As a judge (Certified) and having judged at a range of competitions and also having entered many myself, I totally understand the efforts required to judge and send the information as well as the desire to know “now” how you did.
Each competition is organized a little differently. I’ve judged in Minnesota and now in Georgia. And each competition really is successful based on the number of volunteers to do the work at hand. My last time judging at the UMMO, they had an amazing set up with envelopes set up for each entrant and as score sheets and the like are completed throughout the day the enevelops are set up and mailed the next day. That’s probably the most organized competition I’ve seen of the ones I’ve judged at, and they are to be applauded for taking speed of feedback so seriously. Other competitions are just plain short on volunteers. And as a result it takes longer to get information back to folks as someone has to sit, sort and package everything. And there are lots in between.
Kudos for entering competitions! But at the same time if you have competitions near where you live, sign up to volunteer and help. You don’t have to be a judge to volunteer, people are needed to do all sorts of things from stewarding to cellar. The more volunteers the smoother the competition can potentially run (provided it’s organized well to begin with).
Cheers!
