Contest Prep

Last night I was honored to join a panel of local Leatherfolk to help prepare our local contestants for the regional Master/slave competition. We started with a mock interview session, where the four of us seated on a judging panel took turns asking them questions. We stumped them a few times, and got to dig a little deeper into their application paperwork. Next they gave a 10 minute joint presentation and then fielded questions from the 16+ people in the audience, and the judges did not ask anything this time. Then came each of their two minute speeches, followed by a volley of pop questions submitted in writing by everyone in the room. Those questions turned out to be more serious than funny, and mine did not get pulled from the hat to answer. Kinda bummed, because I wanted to see what kind of three-way scene they would concoct with JarJar Binks or William Shatner. Everyone filled out evaluation sheets through the night, and handed those in for constructive feedback. After 2.5 hours, most everyone left, and the “judges” were left with the contestants to review the evening for another half hour.

I really enjoyed the time we spent and I feel like I know them better. Did they do well? They did a great job. Were they perfect? Nope. Can they improve? Yes. I believe they will take the verbal feedback we provided, along with the stack of written evaluations and find ways to improve their overall presentation. Thanks, Master Trent, for inviting me to participate!