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 Post subject: The value of anonymity?
 Post Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 10:15 am 
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Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2011 10:21 pm
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Where did the idea of protecting anonymity in A&S tournaments come from? It's not as if performers can be afforded the same courtesy, so why is it often so fervently guarded for other entrants?

I've never been concerned about hiding my identity, so I don't understand it, especially since so many of my entries are unique and obviously mine (belly dance accessories and the like).

Surely our standardized methods of scoring items aid judges in maintaining impartiality. It seems odd to place value on anonymity in a context where it cannot be maintained fairly across the board.

Thoughts?


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 Post Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 10:49 pm 
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I'm against anonymity, although care should be taken to avoid identifying works gratuitously. It is imply impossible in some categories, and therefore all categories should be judged according to the same standard. If you discard anonymity as a goal, it makes it much easier to get more information about difficult to judge entries.


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 Post Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 6:40 am 
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I suppose anonymity is there to squelch playing favorites when it comes to judging on objects that don't require performance. It's another one of those fear rulings. My experience, if a judge knows me personally, as in friendship, they hold me to a higher standard and rate my items as if I were a professional. While I see this as unfair, I also see this as beneficial for self progression.

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 Post Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 12:35 pm 
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From what i understand anonymity for entrants was started because people felt that the judges weren't leaving their personal feelings about the entrants out of their scoring. I have seen anonymity not hold up well in most of the competitions that i've paid any attention to. People who craft tend to have a theme or a style to their work and if you see enough of their entries over time you can walk through where the entries are set up and point out people's work. When you have a system that the person puts the same letter or number on all of their items even if you don't know some of their items it's hard to not know it's them by the end of judging. So really it comes down to does the judge know that person and is that going to effect their scoring, which unfortunately is hard to tell because it's hard to get a consensus on the scoring system from what i've seen. There isn't a set structure to follow for rewarding/ deducting points or even a suggested base level for a particular item. Even if you have complete anonymity of the participant you still have the judges personal opinions on the particular item being entered (like was it challenging, is it period, is it something i've seen a million times). I'd like to think that anyone judging A&S would leave their personal feelings towards me (positive or negative) to the side while their judging. In the past there have been complaints and hurt feelings (and i'm sure one or two screaming matches) which is why they try to keep things as anonymous as possible (unfortunately it's impossible for all of the performance categories)


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 Post Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 6:44 pm 
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And while we try to be as thorough as one can within a few inches of space on a write-up, judges always have new questions that no one else would ever have thought of, so it's immensely beneficial for both the entrants and judges to be able to discuss and explain items.


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