New Zealand National Exhibitions
The Jury – its Leadership and Procedures

 

1 Introduction
Part 1 Overarching administration
2 Exhibition Organising Committee
3 New Zealand and NZ Philatelic Federation (NZPF)
4 Australia and Australian Philatelic Federation (APF)
5 New Zealand’s Accords and Challenge Events in New Zealand
6 International – FIP and FIAP
Part 2 Jury members’ roles and functions
7 Jury Chairman
8 Jury Secretary
9 Team Leaders
10 Jurors
11 Apprentices
12 Presidium
13 Consultants
Part 3 – Material and procedures
14 Jury Room material
15 Jury Procedures
16 Additional tasks following completion of judging

 

1 Introduction

 
The competitive classes in National Exhibitions require the services of a Jury led by an Executive comprising (as a minimum) a Jury Chairman and a Jury Secretary. During its tenure the Jury is governed by procedures and rules to lead to an efficient, accurate and fair evaluation of the exhibits.

The Jury Chairman is ex officio a member of the Organising Committee and advises the Committee on any matter affecting the Jury; will have input on exhibitors and exhibiting and, because of their experience will be able to contribute in many ways with the running of the exhibition. The Jury Chairman is generally nominated by the organising committee when they make their application to hold a national exhibition under the patronage of NZPF. However, NZPF approves the Chairman (the nominee or another). [See criteria indicated in section 7.1.]

The jury secretary generally comes from a small pool of people experienced in this role [See Jury Secretary – Appointment in section 8.1.]. While NZPF does not ‘approve’ a Jury Secretary appointee it may have views about any suggested nominee. The final decision generally arises from discussions between NZPF, the organising committee and the ‘approved’ Jury Chairman.

Part 1 Overarching administration

 

2 The Organising Committee

 
The Organising Committee must conform with the NZPF Approved Regulations for National Exhibitions (see https://nzpf.org.nz/exhibitions/exhibition-organisation/national-exhibition-regulations/) in particular:

  • Paragraph 2.3 Application form – this requires the organising committee to seek approval for a national exhibition and to appoint a Jury chairman.
  • Paragraph 3.4 Jury Selection – which specifies the process of selection jury members.

An important task for the organising committee is the nomination of a prospective Jury Chairman.

There are many points in favour of selecting someone who is close to the proposed venue particularly as the Jury chairman is expected to review the suitability of the venue from the perspective of exhibitors and the operation of the jury. However, many Organising Committees now find committee meetings by electronic conference call (e.g. Zoom) removes many of the impediments to appointing a Jury Chairman from afar (and often improves timing and transport issues for their own local members). The Jury Chairman should receive copies of all agendas, be invited to meetings (but need not attend all), and receive minutes. The Jury Chairman should copy the Organising Committee with all correspondence pertaining to jury matters.

The organising committee should ensure close co-operation with the Jury Chairman in the following areas:

  • Choice of Jury and Apprentices
  • Vetting of entries.
  • Hire of venue including the suitability of a jury room.
  • Layout of exhibits.
  • Obtaining title pages from entrants.
  • Catalogue and Palmares information.
  • People Logistics (especially jury and commissioners).
  • Invitations to other Federations and Associations (e.g. Australia, UAE).
  • Awards and Prizes.
  • The proceedings of the Palmares.

3 New Zealand and the New Zealand Philatelic Federation (NZPF)

 
The NZPF is the ultimate authority in respect of national philatelic exhibitions in New Zealand and describe their requirements in NZPF Approved Regulations for National Exhibitions.

NZPF has a responsibility for maintaining a Register of Approved Philatelic Judges from which all NZ-based jury members, including the Chairman and apprentices [See https://www.nzpf.org.nz/exhibitions/judges] are chosen. NZPF must approve the appointment of the Jury Chairman who must consider recommendations from the Secretary of NZPF about jury member selections. [Note the chairman is not required to agree with such suggestions and the secretary of NZPF should only be making recommendations based on ensuring a distribution of selections among qualified jurors to ensure every juror on the register is given a fair chance of being selected over several exhibitions.]

Apprentices are also listed on the Judges’ Register and the Jury Chairman should ensure, where possible, apprentices are given the earliest opportunity to serve their apprenticeships.

4 Australia and the Australian Philatelic Federation

 
NZPF and APF work closely together and recognise the qualifications of their respective philatelic judges (including apprentices) and with a few exceptions have similar classes of exhibits and rules relating to them.

The main areas of differences arise with:

  • Novice exhibitors where New Zealand has Adult Development classes while in Australia novice exhibitors are largely catered for through their State Exhibitions.
  • Structure of the jury where in New Zealand the secretary of the jury need not be, and rarely is, a qualified philatelic judge while in Australia the secretary of the Jury is Senior Judge having broader responsibilities.

Neither of these differences should affect the outcome for exhibitors but it is important judges from each jurisdiction should be aware the differences exist.
 

5 New Zealand’s Accords and Challenge Events in New Zealand

 

5.1 Introduction

 
NZPF has accords with APF and Emirates Philatelic Association (EPA)
(See https://nzpf.org.nz/exhibitions/exhibition-organisation/contractsaccords/apf-nzpf-accord/ and https://nzpf.org.nz/exhibitions/exhibition-organisation/contractsaccords/emirates-philatelic-associationnzpf-accord/ respectively.)

In the case of the accord with APF every NZ and Australian National exhibition (except one-frame) means Judge/Commissioners are appointed from the appropriate country to the exhibitions in the other. Some flexibility is provided for additional judges, including apprentice judges, depending largely on the numbers of exhibits being brought from the respective country and any agreement that might be agreed between the respective Federations.

The accord with EPA could see one Commissioner/Judge from the EPA attending a NZ National. In most case the Commissioner/Judge will act as a jury team member, but the Jury Chairman will need to consult with NZPF to determine whether a team leader role is more appropriate.
 

5.2 Australasian Challenge

 
Every three years an Australasian Challenge occurs. This involves teams of entrants from most of the Australian States and the North and South Islands of NZ. Each team effectively has at least one judge and the additional judges required come from the host State. In many case the judges are senior (international) judges and this can impact on the Jury Chairman’s choice of teams particularly team leaders. [Note APF does not permit judges (or any family member) to exhibit where they are judging. NZ does, and this means the Chairman must brief the visiting judges on how this is managed.]
 

5.3 Royal and other Challenges

 
With exhibitions organised by the Royal Philatelic Society of NZ (RPSNZ), the exhibition can often include a challenge between teams representing RPSNZ and those of other Royal Philatelic Societies. Other exhibitions have included similar challenges between teams from other countries (e.g. The Capital Stamp Show 2015). In these cases, judges representing the societies or countries of origin of competing teams may be invited to participate (with NZPF approval). As with the Australasian Challenge the judges may be senior (international) judges, and this can impact on the Jury Chairman’s choice of teams particularly team leaders.
 

6 International – FIP and FIAP

 
The general organisation and procedures the jury follow, with few exceptions, regulations and guidelines set by FIP. This ensures there is a natural progression for judges progressing through their apprenticeships and judging in New Zealand to their potential selection as an international apprentice and judge.
Additionally, it ensures the results obtained in New Zealand by exhibitors in FIP classes are accepted for international exhibitions (FIP and FIAP).
 

Part 2 The Jury – Members and their roles and functions

 

7 Jury Chairman

 

7.1 Appointment

 
The Jury Chairman is a critical member of the Organising Committee. Consequently, the chairman is appointed early in the life of the exhibition.
As indicated above the appointment of a Jury Chairman is made by the NZPF following a recommendation of the Organising Committee. In recommending such an appointment, the Committee must consider factors, including:

  • The judging status of the nominee (they may have been a chairman at previous exhibitions but will have been team leader for several previous exhibitions and served satisfactorily in those capacities).
  • Their understanding of the Guidelines, SREV’s and GREV’s of all classes to be judged.
  • Their abilities as leader and consensus builders.
  • Their abilities as managers and to meet deadlines.

The appointment of a Jury Chairman is announced at the earliest possible time, together with the other key office bearers of the Organising Committee. The Chaiman or any family member is not allowed to exhibit.
 

7.2 Role and Function

 
The Jury Chairman is a leader and a manager. The role and function of the Chairman can be divided into three periods: before the exhibition, during the exhibition and after the exhibition.
 

7.3 Before the Exhibition

 
During this period the main role of the Chairman is to supervise appointments and to ensure the provisions for the jury are appropriate. In terms of appointments a Jury Chairman is involved in:

  • The selection of the short-list of Jury members from the approved list of NZPF jurors and in accordance with NZPF policy on the composition of juries. [See comment regarding jury selection in Section 2 above.] Note: should it be necessary to sound out prospective jurors about their potential availability then care should be taken to avoid giving any inference they will be selected.
  • The numbers of exhibits in total and by class will determine the overall size of the jury and that of the teams. Note the Chairman should not normally judge with a team.
  • The identification of jurors from overseas where at least one may be an Australian while another may be from the UAE because of accords with their countries. There may also be a challenge or other competition within the exhibition where judges from other countries may be present. Efforts to identify the experience and knowledge of these judges is required to best fit them into the jury teams (many judges from other countries may have one qualifying discipline. The possibility also exists where one of such appointments might be as an apprentice.
  • Selection of a list of supplementary jurors should the original jury composition prove inadequate for the number and type of entries selected. The appointment of Team Leaders for each Class. Consideration should always be given to provide an experienced judge the opportunity to step up to becoming a Team Leader for the first time.
  • The appointment of any other Jury executives, for example an Assistant Secretary, if required.

Depending on the structure of the Organising Committee, and the designated role of the Committee Secretary, the Jury Chairman may be nominated as the contact with the appointed Commissioners for overseas entries.

In terms of logistics and provisions for the jury, the Chairman is responsible for the following:

  • Agreeing with the NZPF co-ordinator (appointed by NZPF) and exhibition committee on the prospectus and entry forms. The distribution of these lies with the exhibition committee.
  • Liaison with the Jury Secretary to provide for delegation of responsibilities.
  • Continual review of entries to determine the composition of the jury. As far as possible check the entries are in the correct class. This is easier if the entrant has provided a synopsis as this should define how the exhibitor has treated his subject.
  • Reflecting the number and type of entries (the rule of thumb is that each jury team of three can assess adequately from 120 to 150 frames of exhibits with an allowance of 12-15 minutes per exhibit).
  • The identification of a suitable jury room.
  • The listing (and perhaps procurement by the organising committee) of equipment and facilities within the jury room.
  • Ensuring the correct (i.e. current) evaluation forms are available for duplication (by the secretary).
  • Issuing invitations to jury members including apprentice jurors.
  • The suitability or otherwise of frame layout and lighting,
  • The suitability of security provisions for the exhibition including access outside normal hours.
  • The suitability of refreshment provisions proposed, in both terms of timing and content.
  • Arrangement for the provision of a copy of all entry forms for the Jury room.
  • Approval of award certificate design.
  • Provision of information to jury members prior to their arrival. Such information would normally include the following:
    • Complete list of Jury members including contact details of Chairman and Secretary.
    • Jury duties and team membership including apprentices.
    • Timetable of jury activities.
    • Making sure the apprentices know what is expected.
    • Travel and accommodation arrangements and payment responsibility.
    • List of entries.
    • Title pages of entries. and synopses.
    • List of available awards (sometimes not available until the exhibition).
    • Jury (and Commissioner as appropriate) entitlements.
    • Any other duties (e.g. training sessions, feedback to apprentices and junior judges, lectures etc).

During this period the Jury Chairman (on behalf of the Organising Committee) should seek feedback from jury members on the information supplied as well as details such as:

  • Final arrival and departure times.
  • Any special dietary requirements.
  • Any physical restrictions on the abilities of the jurors.
7.4 During the Exhibition

 
In many exhibitions the jury work commences before the official opening of the exhibition, and these notes include this pre-exhibition period.

During this time, the main work of the jury takes place, and the Jury Chairman has a unique role and function. The main requirement is to lead the jury to a fair and just determination of the awards to be given to the entries within the available time.

The major task includes the following:

  • Addressing the jury on its responsibilities and operations.
  • Final determination of individual tasks.
  • Appointing a Jury Presidium if that is considered necessary.
  • Preparation (with the Jury Secretary) of the final work timetable (if necessary).
  • Briefing of team leaders on their responsibilities including in relation to apprentices.
  • Briefing of apprentices on the manner they will be assessed and what is expected of them. See section 11.
  • Noting the relevant policies in respect of felicitations, nomination for Grand Awards etc.
  • Provision of a final list of prizes for awarding and the criteria for such awards.
  • Lead the determination of Grand Prix winners.
  • Appoint a sub-committee to select the prizes for each awardee.
  • Appoint a sub-committee to ensure the timely provision of Palmares data and to correct the proof text of the Palmares.
  • Arrange for Team Leaders to provide adequate and suitable written feedback.
  • Review the feedback and sign the forms.
  • Receive from Team Leaders reports on Apprentices according to the requirements of NZPF. See https://nzpf.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Apprentice-assessment-form.pdf.
  • Approve the Jury Report.
  • Chair the Feedback Session.
  • Close the Jury deliberations and re-emphasise the confidentiality of jury deliberations, decisions and papers (for example marked up catalogues).
  • Discharge the Jury.

Many of these aspects are considered more fully under Jury procedures listed and discussed below.
 

7.5 After the Exhibition
  • Provide the Organising Committee and the NZPF with a summary report of the operations of the Jury, highlighting any problems encountered or improvements to procedures which could be adopted.
  • Report to the NZPF on the performance of Apprentices and other Trainees with recommendations for further action.
  • Write to all jurors thanking them for their participation (this may be done by the Organising Committee including on behalf of the Jury Chairman).

8 Jury Secretary

 
The Jury Secretary is the chief assistant to the Jury Chairman. In New Zealand this role need not involve a qualified judge. However, it is important they be a good administrator, skilled computer operator (including familiarity with appropriate software packages and file transfer systems) and desirably will be involved in philately or postcards at least as an exhibitor.
 

8.1 Appointment

 
The Jury Secretary should be selected by the Jury Chairman with the agreement of the Organising Committee and approval of NZPF.
In making such an appointment the Jury Chairman, Organising Committee and NZPF should consider the following:

  • The experience of the nominee.
  • Their philatelic experience particularly as an exhibitor and possibly as a juror.
  • Their understanding of any computer software and file sharing systems to be used.
  • Their ability to manage people. The secretary’s ‘authority’ comes directly from the Chairman, and they must be capable of exercising that authority without causing undue tension.
  • Their ability to manage complex administrative tasks within a tight time frame.
  • Their ability to meet deadlines.
8.2 Role and Function

 
The role and function of the Jury Secretary is to provide management and administrative support to the Jury Chairman with the operations of the Jury. As with the Chairman, the Secretary has a role before the exhibition, during it and afterwards.
 

8.3 Before the Exhibition
  • Receive and action entry details:
    • As entry forms arrive (by hard copy or electronically) the necessary information is transferred to the spreadsheet/database being used for the exhibition. This will include:
      • The exhibitor’s name, title (if used) and DOB if a youth.
      • The exhibit title, number of frames and class (including sub-class) entered.
      • The short (usually meant to be no more than 50 words) description of the exhibit.
      • Electronic copies of the Title Page and Synopsis (if provided).
        Note in some cases an Exhibits officer might be used to assist or complete these tasks. However, there is considerable value in the secretary being very closely involved as this facilitates their future responsibility with the data involved.
    • At intervals, agreed between the secretary and Chairman, this data will be transferred to the Chairman for checking and confirming.
    • This data is used to enable the chairman to select members of the jury (based on the spread of classes entered) and, once data is validated, to enable finalising the frame layout in the exhibition hall and sent to the organising committee for preparation of the Exhibition Catalogue.
    • The secretary receives the data and ensures the appropriate files are created so they can be attached to the message the chairman sends to the team leaders and jury members.
    • Data relating to exhibitor contact details should be recorded and forwarded to the secretary for NZPF (or the person responsible for maintaining this information for NZPF) once entries have closed. [Note the entry form indicates this information will be collected by NZPF in accordance with their privacy policy and the exhibitor has agreed to this.]
  • Ensure the relevant paperwork for the Jury is available as required. This includes:
    • Judging sheets [In New Zealand there are many judging sheets used. To assist the jury each exhibit should have the required number of judging sheets (one per jury member affected) prepared with exhibitor, exhibit title and frame number/s. The secretary should ensure additional sheets can be printed if required. These forms are used by the jury to note their marks and comments.
    • Certificates of awards. The certificate in many cases will be pre-printed, but the secretary should have been involved in ensuring the layout (font size, etc.) for including Exhibitors, Exhibit name, Award including any Felicitations is adequate for the range of entries to be covered as these will/should be generated automatically from the data in the database.
    • List of prizes, etc. The organising committee should provide a schedule of prizes available for presentation. The list should define any limitations on recipients (and where possible identify entrants who may be eligible or not) to assist the jury ‘Awards team’.
  • Liaise with the Hall Manager to ensure the jury room furniture and equipment is provided a suitable layout of the jury room can be achieved. Ensure suitable signposting and security is in place to control access by unauthorised people to the jury room.
  • Ensure that necessary refreshments are available. At the least, water should always be available. Other catering may be subject to the venue’s preferred supplier contracts. These should be understood and clearly advised to the jury.
  • Check on the meal provisions and arrange a suitable timetable for the taking of jury breaks.
  • Determine when a photographer, if one is to be used, is available and the time for a jury photograph is in the jury timetable.
8.4 During the Exhibition

 
This is busiest time for the Jury Secretary. The objective is to assist the Chairman in concluding the work of the Jury in a timely and efficient manner.

The main tasks are:

  • Maintaining the records of deliberations and decisions of the Jury.
  • Advising the Jury Chairman of appropriate actions and their timings so that the work of the jury can be accomplished in the duly allotted time.
  • Liaise with team leaders about the progress of their work and ensure they provide the necessary result information in due time (the Jury Chairman should also be assisting with this task.
  • Liaise with the Organising Committee on any aspects of the Jury work which may need to be coordinated with other activities of the Organising Committee.
  • Preparing voting slips as necessary.
  • Preparing the Palmares data input including information on special prizes and the Chairman of the Jury’s report.
  • Checking the draft Palmares document for accuracy.
  • Ensure the feedback forms are delivered from the Team Leaders to the Jury Chairman for checking and signature in a timely fashion.
  • Organise the Jury photograph.
  • In cooperation with the Jury Chairman and the Organising Committee ensure the medals are available for the Palmares
  • Prepare the award labels to be posted on the exhibit frames.
  • Arrange for the Posting of Results.
  • Ensure delivery of feedback forms to the Bin Room.
  • Destroy any voting slips used as well as any results compilations used in the jury room during the deliberations of the jury.
  • After the discharge of the Jury, tidy the Jury room to ensure equipment is returned to the Organising Committee, and any jury papers are removed for safe storage or disposal.
8.5 After the Exhibition

 
The Secretary provides information to the NZPF, for example:

  • An electronic copy of the results to their webmaster.
  • Contact details (name, address, phone and email) from entry forms of NZ exhibitors for the NZPF’s exhibitor database.

Otherwise, there are generally few tasks for the Jury Secretary after the close of an exhibition.
 

9 Team leaders

 

9.1 Introduction

 
The Chairman is required to select teams that match the number of each discipline being exhibited and ensure an equitable workload to fully utilise the skills of the jury members. Teams typically are comprised of three members, although in extenuating circumstances a jury team of two may be used. Additionally, no more than one apprentice should be attached to any one jury team, although cross assignment to another team to increase the apprentice’s exposure to the breadth and depth of philately is commonly acceptable.

A critical decision for the Chairman is who should be the team leaders.

The Chairman should consider the following factors:

  • The expertise of the judge in terms of the discipline being judged e.g. has exhibited in the class to a good level or has judged in the class several times
  • Experience as a judge – a potential team leader will have judged at national level (desirably, but not necessarily solely, in the specific class) several times including, if possible, at least once in Australia or at an international level and may have been a team leader before.
  • The makeup of the team. For example, a team comprised of several very experienced judges (including international experience or as team leaders) may not be appropriate for a first-time team leader.
  • The need to provide an experienced judge the opportunity to step up to becoming a Team Leader for the first time.

The Chairman would check with the potential team leader they are willing to take on that responsibility, clarify expectations and discuss any reservations there might be so both parties are happy to proceed.
 

9.2 Before the exhibition

 
After the Chairman has resolved the makeup of all teams including the respective leaders the judges are sent all title pages and any synopses. Each team leader should consider the entries their team is to judge and with the known strengths of individual team members propose to their team a distribution of entries each team member (Including themselves) will take the lead on. An opportunity should be given for a team member to seek a change to any assigned exhibit (preferably with an acceptable reason for seeking the change) and the Team Leader should try to meet that request.

It is important EVERY member research ALL entries to be judged by the team but the chosen lead judge for an entry will lead the discussion on the entry, prepare the written feedback and give oral feedback to the exhibitor ‘at the frame’. [Note if there is an apprentice in the team their ‘test’ exhibits should be notified at the same time.]
 

9.3 During judging

 
Before the first formal meeting of the jury, team leaders should ensure they arrive in plenty of time.
The secretary will have arranged specific team tables in the jury room. The Team Leader should:

  • Confirm the relevant marking sheets are on the table and, if necessary, seek additional sheets.
  • Check availability of necessary equipment e.g. power points.

During judging the Team Leader should:

  • Ensure all members of the team participate fully in judging.
  • Encourage consensus among the team but, if necessary, be prepared to arbitrate where different views are obstructing agreement within the team.
  • Set timetables for the team’s judging to meet the deadlines set by the Jury Chairman.
  • Assist, train and ultimately evaluate any apprentice juror attached to the team.
  • Ensure the results of judging by the team are correctly entered in the exhibit results. This includes providing results to the Jury secretary, reporting results at any ‘calls’ during jury meetings.
  • Respond appropriately to any challenges made on exhibits the team has judged.
  • Nominate candidate exhibits for special awards, felicitations and the Grand Awards.

10 Jury members

 

10.1 Before the exhibition
  • Respond quickly and as completely as possible to communication from the Jury Chairman, Jury Secretary or Team Leader.
  • Once notified of the exhibits to be judged and certainly when title pages and any synopses are received start researching all the topics particularly, but not exclusively, those exhibits where they have been asked to lead. If a search identifies a particularly useful resource share it with other team members. If it is difficult to locate useful information seek assistance from other members of the team.
  • Review the rules and guidelines for each class they are to judge.
  • Should circumstance mean a juror is unable to attend they should contact the Chairman as soon as possible so alternates can, where possible be organised.
  • Arrange suitable travel to arrive before the scheduled jury first meeting. Should travel delays occur that will mean late arrival contact the chairman, secretary or team leader.
  • Ensure all requested documents (e.g. travel invoices/claims) and equipment (e.g. personal laptops, clipboards, etc.) are brought to the jury room.
10.2 During the judging
  • Comply with any times set by the Chairman or Team Leader.
  • In relation to the judging criteria contribute clear, objective comments. While not all these comments may be agreed to by other members of the team, they should influence the outcome and provide material usefully included in feedback to the exhibitor. The Team Leader will be keen to achieve consensus in the team. This is best achieved when views are presented by all team members, heard and considered before a final assessment is made. The process may mean some compromises are made but the team must be comfortable with and able to support the mark attained.
  • Note team comments and share, as necessary with the team member completing the written feedback.

11 Apprentices

 

11.1 Before the exhibition
11.2 During the judging
  • An apprentice will participate with their team in judging two to three exhibits. This is to familiarise themselves with the judging process and enable them to get a feel for the team dynamics.
  • They are then asked to judge their assigned ‘test’ exhibits on their own. During this time the team continues with assessing other exhibits.
  • On returning to the team, they lead the team in the judging of their ‘test’ exhibits.
  • They then continue working with the team in the balance of the exhibits to be judged.
11.3 After the team judging

 
When the team has finished their judging time will be set aside for the apprentice to meet with the Team Leader to discuss their performance. Team leader should invite Jury Chairman to attend, if available. After the discussion the Team Leader records their views on the assessment form (see https://nzpf.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Apprentice-assessment-form.pdf), signs the form and gives it to the apprentice so they are able to express their views on the comments made. The form is then given to the Chairman.

The Chairman will consider the completed form, probably discuss it with the Team Leader and then take time to discuss it with the apprentice. The Chairman should indicate to the apprentice the recommendation that will be forwarded to NZPF regarding the success of the apprenticeship.
The Chairman forwards the completed assessment form to NZPF.
 

12 Jury Presidium

 
At New Zealand exhibitions is not common for a Jury Presidium to be appointed. However, it may be desirable where;

  • The exhibition is large (more than 150 entries for example).
  • The jury has several senior international judges arising from a Challenge competition.
  • The Jury chairman is serving their first time in that role.

The task of the Jury Presidium is to consider issues of complexity and make final recommendations to the Chairman on exhibits where the jury has found it difficult to reach a consensus.

The Jury Presidium normally consists of:

  • The Chairman
  • Up to three team leaders.

The Jury Presidium should not be larger than five members.
 

13 Consultants

 

13.1 Within the jury

 
Rarely appointed to New Zealand national exhibition juries if consultants are they act as senior members of the Jury. They are appointed because of their wide-ranging knowledge and skills in the breadth and depth of philately. They have a roving role to assist the Jury Chairman in the overall evaluation of the exhibits (not in the administration of the Jury) and are also available to individual teams to assist in the correct evaluation of individual exhibits.
Where a Jury presidium is appointed, they are ex-officio members.

While the appointment of a consultant is primarily for practical reasons, it is also a position of honour and, appointments to such a position should be made sparingly and with care.
 

13.2 Outside the jury

 
On occasions, a person outside the jury might be approached to provide an expert opinion on a technical issue (e.g. the validity of a statement relating to the genuineness of an item). The issue will be first raised by a Team Leader with the Chairman who only if satisfied the issue needs resolution and no one on the jury is able to provide a decision may then agree to approach the expert. The expert would not be involved beyond providing an opinion on the issue.
 

Part 3 – Material and Procedures

 

14 Jury Room materials

 

14.1 Jury Room, Furniture and Accessories

 
A room should be set aside for the Jury. It should be:

  • Secure from the public and others.
  • Quiet.
  • Free from eavesdropping.
  • Close to the exhibits (and, avoiding where possible, the need to climb up or down stairs).
  • Always accessible to jurors (including for writing feedback).
  • Suitably furnished and equipped.
  • With adequate lighting, heating and cooling.

The equipment of the jury room includes the following:

  • Tables (minimum one for each team and one for the jury chairman and preferably an additional one for the secretary (to provide for a printer and associated materials.
  • Chairs for all.
  • Black/white board (with suitable pens and erasers).
  • Butcher’s paper (optional).
  • Note pads, pencils, pens, erasers and a clip board for each juror [Note it is normal to expect each jury member to provide these although spares are useful].
  • Enough power outlets/leads to power jurors’ laptops.
  • Sticky tape or blue-tack and scissors.
  • Judging (feedback) sheets.
  • A complete set of entry forms and title pages (see below).
  • The NZPF record of competitive exhibits.
  • A list of all special prizes.
  • A list of previous Grand Prix winners and those exhibits which have been awarded felicitations.
  • Copy (preferably two) of the catalogue for each jury member.
  • Copy of GREX, GREV’s, SREV’s, and Guidelines.
  • Water available at all times and preferably coffee/tea facilities and snack food.
  • Cups and plates (paper will do).
  • Wastepaper bin(s).
14.2 Distribution of title pages and judging timetable

 
Relevant title pages, synopses and the provisional judging timetable will have been sent to all jurors prior to the coming together of the jury. This should preferably have been done a month before the commencement of jury work.

A complete set of title pages and synopses should be available in the jury room and any late arrivals or updated title pages should be distributed at the beginning of the jury work.

An updated timetable will also need to be provided. It will include not only the timetable of work for the jury but also meal breaks and other activities such as the opening ceremony and jury photograph for example.
 

14.3 Entry forms

 
One copy of each entry form should be made available in the jury room. This is generally accessible to the Jury Secretary and Chairman only. They are available to Team Leaders on request but should only be referred to after the jury team has assessed the exhibit.

Individual jurors are only allowed access to these forms with the approval of the relevant team leader and Jury Chairman.

The Chairman and/or Secretary should check all provisional jury determinations against the entry forms to determine whether there are any discrepancies or anomalies with previous awards. In the event there is a two or more-medal level gap the relevant Team Leader should be informed.
 

4.4 Exhibition catalogues

 
Each jury member should receive a copy of the catalogue (often the most efficient way of providing the list of exhibits and their frame numbers. As this catalogue is often used by the jury members to record mark levels as the judging progresses. An additional clean copy of the catalogue is appreciated.
 

14.5 Feedback sheets

 
These will be the approved NZPF sheets. If there is an experimental class at the exhibition. then a suitably agreed feedback sheet should be provided.
 

14.6 Award Certificates

 
The Award Certificates will have been agreed between the Organising Committee and the Jury Chairman prior to the exhibition. After the awards are determined, they will be completed and signed by the President and the Chairman. The Secretary should arrange for them to be checked for accuracy.
 

14.7 Special Prizes

 
A list of Special Prizes, their donor, and any special conditions, which attach to their awarding, should be available to all jurors.
 

14.8 List of previous Grand Prix winners and Felicitations

 
Because the rules of exhibiting of the APF preclude a Grand Prix winner or a Felicitations winner from winning the same award twice for the same exhibit it is necessary to know the previous winners. The Secretary should prepare a list of any entries that may be precluded from certain awards, and this should be available to jurors.
 

14.9 GREVs, SREVs and Guidelines

 
Because all NZPF approved exhibitions are judged according to FIP criteria or for national classes NZPF criteria it is useful to have a copy of the rules and guidelines for each competitive class available to the jury. Note these are available on the NZPF website at https://nzpf.org.nz/exhibitions/judging/ The regulations as promulgated for the exhibition should be available in case there is a dispute over the validity of an entry (number of frames, colour of sheets etc.).
 

14.10 NZPF Record of Competitive Exhibits

 
The NZPF keeps a record of all past results for each competitive exhibit by New Zealand exhibitors at national and international exhibitions. This list can be used to determine the progress of exhibits. As with the entry forms it should be retained by the Secretary and only made available on request by Team Leaders after an initial judging determination has been made.
 

15 Jury room procedures

 

15.1 Prior to first meeting

 
Before the first meeting of the jury it is becoming more common as the period of exhibitions shortens, that the jury members are asked to be part of the mounting teams. Every effort should be made to ensure the first meeting starts on time but if mounting of the exhibits has not been competed judging can be adversely affected.
 

15.2 Commencement and introductory remarks

 
The first meeting of the Jury should commence on time. Apart from being good practice it demonstrates to the jury the need for excellent time management. This is becoming more important as exhibitions become more reduced in time.

The Jury Chairman should call the meeting to order and introduce themselves and the Jury Secretary to the Jury. It is useful at this time for the Chairman of the Organising Committee to welcome everyone and introduce the Organising Committee Treasurer (who will briefly describe any process required for jury travel and other claims) and Hall Manager (who will assist with any issues arising from frame malfunctions, poorly/inaccurate mounted exhibits and any items needing removal for closer inspection of validity of description).

The Jury Chairman will then address the Jury. Items to be covered will often include:

  • Request to members of the Jury and any others to introduce themselves.
  • Provide briefing on general jury room procedures emphasising confidentiality.
  • The Chairman or Secretary brief the Jury on logistics including such aspects as:
    • Security arrangements and access to the jury room.
    • Each day’s timetable and deadlines.
    • Refreshments that will be available.
    • Location of restrooms.
    • Dress standard required for any jury photograph and its timing.
    • Timing of any transport.
    • Any late invitations to the jury to attend functions (that fit with the jury timetable).
    • Any changes to paperwork.
    • Information held by the Secretary and availability (e.g. entry forms, previous awards, etc.).
  • Describe assignment of apprentices to teams and note Team Leaders and Apprentices will have a separate briefing immediately afterwards.
  • Remind teams of the need to identify prospective awardees for special prizes and felicitations.
  • Explain the procedure for accepting transfers and for making challenges.
  • Stress punctuality.
  • Emphasise the collective nature of all decisions of the Jury and the requirement to support these decisions outside the jury room.
  • Send the Jury to work with best wishes and a clear time set for reassembly.
15.3 Apprentice Briefing

 
This will include the Chairman, Team Leaders and apprentices. The apprentices should be welcomed and put at ease. The system used to assess them should then be explained. Questions from Team Leaders and the Apprentices should be sought and answered to everyone’s satisfaction.

While this briefing is very important it should be done with expedition so the work of the remainder of the Jury is not held up.
 

15.4 Transfers

 
If any team finds an entry they believe does not fit correctly into the class in which it is entered, the team completes its assessment and as soon as practicable advises the Chairman and recommends the alternate class in it should be judged. The Chairman will request the relevant Team Leader judge the nominated exhibit and if the mark improves then the exhibit should be transferred to that class. Usually there is agreement on such transfers, but in the case of a dispute the Chairman will decide how and by whom the exhibit in question will be judged.
 

15.5 Challenges

 
After any results are posted by the secretary, if any juror feels a result is inappropriate, they should raise a Challenge. A points score broken down for each of the judging criteria by the challenger must accompany the Challenge – if there is no score the challenge will not proceed. The Secretary records the Challenge, the points score, the challenger and the Team Leader judging the relevant class.

The Chairman or Secretary may put up Challenges where the proposed award is two medal levels different to its immediately preceding award. In this case, an alternate point score need not be offered but the judging team must review the points they have awarded and affirm the points they determine.
 

15.6 Special prizes and felicitations

 
These may be identified when points are recorded by the secretary but more often are notified during the ‘Final Call’. Often overlooked by teams it is not until other team leaders nominate such awards will they be forthcoming.
 

15.7 Recording and display of points, transfers and challenges

 
At regular intervals, normally during a natural break (e.g. refreshment or rest break, before moving on to a different class, etc.), team leaders should provide details to the secretary of the point breakdown of exhibits their team has judged so far. This should spread timing of the entry of these points and allow the secretary to produce a spreadsheet of results for display for jury members prior to any scheduled jury meeting.

The secretary will also record transfers and challenges – generally on a white board – for future resolution.
 

15.8 Jury meetings

 
While judging is in progress it is important to keep meetings to a minimum both in frequency and time. For that reason, holding them immediately after the jury is already assembled (e.g. at the start of a day or after a meal break) is most efficient. The early meetings are primarily an opportunity for the Chairman and the jury to assess progress and make necessary adjustments to the timetable; to report any relevant information; and receive feedback and, if necessary, resolve on matters jury members raise.

The final meetings cover ‘Final Call’ and ‘Final Resolutions’ described below.
 

15.9 ‘Final Call’

 
The procedure is for each Team Leader to read out in catalogue order the points and medal level assessed for each exhibit and whether Felicitations or a Special Award should be given. This Call is the final opportunity to nominate special prizes and felicitations. Pending resolution of Challenges all awards below Gold will be considered finalised and, If there is no objection, the results stand (the jury is in unanimous agreement) [although the granting of a Special Award will require deliberation of the Awards Committee].

At the end of the Call, the Chairman will instruct the Jury to come to an agreement on any outstanding challenges and to view and review the nominated Gold and Large Gold medal winners.
 

15.10 Final deliberations

 
The results of the Challenges are called again. The Gold and Large Golds are then called and are subject to a final challenge. Those Gold and Large Gold medals which are unchallenged are considered finalised. The jury will finalise the challenges and may be requested view in detail the Grand Award nominees.

The final major act in the deliberations of the Jury is the selection of the Grand Awards winners of which there are normally two – Grand Award and Runner-up to the Grand Award. The Chairman will call for nominations and only in exceptional circumstances will more than one nomination from any one class be accepted. The Chairman should seek two or three nominations.

The relevant Team Leader is asked to speak to the exhibit. In cases where there are two nominations judged by the same team (although from different classes) the Team Leader will defer to another selected jury member to present the second case.

The Chairman or the Jury at large will determine which of two methods shall be used, namely:

  • A secret ballot process be used (with apprentices [who have no vote] handling voting papers and are scrutineers in the final counting with the Chairman’s deciding vote in a signed/sealed envelope).
  • An open vote.

The two methods have different consequences for the preparation of the Palmares. It is recommended whichever method is used, the candidates are listed as candidates in the Awards List.
 

15.11 Discharging the jury

 
It is common practice to discharge the jury after the final call but as can be seen from the tasks described in section 16, there is much work to be done by jurors after the final call.

Whenever the discharge occurs there are several things that must be covered, including;

  • The collective responsibility of the jury (all have agreed to all the awards).
  • The need for complete confidentiality of jury room discussions.
  • Thanking the Secretary.
  • Noting the thanks due to the Organising Committee.
  • Any other courteous acknowledgements.
  • Thanking the jury for their diligence and ability.

16 Additional tasks following completion of judging

 
Though the judging may be complete there are still tasks for the jury or a jury committee to do.
 

16.1 Written feedback

 
Written feedback is a useful tool in assisting exhibitors in improving their exhibits and in assisting judges to focus on the pluses and minuses (the detracting factors) of an exhibit.

There is thus a need for the preparation of written feedback to be properly managed. This is the task of the Jury Chairman with the assistance of the Team Leaders. Team Leaders will have divided up the task among their team.

The Team Leader should edit and approve the feedback prepared by team members and the Jury Chairman should also check the feedback to ensure they are accurate and helpful. It is also important the written feedback accords with the overall oral feedback session and the comments ‘at frames’ given to exhibitors by the judging teams.

16.2 Posting of results

As soon as the jury has concluded its final deliberations exhibitors expect to learn of their results. This is commonly done by placing the results on the frames. This task is usually tasked to apprentices, but other members of the jury may be requested to assist. The Chairman should also delegate another member of the jury to check the results as posted.
 

16.3 Jury report for Palmares document

 
It is normal practice to include a report of the Jury in the Palmares document. It is signed by the Chairman (or Presidium if one was used). It will note the size of the overall task, the general level of competition and unusual events such as the failure of an exhibit to arrive or be judged and exhibits that have been transferred to another class.
 

16.4 Allotment of individual special prizes

 
A sub-committee is usually appointed by the Jury Chairman to consider the allotting of special prizes to each of the exhibits that have won such an award. It commonly consists of the Chairman, Secretary and senior Team Leaders (sometimes with input from the Organising Committee).

Several considerations must be considered:

  • Any instructions from the donor as to the awarding of the prize.
  • Any cultural sensitivities involved./li>
  • Any age or gender sensitivities involved./li>
  • The need to avoid giving a prize to its donor!/li>
  • The weight and size of the prize and how it can be delivered to the awardee./li>
  • The overall appropriateness of the prize given the exhibit, its class and its points score./li>

The work of the Sub-Committee must be done efficiently as the results of the prize distribution will be needed for the Palmares document. A suitable listing must be prepared and given to the Organising Committee.

After completing the allotment, the Sub-Committee should label each special prize with the number of the winning exhibit preferably on the outside of the packaging so that it can easily be recognised at the Palmares function and the correct prize given to each awardee.
 

16.5 Palmares document proof reading

 
The Palmares document is the official record of the results of the exhibition. Consequently, they exist forever. They must therefore be accurate and not capable of multiple interpretation. If mistakes occur and are corrected by insertions, over time the insertion may become detached from the original document and the information for later readers becomes incorrect.

While it is expected a team from the Organising Committee will put the document together from information supplied by the Jury Secretary, it is the task of the Jury Secretary acting on behalf of the Chairman to ensure the accuracy of the document before its distribution.
 

16.6 The Palmares (or Awards Ceremony)

 
It is common for the Jury Chairman to take a major role in the Palmares. This is at the invitation of the Organising Committee although the Chairman reads the report of the Jury (see above).

Because the Chairman of the Jury is responsible for the correct awarding of medals and prizes the role of the Chairman is to supervise the giving of the awards. Depending on the Organising Committee, this can vary from the actual physical handing over of awards to the supervision of the passing of the correct awards to the presenter.
 

16.7 Oral feedback session

 
All jurors should be present at the oral feedback session. The objective of the session is to give exhibitors a briefing on the operations and overall conclusions of the jury. It is led by the Chairman and includes:

  • Opening remarks.
  • Naming of the Team Leaders and the teams.
  • The overall judging philosophy.
  • A class-by-class analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the exhibits.
  • Any other matters that may need to be brought to the attention of exhibitors.
  • A question-and-answer session.
  • An invitation to visit the frames for individual assessment of exhibits for the benefit of the actual exhibitor.

This is another key activity that assists both exhibitors and judges. The Team Leaders should be responsible for this activity and will have selected one of their team to lead the discussion. However, it is useful if the whole team is involved to avoid any ambiguity of interpretation.

The Jury Chairman may give Team Leaders briefing on how the ‘At Frame’ discussions should be handled. Such a briefing would include the need to be positive and appreciative of the efforts of the exhibitor while at the same time pointing out weaknesses in each of the judging criteria should they exist.
 

16.8 Finalising Reports

 
The Chairman needs to prepare reports for the NZPF. This must include a report on each apprentice using the NZPF approved form.

The Chairman will also need to report to the Organising Committee (as a member) and this report may well include details in the general report to the NZPF but not details of the Apprentice Report.