Re: [AGA-Contest] My thoughts on the Aquascaping Contest

["Roger Miller" <roger@spinn.net>]

On Tue, 23 Nov 2004 14:16:09 -0500, Carlos Sanchez wrote

I hate webmail.  I drafted a whole discussion and lost it when my session
timed out.

> Hello all,
> 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.

This is a great goal, but not necessarily a new one.  Erik has always strived
for diverse and large panels, but it hasn't worked out.  Perhaps it would help
if the process of selecting judges were opened up a little.

I don't think it is a good idea to build some kind of quota system for judges.
 I've read complaints about the makeup of the judging panel and for the most
part they strike me as being provincial.  People associate themselves with a
national or regional group then complain that they didn't score as well as
they should because the panel doesn't represent their group.  There's nothing
AGA can do to stop people from associating themselves, their style or their
work with any particular group and there's nothing AGA can do that will
satisfy all of the complaints.  At some point, the more AGA tries the more AGA
encourages the complaint.
 
> 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).

Maintenance seems to have taken a position in the comments this year that were
out of line with its importance in scoring.  As I recall from the original
discussion the "viability" category (I think the only judging category where
maintenance requirements would be considered) was envisioned mostly as a way
to discourage entries that were built just for one photo session and that
could *not* be maintained.  It is common for aquascapers to put regular labor
into maintaining their aquascapes.  They shouldn't be penalized for their work.

For the record, I've had low maintenance ("Anubias barteri var. nana and Java
fern) tanks for years and can think of several reasons why someone would want
them.

The categories of "selection of materials" and composition don't overlap, but
"use of materials" may overlap with composition.  Perhaps only a rewording is
needed.

I don't think that fish selection needs to be weighted more heavily than it
already is.

> 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.

Overall impression (and sometimes the first impression) will always be an
important factor.  Whether we have a specific category for it or not I don't
think there's any way around the fact that it does and will color the results.
 The existing scoring recognizes that importance and I don't think it needs to
be changed.  What I want to avoid is a set of rules that over constrain the
judging -- like the Dutch rules where they tell you how many plants to use,
where to put them and how to arrange them.  Or else.

And now to add my own two bits.
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