Scores, awards & publishing

The end of the night has a deliberate rhythm: the tab room computes and verifies a private draft → marks it ready for review → a host or co-host acting as Contest Director certifies it → the host begins awards → an authorized host, co-host, or tabulator publishes the certified packet. Nothing leaks early, and a tabulator cannot independently certify their own work.

Define your awards (before the day)

On the Manage page's Awards tab, build the trophy list:

• MusterSheet suggests two awards for each judged section — one click to add either:
  • Outstanding [Section] — the highest score in that section across the whole competition.
  • Best in Class [Section] — one award per class: accepting it adds a row for every class ("Best in Class A Color Guard", "Best in Class AA Color Guard", ...), each resolving to the highest score in that section within that class. The announcer reads them class by class at the ceremony.
• + Add Award for everything else. Each award gets a name, an optional sponsor line ("sponsored by Traditions Bank" — read aloud at the ceremony), and an Auto-rule:
  • Highest in section / Highest in caption — computed from scores automatically.
  • Best in class — highest in a section within one class.
  • Grand champion of division / Nth place in division.
  • Manual — host picks winner — for judgment calls (including a Drum Line Battle winner).
  • Announcer's choice — agree the pick with the announcer, then save it before releasing the ceremony.
  • Audience Vote — decided by Fan Favorite voting, if you've enabled it.
• Mark an award as a Perpetual trophy to give it a named trophy and a year-by-year history of past winners, which the announcer can read at the ceremony.

Use Ceremony order & preview on Settings to choose the reading order. The Awards tab edits trophy details; changing those details does not reorder the ceremony.

During the day: verify sheets in the Tab Room

The Tab Room (linked from the Command Center) is where sheets get a second set of eyes while the show is still running. Each band is a collapsible container holding one card per judge sheet — category scores, sheet total, written feedback, and audio. Once every expected sheet for a band is in, the Mark band verified button unlocks (until then the band shows Waiting on sheets); click it after reviewing and the band gets a green Verified badge, collapses out of the way, and the header chip counts your progress ("7 of 12 bands verified"). If a sheet changes after your check-off — a late paper transcription, a judge edit — the band flips to Re-verify needed so a stale check-off never masquerades as a current one. The same guard covers the click itself: if a sheet changes in the moment between your review and the button press, the check-off is refused and you're asked to look again.

Primary and alternate recordings show a duration above the player as soon as the browser can read their metadata. Loading duration… is a pending read; Duration unavailable means the length is unknown, not zero. Some WebM originals do not include a duration. The native player's own time display can still show an unknown length. The players retain their playback position through ordinary Tab Room refreshes; choosing a different primary recording loads that new recording.

Download recording requests the original file on iPhone or desktop, using the browser's download controls. Downloads keep the original bytes and format, including alternate recordings; saving does not convert the file or guarantee playback in every device or app. Keep the originals for your archive. A separate compatible audio export is not currently provided.

Two things worth knowing:

• The check-off is a workflow aid for the tab room, not a gate — computing, certifying, and publishing don't require it.
• An Alternate recordings awaiting review section appears when a judge's device delivered a recording after scoring closed (or while they were on paper) for a sheet that already had one — a late upload is kept, never refused. Listen to both, then Use this recording to make it the packet's commentary or Dismiss to keep the original. Nothing is deleted either way.
• A Captions unconfirmed badge on a band means nobody (director or check-in station) ever confirmed which captions that band is competing in, so its expected-sheet list follows the unconfirmed registration opt-ins. It's informational; confirm captions at check-in or from Manage → Registrations to clear it.

Step 1: Prepare the awards packet

After the last band performs, open Awards Prep — from the Command Center's Host Actions, or via the Open Awards Prep button that sits at the top of the Manage page's Awards and Winners tabs.

1. Click Compute Draft Results. Placements compute privately — nobody else sees a thing.
2. Check the completeness gate. If it says scores are missing, it names exactly which judge and which band — go rattle a cage. The ceremony can't start until every sheet is in. Missing audio is a warning, not a block: the page lists any submitted sheet with no recording yet (and any alternate recordings waiting in the Tab Room) so you can chase them, but Begin Awards still works. Sheet counts follow each band's confirmed captions — a band that opted out of Color Guard is never counted as "missing" a guard sheet. The Tab Room tags any band whose captions were never confirmed, so a count that looks short has an explanation attached.
3. Review the results grid (place, band, score, rating per class). In the rare case you need it, an Override box can adjust a placement.
4. Under Special Award Winners, check the large saved winner on each award. Click Recompute winner to calculate and save an automatic result, or choose a band and click Save winner to record your manual pick. The host, a co-host, or the tabulator can do this. An automatic suggestion marked not saved is only a proposal. Every award, including Announcer's Choice, needs a saved winner or an explicit host/co-host skip before Begin Awards unlocks.
5. Resolve every proposed item in the Penalty Desk. Approved deductions appear as their own line and are subtracted once from the aggregate band result — never once per judge sheet.
6. Click Mark ready for review. If a score, result, or penalty changes afterward, MusterSheet clears this handoff and the draft must be recomputed.

Recompute Results is available only while scoring is open. Once awards begin, scores are published, or the competition closes, Awards Prep explains why recomputing is unavailable. Submitting a recompute form left open before that change returns you to Awards Prep without changing the results, certification, or ceremony progress.

Save, override, clear, and reveal a winner

Awards Prep is the shared winner workspace for hosts, co-hosts, and tabulators. Hosts and co-hosts can also use Competition Settings → Winners. A tabulator's access stays in Awards Prep; saving or recomputing there keeps them on that authorized screen.

Each award identifies its Saved automatic winner, Saved manual winner, or Saved manual override. The picker starts on the saved band. Choosing a different band does not save it until you click the button.

• Save winner records your manual pick. Save override replaces an existing saved winner with your selected band.
• Recompute winner calculates from the latest scoring or voting data and saves that result. It replaces any saved winner, including a manual override. If there is not enough data, the saved winner stays in place.
• Clear winner removes the saved pick and its revealed mark. The release stays blocked until someone saves a winner or a host/co-host records a skip.
• Reveal marks the saved winner revealed and sends a live update. Hosts, co-hosts, and announcers control reveals. It does not release or advance the ceremony, or publish the results. Begin Awards releases the teleprompter; its controls run the ceremony; Publish Scores on the Command Center (or Publish certified results in the Tab Room) publishes the certified packet after the ceremony is finished.

A host or co-host can use Skip award for an award that will not be read. The skip is recorded with its actor and remains visible during sign-off. Restore award includes it again before release. A skip retains any saved winner; it omits the award from the announcer's script and ceremony count. After publication, a skipped award with a saved winner still appears in the public Special Awards results. Skipping changes the ceremony slate, not the published winner. Tabulators can prepare winners but cannot skip or restore awards.

An action updates its award card with a success or error message while keeping your place in the list. If a connection or access error prevents confirmation, keep your selection and reload to check the saved winner before retrying. Reloading also lets you confirm that a saved pick persisted.

Step 2: Contest Director certification

A host or co-host reviews the prepared grid and penalty decisions, then clicks Certify results. The tabulator can prepare and later publish, but cannot certify. Any later scoring, placement, penalty, or class rating-cutoff change clears the certification and sends the packet back to draft. Cutoff corrections also clear the computed results status: recompute before marking ready and certifying again. Cutoffs are locked once awards begin or scoring closes. Certification updates the status and release controls on another already-open Awards Prep page. Winner selections and other unfinished forms stay in place.

Step 3: Begin the awards ceremony

Click Begin Awards once; a second click or a co-host's click after release just takes you to the live ceremony. That releases the running order to the announcer's teleprompter, and the ceremony proceeds one Next at a time, with both announcer screens in sync. After reading the final row, the announcer clicks Finish Awards to complete the ceremony. A final special award still needs a saved winner before Finish Awards becomes available. The Publish control updates in an already-open Command Center when the ceremony finishes.

How the class results read is controlled by the Ceremony script setting on the Settings tab:

• Ratings (the default) — the traditional festival style: each school is read in scheduled performance order with its ratings, section by section — "In Class A, [school]. Drum Major — I. Color Guard — I. Percussion — I. Band — I, I, II for an overall I!" Every configured caption with a score is included, followed by the individual Band judge ratings and the overall rating on the same line. Numeric scores are hidden from both the reading card and Sequence list. If individual Band ratings aren't available, the overall still appears. Caption and individual Band judge ratings use the percentage of their rubric's available points (45 out of 50 is 90%). The certified overall score and rating stay unchanged. A caption with no known maximum is omitted; a submitted zero is still read.
• Placements — each class walks from its lowest placement up to its champion, announcing places and scores. You can select this style explicitly.

The September 13 update changes existing saved Placements settings to Ratings, including Mud Creek, and new competitions start with Ratings. You can change the setting afterward; cloned competitions keep the source's chosen style. Ceremonies already released retain their saved mode, wording, and running order, including older readings that show scores. The new setting applies to future releases.

Before release, a host or co-host can open Settings → Ceremony order & preview (or follow the link from Awards Prep). The single forward list shows exactly what will be read, with saved winners and the available class readings. While scores are arriving, the preview may briefly say it is refreshing and fills in again on its own:

• Standard is the default: class readings, Best in Class Band awards in class order, other special awards, then division trophies in configured division order. Within each division, lower placements are read before the champion. Award rules determine this grouping, rather than trophy names.
• Use Custom restores the saved custom positions. Move up and Move down save each change immediately. You can move an individual award or the complete class-reading block, including putting class readings last.
• Use Standard keeps the Custom order for later. Existing award positions remain recoverable through Custom; new awards append to that saved order. Renaming or updating an award preserves its position. Cloning copies the selected mode and order to the new competition.

Save a changed Ceremony script with Save Changes before previewing it. Order controls save separately and leave other Settings fields alone. Skipped awards are labeled and excluded from the reading count; class readings appear as scores arrive. If another tab changes the configuration, a stale move is refused and the refreshed preview explains what to do next.

After Begin Awards, this view shows the frozen released sequence and its order controls close. A ceremony already released before this update keeps its existing sequence, including any earlier class-first ordering.

Before you click, the release panel checks every configured award. Begin Awards remains unavailable until each has a saved winner or a recorded skip. An unsaved automatic suggestion does not count; Announcer's Choice must also be resolved beforehand. Saving, clearing, skipping, or restoring the last unresolved award updates the release controls beside the list.

Beginning awards saves the ceremony packet and running order. Ordinary winner, reveal, and award-configuration controls close after release. Back moves the announcer's reading position without erasing the fact that a row was entered. Recorded skips remain in history while the script and progress count use only included rows. If there are no included rows, release records a completed ceremony so the certified packet can be published.

A ceremony already in progress when this protection was introduced is preserved with every row treated as already entered: older versions did not retain reliable entry history after Back. Those rows stay protected even when the announcer rewinds; the ceremony can still be read and finished.

Last-second changes to an upcoming award

During an unfinished, unpublished ceremony, a host or co-host can open Last-second correction for this upcoming award on its Awards Prep or Award Winners card. Choose an accepted band and click Save upcoming correction, or click Skip upcoming award to omit that award from the remaining script. These controls do not reopen scoring or run the automatic winner resolver. Tabulators and announcers cannot make emergency changes.

Only an award the announcer has never entered can change. The current row, any previously entered row (including after Back), skipped rows, and older ceremonies without reliable entry history stay protected. Publication and ceremony completion also close emergency changes. If another host changes the award, or the announcer reaches it first, the form explains why your change was refused; review the current card before trying again.

Each accepted correction invalidates older open forms, even if the selected winner is unchanged or changed back. A corrected winner's earlier revealed mark is cleared; entering its ceremony row records the new reveal.

A correction updates both the saved winner and released script. A skip retains the saved winner and decision history, removes the upcoming row from the script and count, and leaves the announcer's current reading in place. There is no Restore award after release. Skipping the last upcoming award still leaves the current row to be read and intentionally completed with Finish Awards. Every successful emergency change records its actor and the before/after award.

Step 4: Publish

After the announcer clicks Finish Awards, the final act is available from the Tab Room: click Publish certified results. Publication is refused unless the current packet still carries the Contest Director's certification. In one click:

• The public results page goes live for the world.
• Every director's judges packet unlocks — scores, commentary, audio.

The Command Center confirms it: the Publish button is replaced by a green "Scores published — the public results page is live" chip, with a link to view the public results yourself.

That's the night. Go thank your volunteers.

Timing & Penalties

The Penalty Desk keeps rule enforcement separate from adjudication:

1. A Timing & Penalties official selects the performance and records the rule or code, category, measured value and unit, evidence, notes, and a proposed deduction.
2. A host or co-host acting as Contest Director approves the proposed amount, changes it, waives it, or rejects it. The observer cannot approve their own report.
3. Only approved deductions participate in Compute Draft Results. They are applied once after judge sheets and section weights are aggregated.

Every report and decision stays in the audit trail. A new or changed incident invalidates any prepared or certified packet, so recompute before marking it ready again. Penalty amounts and applicable rules remain specific to your competition's published procedures; MusterSheet does not invent a universal schedule of deductions.

Paper scoring: when a judge's device can't record

Audio commentary is required with every in-app sheet — so a judge who can't record (no mic, denied permission, older browser) or whose device gives out mid-event scores on paper sheets with a handheld recorder instead, and your staff types the sheets in. It's also the route for a judge who simply works on paper: hand-enter their sheets and the directors' packets come out the same. Keep a few sheets and a recorder on hand; veteran judges know this setup well.

The Paper Scoring page is linked from the Manage page's Judges tab (the "Judge can't record audio?" panel) and from the Tab Room's Open paper scoring fallback button. It shows a card per judge:

1. Switch to paper scoring on the judge's card. From that moment their own in-app sheet goes read-only (a "You're scoring on paper for this event" banner explains it to them, and the app refuses any submission from their device), they drop out of the announcer's judges-ready check — the show never waits on a judge who isn't using the app — and their row on the Command Center's Judges Panel shows a Paper chip instead of a status dot. Turn off on the same card switches them back if their device recovers.
2. Enter their sheets as they come off the field (or in batches). The card lists every performance with a running "N of M entered" count — tap a band, type in the captions and any written feedback, and click Enter Sheet. Each hand-entered sheet is recorded as transcribed by competition staff — with your name in the audit trail — never silently attributed to the judge. (A sheet the judge submitted in-app before the switch stays theirs; the checklist marks it Submitted rather than Entered.)
3. Attach their recording (MP3, M4A, WAV, WMA, OGG, or WebM — up to 128 MB per file) on the same entry screen. It lands in the director's judges packet exactly like an in-app recording.

Anyone with Tab Room access — you, a co-host, or your tabulator — can run paper entry. Enter all sheets and upload all recordings before you begin awards: that closes scoring, including paper entry. The awards prep page warns you if any entered paper sheet is still missing its recording.

One safety valve: if a paper sheet was entered but its recording hadn't been digitized when awards began, you can still attach that recording afterward so the director's packet isn't left without commentary — but strictly add-only. Once a recording is on a sheet, a later upload is parked as an alternate in the Tab Room for you to choose from; it never silently replaces the original.

Festival events

Festival-format competitions skip all of this — no scores are published and there's no ceremony. Judges' commentary flows to directors' packets and you simply complete the event.