The Pleasures and Perils of Competitive Exhibiting

Competitive exhibiting offers lots of opportunities to earn awards through venues like club shows, county fairs, trade shows and Federation shows. Since 1995, I've been involved in competitive exhibiting from three perspectives: administering, judging and exhibiting. Here are my suggestions for best practices.

- JIM BRACE-THOMPSON

SUGGESTIONS FOR ADMINISTRATORS 

Administration is where it begins-and where it ends when a show is administered poorly.

Promote, Recruit & Prepare

At annual competitions, many administrators are passive, letting exhibitors find them rather than proactively recruiting. With annual shows, maintain a database, then pursue the best exhibitors via email, phone, and mailed applications with personalized letters of invitation. The best competitive shows are those with the best exhibitors. Also, be prepared with an organized check-in with paperwork and exhibit floor layouts for a smooth front door process.

Select Open-Minded Judges

I've seen instances where judges have never competed. As they say, don't judge people until walking a mile in their shoes. That said, simply getting judges is difficult. It's best though to subject paid judges to the same scrutiny as any job. Solicit candidates. Conduct a selection process. Avoid last-minute desperation for any warm body.

Many judges particularly for lapidary/ jewelry arts-approach judging from a rigid perspective based on how they learned the craft. How different might it be if we selected judges delighted to see a new way to approach art? We're told exhibitors should not take criticism personally and should view judges' comments as a learning experience. But can't it go both ways? Can't we have judges as eager to learn as to pass judgment?

Select Judges Who Listen

Make sure judges follow advice. At one show judges were told, "Don't mark down things exhibitors have no control over, like a fly in the case. Flies happen." One judge's first comment? "One point off. Dead fly in the corner." If judges can't listen, administrators should reverse a deduction. If a judge proves problematic, discuss it. If the judge comes back next year and issues persist, move on.