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Dear Steve,
First, I want to thank you for communicating your
feelings about the AGA contest. It is always easier to remain silently
discontent than it is to speak out. Expressing your feelings in the
respectful way you have is always welcome!
Second, I want you to be aware that the judging of
the 2003 contest has already been completed. So while your comments will
certainly be taken into consideration, there is no way they can affect the 2003
contest.
Now, on to the "meat" of your letter. Please
remember that aquascaping contests are a relatively new phenomenon outside of
the Netherlands, and the criteria used there are far more rigid than ours, as
well as being based on "live" judging rather than photographs of entries.
The AGA 2000 contest was, as far as I know, the first of its kind. The
first Amano contest followed closely on its heels. Now, if you count all
the ADA and AGA contests together, we have a track record of 7 contests
over a period of 3 years... not very many still! There have also been a
few smaller, private contests during that period of time, but I don't know a
whole lot about them.
Of those 7 contests, I have had the
privilege of judging 5 of them. Therefore, I probably have more experience
with the process than anyone else. First, I must tell you that you are
correct in your supposition that judging these contests takes a great deal of
time and effort, and there is no remuneration. Even "recognition" is
minimal.<g> Unlike other established types of competition,
there is, at least so far, no "training" for judges of aquascaping
contests. Even the judging guidelines are somewhat fluid from year to
year... being adjusted as we learn what works best, and what point systems
hopefully put the best tanks on top.
In terms of choosing judges, a lot of time and
effort went into deciding what types of people should be approached to
judge. The first year, at least one person suggested using people outside
of the aquarium hobby; people with a specific art and design background, but no
knowledge of aquaristics. While this might sound like a good idea from a
strict design perspective, our aquariums, first and foremost, must be healthy,
sustainable habitats for our plants and animals. It was finally decided
that while artistry was important, it could not be at the expense of sound
husbandry practices. Therefore, the choices were narrowed to those
involved with aquariums, either professionally or as hobbyists. Ideally we
would have experienced aquarists who also had a good feel for the artistry of
aquatic gardening, even if they had no formal training in that area. With
those thoughts in mind, the organizers of these
contests need to use the people they can get. Overall, I think we've been
fortunate with the caliber of judges we've had for AGA contests. As I said
before, it is a LOT of work to judge these contests, and many people just don't
have the time to do it more than once. Last year's judges were probably
the least experienced team of judges, and I think their comments reflect
that. Still, I'm sure you will agree that everyone is entitled to their
own opinions when it comes to art. I think that we owe it to these people
to accept their hard work in the spirit in which it was offered. They
worked very hard to not only judge the tanks but also write their comments,
whether we agree with them or not.
I did not judge the AGA contest last year. I
have to agree with you that I would not have placed some of the tanks in the
order that they ended up last year, but I also show horses, and I know there are
many times I don't agree with the judges decisions there either!<g>
It is a fact of life that there will be differences of opinion. What is
nice about the AGA contest is that _you_ as a member can go into the site, look
at all the same materials the judges saw, and make your own personal decision
about which tanks you liked best. The MAIN point of the AGA aquascaping
contest (and the ADA contest as well, for that matter) is NOT to establish
winners and losers, but to share our love of beautiful aquariums with one
another. There will always be disagreements about the specific merits of
individual tanks.
I'm sorry you decided not to enter the contest this
year. We have an excellent, experienced group of judges. (if I do say so
myself ;-) As you said yourself, the quality of tanks in the contest has
increased every year, and you will see yet another increase in quality this
year. We are now reaching a point where MOST of the tanks entered are
truly exceptional... to the point that we are considering the need to add some
sort of division specifically for those who want to share their "just pretty
planted fish tanks" in the future. We certainly don't want to discourage
participation among those who are not, first and foremost, artists!
Even among those who consistently, year after year,
have entered very high quality tanks to the contests there are certainly no
guarantees. One of the top tanks in the ADA contest, among over 500
entries last year, was submitted by not only a novice aquatic gardener, but
a complete novice aquarist! And as an aside, you may be interested in the
mechanics of judging for the ADA contest. Because of the large
number of entries, ADA makes the "first cut" before the entries are even sent to
the judges. We only get to see the tanks that the ADA staff has decided to
include in the "top 10%" or so. I have seen MANY tanks in the close to 500
tanks that are cut from competition that I felt were far better than some that
were included. At least in the AGA contest, you know that ALL the judges
were involved in scoring every single tank.
While I am glad you voiced your concerns, and I
recognize them as valid, I also urge you to join into the spirit of friendly
competition which the AGA Aquascaping Contest is meant to be... Much
more a vehicle for sharing our love of this hobby than a path toward
individual recognition. Who knows? Whether you win or not, if you
enter, you have the opportunity to share your work and ideas with hundreds of
other aquarists, perhaps inspiring them to greater creativity. If you
don't, you will never know how much of an impact you might have
had!
I am cc'ing this letter to our AGA board.
This is a small, concerned group who I am sure will read your comments in the
spirit in which they were intended. I think it is important for them to
hear your feelings too!
Thank you for writing. I hope you decide to
enter next year... I'd love to see your tanks!
Sincerely,
Karen Randall
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