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Information for Judges

Competitions Home • Judges Information • Judging Schedule • Judging Application Form
• Categories • Judging Online Communication • Judging Technical Publications
Contacts • FAQs

Look for information about the 2010-2011 competitions in August / September. Judging will begin in October / November.

Competitions

On this page:

Competitions News: the 2009-2010 Competitions Winners are announced.

Call for Judges

The Society for Technical Communication invites you to serve as a judge for the STC Washington, DC Chapter's 2009-2010 Competitions. This is your opportunity to contribute to the evolving definition of quality for technical communication. Share your expertise, see the best examples of our craft, and make new contacts in the field.

How Do I Become a Judge?

Complete the Judging Application form. Indicate whether you will enter the competition this year and if so, in what categories. Include a description of your qualifications so that we can determine the best category for you to judge. We encourage you to apply electronically using the form on this Web site, but you can also volunteer by contacting the manager of the competition you wish to judge (see the Competitions Contacts page).

What Will I Do As a Judge?

You will participate in a training session for all judges, receive entries and instructions, evaluate the entries, attend the consensus meeting to discuss entries with your judging team, turn in scoring materials to the lead judges, and concur on the awards determined by the team. All evaluation forms and entry materials must be returned to the competition manager at the consensus meeting. Meetings will occur in the Washington, DC metropolitan area in a location convenient for the majority of judges.

The Judging schedule provides information about the event, time, and location for each phase of the competitions and identifies who needs to attend each event.

Descriptions of all categories, the criteria for judging each competition, and the judging evaluation forms are available for downloading:

Note: You may judge in one competition only.

Will I Be Compensated?

Judges will not be compensated or reimbursed for their travel or services to the judging of entries. Expenses related to judging such as postage to return evaluation forms, will be paid. Please ask the Competition Manager for a reimbursement form.

What Types of Judges Are Needed?

Several types of judges are needed, with varying responsibilities.

Lead Judges

You should have some previous judging experience. Lead Judges mentor team judges, provide direction in determining awards for each category they are responsible for, receive and review the complete scoring sheets and evaluations from your team, record the category awards and Best of Show recommendations from your team, and ensure that all comments and entry materials are returned to the Competition Manager at the Consensus meeting.

Team Judges

Team judges evaluate entries as part of a team of two to three judges. The teams evaluate the entries in a specific category. As a judge, you and your teammates will evaluate entries, fill out a scoring sheet, and provide comments. Guidelines for how to judge the entries will be explained at the Judges Training and Pickup Meeting, when the entries will be distributed to all judges.

Online Communication Judges: You should have experience as a user or producer of online communication, and access to an Intel-based or Macintosh personal computer with Internet access to evaluate entries before the consensus meeting.
Technical Publications Judges: You should have experience as a user or producer of technical publications communication.

Best of Show Judges

You should have some previous judging experience at the local or international level. Best of Show Judges review the Best of Show recommendations from each team and determine the Best of Show for each competition. This is usually done at the Consensus meeting after all teams have turned in their evaluations.

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