This evening I ran a "clinic" on how to judge DDF (Drama, Debate, and Forensics) events. I wanted to provide a basic level of training for parents and staff who might be willing to judge at future tournaments, to give my team a chance to practice their events in front of a live audience, and to show parents of my competitors what DDF is. I had never run one of these sorts of sessions before, so I did not know what to expect.
I figured that the whole thing would run about two hours long, so I told people to expect the event to run from 6 pm to 8 pm. This ended up being an almost perfect estimate despite two of my competitors cancelling at the last minute. Questions and explanations between the events ended up taking a bit longer than I expected (which I should have expected considering my track record). I was also unsure about what sort of refreshments to provide, but thankfully, my father suggested cider and donuts when I talked about my concerns this morning.
I had more people show up than I expected which led to what I felt was an enjoyable event. It seemed to give all of the parents who attended a better feel for what the program is all about and the challenges in both judging and presenting. It also seemed to give them ideas about how to help their students prepare for their upcoming competition.
I've lamented a bit these past two weeks that I was just giving myself more work to do. However, I'm now glad that I set this up. I deeply believe that it was worth the time and effort.
I figured that the whole thing would run about two hours long, so I told people to expect the event to run from 6 pm to 8 pm. This ended up being an almost perfect estimate despite two of my competitors cancelling at the last minute. Questions and explanations between the events ended up taking a bit longer than I expected (which I should have expected considering my track record). I was also unsure about what sort of refreshments to provide, but thankfully, my father suggested cider and donuts when I talked about my concerns this morning.
I had more people show up than I expected which led to what I felt was an enjoyable event. It seemed to give all of the parents who attended a better feel for what the program is all about and the challenges in both judging and presenting. It also seemed to give them ideas about how to help their students prepare for their upcoming competition.
I've lamented a bit these past two weeks that I was just giving myself more work to do. However, I'm now glad that I set this up. I deeply believe that it was worth the time and effort.
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