Technical Communication Competition

This page is designed to help you volunteer as a judge. The information you enter will be forwarded to the Judging Manager for the competition. Membership in STC is not a requirement; experienced professionals and students are welcome to volunteer as judges.

To volunteer, please fill in the form below and click on Submit judging application.

The following describes the types of judges needed.

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.

Judges should have experience as a user or producer of technical communication. Some judging teams may receive online entries. Judges with online entries will need access to an Intel-based Windows or Macintosh personal computer with Internet access to evaluate entries before the consensus meeting.

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.