[MR] Reactions of being judged

[Signora Sveva Lucciola]

First let me say that I have entered many A&S competitions. I have
NEVER won. That's okay because I got exactly what I wanted out of
them...1) A chance to demonstrate my work 2)Feed back on what I could
do to improve and 3)a deadline to get a project done!  It would be
really nice to win, and sometimes I have really wanted to. But that is
really a bonus, not the whole point of the thing.

I must confess that I have never had any really scathing judging
comments, although I have gotten upset at times at (in retrospect) was
a pretty fair comment. The main reason for this is that, when I created
a piece, I put a lot of work into it, and sometimes the eye of
impartiality is a little blinded. Often the judges comments have
brought to my awareness an aspect I was overlooking and have helped me
to hone my skill or my research.

I have also judged quite a bit. Believe me it is very hard! Not only do
you have limited time, and space to write your comments, but you also
have limited information...namely what you already know and what the
entrant tells you with their documentation. If a judge questions or
doesn't "give you credit" for something you did, but you did not
mention in your docuementation, it really isn't the judge's fault.

There is also this issue of harshness. Some judges have very high
standards. When I am judging a piece, I try to compare it not to the
other items on the table, but to an IDEAL of that type thing in the
period it is being presented as being from. In truth, I have a sharper
eye to items entered in competitions, than those used in daily SCA
life. But then, these items have been offered up for comment and
critique, and I (perhaps mistakenly) feel it is my duty to commend what
is going well, question what is lacking, and point out improvements
that could be made. I also tend to confuse entrants by asking questions
on my judging sheets. These relate to things not really addressed, and
don't always impact the "points".

I think the biggest problem is the lack of direct communication with
the judges and craftsmen. The most ideal situation is where judges and
entrants can meet face to face and discuss the entries. But this is
very time consuming and just too impractical most of the time.

In lew of that, we have little pieces of paper. Judging sheets should
ALWAYS have a judges name on them! If you have a question or problem
with the judge's comments, the very first person you seek out is the
judge!  If you have a issue with how you were received, you should
bring that up to the person in charge of the competition (often not one
of the judges). Only if you are still feeling that there is a real
problem with this judge, should you bump it on up to the Kingdom level.
But before you do that, you do need to take a step back and think about
was the comment really harsh or "soul crushing"....or was it just
something you didn't want to hear? "Needs improvement in finishing
details" or "The decoration looks very modern. Where did you get these
details from?" are not meant to be soul crushing comments.  If you
thought you had done an excellent job of finishing the item, you should
ask the judge what you could have done better. It will help you improve
in your work, and, if you really just want to win, it will help you get
closer to that goal next time around.

Sveva





=====
"If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy.
If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem.
But I arise in the morning torn between the desire to improve the world,
and a desire to enjoy the world.
This makes it hard to plan the day."
---e.b. white

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