Phrag besseae 'Lovebug'

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Ernie said:
Yep, you gotta be rich or nuts or both to be a judge. I guess I'm nuts, because I certainly am not rich! Just happened to be lucky enough to find a great crew to carpool with, so I only pay 1/4-1/5 of the gas and 1/2-1/3 for hotels. If folks out there don't know, the pay is six figures!!! $000,000. When you do something good, they even consider a raise by adding a zero! It's impossible to force people to know "everything" on that salary, but damnit, we do a lot of training, and most of us try our best.

Kevin, a good example of your point is Neo falcata. In Des Moines, we might have awarded some of the "plainer" ones if we just knew what made them special. We do what we can with the resources available to us. If we had a Japanese orchids nut in the crew, they coulda stepped up for the plant. On the flip side, I was judging out of region in a hot, dry part of the US not terribly overrun by slippers, and they were drooling all over an average at best Paph. liemianum (mis-entered as one of the other cochlos). I gave my summary last and pretty much killed its chances for an award. Felt terrible about it, but it was the correct thing to do. They schooled my butt on Tolumnias though! Anyway, it is a constant learning process. There's no single book to study. You just have to look at lots and lots and lots of plants.

Anyway, we all agree that this besseae is AWESOME!

-Ernie
Click to expand...

What is your opinion on having separate judges for each genera of orchids?

There could be a few central judges who are well trained. The bloom could be brought or cut and sent. The photos would then be looked at by a group of experts who have a conference call with the judge who saw the bloom. The measurements, picture and input from the judge who saw the bloom would be discussed? Any veto would kill the award but compromising would be allowed.
 
Ernie I know it seems like I am taking shots at judges after reading through this post but I actually think the system could be much better. I would hate to have a physician who does everything it would be impossible to do a good job. Imagine getting radiation treatment for you cancer from the same doctor that stitched you in the ED. It is horrifying actually. People always have interests and preferences. So why not let people judge on generas they are interested in? What is asked of judges is impossible.
 
paphioland said:
Ernie I know it seems like I am taking shots at judges after reading through this post but I actually think the system could be much better. I would hate to have a physician who does everything it would be impossible to do a good job. Imagine getting radiation treatment for you cancer from the same doctor that stitched you in the ED. It is horrifying actually. People always have interests and preferences. So why not let people judge on generas they are interested in? What is asked of judges is impossible.
Click to expand...

Doing such a thing in practice would be virtually impossible. Plants often appear without such an expert in attendence at shows and regional judgings. They are operating off of experience and the documented evidence from AQ+ and Orchidwiz, along with other sources in the available libraries. Slipper orchids are usually pretty easy to judge, along with cattleya alliance and phalaenopsis they are common and there are judges that have good knowledge. The tough ones are obscure plants that are taxonomically obtuse
or hybrids that are marginally awardable.
 
paphioland said:
What is your opinion on having separate judges for each genera of orchids?

There could be a few central judges who are well trained. The bloom could be brought or cut and sent. The photos would then be looked at by a group of experts who have a conference call with the judge who saw the bloom. The measurements, picture and input from the judge who saw the bloom would be discussed? Any veto would kill the award but compromising would be allowed.
Click to expand...

Glad I checked back on this old thread. I think it's a good idea in theory, BUT not feasible OR desirable (!) IMO. Do we really need to go to such lengths??? It's a hobby for Pete's sake, not brain surgery. No one's life is at stake when we judge a plant. And part of the fun is taking time out of a hectic day, meeting actual human beings in person, and being able to touch, smell, hold, feel, weigh a plant in person. A conference call for judging would be like trying to describe a movie to someone- you get the general idea, but not the whole experience. I judge because I have a thirst for knowledge and like seeing orchids I can't grow and wouldn't otherwise see. I rarely take plants to judging- my scale of personal enjoyment isn't always in tune with AOS standards, and that's 300% okay!!! But I am trained to judge by AOS standards. We do the best we can with the resources available to us. Unfortunately, some folks can't leave their biases at the door. Well, that's just human and a conference call wouldn't screen that out either. Bottom line: they're flowers; enjoy them!

-Ernie
 

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