RE: Emeritus Judges, Urgent

["Terry Aitken" <terry@flowerfantasy.net>]

Aha!!! I just had a wild hairy idea!
Why don't we appoint Bob Pries as the UNOFFICIAL EMERITUS JUDGE CZAR to come
up with a list of candidates - on condition that he does not nominate
himself. I say "unofficial" because we don't need any more "official"
committees AND Bob does need a job. Everybody else is busy.
I poke fun at this, but in fact, it is a good idea.

As far as backup positions, that is old hat - or- somebody is reinventing
the wheel. During my watch as president, Mary Brown died in office as
membership Secretary. Then there was health issues for the Pocklingtons who
were manning the Storefront. Just as I was measuring my garage as a possible
storefront location, John and Kay Ludi stepped forward to save my day. Don't
think for a minute that "redundancy" was not talked about as a necessary
thing for critical positions.
When Jeanne Plank came in as President, there was considerably more
discussion. I can remember that Dave Niswonger had a crisis with the
storefront when it was back east (of the Rocky Mountains)(dumb joke -
sorry!)
The concept of redundancy needs to be revisited on a regular basis and it
has been. The only thing that has changed is the people talking about it.

For my part. I am trying to transplant another thousand irises before the
fall board meeting. With 9 part time helpers plus Barbara and I, it will get
done come hell or high water. High water, in the northwest, in November is
not a joke.
Terry

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-aisdiscuss@aisboard.org [mailto:owner-aisdiscuss@aisboard.org]
On Behalf Of Robert Pries
Sent: Friday, September 18, 2009 5:36 AM
To: aisdiscuss@aisboard.org
Subject: Re: [AISdiscuss] Emeritus Judges, Urgent

O heartily agree with almost all that Jim says about criteria. I wpuld
really
like to seem changes in our types of judges that could be based more on
merit
and knowledge and not just showing up. But even given a higher standard, I
believe we are still remiss in the number of very good master judges who
deserve this honor. Because we are an aging society the number of emeritus
should be expected to be much higher than it is because we have such a
dedicated experienced group. The numbers I would see if our present system
was
being fairly applied may seem high to some when they forget our membership
is
declining and we have not been adding as many judges and master judges to
balance those that have been around for so long. According to our present
criteria it boggles my mind that a master judge can have a distinguished
service award and yet not be raised to emeritus judge. We have several such
people. I would love to see an overhaul of our judging categories that
emphasize knowledge and merit, This type of validation is what has made the
master gardeners a huge fast growing plant society. But until we redesign
our
system I would like to see what we presently have function well.

----- Original Message -----
From: MORRISJE1@aol.com
To: aisdiscuss@aisboard.org
Sent: Friday, September 18, 2009 2:19:21 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Re: [AISdiscuss] Emeritus Judges, Urgent

In a message dated 9/17/2009 5:15:04 A.M. Central Standard Time,
robertpries@embarqmail.com writes:

It takes  three people to care
enough to write a letter to nominate a master judge to  be raised to
emeritus.
In recent years there have been few nominations.  Indeed just glancing at a
rooster of master judges I see more than a dozen  that have performed as
much
or more service to their region or the national  than some of the current
emeritus judges. Is our laziness stronger than our  caring? You have until
the
end of the month to send Judy Keisling a letter.
I don't believe it is laziness as much as it is a poor set of  criteria.
The Handbook for Judges and Show  Officials states,  "This honor is given to
judges who have  rendered outstanding service to the Society.  It also
states, "That a  nominating letter is sent to the Chairman of Judges and
must
contain a full  statement of the nominee's record of service to the AIS and
be
supported by  written statements of endorsement from four fully accredited
judges, at least  two of whom must be from outside the nominee's region."
The Handbook goes  on to say, "Appointment as Master [Emeritus] judge is
based
on service at  the national level that goes far beyond the expected
conscientious performance  as an AIS judge.  To be considered for
appointment,
one
should be a judge  whose leadership and dedication to the ideals of the
Society are of genuine and  obvious distinction."

We already have an award for "outstanding service to the Society," it is
the Distinguished Service Medal.

My opinion on criteria for Emeritus Judge is that it should be an  award
for the outstanding quality and quantity of one's judging  ability, skill
and
performance -- not service.

Does the judge have a thorough knowledge of irises?  Does he/she grow  a
representative collection of iris types that can be grown in his/her area
and
adds some new varieties each year?  Does he/she visit other gardens each
year?  Does he/she visit local area hybridizer's gardens to evaluate
seedlings?  Does he/she visit these gardens more than once in a two-year
time
period?  Does he/she give freely of their time and money to perform  their
judging duties?  Does he/she teach Judges' Training classes?   How often? In
various regions and areas of the country?  Does he/she attend  Judges'
Training
classes?  Does he/she tutor apprentices in garden  judging?  Does he/she
judge Iris Shows?  When was the last time they  did so?  Does he/she judge
all
types of irises and sections of the Iris  Show?  Does he/she enter Iris
Shows regularly to maintain their familiarity  with the process of
selecting,
transporting and grooming irises?  Continued  refusal to judge shows when
invited to do so is neglect of duty, as is failing  to vote the Official
Ballot.
 I have personal knowledge of one nationally  known hybridizer who refuses
to judge all types of irises exhibited in a show as  "not being qualified to
judge certain types."  My contention is that  all judges are qualified to
judge any type of iris if they are conscientious and  use the AIS criteria
established for the iris types in the Handbook for  Judges and Show
Officials.

Awards are important to any organization.  Criteria should be  also.  As an
Emeritus Judge, I contend that the criteria for this award is  woefully
lacking in detail and succinctness.

Jim  Morris

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