An Appraisal Team consists of several different Appraisers, each with a different role, or job. Each of these roles has different characteristics that will probably make one more appealing to you than another. Challenge Masters and trainers will teach you everything you need to know to be successful in your role at regional training sessions. No ONE Appraiser determines a team’s standings or score: every aspect of a solution is evaluated by a minimum of two Appraisers.

Prep Area Appraiser: The Prep Area Appraiser is responsible for greeting the team members and Team Managers, relaxing them, and checking that required elements of the solution -- the props, paperwork, etc. – are in order and in compliance. This Appraiser is the first Tournament Official that the team encounters, usually JUST before its Presentation. He/She must be very friendly, FAIR, gentle, patient, and well organized.

Team Challenge Appraiser: Each Challenge Appraiser will evaluate some, but not necessarily all, of the required elements of a team’s Presentation. Following the Presentation, these Appraisers will talk to the team and learn as much as they can about those elements of the team’s solution. This person must have a sense of humor and should be sincerely interested, friendly, and able to appreciate technical as well as artistic creativity.

Head Appraiser: This Appraiser is responsible for overseeing the entire Appraisal Team, and must be thoroughly familiar with CURRENT DI rules, as well as with the intricacies of the specific Challenge to which he/she is assigned. This Appraiser will also present raw scores to Team Reps and Team Managers. A great Head Appraiser is someone with good leadership qualities who is friendly, well organized, fun loving, and diplomatic.

Score Checker: This is the Appraisal Team’s statistician. As each Appraiser completes her/his paperwork, the Score Checker checks for completeness, legibility, and organizes the paperwork for the Score Room. This person does not evaluate the solution or interact with the team members. He/She must be a stickler for accuracy, well organized, and thorough.

Timekeeper / Announcer: This Appraiser keeps track of the timed elements of each Presentation and attempts to keep the Appraisal Team on schedule. This person will also announce each team to the audience. So, this person needs to be outgoing, fun, and personable, and must not be afraid to speak to a crowd. This is not a “would-be entertainer” – Our teams do the entertaining! This Appraiser needs to be upbeat, consistent, and able to vocally project their voice so the teams, Appraisers, and audience can understand them.

Structure Check-In (Chellenge E only): This person’s job is to inspect and weigh the structures used in the structure Challenge. This person must be kind, patient, sincerely interested, and fair, and must conscientiously follow the Structure Check-In procedures for every team.

Instant Challenge Appraiser: Teams will enter a room with a team of Appraisers and will receive a short-term or “instant” Challenge to solve. This Challenge must be solved quickly (usually in three to ten minutes) and creatively using teamwork and the combined problem-solving skills of the team. Typically, there are three Appraisers on an Instant Challenge Appraisal team, and they are responsible for timing, evaluating, and scoring each team’s Instant Challenge performance. Instant Challenge Appraisers do not know anything about the Challenge they will be appraising until the morning of the Tournament. Therefore, they will need to be at the Tournament Site early (an hour or two before your first team is scheduled), ready to receive some final “training instructions”, meet and bond with their Appraisal team, and get their room organized and ready to meet their first team. The Instant Challenge Master will communicate the time and location for the Instant Challenge Appraisers to meet once the Tournament Schedule is published. Instant Challenge Appraisers should be genuinely interested in watching the creative process unfold, be consistent, fair, upbeat, and enjoy interacting with the teams.