A Visit to the Northeast Judging Center

by Marianna Max

We've all seen the funny capital letter combinations added to the end of some of our favorite orchid species and hybrids, for example, AM, FCC or HCC. Most of us know that this signifies that the plant or in some cases, the grower of that plant, has received an award from the AOS to recognize some aspect of the flower or growth or cultural excellence. Some of us have even seen such awards being given to orchids at shows. However many of our members have never been to a judging center to watch orchids being judged. Bob Mieliwocki and I went to the Northeast Judging Center in Elmsford New York on a Saturday morning (third Saturday of the month) to watch this process in action.

We arrived at 10am at the Hampton Inn on rt 119 just off of 287 in Elmsford NY. Rita Cohen called the meeting to order. The first event of the day this day was a workshop presented by certified judge and past NJOS member, Ray Waksmundski. The topic was how to avoid making errors in selecting slides and awards for comparing present day orchids to those awarded in the past. Sometimes less experienced student judges make the mistake of paying less attention to the information about awards that were given earlier than to those that were awarded more recently. There is a tendency to assume that later awards are generally better plants (or they wouldnt have received an award since awards are generally given for improvements in form or size or color of the flower). Research into a potential present day award consists of reviewing the past awards as well as comparing the plant to an ideal image of what that particular flower should look like. If a cross has received many previous awards, this can be a daunting task even for an experienced judge. The name "Ooops factor" was coined to describe those times when the best example of a previous award is missed in presenting a plant for review.

Next in the days events was a presentation by student judge, Dennis Dayan, whom most of us know as president of Deep Cut Orchid Society. Dennis gave an interesting slide presentation showing the contributions of Miltonia spectabilis and its color varieties to the breeding of the intergeneric hybrids making up Vuylstekeara. Dennis illustrated the good characteristics contributed by spectabilis, especially the intense color and markings of the lip brought to the breeding especially by the variety moreliana. He also discussed the less desirable trait of crowded flower presentation that occurs in many of these crosses. He showed how contributions of other species could help space the flowers more pleasingly along the inflorescence and could increase the flower count. He concluded by pointing out some future directions for this breeding program. Presentations such as these are a normal part of training of each student and probationary judge. Our new president John Sullivan is in charge of coordinating training for student and probationary judges for the Elmsford branch of the Northeast Judging Center. Typically future accredited judges start as clerks where they are exposed to the judging process for one to several years. Then they may progress to the level of student judge where they learn about all aspects of judging over the course of a minimum of 3 years but no more than 5 years. If they successfully navigate this phase of judging they are promoted to the level of probationary judge. Finally in 3 to 5 years as a probationary judge and much more hard work and study they may become accredited judges. This process is entirely voluntary and is not monetarily compensated. Accredited judges are the backbone of AOS judging as well as for most ribbon judging for shows.

Diane Strack, an accredited judge with the center, was up next and she showed slides of recent awards of orchids from all over the country. Sometimes the characteristics of what made the plant an awardable plant were briefly discussed. This review is a regular feature of the monthly judging and contributes to the education of students, probationary and long time judges alike. It was interesting to see the diverse species and hybrids receiving awards over the last few months.

After a lunch break, the main business of the day began. This was the judging of the orchids brought into the center for that day. John had already assigned plants to each student or probationary judge to research. The clerk displays each plant for the judges while the student or probationary judge describes previous awards and shows some of the slides of awarded plants. The presenter points out the good points of the flower and also notes any flaws in form or color in comparison to previously awarded plants. Students are encouraged to state whether they would nominate a plant for an award, and why or why not; probationary judges may nominate. All Judges including students and probationary judges (except for those on the reserve team) are then welcome to discuss the plant. They might expand on or in some cases correct the comments of the presenter (the reserve team of judges don't comment at this time in case they are needed later to finalize the score). Often the discussion is very in depth and very interesting. If the plant is nominated for an award the judges score it. All of the judges not on the reserve team (except students and any judge with a conflict of interest) pass in their scores (students score the nomination but pass their record to one of their mentor judges for comment). If the scores are within a six point spread of one another, the reserve judges also pass in their scores and all of the scores are tallied. If however, the scores arent within six points of each other, the reserve team of judges jumps into action and gathers to judge the plant. Once an award is made, the student or probationary judge who presented the plant writes an award description and reads it to the assembly for approval and suggestions by the rest of the group. Each awarded plant is then photographed for AOS records.

Judging sessions at the Northeast Judging center are open to the orchid community and are scheduled for the third Saturday of the month usually beginning at 10am at the Hampton Inn in Elmsford, NY. For more information on AOS awards and the judging system check out http://orchidweb.org/ and click on calendar of events and then the judging system. You might also read the AOS publication, Handbook of Judging and Exhibition, which we have available in our library.