Judging at an Arts & Sciences Faire
[This is being put online as a historical document. It has been several years since I taught this class, and the document has not yet been revised to take into account revisions to the Criteria and new practices recently introduced.]
Lady Fiadnata ó Gleann Àlainn, APF, OW, ODH
Deputy MoAS for A&S Education
This article is designed for the person who hasn't judged before, but who is interested in becoming a judge within the Middle Kingdom Arts & Sciences Faire system. It will cover a typical day as a judge, an in-depth look at how to use the Criteria to judge a piece, and how face-to-face judging works at a regional Faire.
So you’ve decided to try judging at a regional Arts & Sciences Faire. First off, thank you!!!! We always need more judges, and a judge that is interested in educating themselves about the process of judging is particularly welcome.
If you are approaching this well ahead of your regional Faire, please notify your regional A&S Officer that you will be attending, and what areas you feel particularly skilled in, so that they can plan ahead on what pieces you might be asked to judge. You can find e-mail contacts for all the regional officers here. This advance notice is always appreciated.
Before you actually go to the regional Faire, you will probably find it useful to look over the Midrealm Criteria for A&S judging, in order to familiarize yourself with the general structure of the Criteria. While the individual criteria for each category is tailored to that area, the basic structure is the same for all categories. You can get a complete set of the Criteria by following the link from the Office of the Minister of Arts and Sciences web page.
Schedule of the Day
The normal schedule for the day is registration opening at 9:00 AM, and lasting until 11:00 AM or 11:30 AM. A judges' meeting and lunch are generally held at noon, where last minute reminders are given and judging assignments are handed out. By 1:00 PM, judging has started, with the goal of having it completed by 5:00 PM or 6:00 PM. After that, the Tally room finishes their work, while everyone either feasts or chats with each other. Customarily, results are given out in Court, which normally is timed for either right after Feast, or at a dessert revel, if no feast is planned. Once the results are handed out, everyone can talk them over, and the crew cleans up the last details.
Let's look a little more closely at the schedule.
Signing in
The day of the Faire, plan on arriving by mid-morning. Doors usually open to the populace around 9:00 AM, with entrant and judges registration taking place until 11:00 AM. The earlier you arrive, the easier you will make matters for the Regional Officer in charge of the Faire. By registering early, your skills and strengths can be factored in to the planning for judging, while the entrants are still registering. This makes final judging assignments go much more quickly.
The judge's registration form asks you for your contact information so that an entrant might be able to contact you concerning any comment you might make about their work. It also asks you to check off, and even rank, your skills in particular A&S areas. The lists are broken down in the same order that the Midrealm Criteria are organized in. Check off which fields you feel comfortable judging, and (if asked) put a star next to ones you feel particularly strong in. This lets the Regional Officer know which entries you are likely to be more comfortable evaluating, as they look at all the judges who have registered that day. If you don't feel particularly comfortable in a field, but would like to learn more about judging it, you can indicate that, as well, and you may be able to act as a "shadow" judge in that area.
If you have judged before, and are already registered in the Judges database, then you will be able to check in fairly easily and quickly. All you will need to provide is your name, a confirmation that your contact information is still correct, and an update on your areas of expertise. After that, you will be free to talk with friends and look at the entries while they are being set up.
(While looking at entries, at this point, try to stay away from pieces you may be asked to judge. A&S judging is supposed to be anonymous, to the extent that anonymity is possible in a region where often many of the artisans in a field might be well-acquainted with each other. Thus, it would be considered highly impolite for you to watch someone set up their entry, then find yourself judging it a few hours later.)
Judges Meeting
The judges meeting usually begins around noon, with lunch normally being served at the beginning. The judges meeting and lunch serves several purposes, not the least of which is thanking you, the judges, for being willing to devote one day to promoting the Arts & Sciences by critiquing the work of your fellow artisans. Your participation is key to the success of this Faire, and your efforts are appreciated by all. I want to encourage you to eat a good lunch while you have the opportunity. Judging is actually a rather long process, especially if you have several pieces to cover in one afternoon, and eating a well-balanced meal before you begin is one way to help you approach your task with the energy and positive attitude you will need to get through the day.
Besides getting you off on the right foot, energy-wise, another important reason for attending the Judges meeting is the opportunity it gives you to focus (or, maybe, re-focus) on the activity of judging. Normally, during the judges meeting, either the Regional Officer or a deputy Kingdom officer will get up and lead a discussion of the important points to remember. We will be expanding on each of these points further, below, but as a good summary, here, they are:
1. Always read the Criteria for the category you are about to judge, as you sit down to judge it. There should be three copies of each category's Criteria laying on the table near the entry.
2. Please always thoroughly read the documentation for the entry you are judging, before you form too many opinions about it. Read the documentation in tandem with the Criteria -- see if you can find answers in the documentation that respond to the questions being raised by the Criteria. The documentation is probably the most important part of the entry for you to examine, since so much of the score depends on the answers you will find in it. The mantra you should be muttering at the end of the Judges meeting should be, "Read the documentation...."
3. As you work your way through the scoring process on the Judges score sheet, always write comments with every score. Simple numbers are hard for entrants to interpret -- comments can make all the difference to how much an entrant actually learns from their experience entering a Faire.
4. As you write your comments, write them positively. When you are being evaluated at your job, you have no doubt experienced the hanging "but...." Try to write your comments so that you don't leave any hanging "but"s for the entrant. There are always positive points you can comment on in any entry. Find them, and try to link any points you see that need improvement to these positive points. Write comments that you would like to read, then reread them to be sure that they are actually positive and constructive.
5. When you write your comments and your scores, write legibly! It doesn't do anyone any good to receive comments they can't read. Along with that, the Tally room really appreciates it if they can read the numbers you wrote. They want to be sure they are giving an accurate total and average to every entrant.
6. Along with writing legibly, please do not do your own math on the scores you give. The Tally room is equipped with calculators and workers with much fresher minds that yours will be, by late in the afternoon. Let them do the work -- that's what they have volunteered for.
7. Lastly, and perhaps most important, remember to fill out all the identification information on the Judges score sheet. If the entrant has a question concerning a score or a comment you made, they are always encouraged to contact the judge (that may be you) involved. Also, sign the entry ticket by every entry you judge. this lets the entrant know when all three judges have judged their entry, so that they can retrive them from the display area.
From the time entry registration closes, the Regional MoAS will be closeted in the Tally Room, sorting out entries and judges available to critique them. Usually, this is done with several helpers: Kingdom officers in attendance (KMoAS, any Deputy MoAS, and especially the Judges Coordinator, if available), and possibly two or three well-respected Laurels from the region who know the strengths of the judges in attendance. Sorting out judging assignments normally takes an hour or so, and the Regional MoAS is usually finished by the point in the Judges meeting when the review of the judging practices is wrapping up. Handing out the judging assignments is the final part of the meeting.
Normally, you will only get a few pieces to judge at any particular Faire. Most Regional officers try to keep all judges to 5 pieces or less. Occasionally, if a particular category is busy, the entries will be split between two or more groups of judges, and judging assignments will be made for particular pieces. The categories this often occurs in are calligraphy & illumination, costuming, (particularly late period costuming), cooking and brewing & vintning. This doesn't mean it won't happen in other categories, though -- certain categories will go through periods of popularity, then will fade back for a few years, while others rise to the forefront.
If you find yourself with more pieces to judge than you feel you will be able to handle in one afternoon, please tell the Regional officer. They will be happy to find other judges who can cover some of your pieces, and it is easier for everyone if it can be done early in the afternoon. If you know someone who is willing to take over one or more of your pieces, this is even better. Just be sure to tell the Tally Room coordinator when you change the judges on a particular piece, so that they can change the assignments on the spreadsheet.
Once the judging assignments are handed out, the schedules for the entries that need particular timing are arranged. At Regional Faires, entrants have the option for face-to-face judging, which requires that all the judges and the entrant gather by the entry at a set time. While this does mean ccordinating one's schedule with that of several other people, face-to-face judging is becoming more common, as it provides a greater opportunity for valuable commentary for the entrant. By all means, if you have an opportunity to participate in face-to-face judging, take advantage of it.
Performance entries are another obvious example of the need for scheduling entries, but it is also required in several other areas. Costuming entries are normally judged by modelling the outfit on the entrant (or whoever the outfit was made for), so as to best show off fit and draping of the costume. This requires that all three judges be present at the same time, and that the entrant be dressed in the costume. Along the same vein, cooking entries which are to be served hot also require scheduling, so that they are fully cooked at the time the judges taste them, without being over-cooked or cooled to the point where they lose some of their flavor.
Because many of the sites where A&S Faires are held restrict the presence of alcohol on their property, brewing & vintning judging is often done either off-site at a local member's home or in one room, cordoned away from the rest of the event. Brewing & vintning judges are used to these restrictions, and have adapted their judging to accomodate them. Since the judges are all present at the same time, they often discuss their entries even more than other judges might, and while they score independently, the comments they write are usually the result of this discussion.
Judging
Judging normally begins around 12:30-1:00 PM, and lasts until 5:00 PM. At particularly large Faires, particularly the Kingdom A&S Faire, judging may continue until 6:00 PM, to accomodate all of the entries.
Room Conditions
Ideal room conditions for judging include all of the following:
• Preferably, several separate rooms for various divisions/specialties
If possible, having separate rooms for the various divisions is always better, especially if the rooms are reasonably large and allow the entries to be spread throughout the room.
• Plenty of natural light, since entries are usually best judged in natural light, whenever possible. This can be particularly important for entries in studio arts categories, where colors may look very different under room lights v. sun light.
• Plenty of table space. Table space is always at a premium, with each entry needing space for the object, the entry ticket identifying it, and the documentation supporting the entry. Wider tables are always preferable, so that pieces can be spread out more completely, and show off their finer points more easily.
• Plenty of chairs for judges. Chairs for judges are always appreciated, since thoroughly evaluating an entry can often take nearly an hour. Faires where chairs in the judging rooms are at a premium usually take longer to finish judging, and are often more tense than those where judges can more easily find space to sit and relax while poring over an entry.
• Room for judges to sit together around projects. Along with chairs and table space, having room for the judges to sit together around the entry they are discussing is always preferred. Even if the piece is not being judged face-to-face, judges often prefer to judge with at least one fellow judge present, in order to have a sounding board for their ideas and commentary. Talking over a piece with another judge often makes it easier to notice all the details about a piece.
• Room between projects, to allow some privacy. Another example of the importance of space in a judging room is the need for some privacy for judges while they critique a piece. Being able to talk together, without distracting other judges who may be working in the same room, is always preferable, as is being able to talk without having to worry about who might overhear a discussion. Judges need to be conscious of who may be listening in on their conversation, as while the entrants are usually not nearby, if they are not using face-to-face judging, but their friends and associates might be near.
Judges also need to be aware that often the populace will be allowed to visit the judging rooms for a set period during the afternoon. Since one of the main purposes of the Faires is to get wider exposure for the A&S activities going on within a region, having the populace in to view the works being judged is always to be encouraged. If visitors become too loud or disruptive, normally a quiet word from one of the judges is enough to calm the situation.
Sheets around the entries
With every entry at an A&S Faire, you will find several different sheets of paper:
• Entry ticket
Each entry will have an entry ticket identifying it. On the folded, half-page sized sheet, you will find the Division number, the category name, the entry number, and a brief descrition of the entry. Inside the folded sheet are the SCA name, mundane name and address of the entrant. As entries are supposed to be judged anonymously, whenever possible, pease do not open this sheet -- the contact information is there just in case an entry is forgotten, and the Regional officer needs to return it to an entrant.
• Judges score sheet
The judges score sheet is the sheet you will be most concerned with, as a judge. This is the sheet where you will be recording your scores and comments, as you work your way through the Criteria, the entry and the entry's documentation.
• Specialty score sheets for B&V entries
Due to the special structure and format of the criteria for the brewing & vintning category, there are special judging sheets formatted for those entries. They should be supplied by the entries -- ask the Regional officer in charge, if they are missing or if you and your fellow judges need more.
• Criteria
The Criteria are the structure by which entries are evaluated. They spell out what features are to be examined, and what weight is to be given to any particular feature. There should be three copies of each category's criteria laying near the entries for that category -- they are considered expendable, if you want to take a particular category's criteria home to examine more thoroughly, later.
• Entry's documentation
Likewise, there should be three copies of an entry's documentation laying near the entry. Documentation can range from a single sheet with minimal information to elaborate research notebooks, with supporting illustrations and several pages of references. These, too, are considered expendable, and can be taken for future reference. (This is often particularly helpful, if you plan on contacting an entrant after a Faire to continue a discussion about their entry.)
Please turn in your score sheets whenever you finish them. Don't save them up to be turned in all at once. The Tally Room is always eager to get score sheets as early as possible, since they need to total up scores, and average them together, once all three sheets are turned in. There are usually young children acting as runners for the Tally Room -- it's a way they can be useful and enjoy themselves at the same time. Feel free to call them over, if you have a sheet ready for them. Of course, if there are no runners available, then you will need to turn in your sheets at the Tally Room yourself. Again, don't save your sheets up until the end of the day -- take a break after each piece, or every other piece, and go drop them off. You'll feel better for having taken the break. (And, if you're lucky, you may find the snacks that are usually kept in the Tally room for weary judges.)
The Nitty-Gritty -- Judging Procedures
First things first. In the front of the Midrealm A&S Criteria, the Rules for Judges are listed. I will touch on many of them here, but it is always a Good Thing to make yourself familiar with them.
The Midrealm Criteria for A&S judging are meant to be used both as a guide to the entrant in creating their piece (and particularly their documentation for their piece) for entry in the A&S Faire, as well as for judging the pieces that are entered. In judging an entry, you should always be thinking about the Criteria for the category being judged - looking at how the piece answers the questions the Criteria raises.
Remember, the entries in the A&S Faire are being judged against the standards that the Criteria for each category delineate, not against each other. You are looking to see how the entry stands up against these standards, not to rank the entries best to worst in that category. Everyone who enters a piece may well earn a First. Likewise, nobody may come up with an entry that day which comes close to the ideal as typified in the Criteria, and everyone may go home with a second, or third, place. Judge the pieces against the Criteria - don't just look for a "pretty" piece. The only place you, as a judge, should let your own private opinions, personality or personal preferences influence your scoring is the section labeled “Judge’s Observations”. (More on that, below.)
The more familiar you are with the Criteria for the categories you are judging, the more easily you will be able to judge them. Ideally, of course, you will be judging categories for which you also have a great deal of hands-on experience. If you find yourself judging a category (or piece) for which you feel you simply do not have enough familiarity to be able to critique intelligently, don’t hesitate to go to the regional or Kingdom officer in charge to arrange for someone with better qualifications to take over. If there is no one better qualified, then make as thorough a critique as you feel able. Discussing the piece with the other judges may help you evaluate it with more skill.
Now, let’s look at the Criteria, and see how they can guide your judging. These are the questions each section is suggesting you pose.
Examining the Criteria: Criteria structure
At the beginning of the Criteria is a general guideline for the structure of the Criteria and how to interpret them. Note that each Criteria category has an introductory paragraph at the top, with notes as to what is required for a complete entry in that category, as well as what items are specifically excluded from that category. (For example, the Dyeing category specifically excludes dyed leather, intending that it be included in Leatherwork, instead.) Be sure to read this paragraph -- it can give you directions that you wouldn't know otherwise.
• Documentation
1) How does the Documentation section guide you?
The Documentation section wants you to look at how well the entrant researches the historical practices in their field, and how well they use this research when creating their entry. The idea is to find sources from the historical era and location that the entry is trying to recreate, not just sources from later periods which record the practices as history. The closer the entrant is able to arrive at contemporary accounts of period practices, the more likely their entry will accurately reflect the period techniques and product.
The Documentation section is explicitly guiding the entrant toward the style of documentation that has become established as the most acceptable within A&S Faire evaluations. The authors of the Criteria want the entrant to think about the sources they are using to justify their work, to show the entrant the value of using sources that are in period for the piece they are producing.
Look at the sources the entrant used - when do they date from? Has the entrant been able to find sources that actually date from the time and place of the piece they were trying to create/recreate? Or are they interpretations made by others from later periods? The closer the entrant can find to a source from the contemporary period for their entry, the better. The ideal is direct examination of pieces contemporaneous to their recreation. Since this is rarely possible, the next best alternative is examination of a variety of pictures of contemporary pieces.
Of course, looking at a period artifact and being able to completely reproduce it is not an automatic skill. The entrant will probably still be coming at it with some 20th century assumptions, which may result in a piece that is less than perfect. A more experienced entrant should be able to interpret the period source more by themselves, with less need to rely on the (possibly faulty) interpretations of others. The experience of the entrant is usually directly reflected in the sources that they use, and in their skill in looking at those sources and making interpretations based on their own experiences. The most experienced entrants will usually be those who are able to look at the period artifacts and, using the skills they have built up, be able to work out the methodology to produce a similar piece using period methodology and tools.
There is a long and usually fruitless discussion attached to the validity of referring to source material as either primary, secondary or tertiary. These terms are gradually passing out of general use, in favor of examination of the sources for their quality and ability to help us understand the period work. However, in the interest of clarifying the terms for those who might run into them, the following is one possible interpretation.
Primary sources: sources that come from the era of the artifact the entrant is recreating - they most directly address what the artifact would have been like in period, and are the best guide for recreating the piece. Just because a source can be dated to pre-1600 does not necessarily make it a primary source for every piece that may be entered in an A&S Faire. The most useful source will date back to the era of the original creation of the piece, in order to properly show the techniques available in that period. The primary source may be anything from a period manuscript to a painting to an artifact, etc.
Secondary sources: sources that refer to a primary source, but are not themselves primary sources. The reference may be directly - a compiled list of primary sources - or indirectly - a souce that describes and interprets primary sources. Secondary sources may not be as valuable to us as primary sources because of the need to sort out the information directly conveyed from the primary source from the interpretation added by the author of the secondary source. If the information added by the author is based on sound research and experience, the source may actually be more useful than some primary sources.
Tertiary sources: sources that are general summaries or interpretations of information. They serve mainly to provide introductory or background material on a time period or activity.
• Authenticity
2) How does the Authenticity section help you?
The Authenticity section wants you to look at how much effort the entrant put into trying to recreate period practice. Look at the entry and try to decide, from the entry and the accompanying documentation, just how accurately the entrant was trying to be with their entry - were they aiming for an authentic period piece, or are there elements that will always reflect modern life in this entry? The closer the entrant strives for authenticity, the more they will learn about period practices and activities.
• Scope
3) How does the Scope section help you look at a work?
The Scope section wants you to look at how much the entrant tried to do, how complex a project they attempted. This section may be easier to judge if you are familiar with the field, but it is still quite possible to critique a piece, given adequate documentation. Look at the different aspects that the Scope section separates out. How did the entrant address each of these points? Did the entrant try for a fairly conservative entry? Or did they stretch themselves, and make the effort to show all their ability in this area?
• Skill
4) How does the Skill section give you pointers?
Here, again, the authors of the criteria want you to look at all the components of the entry - they want you to be aware of all the aspects you need to consider when judging the piece, in order to get the best overall effect. Here you should be reminded that you need to look at the finish, as well as the basic structure of the work - consider the polish as well as the guts. If you are not already familiar with the field you are judging, you can usually get a reasonable sense of what is considered *good* workmanship in the field by reading any particular category's criteria, as the points emphasized will guide you in that direction. This is the place where the piece itself is most thoroughly judged, rather than the description of the piece as given in the documentation.
• Creativity
5) How does the Creativity section help you?
The Creativity section is meant to inspire the entrant to try for a piece that is more than just run-of-the-mill - to do more than just blindly copy a period artifact, but to use the skills they have gained by looking at, and working on creating, period pieces to make their own work that could blend in with the period. Here, they are allowed to show off their own ideas - they can take what they have learned from researching period work and reinterpret it in their own way. This is where they can show off the talent that might have made it possible for them to support themselves in period - the flair that might now take them from being an interested amateur to a skilled journeyman or master at their craft.
• Judge's observations
6) How can you use the Judges Impressions section?
The Judge's Observation section is where the piece as a whole is evaluated - how well do all the disparate parts fit together? What is the overall effect of the work? Here you, the judge, are finally allowed to let your own opinion and preferences predominate in your evaluation. This is also one of the most important places for comments - these are meant to be your observations, after all, and the entrant is likely to take any commentary made here particularly to heart. Try to be positive in your evaluation, and to encourage the entrant to try again, and to stretch themselves in whatever entry they may attempt next. This can be the real “make-or-break” area in your evaluation.
Further considerations
If it seems to you that an inordinate amount of emphasis has been put on the documentation of a piece by this article, then you are correct. The documentation is actually the most important part of any entry. It is very important that you put most of your effort into giving the documentation for every piece as thorough a reading as you are able. The entrant should have put information in there that will help you judge their piece fairly, and aid you in giving them constructive criticism of the work they have put in so far. It may also help you to suggest new areas for the entrant to explore, and new sources you may know of that the entrant should be guided to.
Probably the most important result of any entry for an entrant in the A&S Faire is the comments they will receive from the judges evaluating their piece. These comments can have profound influences on how the entrant views their own abilities, as well as how they view the entire A&S area of activity. They can be encouraged to continue to participate by the comments they receive, or they may become so discouraged that they never attempt another entry. Always strive, in the comments you write, to promote the entrant and their ability. Guide them to resources they may not be familiar with, and encourage them to improve their next entry (and convince them that they can improve their next entry), so that they come away from the A&S Faire with a positive feeling.
How you can help more
Each of us, as judges, take on the role of mentor for the entrant, at least for the time we are evaluating their work. Look at the comments you make on each piece, and try to read those comments from the viewpoint of the entrant. How can you promote A&S activities for this person by your comments on their piece? What can you do to encourage the new entrant, or guide the more experienced entrant, in their further A&S career? Do everything you can, so that you, too, will have a positive experience when you enter a piece in your next A&S Faire.
Lady Fiadnata ó Gleann Àlainn, APF, OW, ODH
Deputy MoAS for A&S Education
This article is designed for the person who hasn't judged before, but who is interested in becoming a judge within the Middle Kingdom Arts & Sciences Faire system. It will cover a typical day as a judge, an in-depth look at how to use the Criteria to judge a piece, and how face-to-face judging works at a regional Faire.
So you’ve decided to try judging at a regional Arts & Sciences Faire. First off, thank you!!!! We always need more judges, and a judge that is interested in educating themselves about the process of judging is particularly welcome.
If you are approaching this well ahead of your regional Faire, please notify your regional A&S Officer that you will be attending, and what areas you feel particularly skilled in, so that they can plan ahead on what pieces you might be asked to judge. You can find e-mail contacts for all the regional officers here. This advance notice is always appreciated.
Before you actually go to the regional Faire, you will probably find it useful to look over the Midrealm Criteria for A&S judging, in order to familiarize yourself with the general structure of the Criteria. While the individual criteria for each category is tailored to that area, the basic structure is the same for all categories. You can get a complete set of the Criteria by following the link from the Office of the Minister of Arts and Sciences web page.
Schedule of the Day
The normal schedule for the day is registration opening at 9:00 AM, and lasting until 11:00 AM or 11:30 AM. A judges' meeting and lunch are generally held at noon, where last minute reminders are given and judging assignments are handed out. By 1:00 PM, judging has started, with the goal of having it completed by 5:00 PM or 6:00 PM. After that, the Tally room finishes their work, while everyone either feasts or chats with each other. Customarily, results are given out in Court, which normally is timed for either right after Feast, or at a dessert revel, if no feast is planned. Once the results are handed out, everyone can talk them over, and the crew cleans up the last details.
Let's look a little more closely at the schedule.
Signing in
The day of the Faire, plan on arriving by mid-morning. Doors usually open to the populace around 9:00 AM, with entrant and judges registration taking place until 11:00 AM. The earlier you arrive, the easier you will make matters for the Regional Officer in charge of the Faire. By registering early, your skills and strengths can be factored in to the planning for judging, while the entrants are still registering. This makes final judging assignments go much more quickly.
The judge's registration form asks you for your contact information so that an entrant might be able to contact you concerning any comment you might make about their work. It also asks you to check off, and even rank, your skills in particular A&S areas. The lists are broken down in the same order that the Midrealm Criteria are organized in. Check off which fields you feel comfortable judging, and (if asked) put a star next to ones you feel particularly strong in. This lets the Regional Officer know which entries you are likely to be more comfortable evaluating, as they look at all the judges who have registered that day. If you don't feel particularly comfortable in a field, but would like to learn more about judging it, you can indicate that, as well, and you may be able to act as a "shadow" judge in that area.
If you have judged before, and are already registered in the Judges database, then you will be able to check in fairly easily and quickly. All you will need to provide is your name, a confirmation that your contact information is still correct, and an update on your areas of expertise. After that, you will be free to talk with friends and look at the entries while they are being set up.
(While looking at entries, at this point, try to stay away from pieces you may be asked to judge. A&S judging is supposed to be anonymous, to the extent that anonymity is possible in a region where often many of the artisans in a field might be well-acquainted with each other. Thus, it would be considered highly impolite for you to watch someone set up their entry, then find yourself judging it a few hours later.)
Judges Meeting
The judges meeting usually begins around noon, with lunch normally being served at the beginning. The judges meeting and lunch serves several purposes, not the least of which is thanking you, the judges, for being willing to devote one day to promoting the Arts & Sciences by critiquing the work of your fellow artisans. Your participation is key to the success of this Faire, and your efforts are appreciated by all. I want to encourage you to eat a good lunch while you have the opportunity. Judging is actually a rather long process, especially if you have several pieces to cover in one afternoon, and eating a well-balanced meal before you begin is one way to help you approach your task with the energy and positive attitude you will need to get through the day.
Besides getting you off on the right foot, energy-wise, another important reason for attending the Judges meeting is the opportunity it gives you to focus (or, maybe, re-focus) on the activity of judging. Normally, during the judges meeting, either the Regional Officer or a deputy Kingdom officer will get up and lead a discussion of the important points to remember. We will be expanding on each of these points further, below, but as a good summary, here, they are:
1. Always read the Criteria for the category you are about to judge, as you sit down to judge it. There should be three copies of each category's Criteria laying on the table near the entry.
2. Please always thoroughly read the documentation for the entry you are judging, before you form too many opinions about it. Read the documentation in tandem with the Criteria -- see if you can find answers in the documentation that respond to the questions being raised by the Criteria. The documentation is probably the most important part of the entry for you to examine, since so much of the score depends on the answers you will find in it. The mantra you should be muttering at the end of the Judges meeting should be, "Read the documentation...."
3. As you work your way through the scoring process on the Judges score sheet, always write comments with every score. Simple numbers are hard for entrants to interpret -- comments can make all the difference to how much an entrant actually learns from their experience entering a Faire.
4. As you write your comments, write them positively. When you are being evaluated at your job, you have no doubt experienced the hanging "but...." Try to write your comments so that you don't leave any hanging "but"s for the entrant. There are always positive points you can comment on in any entry. Find them, and try to link any points you see that need improvement to these positive points. Write comments that you would like to read, then reread them to be sure that they are actually positive and constructive.
5. When you write your comments and your scores, write legibly! It doesn't do anyone any good to receive comments they can't read. Along with that, the Tally room really appreciates it if they can read the numbers you wrote. They want to be sure they are giving an accurate total and average to every entrant.
6. Along with writing legibly, please do not do your own math on the scores you give. The Tally room is equipped with calculators and workers with much fresher minds that yours will be, by late in the afternoon. Let them do the work -- that's what they have volunteered for.
7. Lastly, and perhaps most important, remember to fill out all the identification information on the Judges score sheet. If the entrant has a question concerning a score or a comment you made, they are always encouraged to contact the judge (that may be you) involved. Also, sign the entry ticket by every entry you judge. this lets the entrant know when all three judges have judged their entry, so that they can retrive them from the display area.
From the time entry registration closes, the Regional MoAS will be closeted in the Tally Room, sorting out entries and judges available to critique them. Usually, this is done with several helpers: Kingdom officers in attendance (KMoAS, any Deputy MoAS, and especially the Judges Coordinator, if available), and possibly two or three well-respected Laurels from the region who know the strengths of the judges in attendance. Sorting out judging assignments normally takes an hour or so, and the Regional MoAS is usually finished by the point in the Judges meeting when the review of the judging practices is wrapping up. Handing out the judging assignments is the final part of the meeting.
Normally, you will only get a few pieces to judge at any particular Faire. Most Regional officers try to keep all judges to 5 pieces or less. Occasionally, if a particular category is busy, the entries will be split between two or more groups of judges, and judging assignments will be made for particular pieces. The categories this often occurs in are calligraphy & illumination, costuming, (particularly late period costuming), cooking and brewing & vintning. This doesn't mean it won't happen in other categories, though -- certain categories will go through periods of popularity, then will fade back for a few years, while others rise to the forefront.
If you find yourself with more pieces to judge than you feel you will be able to handle in one afternoon, please tell the Regional officer. They will be happy to find other judges who can cover some of your pieces, and it is easier for everyone if it can be done early in the afternoon. If you know someone who is willing to take over one or more of your pieces, this is even better. Just be sure to tell the Tally Room coordinator when you change the judges on a particular piece, so that they can change the assignments on the spreadsheet.
Once the judging assignments are handed out, the schedules for the entries that need particular timing are arranged. At Regional Faires, entrants have the option for face-to-face judging, which requires that all the judges and the entrant gather by the entry at a set time. While this does mean ccordinating one's schedule with that of several other people, face-to-face judging is becoming more common, as it provides a greater opportunity for valuable commentary for the entrant. By all means, if you have an opportunity to participate in face-to-face judging, take advantage of it.
Performance entries are another obvious example of the need for scheduling entries, but it is also required in several other areas. Costuming entries are normally judged by modelling the outfit on the entrant (or whoever the outfit was made for), so as to best show off fit and draping of the costume. This requires that all three judges be present at the same time, and that the entrant be dressed in the costume. Along the same vein, cooking entries which are to be served hot also require scheduling, so that they are fully cooked at the time the judges taste them, without being over-cooked or cooled to the point where they lose some of their flavor.
Because many of the sites where A&S Faires are held restrict the presence of alcohol on their property, brewing & vintning judging is often done either off-site at a local member's home or in one room, cordoned away from the rest of the event. Brewing & vintning judges are used to these restrictions, and have adapted their judging to accomodate them. Since the judges are all present at the same time, they often discuss their entries even more than other judges might, and while they score independently, the comments they write are usually the result of this discussion.
Judging
Judging normally begins around 12:30-1:00 PM, and lasts until 5:00 PM. At particularly large Faires, particularly the Kingdom A&S Faire, judging may continue until 6:00 PM, to accomodate all of the entries.
Room Conditions
Ideal room conditions for judging include all of the following:
• Preferably, several separate rooms for various divisions/specialties
If possible, having separate rooms for the various divisions is always better, especially if the rooms are reasonably large and allow the entries to be spread throughout the room.
• Plenty of natural light, since entries are usually best judged in natural light, whenever possible. This can be particularly important for entries in studio arts categories, where colors may look very different under room lights v. sun light.
• Plenty of table space. Table space is always at a premium, with each entry needing space for the object, the entry ticket identifying it, and the documentation supporting the entry. Wider tables are always preferable, so that pieces can be spread out more completely, and show off their finer points more easily.
• Plenty of chairs for judges. Chairs for judges are always appreciated, since thoroughly evaluating an entry can often take nearly an hour. Faires where chairs in the judging rooms are at a premium usually take longer to finish judging, and are often more tense than those where judges can more easily find space to sit and relax while poring over an entry.
• Room for judges to sit together around projects. Along with chairs and table space, having room for the judges to sit together around the entry they are discussing is always preferred. Even if the piece is not being judged face-to-face, judges often prefer to judge with at least one fellow judge present, in order to have a sounding board for their ideas and commentary. Talking over a piece with another judge often makes it easier to notice all the details about a piece.
• Room between projects, to allow some privacy. Another example of the importance of space in a judging room is the need for some privacy for judges while they critique a piece. Being able to talk together, without distracting other judges who may be working in the same room, is always preferable, as is being able to talk without having to worry about who might overhear a discussion. Judges need to be conscious of who may be listening in on their conversation, as while the entrants are usually not nearby, if they are not using face-to-face judging, but their friends and associates might be near.
Judges also need to be aware that often the populace will be allowed to visit the judging rooms for a set period during the afternoon. Since one of the main purposes of the Faires is to get wider exposure for the A&S activities going on within a region, having the populace in to view the works being judged is always to be encouraged. If visitors become too loud or disruptive, normally a quiet word from one of the judges is enough to calm the situation.
Sheets around the entries
With every entry at an A&S Faire, you will find several different sheets of paper:
• Entry ticket
Each entry will have an entry ticket identifying it. On the folded, half-page sized sheet, you will find the Division number, the category name, the entry number, and a brief descrition of the entry. Inside the folded sheet are the SCA name, mundane name and address of the entrant. As entries are supposed to be judged anonymously, whenever possible, pease do not open this sheet -- the contact information is there just in case an entry is forgotten, and the Regional officer needs to return it to an entrant.
• Judges score sheet
The judges score sheet is the sheet you will be most concerned with, as a judge. This is the sheet where you will be recording your scores and comments, as you work your way through the Criteria, the entry and the entry's documentation.
• Specialty score sheets for B&V entries
Due to the special structure and format of the criteria for the brewing & vintning category, there are special judging sheets formatted for those entries. They should be supplied by the entries -- ask the Regional officer in charge, if they are missing or if you and your fellow judges need more.
• Criteria
The Criteria are the structure by which entries are evaluated. They spell out what features are to be examined, and what weight is to be given to any particular feature. There should be three copies of each category's criteria laying near the entries for that category -- they are considered expendable, if you want to take a particular category's criteria home to examine more thoroughly, later.
• Entry's documentation
Likewise, there should be three copies of an entry's documentation laying near the entry. Documentation can range from a single sheet with minimal information to elaborate research notebooks, with supporting illustrations and several pages of references. These, too, are considered expendable, and can be taken for future reference. (This is often particularly helpful, if you plan on contacting an entrant after a Faire to continue a discussion about their entry.)
Please turn in your score sheets whenever you finish them. Don't save them up to be turned in all at once. The Tally Room is always eager to get score sheets as early as possible, since they need to total up scores, and average them together, once all three sheets are turned in. There are usually young children acting as runners for the Tally Room -- it's a way they can be useful and enjoy themselves at the same time. Feel free to call them over, if you have a sheet ready for them. Of course, if there are no runners available, then you will need to turn in your sheets at the Tally Room yourself. Again, don't save your sheets up until the end of the day -- take a break after each piece, or every other piece, and go drop them off. You'll feel better for having taken the break. (And, if you're lucky, you may find the snacks that are usually kept in the Tally room for weary judges.)
The Nitty-Gritty -- Judging Procedures
First things first. In the front of the Midrealm A&S Criteria, the Rules for Judges are listed. I will touch on many of them here, but it is always a Good Thing to make yourself familiar with them.
The Midrealm Criteria for A&S judging are meant to be used both as a guide to the entrant in creating their piece (and particularly their documentation for their piece) for entry in the A&S Faire, as well as for judging the pieces that are entered. In judging an entry, you should always be thinking about the Criteria for the category being judged - looking at how the piece answers the questions the Criteria raises.
Remember, the entries in the A&S Faire are being judged against the standards that the Criteria for each category delineate, not against each other. You are looking to see how the entry stands up against these standards, not to rank the entries best to worst in that category. Everyone who enters a piece may well earn a First. Likewise, nobody may come up with an entry that day which comes close to the ideal as typified in the Criteria, and everyone may go home with a second, or third, place. Judge the pieces against the Criteria - don't just look for a "pretty" piece. The only place you, as a judge, should let your own private opinions, personality or personal preferences influence your scoring is the section labeled “Judge’s Observations”. (More on that, below.)
The more familiar you are with the Criteria for the categories you are judging, the more easily you will be able to judge them. Ideally, of course, you will be judging categories for which you also have a great deal of hands-on experience. If you find yourself judging a category (or piece) for which you feel you simply do not have enough familiarity to be able to critique intelligently, don’t hesitate to go to the regional or Kingdom officer in charge to arrange for someone with better qualifications to take over. If there is no one better qualified, then make as thorough a critique as you feel able. Discussing the piece with the other judges may help you evaluate it with more skill.
Now, let’s look at the Criteria, and see how they can guide your judging. These are the questions each section is suggesting you pose.
Examining the Criteria: Criteria structure
At the beginning of the Criteria is a general guideline for the structure of the Criteria and how to interpret them. Note that each Criteria category has an introductory paragraph at the top, with notes as to what is required for a complete entry in that category, as well as what items are specifically excluded from that category. (For example, the Dyeing category specifically excludes dyed leather, intending that it be included in Leatherwork, instead.) Be sure to read this paragraph -- it can give you directions that you wouldn't know otherwise.
• Documentation
1) How does the Documentation section guide you?
The Documentation section wants you to look at how well the entrant researches the historical practices in their field, and how well they use this research when creating their entry. The idea is to find sources from the historical era and location that the entry is trying to recreate, not just sources from later periods which record the practices as history. The closer the entrant is able to arrive at contemporary accounts of period practices, the more likely their entry will accurately reflect the period techniques and product.
The Documentation section is explicitly guiding the entrant toward the style of documentation that has become established as the most acceptable within A&S Faire evaluations. The authors of the Criteria want the entrant to think about the sources they are using to justify their work, to show the entrant the value of using sources that are in period for the piece they are producing.
Look at the sources the entrant used - when do they date from? Has the entrant been able to find sources that actually date from the time and place of the piece they were trying to create/recreate? Or are they interpretations made by others from later periods? The closer the entrant can find to a source from the contemporary period for their entry, the better. The ideal is direct examination of pieces contemporaneous to their recreation. Since this is rarely possible, the next best alternative is examination of a variety of pictures of contemporary pieces.
Of course, looking at a period artifact and being able to completely reproduce it is not an automatic skill. The entrant will probably still be coming at it with some 20th century assumptions, which may result in a piece that is less than perfect. A more experienced entrant should be able to interpret the period source more by themselves, with less need to rely on the (possibly faulty) interpretations of others. The experience of the entrant is usually directly reflected in the sources that they use, and in their skill in looking at those sources and making interpretations based on their own experiences. The most experienced entrants will usually be those who are able to look at the period artifacts and, using the skills they have built up, be able to work out the methodology to produce a similar piece using period methodology and tools.
There is a long and usually fruitless discussion attached to the validity of referring to source material as either primary, secondary or tertiary. These terms are gradually passing out of general use, in favor of examination of the sources for their quality and ability to help us understand the period work. However, in the interest of clarifying the terms for those who might run into them, the following is one possible interpretation.
Primary sources: sources that come from the era of the artifact the entrant is recreating - they most directly address what the artifact would have been like in period, and are the best guide for recreating the piece. Just because a source can be dated to pre-1600 does not necessarily make it a primary source for every piece that may be entered in an A&S Faire. The most useful source will date back to the era of the original creation of the piece, in order to properly show the techniques available in that period. The primary source may be anything from a period manuscript to a painting to an artifact, etc.
Secondary sources: sources that refer to a primary source, but are not themselves primary sources. The reference may be directly - a compiled list of primary sources - or indirectly - a souce that describes and interprets primary sources. Secondary sources may not be as valuable to us as primary sources because of the need to sort out the information directly conveyed from the primary source from the interpretation added by the author of the secondary source. If the information added by the author is based on sound research and experience, the source may actually be more useful than some primary sources.
Tertiary sources: sources that are general summaries or interpretations of information. They serve mainly to provide introductory or background material on a time period or activity.
• Authenticity
2) How does the Authenticity section help you?
The Authenticity section wants you to look at how much effort the entrant put into trying to recreate period practice. Look at the entry and try to decide, from the entry and the accompanying documentation, just how accurately the entrant was trying to be with their entry - were they aiming for an authentic period piece, or are there elements that will always reflect modern life in this entry? The closer the entrant strives for authenticity, the more they will learn about period practices and activities.
• Scope
3) How does the Scope section help you look at a work?
The Scope section wants you to look at how much the entrant tried to do, how complex a project they attempted. This section may be easier to judge if you are familiar with the field, but it is still quite possible to critique a piece, given adequate documentation. Look at the different aspects that the Scope section separates out. How did the entrant address each of these points? Did the entrant try for a fairly conservative entry? Or did they stretch themselves, and make the effort to show all their ability in this area?
• Skill
4) How does the Skill section give you pointers?
Here, again, the authors of the criteria want you to look at all the components of the entry - they want you to be aware of all the aspects you need to consider when judging the piece, in order to get the best overall effect. Here you should be reminded that you need to look at the finish, as well as the basic structure of the work - consider the polish as well as the guts. If you are not already familiar with the field you are judging, you can usually get a reasonable sense of what is considered *good* workmanship in the field by reading any particular category's criteria, as the points emphasized will guide you in that direction. This is the place where the piece itself is most thoroughly judged, rather than the description of the piece as given in the documentation.
• Creativity
5) How does the Creativity section help you?
The Creativity section is meant to inspire the entrant to try for a piece that is more than just run-of-the-mill - to do more than just blindly copy a period artifact, but to use the skills they have gained by looking at, and working on creating, period pieces to make their own work that could blend in with the period. Here, they are allowed to show off their own ideas - they can take what they have learned from researching period work and reinterpret it in their own way. This is where they can show off the talent that might have made it possible for them to support themselves in period - the flair that might now take them from being an interested amateur to a skilled journeyman or master at their craft.
• Judge's observations
6) How can you use the Judges Impressions section?
The Judge's Observation section is where the piece as a whole is evaluated - how well do all the disparate parts fit together? What is the overall effect of the work? Here you, the judge, are finally allowed to let your own opinion and preferences predominate in your evaluation. This is also one of the most important places for comments - these are meant to be your observations, after all, and the entrant is likely to take any commentary made here particularly to heart. Try to be positive in your evaluation, and to encourage the entrant to try again, and to stretch themselves in whatever entry they may attempt next. This can be the real “make-or-break” area in your evaluation.
Further considerations
If it seems to you that an inordinate amount of emphasis has been put on the documentation of a piece by this article, then you are correct. The documentation is actually the most important part of any entry. It is very important that you put most of your effort into giving the documentation for every piece as thorough a reading as you are able. The entrant should have put information in there that will help you judge their piece fairly, and aid you in giving them constructive criticism of the work they have put in so far. It may also help you to suggest new areas for the entrant to explore, and new sources you may know of that the entrant should be guided to.
Probably the most important result of any entry for an entrant in the A&S Faire is the comments they will receive from the judges evaluating their piece. These comments can have profound influences on how the entrant views their own abilities, as well as how they view the entire A&S area of activity. They can be encouraged to continue to participate by the comments they receive, or they may become so discouraged that they never attempt another entry. Always strive, in the comments you write, to promote the entrant and their ability. Guide them to resources they may not be familiar with, and encourage them to improve their next entry (and convince them that they can improve their next entry), so that they come away from the A&S Faire with a positive feeling.
How you can help more
Each of us, as judges, take on the role of mentor for the entrant, at least for the time we are evaluating their work. Look at the comments you make on each piece, and try to read those comments from the viewpoint of the entrant. How can you promote A&S activities for this person by your comments on their piece? What can you do to encourage the new entrant, or guide the more experienced entrant, in their further A&S career? Do everything you can, so that you, too, will have a positive experience when you enter a piece in your next A&S Faire.