E-DAY FROM THE JUDGING COMMISSION POINT OF VIEW

We would like to take the opportunity here to

give our readers a peek under the hood of the

E-Day competition. Have you ever wondered

how individual winners and award-winning

models are chosen at an event of this

magnitude? In terms of the number of models

in the Czech Model Masters competition,

a part of E-Day, it is one of the largest,

perhaps even the most extensive, event in

our country.

Fairly and objectively evaluating over 1,200

models in 43 senior and 17 junior categories

is not an easy task at all. Moreover, it is

necessary to bear in mind the very short

period of time allocated to this phase of

E-Day. Due to the limited time available, this

task demands a higher number of evaluation

teams, and in addition to that, it is necessary

to set up the increased number of individual

teams in such a way as to ensure objectivity

and eliminate any conflicts of interest –

ie. avoiding cases where a judge is also

a competitor in a given category. You can't

simply judge (officially) your own model on

E-Day!

The work of the judges starts a few weeks

before the event itself, when it is necessary

to contact fellow modellers who will be

willing to participate in judging. A narrower

circle of judges and several substitutes will

then be formed from the wider circle of

those approached. For this year's edition, we

expected to divide it into approximately 12-15

judging committees.

After the model entry deadline on the day

of the competition itself, a short briefing of

the judging teams took place, where the

evaluation criteria and the time limitations

were explained. There was a breakup

into individual teams, which was already

known in advance, but on the spot we added

colleagues who, for example, could not

arrive in Milovice due to illness. Ultimately,

we judged the competition at full strength

of fifteen teams of three judges. Thanks to

this, it was possible to submit the results for

processing on time.

And how does the detailed evaluations

themselves take place? The E-day

competition part is evaluated in a socalled comparative method, which is

a simplified form of evaluation, where

the judges do not take the models in their

hands, but try to objectively assess the

model visually. However, even with such

a simplified evaluation format, it is necessary

for the commission to focus primarily on:

• Geometry

• Fidelity of work

• Level of detail

• Color execution

• Marking execution

• Realistic appearance

Assessing all these criteria is often very

difficult, almost to the point of impossible,

given the number of entries, but this is also

why colleagues who have enough experience

to know what and how to focus are invited

to be on these teams. Individual teams in

the competition category will determine

the ranking of the first three places and at

the same time will also select the theme

award-winning models in other places. The

top winning model, the Best of Show, is then

selected from the category winners.

This year's evaluation of the competition

part took place within the predetermined

time limit, without major contradictions and

perhaps to the satisfaction of the competitors

themselves.

On behalf of myself and the entire coordinating team, I would like to thank once

again all our colleagues who served as

judges during this year's E-Day event.

Jiří „von“ Votápek

Table – as an illustration tool - for ensuring no conflict of interest situations, compiled in a MS Excel spreadsheet. Highlighted are

the categories individual committees #1-#15 cannot judge because their members have a model in that category.

October 2023

Special E-Day

INFO Eduard

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