[Ansteorra] snow man documentation

[Robert Fitzmorgan]

On Tue, Feb 16, 2010 at 8:38 AM, Samantha Smith <sasmith0 at gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
> I did once submit (rather accidentally) some poetry for judging in a
> competition. I didn't submit any documentation because I really didn't
> understand at that time that my submission needed documentation. My scores
> weren't terrible, but one judge dropped me points for a structural concern
> that, for the type of poem I was writing, was not legitimate. I stared,
> fumed briefly, then shrugged and moved on.
>
>
>
> Sophie
>
> On Tue, Feb 16, 2010 at 1:33 AM, Eule <eule at ecpi.com> wrote:
>
>
   I always felt that one of the often overlooked purposes of documentation
was to educate the judges enough for them to competently judge your work.
It is not uncommon for someone to be judging your work who knows less about
the subject than you do.  Good documentation will tell the judges what was
period practice, and what you did, then they have more information available
to help them judge how well you did in replicating the period, process,
technique or thing.
   I have heard some artisans speak of documentation as if it were a burden,
but I prefer to think of it as a tool I have to try and make sure my judges
have at least the minimum necessary information to judge my submission.
   Do we sometimes have bad judging in A&S competitions?  Of course we do.
Documentation, properly used, can help minimize the effects of judicial
ignorance.
  Of course telling the judges what was done in period isn't a big help if
it gives them the information needed to see that what you did was something
else entirely.  Since getting my Iris I sometime get asked to judge in A&S.
I am surprised at how often people submit documentation that shows a clear
understanding of period practice, and just as clearly shows that that is not
what they did, with no explanation.  There are often very good reasons form
departing from period practice, but when you do so you should at least
explain briefly why you made that choice.

Robert Fitzmorgan


-- 
It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we
do not dare that they are difficult.
Seneca

Fitzmorgan at gmail.com
AIM: fitzmorgan
Yahoo! ID:   robert_fitzmorgan