TechTatva’17: Behind the Scenes with the Judges Category

There is no point of a competition unless there is a winner. But who decides these winners? Every event in TechTatva is judged by someone with an expertise in their respective field, and it is the Judges category which ensures that everything, from inviting judges to their decision declared, goes smoothly.

You may be unaware of the amount of hard work that goes into this, which is why we had a candid conversation with them in order to understand what they really do, and how they work.

MTTN: Tell us about the working of the category.   

Our main job is to make sure that there is someone present to judge each of the events that are a part of TechTatva. The work starts with us preparing a list of all the potential judges who could be invited, and we then proceed to inviting them to the fest. This constitutes the pre-TechTatva work. On the day of the event, we escort the judges on their arrival, to Mr. Shenoy’s office, from where they are taken to the venues of their respective events. In the end, we present them with a token of appreciation.

MTTN: How is your work during TechTatva different from that during Revels?

TechTatva consists of mostly technical events, and hence, we invite professors from MIT to be the judges. Also, there are quite a few events that do not require an external judge at all. In case of finance related events, we approach the professors of our management institute. Revels, on the other hand, is a completely different affair. We try to get judges from outside Manipal, since most of the events are on the cultural side.

MTTN: Why did you choose this as the category to work for?

We worked in the Judges’ category last year as organizers, and though it was not our first preference at the time, we realized the perks of this category once we started working. Our work is very flexible, and we think ours is the only category where you can work for, and participate in a particular event simultaneously. You don’t have to work overnight for days to be both a participant and an organizer here.

MTTN: Did everything go as planned or did you face any hiccups during the fest?

One of the problems we faced in the beginning was the delay in the allocation of budget to us, due to which we weren’t able to implement what we had in mind for the token of appreciation. We did come up with the new idea of presenting the judges with a potted plant. Another issue was the extremely low participation in some of the events this time. There were quite a few events where the participation in the first round was so less that the subsequent rounds had to be cancelled. It felt bad to call up a judge who had already agreed to be here with us, and ask them not to come.

MTTN: Do you have any message for the people reading this?

Yes. The only thing that we feel lacks in our category is participation. We are one of those categories which get the lowest turnout during the organizer’s call, because most of the students don’t know what we do. We don’t offer night perms, which is a major drawback when it comes to attracting volunteers and organizers. However, we want everyone to know that by being a part of the Judges’ category, you learn a lot. You get to interact with the authorities, and you get to decide whom you want to invite. If in case, a renowned personality agrees to be here, you get to escort them, which is the cherry on the cake. Ours is a category where you can be a part of the management of the fest without pushing yourself too hard.

 

–As told to Gaurangi Gupta for MTTN

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