I agree...time to rethink. On Tue, 23 Nov 2004 14:16:09 -0500, Carlos Sanchez <tsunamicarlos@hotmail.com> wrote: > Hello all, > > First, I'd like to say that we had the best turnout ever this year -- and > that is really something to be proud of, especially since American > participation alone was nearly equal to total participation in previous > years. With this large boost in numbers and the expansion of the scope of > the contest, I think the contest should also begin to look toward how judges > are chosen. This contest has always been an 'American' contest by the judges > that have been chosen year to year. I think it is time to make the shift > completely to 'international' by having representative judges from around > the world --which would necessitate an increase in the number of judges to > at least five or so. Because Asia and Europe alone contribute around 40% of > participation, I think we should have at least two international judges (one > from each of those continents) every year. Token? Perhaps, but the contest > will only expand in scope if the international community is well represented > in the judging panel. > > Second, I think the point system for the judging needs to be rehauled. I > think there was far too much emphasis on maintenance (and who here wants to > keep tanks only with Anubias barteri var. nana and Java fern for years?). I > believe the categories 'selection and use of materials' and 'composition' > are redundant. Composition of wood and rock should fall under the same > category as composition of plants. Fish choice should be given more > importance, as it is a critical aspect of an aquascape -- the harmony of the > fish with the plants both in shape, color, and movement (if the judge is > familiar with the fish, he can make such a judgement). > > I think Overall impression is weighted too heavily on the scale. It allows > too much room for subjectivity in an already rather subjective aquascaping > hobby. > > More to come... but here are some initial thoughts, > > Carlos > > _______________________________________________ > AGA-Contest mailing list > AGA-Contest@thekrib.com > http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/aga-contest > _______________________________________________ AGA-Contest mailing list AGA-Contest@thekrib.com http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/aga-contest