What do you think of Advancement Ceremonies for organizations?

Agrias

I'm excluding Orders from this poll. I'm curious as to what most people think of them, though. From novicehood in a House to full member, city advancement ceremonies, things of that nature. I'd like to hear the reasoning behind your choices, if I could.

Shirszae

I like them. I think they can make things memorable and interesting, specially for novices. So long as they are done right and leave some wiggle room instead of being scripted to the dot over the i.

Aedin

Personally I'm all for them. Not only for the role play factor but also the feeling you get when your surrounded by your peers who all acknowledge your advancement with said organization. It Helps Boost Confidence.

Agrias

I've been through many types of these ceremonies, and it seems to be split right down the middle.  A lot of times, people freeze up because they're the center of attention and are so nervous about either making a mistake or messing up the ceremony.  I'm impartial either way, I suppose.

Kyrra

I've always liked advancement ceremonies, for the communal sense of achievement and acknowledgement. Ceremonies and celebrations are just plain awesome, but I think they also encourage some people to want to be more involved, and to have something to aspire to.

I went impartial either way because I don't think they're absolutely necessary in the grand scheme of things, but they are still awesome.

Atalkez

It is a good way to get more people involved into what is going on. If your graduation ceremony is awesome, then maybe it will motivate the 3-4 people who are kind of meh on the tasks into actually working on them if nothing else but for the ceremony. Especially if you get unique items from becoming a full member of a House, for instance (or Order, etc)

Ruth

It's a must for me. It adds a lot of meaning to achievements/the final process one takes to get up to a certain rank. Wouldn't people want to be recognized for all that effort they placed into getting all the way up there?

Agrias

@Ruth there's other ways to gain recognition in an organization other than advancement ceremonies.  Honestly, I'm fine with just a quick message offering congratulations over the Org chat and abusing my newfound powers.

Aodfionn

Like all things, they can be well done or they can suck. Most of the ones I have ever seen were really well-done. 

Kresslack

I like them if they're already set ceremonies which the organisation does. Some Houses or otherwise require people to create their own ceremonies for such things, and to me that kind of cheapens it. "We're throwing an award dinner for you, and you get a plaque! Also, you have to pay for the plaque....and the dinner."

I liked the Ebon Fist's ceremony. Need to find my log of it.

Herenicus

Shirszae said:

I like them. I think they can make things memorable and interesting, specially for novices. So long as they are done right and leave some wiggle room instead of being scripted to the dot over the i.

I would like to hear some thoughts on how best to achieve this. 

Herenicus

Some thoughts on designing public ceremonies

1. Time is of the essence; I try to keep these to five or ten minutes;
2. No one wants to wait for your surprised/nervous awardee to overcome writer's block;
3. Briefing the awardee on the ceremony beforehand kills some of the magic, but I believe (begrudgingly) that it is usually the best way to allow for dynamic participation; 
4. Give the people what they want: clean writing and razzle-dazzle;
5. Don't give the people what they don't want: multiple trips to the dictionary and ho-fucking-hum.

Shirszae

The thing about writer's block is unfortunate, though I suppose true as well. And it is why I am so reticent to interact with most people. I take a long time to type, and knowing people are tapping their shoes on the other end really kills it for me, even if they have every right to be impatient.

I think awardees, specially newbie ones, deserve at least some extra-patience in this regard. Because unless they are one of the rarer super-extroverted ones, they are definitely going to be nervous, and either take a long time to write, or write quickly and badly.

Trey

Herenicus said:

Some thoughts on designing public ceremonies

1. Time is of the essence; I try to keep these to five or ten minutes;
2. No one wants to wait for your surprised/nervous awardee to overcome writer's block;
3. Briefing the awardee on the ceremony beforehand kills some of the magic, but I believe (begrudgingly) that it is usually the best way to allow for dynamic participation; 
4. Give the people what they want: clean writing and razzle-dazzle;
5. Don't give the people what they don't want: multiple trips to the dictionary and ho-fucking-hum.

I think my second knighting was a good example. I had no idea what to expect, but it was pretty easy to roll with.

Herenicus

Do you have the log? What separates a good knighting ceremony from a bad one? 

Trey

On mobile right now. Click on my profile and look at discussions, i think i have like five, should be easy to find.

Halos

I think it's appropriate to keep the core of a ceremony the same, and repeatable. It's smart to act off of the template for low-level graduations.

For more advanced ceremonies though, hopefully the person has been around long enough for you to know something about them. By then you can add that customized touch-whether it's a few special words or a small variation which only they would understand. If you can make it special for every person who passes through the ceremony I think you can create something enjoyable and well-memorable for all parties involved.

Jules

There's a built in tendency for them to get out of hand, unfortunately (just like real life ceremonies)!  In theory, I don't hate them.  I just feel like Jim and Dwight... I mean, couldn't we just have one Birthday celebration for everyone once a month (no, the answer is no  )?  

Blujixapug

I think they're great. Anything symbolic and ceremonial that celebrates significant achievement. Maybe comes with a title, or a nice hat. Occasions for others to celebrate you, and for those in the crowd to see something they can aspire towards. Org ranks only mean what you make them mean, through privileges, responsibilities - or pomp. Pomp is usually dismissed as unnecessary ornamentality, but it totally has its place.

I'm wary of anything becoming rote. If you're sitting through the same ceremony you've sat through five times before, it can be boring, not special. Having to chase up senior members to bulk up the crowd by attend a ceremony they aren't interested in... I think they either need to be designed well so that they're focused enough never to get boring, while still being significant and special, or else they need to be run by the type of person who understands what they're doing (and why) well enough to add a little improvisation.

I'm reminded of a certain statue the Occultists used to use in a ceremony for new graduates. It wasn't done for me, so when I was invited along when it was done for someone else, I felt a bit jealous. On a lesser scale, when inducting new citizens to Ashtan, I tried to throw in a couple of ceremonial notes at the Seven Pillars, so it was more of a swearing in ceremony, rather than just 'incitizen chump', 'ct welcome new meat'. But because this was done so often, one on one, and celebrated no real achievement, it didn't warrant anything more than a minute or two of emphatic emoting and significant phrasing.

Herenicus

Jules said:

There's a built in tendency for them to get out of hand, unfortunately (just like real life ceremonies)!  In theory, I don't hate them.  I just feel like Jim and Dwight... I mean, couldn't we just have one Birthday celebration for everyone once a month (no, the answer is no  )?  

When the speaker hits five minutes, nudge the giant shepherd's crook. When they exceed ten, use it. Respectfully.

Dji

Too many ceremonies makes the concept of a ceremony far less significant.

Herenicus

Common ceremonies should be kept private, to keep them fresh for the individuals being recognized. That's how the Apostate Guild/Congregation novice ceremony runs. This is the opposite of Rathos Aristata's mechanical "dire threat" recognition ceremony over our sacred city channel, which should go.

Tael

I am all for things like this, with a few caveats.

Waiting for someone specific to come online to perform the ceremony is lame. Let any novice aide (or equivalent) do it. Definitely don't schedule them or put a ton of effort into trying to do one ceremony for many people. Make sure there are enough people around for it to be fun and go ahead with it.

I think making it very ritualised is probably good in most organisations - do the whole thing where you teach the novice what they're going to do at each point "When I hand you the candles, you kneel. I light them, then you place them on the ground in front of you.", and run through the whole thing. Far from killing the magic, I think this drives it home - the awkward/eager young person learning how to perform in some ceremony in front of a bunch of people is a stock scene. Otherwise, don't have the notice do much of anything in the ceremony.

Under no circumstances should the novice be expected to give a speech.

And I'm also a strong believer in giving people tangible items as part of these ceremonies. When I was HoN for the Naga, I put a lot of effort into getting novices a house-related item (starting with sort of "novice badges", and quickly moving to things like one of the custom whips or a dirks) for each success. It made the items more special, it made the advancement more tangible, and each advancement made the person look more like a Naga.

Erhon

I know when I was a secretary in the Occultists, I tried to do something special for people when they got off probation(cause really that was a AFDSAAFS back then). I think I scared a couple of them senseless because I made it sound like they were in trouble to start with, I think Xtassy said she almost started crying, so I felt a little bad about it.

Sarathai

I like them and will generally drop whatever I'm doing to go to one unless I'm on Meropis or something like that. That said, I personally don't need a big flashy ceremony to feel like I've accomplished something. Though, again, I still like attending them for others.

Mathonwy

Ceremonies can be good or bad... or neither and just sort of constricting. It largely depends on the ritual.

Back in yon day, the Church had this public sort of ritual you had to go in order to be considered for higher Church office. It was, most of the time, a pretty big honor, and I think usually you had to be CHR7 or something to be considered. By the end, though, it just ended up being this meaningless formality that usually happened if you got elected to House/Church leadership.

The Anointed, on the other hand, had a pretty awesome induction ritual, probably in part because it was something that wasn't done very often. City and House graduation would presumably be much more frequent than being teleported to some long-forgotten desert to #fightthepower.

ETA: also the minute it becomes required, it feels suspiciously like paperwork for a lot of people, and it takes a lot of the fun out of it.

Daslin

Ashuran Sempai ceremony. Nuff said.

Amarillys

Daslin said:

Ashuran Sempai ceremony. Nuff said.

Is that a whole ceremony for when sempai notices you?

Daslin

It's when you ascend to sempai and stop noticing others. BACK TO GREASY HANDS.... AWAYYY!!!!