Competitions/Displays

["Terry L. Neill" <longshipco@hotmail.com>]

Poster: "Terry L. Neill" <longshipco@hotmail.com>

Daffyd Wrote:
>But competitions are stupid anyway.  Don't enter competitions.  The 
vast
>majority of them are too much work for the judges, torture for the
>entrants, and a very poor way of getting either feedback or 
recognition.


I disagree with saying they're stupid.  Hard for the judges, I grant 
you.  But I don't think they're any more torturous for the entrants than 
displays.  I don't see much difference in the kind of comments made by 
spectators, and one is ensured of getting at least *some* feedback from 
the judges (if the person organizing the competition has set it up that 
way).  Judges with de-constructive comments are not invited back to 
judge any competition I have responsibility for.

When Ana Ilevna became MOAS of Caer Mear, very soon after we moved here 
from the West, she was told that in Atlantia, you all didn't do 
competitions.  People were used to displays.  So the first two events 
where she was in charge of the A&S, she had displays.  There were paltry 
few items placed on display, and few people made any kind of comments at 
all.

So she and I thought to heck with it.  Maybe if we offer a prize, we'll 
get more items on the A&S table.  So we had a contest for best garb for 
a person who'd been in the SCA for less than a year.

*Sixteen* people entered.  And that's a rather limited catagory at any 
one event.  And it WAS hell for the judges (I was one).  We had 
wonderful Italian ren against well put together early Norse.  (I hate it 
when that happens!) It came down to the person whose *shoes* were best, 
it was so close.  All the entrants got direct feedback from the judges.  
We had them all stand up in court so everyone could see the wonderful 
stuff they'd put together.

Ever since then she and I, as her deputy, organized contests.  And, 
since the contests we organized were purposfully broad in scope (things 
you've been doing less than a year, Inexpensive Alternatives, Winter 
Items, Curriculum Vite, etc) they *were* hell on the judges.  

But we went from 1/3 of a table being filled with A&S, to half the hall 
at Emerald Joust full of tables full of items.  That's that many more 
items on display for the populace to look at and learn from.

I'm a great supporter of competitions.

Regards!
 
   - Anarra



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