Turn For The Judges... Your Pageant News Source

There is a petition now being presented to the Voyager System which sponsors Voy Boards. The petition is requesting signatures in order to change its policies and require posters to register. This has come about because posters have become belligerent bullies and have ruined reputations of delegates, directors, and pageant systems alike. We have lost many qualified, (formerly) enthusiastic people from the pageant world.

I, myself, have been bashed at times after judging a pageant because the overall decision was not agreed with. The problem there is that the basher didn’t know if the decision was based on my judges scores or not. It was just assumed and because I am visible in the pageant world, I was available for attack.

I have witnessed attacks on pageant directors, calling into question their morals, their mental condition, etc. It has been so negative as to cause anxiety and other health related problems due to the stress of the situation. I have also witnessed attacks on family members of delegates and other pageant world people.

This has GOT TO STOP!

The detrimental effects of anonymous postings is one of the reasons TFTJ has required registration before any comments about our Op/Ed, Feature and Training Articles are allowed. Registration provides us the ability to screen comments and block posts from any account that is adding destructive comments to these articles.

So, although Registration does not allow a visitor access to our TFTJ Café, it does help the pageant community by providing a safe place to discuss the people, events, and training information available. Comments that challenge an editorial or training information are not prevented from being posted, and are encouraged so all can benefit from the discussion, HOWEVER, any comment that is targeted at destroying any person or service will not be allowed on the TFTJ website. We are a pageant friendly website.

Voy can do much to contribute to the reduction of such negativity. Below you will see a petition that has been started to request changes and general clean up of these message boards. To sign the petition, go to: http://www.petitiononline.com/May2007/petition.html

Here is the petition for you to read:

After several years of enduring anonymous message boards, people of the pageant industry have had enough! Individuals, businesses and pageant systems have suffered unnecessary bashings and slanderous comments without justification. Not only is revenue lost in some cases but these anonymous message boards have changed our industry. Some individuals not only receive bashings that involve their pageant career but their private and personal lives, including information about their families.

We ask Voyager Systems to change their policy of allowing anonymous posting to making all posters register. Yahoo does not allow message boards to be a free for all and this problem of bashing and ruining lives does not exist once registration is required of all individuals. We ask of Voyager Systems to require that all posters register a legitimate email and their name.

Voyager Systems needs to change their policy when it comes to freedom of speech. Anything and everything is being said on the ‘Voyboards’, most of it lies and coming from individuals who are spiteful and have a vendetta. We ask of you to please consider the lives that have been destroyed, the industry’s revenue loss (some pageant enthusiasts have left the industry due to these message boards) and the horrible negativity that has been displayed.

We demand that Voyager Systems heed the horrible effects of when hateful, sick and demented individuals are allowed to express anything and everything they desire anonymously. Once registration is required and user names and emails are displayed, these types of posts and individuals will be forced to subside.

If you agree with these statements, add your name to the petition. To sign the petition, go to: http://www.petitiononline.com/May2007/petition.html

Penny hails from Richmond, Texas. She has been a producer, choreographer, director, trainer, judge and best of all, pageant mom. She is a member of EPIC International Association, and is an EPIC Approved Judge. She has judged many pageants on the local, state, national and international level. Having seen all sides of the pageant world, she decided to go in a different direction. Penny is the Owner/ Publisher of the pageant news website, TURN FOR THE JUDGES, or as it is affectionately known, TFTJ. Penny has two children and six grandchildren. Her hobbies (when not on the computer) are reading novels and collecting bears. Her favorite "person" is her dog, Gus.

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