[MR] A&S competitions and judging (long)

[McDaniel, Michelle]

As someone who's been a judge, entrant, autocrat, and competition
organizer, I've got comments about A&S competitions/displays several
sides.

 

>From a judge's stand point:

 

Any documentation is better than none. I'm not looking for a master's or
doctoral thesis; I just want to know a little bit about period
production techniques, what you did, and how you may have differed from
period techniques/equipment, etc. and why. That's three paragraphs. The
more detailed you can be, the better. The more info you give me, the
more likely I'll be able to judge you work more appropriately.

 

Have a human being proof-read your documentation. The biggest problem in
documentation I saw when I judged Tempore Atlantia was misspellings that
spelled other words.

 

I spend 10-20 (or more) minutes per piece I'm judging. I read the
documentation, not just scan it, and then I look the piece(s) over. I
look to see how/if the seams are finished, what the lining looks like. I
look at handwork, etc. Then I take 3-5 minutes to score and write
comments. The longer the documentation, the more time I spend. The more
component pieces there are, the more time I spend.

 

I try to write positive things first and then ask questions to get
people thinking about ways to improve. I will sometimes mention helpful
books/authors.

 

Knowing that I maybe be called to judge things I do not personally do, I
have made it a point to try and learn a little bit about a lot of
different things, so that when I am called to judge something that is
out of my realm of expertise, I can at least look at it with a bit of
knowledge.

 

I only judge if I know that I will have time to give it the full
attention it deserves. That means that I have someone to look after my
daughter for how ever long it takes and have no other impending time
commitments. If I can't give it my full attention, I don't do it.

 

I have mixed feelings about talking to the artisans whilst judging. If
it's set up in advance, so that most people can be there with their
stuff, then I think it's great. It gives those people who aren't the
best writers get their info across. If it isn't set up in advance and
one or two people decide to hang out with their stuff all day just so
they can answer questions, it strikes me as a bit unfair to the other
competitors. 

 

I also don't judge local A&S competitions as strictly as I do things
like Tempore Atlantia. I realize that some people may be putting the
first thing they've ever done, ever, in the small, local event and as a
judge, I want to encourage more than discourage. At Tempore Atlantia the
rules and guidelines are posted well in advance and I expect the
competitors to adhere to them more closely. From what I've seen, most
people who enter things in Tempore Atlantia have entered other
competitions and are used to the drill. They are also up against stiffer
competition and therefore are held to higher standards.

As a competitor:

 

I wouldn't mind having to sit with my stuff. I've done it at Knowne
Worlde A&S at Pennsic and loved it.

 

I also like having other competitors judge stuff in the displays. This
was done at KWAS at Pennsic about 6ish years ago and I felt like I got
the best marks and comments I've ever received.

 

 

As an autocrat:

 

Finding people to run A&S displays/competitions are not always easy. I
know that I have given it short shrift when planning events. I've let
the local A&S minister do his/her own thing, down to planning the
competitions, finding judges, and prizes. Next time, I'll do a bit
better.

 

 

As the person running a competition:

 

I looked for judges ahead of time, in a myriad of fields. I tried to
have back-up judges. I had appropriate prizes and tried to be at the
drop-off table when I said I would. I tried to have enough space
available.

 

Finding appropriate space is difficult. Most halls are crowded. You
never know how many people are going to bring stuff. Some years, no one
enters anything. The next, you fill up several tables' worth.

 

Put A&S somewhere without extremely limited space. It's better to have a
few items in a large space than stuff crammed cheek by jowl.

 

Do you put the display inside or outside in a tent? Both have their
merits as well as drawbacks. The longer I do A&S the more I like putting
the A&S wherever the main action is. If it's a fighting event, put it in
a tent near the list field. If it's mostly an indoor event put it in the
main hall or a room off the main hall. Announce this in the event
announcement so that people can decide whether or not to bring their
items. (If you are worried about how your piece will fare if displayed
outside, don't bring it.)

 

Item displays are awkward but getting better. Most of the time there's
the item and the documentation. If it's garb, it's often folded in a
rectangle, so you have to unfold it to look at it properly. If it is on
a dress dummy/hanger, there often isn't enough space for it or anyplace
to hang it.

 

 

Atlantia has gotten a lot better than when I moved here 13 years ago.
Fewer judges leave tactless comments and more judges leave some sort of
comments. People have really taken to leaving tokens; at least you know
someone liked your stuff. There are more displays without any judging
and for those that just want comments, that's good as well.