This is fairly simple, and kinda-sorta optional. In theory, you can design, research and document your name and device and send it straight up the line to the Rocket Herald for registration. A lot of people do that, and when your local herald is busy on other things it might be the only way. But I’d like to encourage you to include your local herald in the loop, if you can. Here’s why:
- Your local herald may be more experienced than you at conflict checking and interpreting the rules. He or she may see something you’ve missed, that would otherwise lead to Rocket returning your submission for further work. Even if the local herald is a rank newbie compared to you, it doesn’t hurt to have them look the submission over before you send it off. As another Eric once said “Given enough eyes, all bugs are shallow”.
- When things go haywire in the SCA, it usually helps to have backups. Knowing that your entire submission is on file with your local herald is useful when your filing cabinet burns down, or the package of submissions gets attacked by narwhals on the way overseas, or Rocket gets kidnapped by aliens. Geeks call this an “offsite backup”; it’s one of the rare uncontroversial Good Things.
- The Crux Australis Principal Herald expects her local heralds to do their job. If there are a lot of submissions coming from a particular group but the local herald has nothing to do with them, Crux gets suspicious, and then annoyed. You don’t want to see what she looks like when she gets annoyed.
