understood that some groups are too far reaching for weekly or even monthly meetings, however quarterly meetings are encouraged, but not required. It is a good idea to at least arrange one off workshops in various arts & sciences or encourage others to provide such opportunities. A&S meetings and one time only workshops provide an occasion for local artisans to share their skills, learn new skills and socialize with each other, which ensures the group stays in touch with one another.
These meetings don’t necessarily have to be arranged by you. You may find that there are already regular meetings held by others in the group, which is great! If not you may also encourage more experienced artisans in the group to arrange workshops or regular A&S opportunities.
Advertising
It is useful to help advertise SCA A&S related opportunities as well as mundane offerings that might be of interest to local artisans, such as museum exhibits, Medieval Dress and Textiles Society meetings or conferences hosted by other such organizations. Other SCA related opportunities might include Kingdom Guilds or Interest Groups.
Competitions, Classes & Displays
Competitions, classes, and displays are other SCA A&S activities to be promoted. As the local MoAS you may be asked to coordinate classes, displays and competitions at events your group hosts. This is not a task that need fall solely on your shoulders, but you should be prepared to do or help with these tasks or find someone to do so. Coordinating classes and displays is very easy; you can put out a call for teachers on the various mailing lists, and create a schedule. It is important to have this schedule ready for the event hand outs. Coordinating a display is also easy. You work with the autocrat to choose a space for the display and advertise the display as widely as possible. One way to make the display successful and memorable is to arrange for tokens for the populace to leave for the artisans. Another nice touch is to provide small booklets where people can leave positive feedback for artisans. Each of these methods will help the artisans leave the event with a positive feeling about themselves and their work. This, sharing research, and inspiring more great art works are what A&S Displays are all about!
Competitions are perhaps the hardest part of this job. You are encouraged to use the Kingdom A&S Criteria, although you do not have to use these standards. All MoAS Officers are encouraged to save, and, perhaps, print all Kingdom criteria! Conversely if you save the criteria on your computer and require entrants to declare intent beforehand you can simply print what criteria you will need before the event. These criteria should be kept in the MoAS files to be used when judged competitions are held. Judges must also be arranged for such competitions. It is wise to approach Laurels and other highly knowledgeable artisans to judge entries. The Kingdom A&S Criteria makes this a very easy, and standardized task. You may also want to refer to the MoAS page for more information on running an A&S competition or display.