[MR] What the heck... Why be a judge?

[Michael Houghton]

Howdy!

On Thu, Apr 12, 2007 at 12:31:57AM -0400, Terri Morgan wrote:
> I'm tired of reading/deleting messages about background checks. So why not
> re-visit the brough-hahaha just previous to it?
> 
> Why should we judge A&S?
> 
> No, I'm serious.
> 
> I have been told since I became a member of the Order of the Pearl that it
> is my responsibility as a Pearl (and now as a Laurel) to judge Arts and
> Sciences when asked, especially if there are entries in my field of study.
> And for the most part, I have done so.
> 
> I have only ever entered *one* competition, a small local one in Sacred
> Stone (very, very long ago. Rocks were soft and mud was a new idea back
> then) and the judges comments and scores were so hilarious that I never did
> it again. Instead, I put items on display in the hopes of intriguing and
> teaching folks who'd look at them. That was fun. Doing things in the SCA is
> supposed to be fun, right?
> 
> So what, I ask, is fun about judging? It is un-rewarded, un-acknowledged,
> and for the most part, the biggest source of guilt and negative association
> for the judges of all their SCA activities. Experts in any craft field can
> count on having to stop whatever they are doing at any given event and spend
> hours filling out forms and trying to find a way to leave meaningful
> commentary that will inspire and delight the competitor, because to do
> anything less is to be... evil. Mean. The Person Who Kept The Competitor
> >From Ever Doing Their Craft Ever Again.

Wow. Victimhood uber alles. Yes, I see the sarcasm... :)

I've done some judging. It's mostly been interesting, if not fun, and
has let me see some cool stuff up close. 
> 
> You can't just say, "oh, that is lovely!" You can never hint, much less
> write, "Hun, I'm glad that you tried this out, but...."

Of course, the standard judging forms don't have room for much more than
thatn.
> 
> And no matter what you do, folks will post on the Merry Rose, in their
> online journals, on their local lists and talk to their friends about what a
> poor, terrible job the judges are doing and how they have been harmed and
> un-inspired by those same judges.

Sometimes the judge is a doofus. Sometimes the artisan is a doofus. The
maximum entertainment value comes when both are. Sometimes, people just
need to Get On With It. Sometimes, a Clue-by-Four is needed.
> 
> So I've got to ask. Maybe someone out there can tell me... why do we keep
> coming back for the same horrid backlash and guilt? Why *should* we, the
> average Artsy-fartsy kind of person, commit ourselves to supporting a system
> that we have never enjoyed and that does not bring us pleasure?

What sort of quality control do we perform on the judges? 

It may be productive for someone to review the comments with an eye
to catching unacceptable comments before they get loose. Judges who
make inappropriate comments need to be counseled or not permitted to
judge. Some people are just not cut out for judging.

yours,
Herveus
-- 
Michael and MJ Houghton | Herveus d'Ormonde and Megan O'Donnelly
herveus at radix.net       | White Wolf and the Phoenix narrowwares
Bowie, MD, USA          | http://whitewolfandphoenix.com 
Proud member of the SCA Internet Whitewash Squad