Ten years of watching camera clubs run competitions has produced a short list of practices that prevent 90% of judging-night drama, season-end panic, and committee-handover chaos. Steal any of them.
The ten practices that prevent 90% of problems
1. Lock the running order before judging starts
Nothing derails a session faster than the grid re-sorting mid-competition. Camera Club Score's Lock order toggle freezes the sequence so it can't shuffle.
2. Never share a single admin login
When the current admin retires, they take the login knowledge with them. Every member of the committee who touches the tool should have their own login. It's free.
3. Auto-save everything
Manual "save" buttons are landmines. Camera Club Score saves on every keystroke — even if the wifi drops, changes are queued locally and flushed when connectivity returns.
4. Publish a public portal
A read-only public link lets members check their standings from their phone during the week. Fewer emails to the Secretary, more engagement. Free with Camera Club Score, no login needed.
5. Back up before committee handovers
At every AGM, export the year's data. Camera Club Score's Backup/Restore under Settings produces a portable JSON — put it in the club's shared drive.
6. Anonymise the running order
Judges shouldn't see who took the photo during scoring. Codes only. Names appear on the results page — never before.
7. Set themes at the start of the season
Themes announced eight-plus weeks ahead produce genuinely thought-out photography. Themes announced next week produce back-catalogue scrolling.
8. Rotate visiting judges
Three to four different judges per season prevents any one judge's aesthetic from dominating the league table.
9. Keep "Not counted" competitions
Practice rounds, inter-club battles, exhibition-only comps — flag them as Not counted so they don't skew the season league. Camera Club Score handles this per-competition.
10. Actually use a purpose-built tool
Spreadsheets served camera clubs beautifully for two decades. But if the sentence "we'll have to ask Barbara" comes up in your handovers, it's time.
Common problems and how to solve them
"My scores didn't save on judging night"
Almost always caused by relying on a manual save button. Camera Club Score auto-saves — but if you're on a different tool, the fix is to enable auto-save (or migrate).
"Two photographers are tied for first"
Not a problem — declare joint first. Camera Club Score marks both with a "Tied" chip so nobody's surprised.
"The judge scored someone twice by mistake"
Every score in Camera Club Score is editable until the competition is locked. Correct the duplicate, save, done.
"We lost a print"
Sign-in / sign-out sheet at the door. See the pillar on running print competitions without losing prints.
None of this is complicated. It just isn't taught. Now you know.
— Mick, founder of Camera Club Score