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I absolutely agree with this message that if you don't like how the
judging is handled, do something about it by participating in judging
next time, or by offering a session at the Annual Conference on judging,
or even by writing a paper for Intercom or the STC Journal on judging
entries.
The competitions have been established for PEER TO PEER evaluation. THe
judges are NOT paid, nor are they
professional judges. They ARE professional technical communicators.
If you want professional judges, hire them! THere are all sorts of
consulting firms out there that would be more than happy to take your
money and give you THEIR divine opinions.
Of course, I also agree that some of the comments judges wrote as
indicated in some of the messages here were not constructive and clearly
missed the point.