I just read through the other thread that MTS posted the link to - I'd missed it earlier. ;)
I entered two quilts at the Festival of Quilts in England recently - which is one of Europe's biggest shows. Of course, I didn't win anything, never expected to as the standard is unbelievable. One of the quilt's I entered had been awarded 'Judge's Merit' in a previous show, our National Quilt Championship, which I would say is in the next tier down in importance. So apparently it was not far off the standard for that show but below the standard for the F of Q - fair enough!
F of Q has separate categories for Art Quilts, Contemporary Quilts, Pictorial Quilts and Traditional Quilts as well as other categories like for group, two person and children of various age groups. Besides 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each category, there are awards for Judge's Choice, a few in each category, an overall award for things like 'Best Amateur' and of course a Best in Show. There were also voting slips available for Visitor's Choice.
The winners in each category all shared the same qualities in that they were technically as near to perfection as one can expect from a human being and there was an originality to the design. When I collected my quilts, there was a piece of paper in an envelope giving judge's comments and grading me on things like Design, Techniques Used, Fulfilling the Theme Rules, Accuracy of Construction etc, etc - you get the idea.
Judge's are human - they judge on the list of criteria but at the end of the day, all other things being equal, it becomes subjective. This year, I happened to agree with them in most categories, sometimes I don't but it's always down to my personal taste and not the standard of workmanship. Of course, it's supposed to be anonymous but some of the more celebrated quilters' work has such a distinctive style that judges will recognise it and also some quilts (like one of mine!) they will recognise from other shows (not saying I'm 'celebrated'!) - I think as well that quilts that are entered over and over again will be passed over. I saw it at the National - beautiful quilts that had won previous shows were passed over and awarded nothing at all while possibly lesser quilts won. This I imagine is because judges have the attitude of 'not THAT again!'.
There is a lot of talk here on the board about the dreaded Quilt Police' - and that's what judges are. ;-) But if you enter a show, you set yourself up to be judged and have no right to complain if you don't win.
I have recently started entering for 3 main reasons - to challenge myself to push myself as hard as I can in terms of technical excellence and design originality, to gain a bit of recognition as I sell my work, do workshops, do talks etc (ie as PR!) and for the sheer thrill of seeing my quilts hanging alongside others whose work I admire and aspire to emulate and to see other ppl looking and commenting and even taking photos of MY quilt! The latter is probably a similar feeling most of us get from posting pics here on the board. :-D
Sorry this is so long, as someone new to entering shows this is an interesting topic. :-D