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Being an assistant gave me that rare opportunity ...
By Kris Kinkade
"As a long-time member of SND, I have had my share of frustration at not being recognized for the submissions I would make each year to the competition. After one year of assisting the judges and seeing how the process works, that frustration disappeared. It was replaced by a new respect for the difficulty of the judging, the level of the competition I'm up against and the truly complex criteria that goes into winning an award."
"Being an assistant gave me that rare opportunity to hear from the judges themselves (after competition ended) just why my entries did not make the cut. I was then able to query them on tips for future designs, get insights into what they were looking for in the winners they chose and what mistakes others made that I could now avoid. Also, during free times other design notables were available to talk to me and I was able to learn from them."
"Aside from helping the organization work and grow, I attend SND functions with the selfish desire to learn something. The informal atmosphere of the judging weekend was much more conducive to getting to know other members and initiate that dialog for learning. I have been to least six national SND conferences and a weekend as an assistant was far and away more educational for me than any of the conferences. They also feed you better."
"Finally, if you ever assist in judging, take along a digital camera or notebook and pen. There were so many great pages that did not make the winners' list and recording them in some form for my idea scrapbook really replenished creative juices that had been running dry in recent months."
Kris Kinkade
Page designer / graphic artist
Kalamazoo (Mich.) Gazette
First-time assistant 2002
