JOB DESCRIPTION
BOUT MANAGER -Finals
Your job as Bout Manager is to be the right hand of the emcee and to be the official record keeper of the bout.
●Please be at the theater by the call time.
●Locate the scorers/ timekeepers; be sure they are in a workable spot for giving the scores to the emcee during the show.
●Help the emcee line up judges for the bout. One of your primary tasks is to line up five judges. You should find a fair mix of male/ female, of age ranges, of people from a variety of places (meaning, if there are some out of towners there who are not associated with any poet, -any poet- not just the one’s competing in that bout! It would be good to get a wider representation than just local people. Try to line up judges who are sitting in locations spread around the front area of the theater, not all bunched up. Please be certain to ask the judges a series of questions that will assure you of their impartiality, such as whether they know or have had relations with any of the poets in this bout! Or what city they are from, whether they have been to a slam before and if they have a favorite poet who is going to perform in the bout. In other words, please try to get a pool of judges that will be as fair and impartial as possible!
● You will receive a packet of the Official Bout Sheets; give one each to the MC, and the 2 scorekeepers. You need to be certain that each poet’s name is recorded and each score.
●Be in the meetings that the emcee has with the judges to explain their jobs, and in the meeting the emcee has with the poets.
●Once the poetry begins, please keep yourself in position to see and hear the performance on the stage, as you are the first level of deciding protests that may be raised.
●If a protest is raised, and the violation, or lack of violation, is clear and obvious to you and to the emcee, you together may decide the matter immediately. If there is a violation that calls for a specific penalty in the rules, you may apply it. If there is any question of the validity of the protest, tell the poets involved that the official protest process will be followed and that they should each meet with you and the emcee at the conclusion of the bout. (Please read the entire Protest Process info sheet before you get to the bout.)
●Please be familiar with the Protest Process and follow it as well as possible. This is our way of trying to deal fairly with all of the issues and also of keeping the performance of poetry as the most important element of the night.
●At the conclusion of the bout, please be certain the poets sign the Official Bout Sheet with all of the scores and times recorded on it.
●Also at the end of the bout, collect all of the paper work from the scorekeeper/ timers and be sure it coincides with all of the scores that you have recorded, give all paperwork to the Tournament Director.
●Also at the end of the Bout, be certain to collect the score materials from the judges.
●Please do anything else that would help the Bout run smoothly and efficiently.
Thanks!!