Save the date: the May judging standards webinar

It's early to be thinking about a webinar that's two months out, but the Awards &
Competition Committee asked us to get this one in front of members now rather than in the
week before, and they're right to ask. "Webinar: Judging Standards 2019" is scheduled for
May 14, and if you hold Competition Judge Accreditation — or you're weighing whether to
pursue it before this year's competition cycle — this is the session to build your calendar
around.

Why this one, specifically

Judging panels only work if everyone on them is scoring against the same rubric, and rubrics
drift a little every year as new categories get added and edge cases pile up. This webinar is
where the committee walks through what changed since last year's competition, reviews a
handful of borderline scoring calls from recent entries, and opens the floor for questions
before entries start coming in for this year's cycle. If you judged last year and found
yourself second-guessing a score sheet at 11pm, this is the session that answers that
particular kind of question.

It's also open to members who don't hold the accreditation yet but are curious about it.
We'd rather you sit in on a live session and get a feel for what judging actually asks of
you before you commit to the accreditation pathway, than have you sign up cold. A fair
number of members who show up "just to watch" end up starting the accreditation process
within the month.

A retailer who's judged the last two competition cycles told us the biggest adjustment for
new judges isn't the tasting itself — it's learning to score against the written rubric
instead of your own palate. "You can genuinely love a wheel and still have to mark it down
if it drifts from what the category asks for," she said. "That took me a full cycle to get
comfortable with." That's exactly the kind of calibration this webinar exists to reinforce,
and it's a lot easier to absorb before entries start arriving than while you're scoring them
under a deadline.

What to do between now and May

Nothing urgent — that's the point of a save-the-date. If your accreditation is due for
renewal this year, this is a natural anchor point: check your renewal date now, and if it
falls before May, don't let this webinar sneak up on you as the deadline for a credential
that's already lapsed. We'd rather send you a calendar reminder in April than a "you're
overdue" note in June.

If you're newer to competition and haven't been near the judging side at all, no need to
wait for May — the Awards & Competition Committee can point you toward this year's entry
categories and timeline any time you want to talk it through. It's also worth thinking now
about whether you want to enter product this cycle, judge it, or both in different
categories — some members do both, but the committee generally asks you to pick one role per
category to keep the scoring clean.

We know March feels early for a May reminder, and normally we'd agree. But between the
accreditation renewal window and the run-up to this year's entry deadline, the committee has
seen enough members miss both by waiting until the month of the event to think about either.
Put it on the calendar now, and we'll be back with the registration link and a fuller agenda
as the date gets closer.

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