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Why serve as a judge in this year's competition
by Rob Brown, 2004-2005 Competitions Chair
I've been merciless this year in recruiting you to judge in this year's competition. I've sought you out at meetings, sent e-mails, made telephone calls, left messages on your answering machines in the middle of the night... I've begged, pleaded, and cajoled most of you by now.
For those of you who have caved in to my coercion and volunteered, thank you very much. You can skip the rest of this article.
For those of you still thinking about it, I want you to consider volunteering for strictly selfish reasons. Here are some of the benefits of serving as a judge:
Check out the competition!
One of the problems that many of us face is that it is hard in our line of work to get a close-hand view of the work of our peers. Judging is an excellent way to learn what others in your area of expertise are doing. For example, I write many software training manuals, so when I judge, I try to evaluate software training manuals and user guides from other companies. This has helped enormously to improve my own work. Plus, it gives me credibility with my customers when I say that I am using such-and-such approach because it is a common practice in their competitors' training manuals. That always gets their attention!
Get in good with your fellow STC members!
The best way to enjoy the benefits of a professional organization like STC is to raise your profile in the group, and the best way to do that is to volunteer. Volunteering as a judge is a good way to test the waters in this regard, as it involves only a short-term commitment.
Learn how to effectively analyze a document's strengths and weaknesses
I have found this to be a major benefit of judging. We are especially fortunate in our chapter, as member Ginny Gilstorf will again be training all of the judge volunteers this year. Ginny is an STC senior member who has been involved for years in helping set judging standards at the international level. Her seminars on how to effectively evaluate entries are renowned throughout STC. What she will teach you during judges training on October 18th can be applied directly to your work as you review and edit your own work in your company. In addition, the process of working with the other members on your judging team to come to consensus on a particular entry is an invaluable learning process as you see what others notice in a document that you may have overlooked. Working on a team to evaluate entries has really helped me broaden and sharpen my ability to effectively review technical documentation.
Form lasting relationships with your fellow judges!
Hey, you can make friends in the unlikeliest places, right? Seriously, working as a judge on a team is a great way to break the ice and get to know some of your fellow members better. We're really a fun bunch of people. Really!
Become inspired to enter yourself next year!
Before I started judging several years ago, every year when the Call for Entries went out, I always vacillated between arrogance ("My stuff is so much better than anybody else's, why waste my time…") to absolute zero professional self-esteem ("Golly gee, I don't want anybody to see how crummy my stuff is…). As a result, I never entered. Finally, I was guilted into judging one year, and boy, did the scales fall from my eyes. I saw many samples of work that were absolutely stupendous which I could aspire to, and then I also saw work that was good, but probably not any better than what I was capable of. I got motivated, and inspired, and the next year my coworkers and I submitted our first entry. Guess what? We won a Merit award! I was thrilled. Our team entered several entries last year and we won two Merit awards and one Award of Excellence. The most important thing though is not that we won anything. Better than winning is that now we are entering each year and we are getting excellent feedback on our strengths and weaknesses. We have a much better understanding of the quality of our work—an understanding grounded in the reality of peer review, and one that is not distorted by our hopes or our fears.
Network, network, network!
Let's face it, much of the reason we go to STC is to network and make contacts that can help to advance and bulwark our career. Volunteering as a judge is a fun way to meet a bunch of people in a short time, and to give them an opportunity to see you in action. You never know who might be holding the keys to your next career move.
Credibility with your employer and clients!
Finally, serving as a judge allows you certain bragging rights, which you can use to add credibility when you need to. I do it all the time, i.e., in a client meeting "In my capacity as a judge in last year's STC competition, I noticed a definite trend towards four-color cover art on even the most basic training manuals…I would recommend, sir, that if you wish to stay ahead of the competition you should follow this example, and hire me to oversee the production of your new training manual covers…" Okay, not the best example, but you get the idea.
Act Now!
I could go on, but you've read enough. Now is the time for action. Read the requirements below and if you qualify, then VOLUNTEER.
Requirements
To be a judge, you only need meet one of the following criteria
To volunteer as a Judge
If you meet the defined criteria as shown above, complete the Judge's Application Form found at http://www.stc-dfw.org/pages/comp_judge.htm and return it to one of the Competition Manager's e-mail addresses as listed on the form.
If you have any questions after reading the web site information, contact Rob Brown at competitions@stc-dfw.org.
Commitment
You must attend the Ginny Gilstorf's Judge's Training session on Monday evening October 18th, at the LaMadeleine Restaurant, 5290 Beltline Road, Addison. The entries you are to judge will be distributed to you after the training. If you can't make the training session on Monday, we may have a make-up session on October 23rd.
As a judge, you need to be willing to spend several hours carefully reviewing your entries and writing a detailed critique for each, using the provided online forms. You must then meet with your three-member team and come to agreement on an overall evaluation for each entry.
All judge team leaders are required to attend the Consensus Judging day on Saturday, November 6th, at Richland Community College in Richardson to turn in the entries for their team. If necessary, teams can meet from 9 a.m.—1 p.m. to reach consensus.
For more information on judge's duties, see the Lone Star Chapter web site at http://www.stc-dfw.org/pages/comp_judge.htm