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PaphGuy
Guest
I was surprised to find discussion. I thought AOS judges are not supposed to talk about AOS stuff. Anyway, it is fun to discuss this matter.
I was in the AOS judging system for about 12 years, not too long. But I noticed that to be a good judge, it is a combination of innate ability and also training. There were quite a few people whom I believe should not be elevated to be a fully accredited judges. Every center is different, none has the same criteria. The knowledge and quality of the judges are also different considerably. For example, when I just joined my second center, I witness a a prob judge who was on the verge of getting elevated to fully accredited who was not able to discern between miniature cattleyas and Dendrobium cuberthsonii. It was very discouraging! He became a fully accredited judge anyway, and over the years, his performance was a joke to say the least.
However, some of the students in the same region were amazing, better than most accredited judges anywhere in the US.
I am not a commercial grower, therefore, I do not see the reason of getting an award from AOS. I know which ones of my plants that are of award quality. I can be very objective. When I judged, I always used this rule: If I am going to spend, say, $500, will I pay for this particular plant? What is the chance of this plant of getting an AM? I do not follow AOS scoring chart. Who cares. If I thought the plant was of AM quality, I just gave 80 something...depending whether it was a low AM or high AM. I did not spend a lot of time like most judges try to be exact...It was a waste of time!
I was in the AOS judging system for about 12 years, not too long. But I noticed that to be a good judge, it is a combination of innate ability and also training. There were quite a few people whom I believe should not be elevated to be a fully accredited judges. Every center is different, none has the same criteria. The knowledge and quality of the judges are also different considerably. For example, when I just joined my second center, I witness a a prob judge who was on the verge of getting elevated to fully accredited who was not able to discern between miniature cattleyas and Dendrobium cuberthsonii. It was very discouraging! He became a fully accredited judge anyway, and over the years, his performance was a joke to say the least.
However, some of the students in the same region were amazing, better than most accredited judges anywhere in the US.
I am not a commercial grower, therefore, I do not see the reason of getting an award from AOS. I know which ones of my plants that are of award quality. I can be very objective. When I judged, I always used this rule: If I am going to spend, say, $500, will I pay for this particular plant? What is the chance of this plant of getting an AM? I do not follow AOS scoring chart. Who cares. If I thought the plant was of AM quality, I just gave 80 something...depending whether it was a low AM or high AM. I did not spend a lot of time like most judges try to be exact...It was a waste of time!
