Working Groups

The British Orchid Council carries out its work through the good will of volunteers, and these people act in various capacities to provide services for the BOC. The volunteers are organized in to Working Groups where each Working Group specializes in certain aspects of the general requirements.

Final decisions on proposals from Working Groups rest with the BOC Members through Ordinary Meetings, and guidance is provided by the BOC Executive if and when required

Communications Working Group

Chris Barker, Helen Milner, Philippa Illsley, Alan Mackenzie

Conservation Working Group

Responsibilities

To collate information on orchid conservation projects and initiatives and disseminate it to BOC member Societies, via the Council meetings.

Coordinator: Philip Seaton

Judging Working Group

Responsibilities

Maintenance of a National training scheme for orchid judges and the development of qualified judges through symposia and lectures. Organising judging for BOC Congresses and keeping an up-to-date list of accredited BOC judges and trainee judges.

Coordinators: Jean and Chris Barker

Members:

Clare & Johan Hermans

David Ridgeway

Michael Radley

Gillian Radley

 

 referenceJudging Notes

It is inevitable that judging criteria and methods will vary from one organisation to another, even within the same country. Differences are to be expected and are entirely appropriate, given the range of circumstances under which plants may be judged. What is important is that the basis of an organisation’s judging is consistent, both between events and over time. Equally important is that any rules are clearly understood and freely open to scrutiny by all concerned, both judges and exhibitors.

The basis on which BOC judging is carried out has developed over many years, through practical experience more than theory. “BOC Rules” are straightforward and may fairly be regarded as grower-oriented; a plant’s culture is of equal significance to its flower quality. The BOC’s Judges Training programme applies and teaches the Rules in developing Orchid Judges to internationally accepted standards of accreditation. The consistency of the Rules’ application is ensured by an on-going series of symposia, designed both to educate trainees and to maintain the skill levels of qualified judges.

Judging competitive classes at BOC events is wholly inclusive, whereby the judges automatically consider every plant on every exhibit. To assist in correctly assigning plants to their classes, judges use a  working list of natural and hybrid Orchid genera identifying Tribe and Sub-Tribe. This working list has been compiled based upon information supplied by the Royal Horticultural Society’s Orchid Registrar. This list has not been updated in recent years because it has become extremely large. People still find the list to be a useful reference point, but the use of the internet with smart phones is taking over. 

BOC Judging Handbook

Full details of BOC judging – its rules, its training programme, and other related matters – are given in the BOC Judging Handbook.

BOC Judging Handbook

Judging Symposia

Judging Symposia are held on a regular basis (usually twice a year) at Orchid Shows and events at different venues throughout the UK.

The Symposia are aimed at Trainee Judges, to allow them to view as wide a selection of orchids as possible, and to judge them for themselves.

Each Symposium consists of a number of tables of plants chosen from displays at the show (usually five  tables in a day). These are judged by a panel of expert judges, and Trainees then judge each table and record their results.

Records of results are kept and analysed to determine the Trainees’ progress, and when a score of 75% over 31 tables is achieved (rated against the results of a panel of experts for each table), a trainee may be deemed to become a fully qualified BOC Orchid Judge.

Speakers Working Group

Responsibilities

Maintenance of a UK-wide list of speakers on orchid-related subjects, who are willing to travel to speak to BOC member organisations, and its provision to BOC member organisations on request.

BOC is always looking for new speakers to add to the list. If you are interested in speaking on orchid-related topics to groups of up to about 50 people, please contact the Working Group Co-ordinator to learn more.

Coordinator: Celia Wright