[MR] Re: A&S Competitions/Judges

[egeorges]

My 2 shillings, for what it's worth...

My expereince has been that judges on the whole have been very helpful, and
if I were to fault how my entries were judged in any way, it would be to say
that I wished I'd had more specific comments about how I could improve my
work.  Judging is hard, and a lot of the time people who are whizzes with a
needle and thread don't do quite as well with pen and paper, i.e. it takes
quite a bit of mastery with words to give advice without sounding like you
are being mean.  Some people simply do it better than others.

I admit I have a pretty thick skin, but I enter competitions with my work to
get feedback on it, and I appreciate the negative comments more than the
positive ones, because those are what make you rise up and improve your
work.

And you know what? EVERYONE could improve their work.  I don't care if you
are a complete novice or a Laurel, there isn't anyone who can say that their
work couldn't be improved in some way.  What would be the point of
continuing to try if you were, in fact, perfect?

A person who says that they aren't competing because they never win is
really saying that they don't think they are being recognized for how good
their work really is.  And that's the kind of attitude that is going to
poison your SCA experience if you let it take over.  We have so many awards
and competitions because we like to recognize people for the work they do.
But like anything, the system of recognition is not perfect either.  If a
person's A&S experience (or indeed their SCA experience as a whole) is
dependent on whether they get awards or prizes, they WILL feel disappointed
on an almost continual basis.  If a person is so dependent on awards and
prizes to feel good about A&S, it doesn't matter how hard the A&S community
works to imporve the judging (and indeed there has been much hard work on
that), or even how many prizes they win, it probably won't ever be enough.

And if that is the case, then I am sorry for them, becasue they are missing
the fun of creating things of beauty.  They are missing the joy of learning.
They are missing the opportunity to use their skill to bring joy to others.
And more's the pity for that.

For what it's worth,

Lady Luce Antony Venus
Baronial Artisan of Ponte Alto