[Sca-cooks] OOP: NY Times article on State Fair foodcompetitions

[Anne-Marie Rousseau]

One of the things I remember from my county fair days was the "danish
system" of judging. At least in 4H, you were measured against a
"standard of perfection". You'd get a ribbon based on what percentage of
that perfection you got. Top 20% got a blue. The next 20% got a red,
then the next got a white. You got a green if you showed up but didn't
get 60%. 

The comments were useful in that you could see what the judges were
looking for (I still have my judging sheets somewhere...) and the color
o ribbon you got was not based on who else had entered but rather how
well you did against the absolute. You could end up with a class of all
blues, or none.

I always thought that might be a good way of doing A/S competitions,
especially since so many SCA people are really more into it for the
positive reinforcement factor than real feedback (nothing wrong with
that, by the way, as long as everyone involved knows that is the case!!
:))

--Anne-Marie