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Subject:Re: STC Letter to the Editor From:SteveFJong -at- aol -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Sat, 2 Nov 2002 13:35:13 EST
Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>, who is no longer an STC member,
nevertheless says, in effect, that the various chapter publications
competitions are fixed:
>> [I]n the world of tech-writing, anyone experienced
>> enough to be a judge would probably also have the connections to know
>> which company and which writers were responsible for any local entries.
>> I consider prizes of these sorts - whether they're local STC
>> competitions or the Booker Prize - to be exercises in PR and chances to
>> bestow favors.
I find this innuendo disturbing, and as an organizer of the Boston and
Northern New England competition, I categorically deny it.
Judges are certainly aware of which company provided an entry; the company
names are on the covers. However, it is rarely known who created an entry.
I'm as well connected as anyone: I've been in the business for over 25 years,
I'm an officer in the Boston chapter, and I've been judging for ten years or
more. Yet only twice have I known the creators of an entry. Both times were
at Best of Show competitions: Once was for a trade book entry whose author I
knew (he was listed on the cover), and once was for a technical manual from
my own company. Both times I recused myself. (The book won Best of Show; my
company's manual did not.)
We (I) train judges not to let personal biases influence their judgments; if
they are aware of who wrote an entry, and they feel they can't be objective,
they are to contact the coordinator and swap entries, or recuse themselves as
I did. Other than my own recusals, I don't believe it's come up.
If awards are handed out as favors, we grant them only rarely: Our problem is
that judges are too strict, not too lenient. We have to train on that point.
Now, the Boston chapter has 1,000 members, and gets over 100 entries a year
in the competitions. If Bruce has past experience with smaller chapters, it
may be that the smaller pool of members and entries breeds more familiarity.
I suggest that if it's a problem elsewhere, chapters should consider swapping
entries. (We're happy to take entries from any chapter, so long as they throw
in a few judges too.) But I can assure everyone that the competitions--in
Boston/NNE at least--are unbiased and meaningful.
-- Steven Jong
Second Vice President
STC Boston Chapter
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