The Ice Dragon Pentathlon, the largest A&S competition in Æthelmearc, is fast approaching. We are looking for judges for this year’s competition, and bring you words from our Pent Judge Coordinator, Maestro Filipia Capriotti, Baroness of the Court of Æthelmearc, sometimes called the Cupbreaker.

What is the most important thing people should know about judging the Pent?
Being a judge for the Pentathalon is a two fold gift: First, the judge’s gift of time, attention and knowledge for the entrant; providing a benchmark to the entrant on the development of their skill and knowledge base as well as adding to information or resources the entrant may not have. Second is the gift from the entrant to the judge, sharing new research, approaches and enthusiasm with the judge – I get excited when I see things I have learned before, or change the way I look at things!

How long can I expect to spend judging?
We want the judge’s time in the Pent room to be enjoyable and satisfying without being exhausting. The scoring format has been simplified, and any judge will only be asked to judge 2 categories to let everyone have more time to enjoy the event, and our friends. To make this happen we need as many judges as possible – this will also make it possible to assign judges to categories they want and enjoy.

Do I need to be a Fleur or Laurel to judge?
Community recognition of proficiency in your art supports judging; if you are uncertain, or curious, please contact me. We will continue the Shadow Judging Program, where you can be teamed up with a more experienced judge to learn the ropes of judging and commentary.

Will there be rubrics for the judges to use?
Rubrics will be available to guide judging decisions, and there will be additional judging guidelines, but complex math has been eliminated from this year’s forms.

Can I judge if I am entering Ice Dragon?
No.

Anything else?
I am looking forward to working with everyone to gather as much participation as possible; here where our community gathers, we have the opportunity to share our art and our joy. Please come be a part of it all.