SCA A&S Competitions, judging levels and expectations.
Another point, related to the last, uh, 8...posts. AGAIN THIS POST IS MY PERSONAL OPINION, feel free to disagree :)
There are different expectations at different levels of competition.
Here are the questions that I think judges should ask a BEGINNER ENTRANT IN A LOCAL A&S COMPETITION:
1. How long have you been doing THIS CRAFT?
(as a judge, if you've been doing this for 10 years, I am going to give you different comments than if you've only ever made one of these items)
2. What are you hoping to gain by entering this competition?
(should I correct grammar in your documentation? Should I spend HOURS giving you sources? Do you only want a score out of ten?)
3. WHAT IS YOUR ENTRY?
(see previous blog posts)
4. How is your thing the same or different (in final form and manufacture) from an equivalent medieval thing?
For extra credit (grin):
What would you do differently next time?
Who used this in the middle ages?
Why did YOU make this?
Why did medieval people make this?
How do you know your statements are true (show me the evidence to support your arguments).
(end beginner judging)
I think we should revisit the fighting analogy here: do we have the same expectations of someone in armor for the first time as we do of a Duke?
ok.
So. The judging sheets for Kingdom Arts and Sciences are designed to tease out tiny details of scoring between a bunch of Duke-level A&S folks. Do I expect the beginner in A&S to be translating from a primary source in another language? NOPE. Do I expect a super-Laurel with 10 years of A&S competitions under their belt to be at that level? Sure! And am I TOTALLY willing to admit that I am not at that level? That I ASPIRE to be at that level? YES!
HOWEVER. If you step up and fight that Duke, you're going to have to take your lumps. I have had my bad scores, yes I have. If you enter at that level, your scores are going to be the scores on that big, bad, scary-Duke/super-Laurel form.
There are different expectations at different levels of competition.
Here are the questions that I think judges should ask a BEGINNER ENTRANT IN A LOCAL A&S COMPETITION:
1. How long have you been doing THIS CRAFT?
(as a judge, if you've been doing this for 10 years, I am going to give you different comments than if you've only ever made one of these items)
2. What are you hoping to gain by entering this competition?
(should I correct grammar in your documentation? Should I spend HOURS giving you sources? Do you only want a score out of ten?)
3. WHAT IS YOUR ENTRY?
(see previous blog posts)
4. How is your thing the same or different (in final form and manufacture) from an equivalent medieval thing?
For extra credit (grin):
What would you do differently next time?
Who used this in the middle ages?
Why did YOU make this?
Why did medieval people make this?
How do you know your statements are true (show me the evidence to support your arguments).
(end beginner judging)
I think we should revisit the fighting analogy here: do we have the same expectations of someone in armor for the first time as we do of a Duke?
ok.
So. The judging sheets for Kingdom Arts and Sciences are designed to tease out tiny details of scoring between a bunch of Duke-level A&S folks. Do I expect the beginner in A&S to be translating from a primary source in another language? NOPE. Do I expect a super-Laurel with 10 years of A&S competitions under their belt to be at that level? Sure! And am I TOTALLY willing to admit that I am not at that level? That I ASPIRE to be at that level? YES!
HOWEVER. If you step up and fight that Duke, you're going to have to take your lumps. I have had my bad scores, yes I have. If you enter at that level, your scores are going to be the scores on that big, bad, scary-Duke/super-Laurel form.