[MR] A & S competition feedback

[Becky McEllistrem]

> If the A&S is leatherworking, then get an expert at
> Leatherworking to be
> your judge and have him give comments to all
> entrants.  Give him several
> hours if it is a big event but if he/she knows in
> advance that comments are
> required, there should be no complaints from the
> judge and comments will be
> acquired for the aspiring artisans...
> 
> Just a thought...
> 
> Sir Sinclair

This is the way 90% of A&S competitions are managed. 
Judges are usually scheduled ahead of time by A&S
officers.  However judges often have attacks of life
and have their own issues with attending.  Your best
efforts at planning judges never show to fruition. 
Realistically you have to go with who showed up.  Even
if you have 6 promises from X person that say "yeah
I'll be there!" very often that same person does not
show up so you're left with who did show up.

It's not nice and if you manage competitions
frequently, after a while you figure out who shows up,
who shows up and does the work, and who shows up, does
the work but writes the most noxious comments ever so
that you'll never use them again.

Nothing is more "fun" than passing through a
competition at the end of the day and reading comments
to be sure they're not overly rude.  Any competition
coordinator worth their salt will do this and it is in
some cases interesting and in some cases extremely
tedious.

Also note that these days compeittions aren't geared
towards a specific form.  We have laurels for sewing,
scribing, music, and leather etc.   However
competitions like Tempore Atlantia are open
competitions so you never really know what you're
going to get.  Some people pre reg but life happens to
them too so "heads up's" aren't a guarantee.  Whenyou
have a competition to keep in theme with the event and
you say "best dragon in any medium" you're also
creating an open competition that could create judging
headaches.

So you see it's one of those things that sounds simple
on paper but in actual fact is very complicated to set
up and the larger the event, the more complicated it
is.  

I will note that when I'm managing competitions at
events I often make a point of having a very nice
little thank you gift for my judges.  This is usually
out of pocket but if it's a big competition a judge
can often get stuck working for 2 hours out of their
day and I believe this deserves our gratitude.

Rebecca