Olga's on topic.....<g>

["James Purchase" <jpurch@interlog.com>]

Yes, Olga,  you not only get points for remaining on topic, but EXTRA points
for making some very good suggestions <g>.

If you don't mind, I intend to cut and paste your suggestions for Judging
Guidelines into the appropriate page on the web-site, alongside those made
earlier by Justin. That way, they won't get lost in the huffle of incoming
messages.

I agree that Condition might be tricky to judge in all cases but it should
probably be taken into consideration.

The issue of the "animals" is going to be contentious - but we do aquascape
for our fish's sake as well as our own, don't we? Is the aquascape
appropriate for the fish in the tank? (I'm thinking here of Discus paired
with branchy driftwood, or perhaps Angelfish with grassy plants like Vals
and Swordplants.) An "Amano" style tank containing a full grown Oscar might
seem a bit of an odd (and unlikely) combination. Surely we could come up
with some "use common sense" guideline for this. This is probably a strong
point in favour of having aquarists as Judges - they would know what makes
sense and what doesn't.

On the Privacy issue, don't you think that we should make the effort to
forward an official "Thank You" and include any Judges Comments privately to
EVERYONE who makes the effort to send in a submission? Rather than JUST the
winners? If a database or even WordPerfect or MS Word is set up correctly,
it isn't much of an effort to type up a "standard acknowledgement" letter
and then a merge file of names and addresses and then cut and paste the
appropriate comments into each individual letter. I think that it would make
the whole process much more "personal" for the entrants, and give the
contest "points" in their minds for our consideration of their efforts. It
would increase both the "work" and the cost (for ink/paper/postage), but I
think the benefits in "Good Will" would more than repay us.

I like your suggestion about publishing the comments and/or point score on
the winning entries and/or any outstanding submissions on both the web-site
and in TAG.

James Purchase
Toronto

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