Competitions, the Whys (part 5)

Okay!

So, now I'd like you to reflect a little. How was this experience overall? Did you get the information you needed/wanted in order to give a good judgement? What else would you want?

I'm guessing that by now we are all a little more comfortable with the role of JUDGE. Now we need to apply what we learned to the role of ENTRANT.

BUT FIRST, let's back up ONE STEP and pose a question:

WHY ARE YOUR ENTERING THIS COMPETITION????

In order to be ready to compete, you have to be able to answer that question, because it determines WHAT YOU GET from the competition.

Give this some thought. Again, there are no wrong answers, but write down at least 2 reasons you want to enter SCA A&S contests.

Okay, got some reasons? Cool!

Let's start with some common ones (with my personal advice on how to get the best experience if X is your goal)

1. I made the COOLEST THING EVAR! I WANNA SHARE!!!! Look at ALL THE PEOPLE AROUND, they can see my things! YAY!

-Awesome! You should look carefully at both your presentation of the thingy, and also your communication. Why is YOUR thingy so cool? If you are very confident in how medieval and well made your item is, then if you are in category #1, you should go for big competitions. There live the rock-star judges, and the many many other people you can share your cool thingy with.

2. I think my region is behind the times in my very specific area of study, and I'd like to change public perception of my field. (ie. you're making that soup wrong, or your dress also needs a hat. Look! A HAT! See how easy that hat was? Cool, no YOU wear it! YAY! Now we all have hats and look more like actual medieval people!).

-If you think that the current SCA trend for something is misleading or needs more research, here is a venue for you! You get to explain to a lot of experts in your field, and interact with other people who care about how medieval the SCA is. Again, I would go big here :)

3. Making this thingy is not hard (related to 2). 

-BRING MANY HANDOUTS. Does everyone in your Kingdom whine that medieval food is haaard/yucky/weird? Time for an entry with lots of take-home recipes! You figured out how to make the cloth buttons from the picture, when everyone in your area's got plastic ones? Time for a poster, and a handout, with pictures of how EASY this is!

4. I want to WIIIIIN!!!! 

-Nothing wrong with that. You want to pit your skills against the best out there. After all, that's what Crown tourney is, right? You don't know if you're really THAT good unless you try against the BEST. Awesome! So, let's look at what you WANT from this experience: a good score. For you, your best bet is to take a VERY close look at the judging criteria, and tailor your entry and documentation to that. Clear? You might also want to consult with experts in your research area, get comments on your entry and documentation before you go, and make sure your ego is well armored :) Why? Well, if you are a sensitive flower, you may get dented the first couple times out of the gate. We don't expect brand new fighters to win Crown, so take your blows and move on, yes? LEARN FROM YOUR FEEDBACK!

5. I want to know what I can do better. 

-Great! Entering a competition is a chance to get comments on your stuff from some rock-stars in your field (or whoever happens to be judging, but...ideally, some super cool rock-stars). You should highlight areas you would like help with. ASK for further resources! SAY you have no idea! Specifically request expert judges! Enter competitions at lots of levels. Now, don't be crushed if you don't get the-most-awesome-and-useful-feedback-EVAH the first time. If your judges are blown away by your knowledge and skill...hey, that's a compliment! ASK them for who to talk to. Maybe the expert in left-handed wigit making didn't show up today, that doesn't mean they don't exist!

6. I wanna be famous!

-K. Then bring it. You are going into the lions den here (we joke that Kingdom A&S is the hive for Laurels). You want the recognition, you best earn it. Yes, competitions can be a place to get a reputation, but remember you want that to be a GOOD reputation. You want to blow them out of the water with how COOL your stuff is, and how it is THE MOST MEDIEVAL EVAH! You do not want to impress them with how much of a jerk you are, or how much you are wrong. ALWAYS admit it if you don't know. ALWAYS say when you don't know how it was done. If you are shooting high, then know where the bar is. Read the examples. Get experts to read your draft documentation and do mock judging of your stuff.

7. Someone told me to/I think it is expected. 

Okay. Start small. If this isn't your biggest passion EVAH, then enter a local/baronial contest first. Give it a try. If you like it, and find you get good feedback, or good scores, or just have fun, then keep going! Up the ante. Go bigger. Work your way up. There is no rule in the SCA that if you make stuff, you must enter competitions. This is supposed to be a FUN hobby, remember? If you hate contests, then don't do them. No one will think you are a bad person. On the other hand, if you've secretly been coveting that shiny, shiny prize, but were waiting for someone to tell you you're good enough to try for it...whatcha waitin' for?

8. I want the Laurels to notice MEEEEEE! 

See #4 and #6

9. I think my thing is super cool, and I want other people to back up my opinion of my thing.

-This can lead to sorrow and pain if you come up against judges who think you want #5. If you are going to go big and are SURE, then, great. But armor your heart, and PRACTICE receiving not-100%-awesome feedback. Go through drafts with experts. Student judge. Be prepared!

10. I need an external deadline to ever actually finish my projects.

-This is me. If it is just FOR ME, the wonderful thing will around, half done, for years on end. No one else will benefit from all the research I did, I never finish writing up my documentation, and when someone asks about the thing, I can't FIND half the articles I used when I did it. SIGH. If this is you, commit EARLY. With tons and tons of time to finish. Give yourself intermediate deadlines, and have people who will hold you accountable. Make detailed lists of everything you'll need to get done. 

For EVERYBODY.

OBSERVE BEFORE YOU LEAP.

Would you try fighting before you'd ever SEEN it? No? K. Why would you enter a competition if you don't know the parameters? GO TO THE EVENT AND OBSERVE. You can often be a student judge. The entrants usually sit with their stuff all day to answer YOUR questions! Sometime they have extra copies of documentation! Plus, you get to see how the format WORKS. It will be FAR, FAR easier to enter once you know what you are getting into. Do you have to? No. But it sure helps!

(a note here, A&S competitions can have MANY formats. Usually the basic information is required. There is sometimes a face-to-face presentation to the judges. Everything else is pretty fluid. Sorry to not be more helpful here, but you'll have to figure this one out yourself)

HAVE A THICK SKIN/DON'T GET YOUR PANTIES IN A BUNCH

Okay, you've leaped, and your first set of comments are from a blue-hatted poopy-head who says your stuff is "not cool". Let's pick the appropriate response:

A. Wail about how Mr.Poopy-head gave you a bad score, and is a BIG MEANY. In public. A LOT.

B. Decide that all A&S-judges/Laurels/Men-in-blue-hats are BIG MEANIES and tell everyone you meet all about it.

C. Decide that A&S contests are hurtful traps set up to destroy you, and refuse to ever participate again.

D. Ignore the non-constructive comments/judges, and use the OTHER feedback to make an entry so cool you win next year (or the year after...or just find an art so amazing that you spend the rest of your life loving it).

This part is HARD. I was an art minor in college, and I had to put my work, work that I labored over, work that I loved like teeny bits of my heart....I had to put that up on the wall, every week. And then listen in silence as every.single.one. of my classmates told me EXACTLY what was wrong with it. In excruciating detail. And I STILL get miffed when I get low scores on a category that I thought I had dealt with, and aced! Here's the key, you can be upset, but be upset in a CONSTRUCTIVE WAY, and in appropriate settings. Go tell your best friends about how Mr. Poopy-head is a poopy head, don't tell the local email list. Got a bad presentation score? Time to pull out the BIG GUNS in the construction paper department! Practice makes this part far easier. 

THINK about what you want, and if this part is fun. Remember, your hobby is supposed to bring you joy. Several people very close to me think competitive-crafts is a stupid idea. They gain great joy from other aspects of this game. I LIKE competitions, because they make me finish my stuff, write up my documentation, share more widely, and I get dedicated time with the experts to change my hypotheses :) 

Okay, so, now we have a WHY we are here, and we have some HOW, and we have some WHAT, and we understand some WHO roles...let's try putting some things together!

Please go here (Part 6) https://sites.google.com/site/kadasresearch/guides-and-tutorials/documentation-and-competitions/competitions-the-whys/competitions-the-hows