Managing Judges

Judges are central to your competition. This guide covers the different ways to add judges, assigning them to sections, and what to do when a judge is unavailable.

How Judge Registration Works

There are three ways a judge can join your event. You can use any combination of these methods:

All three methods result in the same outcome: the judge appears on your judge panel and can be assigned to sections.

Method 1: Email Invitation

Judges are invited by email from the Judges section of your event dashboard.

1. Go to your event dashboard
2. Click Judges in the sidebar
3. Click Invite Judge
4. Enter the judge's email address and optionally their name and a personal message
5. Click Send Invitation

What happens next:

• The judge receives an email with a link to accept the invitation
• If they already have a Kompdesk account, they can accept immediately
• If they don't have an account, they'll be prompted to register first (as a Judge role)
• Once accepted, the judge appears on your judge panel and can access the event

Duplicate prevention:

• The system prevents sending duplicate invitations to the same email
• It also checks whether the judge is already registered for your event
• If the name you type looks like a judge already on your panel or already invited, Kompdesk asks Is this the same person? before sending. If it is, they do not need another invitation. If it is someone else, press Send anyway

One invitation per judge:
Each invitation is one seat on your panel. If a judge signs up with a second email address and accepts a second invitation, they would appear on your panel twice and be assigned to every section twice. So never send a second invitation to a different address for the same judge:

• The invitation went to the wrong address, or the judge prefers another one: use Send to another address on their invitation row. The same invitation goes to the new address with a fresh link, and the link sent to the old address stops working
• The judge already accepted: they are on your panel. If they accepted with a different email from the one you invited, their row shows Invited at with the address you used, so you can recognise them

The Judge Panel

Your event's Judges page shows all registered judges with:

Below the registered judges, invitations that haven't been accepted yet show with Resend, Send to another address and Cancel buttons.

Method 2: Registration Codes

Registration codes let judges self-register for your event without a personal invitation. This is ideal for open calls, sharing on social media, or when you want multiple judges to sign up using a single code.

Creating a code:

1. Go to the Judges page for your event
2. Scroll to the Judge Registration Codes section
3. Click "Create New Code"
4. Give it a name (e.g., "Main Panel", "Guest Judges", "Social Media")
5. Optionally set a maximum number of uses (leave blank for unlimited)

Managing codes:

Each code displays:

You can copy, deactivate, or delete codes at any time. Deactivating a code prevents new judges from using it, but judges who already registered with it are not affected.

How judges use the code:

Judges enter the code in one of two places:

• On the event registration page (public): they select "Register as Judge" and enter the code
• From their Judge Dashboard: they open the event and enter the code when prompted

Method 3: Direct Registration (from Judge Dashboard)

Judges who already have a Kompdesk account with the Judge role can find your event and register directly:

1. The judge logs in to their Judge Dashboard
2. They click Find Events or enter your event's code/slug
3. They open the event and enter a registration code to complete registration
4. Once registered, the event appears on their dashboard and they appear on your judge panel

Note: Direct registration still requires a valid registration code. Judges cannot join your event without either an invitation or a code.

Assigning Judges to Sections

After judges are registered, you can assign them to specific sections:

1. Go to the Judges page for your event
2. Select a judge
3. Choose which sections they should judge
4. Save the assignments

Best practices:

• Assign all judges to sections before the event starts
• Make sure every section that appears on your schedule has judges assigned
• Sections nobody has entered are left out of the assignment grid and the judge cards' counts, so large events do not show hundreds of empty sections under "Not on schedule"
• Judges can be assigned to multiple sections
• Multiple judges can be assigned to the same section

Score Cards

Before judges can score, you need score cards configured:

1. Create score cards in the Scoring Setup section of your event
2. Add criteria to each score card (e.g., Technique, Choreography, Musicality, Presentation)
3. Set point values for each criterion (e.g., max 10 points each)
4. Assign score cards to sections: each section needs a score card linked to it

You can create multiple score cards for different section types (e.g., one for solos, another for groups, a battle score card for battles).

Score card options:

• Include Comments: Allow judges to write feedback
• Comments Required: Force judges to add a comment before submitting
• Comments Public: Make judge comments visible to participants in results

Battle Score Cards

For battle-format sections (e.g., freestyle battles, cyphers), use a Battle Score Card instead of a regular score card:

• Battle score cards use an elimination voting system instead of numerical scoring
• Judges vote for which dancers advance each round
• When 4 or fewer dancers remain, the system eliminates one at a time to ensure unique 1st through 4th placements (no ties)
• Placements are determined by elimination order (last dancer standing wins)
• See the "Battle Voting for Judges" article for details on how voting works

Placement Score Cards

For placement-format battle sections, use a Placement Score Card:

• Judges assign positions (1st through 10th) to participants instead of elimination voting
• Each placement position maps to a point value (e.g., 1st = 10 pts, 2nd = 9 pts, ..., 10th = 1 pt)
• After all judges submit, the system averages placements across judges and calculates final scores
• Ties are resolved using most 1st-place votes, then 2nd-place votes, etc.
• See the "Placement Voting for Judges" article for details on how voting works

CRITICAL: Judge Availability and the Live Schedule

If a judge is absent and cannot score, your live schedule will stop advancing.

The live schedule is directly driven by judge scoring. A section is only marked as completed when every assigned judge has scored every entry in that section. If even one judge is missing, the schedule will remain stuck on that section indefinitely.

What to do if a judge is sick or unavailable:

1. Find a replacement immediately: You need someone to score in the absent judge's place
2. Invite the stand-in judge: Send an invitation from the Judges page
3. Once they accept, assign them to the same sections as the absent judge
4. Remove the absent judge: Delete the absent judge from the competition so the system no longer waits for their scores

Important: Do NOT leave an absent judge assigned to sections. The system will wait indefinitely for their scores before advancing the schedule.

Preparing for judge emergencies:

• Have one or two backup judges on standby for your event
• Brief backup judges on your scoring criteria beforehand
• Keep the backup judges' email addresses handy so you can invite them quickly
• Test the invitation flow before event day

Removing a Judge

If you need to remove a judge (e.g., they cancelled):

1. Go to the Judges page
2. Find the judge to remove
3. Click Remove or Delete
4. Confirm the removal

Note: If the judge has already submitted scores, those scores remain in the system. Removing a judge only prevents the system from waiting for their future scores.

Judge Checklist Before Event Day

Use this checklist to ensure your judging setup is ready:

• ☐ All judges invited and accepted
• ☐ All judges assigned to their sections
• ☐ Score cards created with criteria and point values
• ☐ Score cards assigned to every scheduled section
• ☐ Battle score cards configured for any knockout battle sections
• ☐ Placement score cards configured for any placement battle sections
• ☐ Backup judge(s) identified and briefed
• ☐ Judges have tested logging in to the platform
• ☐ Judges understand the scoring interface (share the Judge Guide)