KASF, Pent and So-very-tired-now

The event this weekend was fantastic.  The site was lovely and it was full of talented, engaging people who were always eager to discuss the arts and sciences.  I spent almost the entire day in the Pentathlon room with my display, which was great as I got an opportunity to get personal feedback from the judges in addition to that that was left on their forms.  I did not win, but I feel that I did well.  Most of my entries were very well received.  One serves its purpose well in general, but was likely not the best item to enter in this competition (at least, not without some additional analysis, which I tried to do, but did not know exactly how to do it well enough, quickly).  I also got some additional information for resources from the food judges so that I can continue to play with period cooking. 

In all, the experience was completely fantastic and I would definitely consider something like this again.  Further, I would also encourage others to do so when ready.  For Persona Pentathlons, you typically create five items, and they often have to range across several categories (categories differ by Kingdom and competition).  All items have to related to one persona (so they would belong to a specific time and place and social status).  It is a pretty cool way to look at things and I learned a good deal just by putting together my entries.

I know a lot of people who live in or near Kingdoms with this type of competition talk about putting together an entry and to them I say, "Do it!"  I do, however, suggest that you do a few things along the way.

• Document your process.  Take photos of your process each step of the way.  Judges often love to see how YOU did it, in addition to hearing (from your written documentation) how it was done in period.
  
• Document the item fully, as you go.  In Atlantia, where this particular competition was held, EZ Doc is permissible, but it would never be enough to support am intense competition like this.  I used appendixes in the back of several of my books to give additional information on topics (so that the judges could read it if they chose, or opt out if they felt they got enough information elsewhere).  Use as many primary or period resources as possible.
  
• Be organized.  I used tabs in my books and a summary/contents page at the beginning of each entry.  Several people thanked me for that.
  
• Double check your items, are they displayed to their best advantage?  Are all the finishing touches complete? 
  
• Go into a competition like this with the expectation that you will get useful feedback to help further improve your projects.  If you are lucky, you will get a great deal of feedback.
  
• Enjoy the process of further exploring a single persona!
  

Photos of my display are below.  I am happy that I saw several of these things through a long transition of learning, altering, editing and I feel like I brought my best with some of these entries.  Now to take my next steps and start doing additional research and creating new items for future displays. 

I was so incredibly busy talking to people about my display that I barely made it out of the Pent room until it was time for Court.  (I will add here that I was completely stunned during Court when I was called forward to receive a Silver Nautilus from their Majesties. I thought that being from out-of-Kingdom meant I was "safe"!  It was, however, a deep honor to be presented with the award.)  I did make it into the main hall a few times and took some photos of of a few of my own favorite displays.

Kat Fernley's amazing display of hand crafted tools. She was quite surprised (as were many people) to be inducted into the Order of the Laurel during Court. It is VERY well deserved!

Lady Amie Sparrow's amazing German dress. (This is one of my all time favorite gowns!)

Sabh's wonderful display of early fiber arts. She also crafts her own tools!

Birka wire stags! This woman's display was very education to me, as I have only seen these in books. Getting to handle one, and seeing how resilient the pieces are was fantastic.

Beautiful hand made instruments.

The most tasty looking batch of goods I saw all day!