Contest Judge Horror stories

[chazziff]

yea a friend of ours told us about them ... she saw them used at a couple of pws in california casino pws (don't remember which ones though).

and my sister used to work in a casino gift shop and she said it would be real simple to set up using the software/system that comes with the upc scanner. but she never did elaborate on it ... i'm sure ndnMSW could though since they used it already ...

i could send the one that i made but its on my home computer for a look see and i'm suppose to be working right now .. lol

[ndnMSW]

my sister used to work in a casino gift shop and she said it would be real simple to set up using the software/system that comes with the upc scanner. but she never did elaborate on it ... i'm sure ndnMSW could though since they used it already ...

Lol........no I can't. Red Earth used to use computer techs from Tinker Air Force base to do all the computer scoring. We just told them what we wanted and they brought all their own equipment.

[chazziff]

she was trying to explain it to me ... wasn't listening .. lol. she said that you scan the upc and it gets sent to the computer and that's where you enter in what you want that particular upc to be ... for her since she worked in a gift shop it was the price of the item. and she said it would be too hard to have it correspond with an amount say 25 points for grandentry or a spot check.

i was asking her if it was possible to have that amount go to a spreadsheet program and she said you'd probably have to have it go to a data base (microsoft access) program then to the spreadsheet. that's where i got lost .. cuz then you'd need to data base all the information of your pw participants (name, contest number, address, etc.) ... i used to know how to do that sort of stuff (school) but i've forgotten ...

[[email protected]]

Contest Judge Horror Stories

Good Topic. Especially with the Big Contest Prize Money these days and bending the rules for some of the judges favorites can win. It does happen quite regularly and has since money became involved with contests.

I remember once when I danced in the 1970s a dancer came up to my brother and I who let us know the contest was fixed. We were young and could not believe it until it happened. He told us who was going to get 1st, 2nd and 3rd, he told us he was going to get 3rd and you know what it happened exactly the way he put it.

In respects to the dancer who now is deceased I will not name him. I also see some big money posters of these really elaborate money prizes and you know what? I don't believe some of them. Because I know some of the group of individuals are about as crooked as can be. Especially, when the tribes involved are about as poor as poor then all of a sudden they have this big money. The only thing I can figure maybe some of the tribal council are part of the fix. Oh well, I have said too much. Just a note to some of these people, groups, "Hey some of us know"

[Wakalapi]

And you were so right about the bunch of folks you told me about .... (inside joke ... don't nobody ask ... LOL )....

[traddancer2021]

The ABSOLUTE worst thing that happened to me. I am not kidding. I was running the singing contest. Everything was going fine. This one very, awesome drum group was leading. Barring any mess-ups in the one remaining song to be judged, they was going to be in for first.

The rules were laid out. Amount of points for drum roll call were given to each head singer. They got copies of the criteria in which they were being judged.

Here is the horror. One guy from that group shows up for drum roll call! One guy! I had to mark them accordingly. That dropped them from 1st to 5th in a closely judged contest.

Holy snappin' ****holes! People who heard the same thing I did, who knew that that group should have placed higher because of their jammin' tunes were like WTF????
I woulda said the same thing. But.............. I knew why they didn't place higher.

It got worse. People on the internet were saying WTF???? How could they know if them fellas didn't show up for roll call?? I was getting blasted by people who were 2000 miles away. But........ I didn't say a word to attempt to justify anything. I knew that I didn't have to.
That's my horror story. I didn't accept the job the following year. Too much bull from people who weren't even there.
But, ya know something? Those guys were gentlemen. They knew what happened. They never said one bad word. Classy.

You know...I have been singing most of my life...and now that Im older, I am a singing and dance judge....I still sing and dance too. I think that that was a VERY CLASSY move on their part not to say anything....(which I would keep that in mind for next time you may have to judge them....)---And I believe that that was an AWESOME JUDGEMENT on your part. Many people dont believe in the good judgeing like I was taught....you know that showing up for roll-call, the keeping your area clean (ALL THROUGH THE POW_WOW AT ANY GIVEN TIME>>>>CONTESTING OR NOT), never leaveing the drum unattended...(and the rules with that)......ect. ect. ect......so thank you!

[dmoccasin]

Contest judge horror stories

In my limited experience most drum groups will respond to a well organized committee. This can be both challenging and exciting. If the drum group sees that all contests are handled fairly they will get on with the committee. however if they they see some favoritism/cronyism, they will be the first to complain. My caution to any pow wow committee is to finalize any contest details before actually exposing your weaknesses. Especially, putting on an unannouced special the day of and hope everything falls into place.

My 2 cents

dm

[Lakota Wiyan]

You know, it makes me proud to read what you guys post about judging. I'm glad you take your jobs seriously when you are called on to do so, and you do it in a good, respectful, heartfelt manner. We, all Native people, need more you guys to stand up and show our young men and women how to do things in this manner. Heres a hand shake to you guys, and thank you for sharing what you did....

[Steffan Redhawk]

I've only been a judge a few times, Mens Tradish (when I wasn't dancing), Grass, and Fancy...

My WORST experience was in flordia, I was judging mens fancy, 3 songs sat, 1 on sunday... Honestly, I can't remember the guys names, but thats how it should be, I was judging them, not their families... Anyway, there was a TIGHT lead for first, in my book by about 3 points, I think the total tabulation was about 12 points.. The man that was in the lead, on sunday, actually twisted his knee during the song...

I so would have loved to have given him the benefit of the doubt, but he did take 4th.

Being Judged:

When I was a teenager, a guy named Wayne Cleiland (SP) was like, my superhero....

Now we use the same colors, but that wasn't the reason why, his style was just amazing.. I think he knew how much I enjoyed watching him dance, and we still talk now and then (haven't seen him in a few years) and to be honest, I'm not even sure he knows my name...

We were at a comp in Port Huron MI, he was the head judge, and when he saw me walk up, he stepped down, and asked one of the singers to judge it... I took 1st, and my admiration for him grew even more... It's like one of those things that would bring a tear to your eye...

Because of the fact that I was a fan of his, he stepped down, so his judgement wouldn't be bias.

I respected that more than any dance move I might have ever learned from him.... I learned a move of honesty, and how to respect people a little more.

<3 ya wayne.. great guy

[dmoccasin]

Contest Judge Horror stories

Absolutely great story. Although, it does bring to mind the mental health of the person that comes into the pow wow arena.

Health is more than not being sick. Would you like to the kind of person that feels good physicallly and has a realistic outlook on life and gets along well with other people? This is the description of a truly healthy person. Good health is not only physical but also mental. If fact, respecting yourself and others is one of the keys to feeling great and doing well in every area of your life (Great Source).

My 2 cents