Re: [AISdiscuss] JT Handbook Revisions

[Jandjcope@aol.com]

Hi,
Jeanne, I don't think you really want 120 cents (2 cents from 60 of us)
worth on every point. My policy is to comment if no one else is making my
point.
I do not think it is good or helpful to change things just for change. It
should be easier to have a new chairman conform to what has been done in the
past instead of trying to change all the AIS members to their way of doing
things. It is, also, not useful to bcureb a local problem by changing the
whole
system. This does not pertain only to JT.
I got out the Judges Handbook and read the first chapter. The only thing
that I think needs changing is the label Student Judge. In Region 6, 80% of
the
students that take JT don't go on to become judges nor did they plan to go on.
 They wanted to learn more about iris. So Iris Student would be a more
descriptive name. This is not confusing enough to rewrite the whole book,
however.
Most people ask if they find it confusing and are told that they are  welcome
to attend the training even if they don't want to become judges. A few
change their minds and do go on to become judges. If you are going to change
the
judging categories, then change them a lot. Small changes are confusing since
not all judges will learn the changes at the same time.
Some judges are not as good as others. I suspect that more JT won't help.
Harder tests won't help either. Most of us know of a doctor who is not very
good. They will have had many years of training, very hard tests, and years of
practice. Judging Irises is not brain surgery.
I sure don't have a problem with Retired Master Judges  judging shows. Shows
are for the public not for exhibitors. We are not  judging iris or
recommending seedlings for introduction at shows. Our local club  always has a
late (JI)
show as well as a regular show. We do these shows every  year even if no one
in the club wants to do it. These shows are for the  public! The club has
changed so that we often only have 2  exhibitors for the late show. That is
not
enough for an approved AIS show. So we  hand out our local society blue
ribbons
to the public and ask them to judge the  show by putting their ribbon by their
favorite. When we were in a mall, 90+% of  the people, (only walking by and
were not going to stop) who were given a blue  ribbon, stopped and look at
every
entry at least once.  We remove the ribbons periodically and  record the
votes. Every year the untrained public chose one stalk for  more than 50% of
the
votes. In the mall, 200 people discover that there are late  blooming irises
and that they are beautiful and will grow here. Now we are  having our shows
at
a garden center and we are getting new members! When we have  enough
exhibitors for a brealb show, I am not sure we will change our  methods.
AIS should be fun! Are we having fun?
Best Wishes,
Jill Copeland

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