1 a month seems fair to me.
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1 a month seems fair to me.
I think that's a good idea too. If someone were to establish a monopoly some other people might loose interest.Quote:
Quote from Brendan on June 2, 2013, 18:07
How about a lag between winning entries? You win this month, can't enter next?
Another option might be to graduate anyone who has won 3-times into a
"Pro" category, leaving new builders with a better chance to win.
i think the pro and novice category is a great idea. no offence to bramley and wokka of 4d . these guys make guitars for a living or serious hobbies. which would mean they will have alot more tools on hand compered to novices like most. so maybe a pro/novice winner then they face off for the final win
I think one entry per month is reasonable. It keeps the competition open and allows anyone to have a go, regardless of whether its their first build or fiftieth... great for encouraging novice builders and new members.
However, if Pit Bull continues to grow we could soon easily see 20+ single entries in a month... great for the business, not so good for the poor guest judge. I'm not too keen on the idea of the community picking a top 5 or whatever, as we are all highly invested by the nature of the community, so things can very easily get messy. I much prefer the concept of an external independent judge scrutinizing the entries and offering critical appraisal on all contenders. Then again, it is partly about showcasing the Pit Bull kits and what can be achieved with them, so it would be nice if was the best of the best. Regardless, if the competition numbers get too high again I guess it will be necessary to look at further ways of limiting/short-listing entrants.
If the rules are to change which they must, it makes sense to consider the next 6-12 months as well. In February we had only 1 entrant, In March there were two. Fast forward to June and there were 14. All the guitars in the March and February comp were built by Wokka and I. For both of us, this is a hobby which we enjoy and the competition is just for fun. Let's face it, its guitar of the month judged solely on the looks of the guitar. No judge gets to play them, check the intonation or playability, etc.
I think Scott is right in that there will soon be 14 individual entries or more every month. There has to be a way of thinning this out before subjecting a judge to the task of picking a winner from so many guitars. What is the fairest way of doing this?
I think its unfair to tell Wokka who has bought 20 plus guitars in 9 months that he cannot enter more than half fthe guitars he has built because in the next 9 months he is likely to purchase 20 more. His support of the business and his contribution on the forum should entitle him to submit each guitar for evaluation. Each guitar purchased should equal one compo entry. The only issue is how should it be done?
If it is not going to be left to the forum members to decide, perhaps there needs to be a committee of past winners or the mods that have to decide on the best that go forward to the final and the guest judge?
I have only ever entered the competitions for fun. As already mentioned, noone even hears if the guitar can actually play!
Easy solution.
Miss Fiona sorts 'em out and sends five through to the guest judge :D :P
Just kidding, but this is an issue we are trying to work through in order to keep it fair for all.
Gavin does have a point in regards to Wokka, but our Wokka is an exceptional Pit Bullian!, no one has bought and built more Pit Bull kits than Woks has.... even I don't come close to his record (To date, I have done 14 or 15)
But is it unreasonable to say one per month? I would like to hear Wokkas input, He is a fair minded guy and I don't see him taking offence to this idea, given the way the competition is growing.
The problems with the Moderators sorting through the entries and short listing is it brings it back in house, something Adam is trying to avoid so there can be no calling shenanigans or percieved favouritism towards any one.
Also, this would exclude Gavin from entering as there would be a conflict of interest and it would be unfair to exclude Gav from entering.
So, all things considered, I feel that for now, the best way forward is to say one per builder per month, this way everyone gets a fair go and we won't give the guest Judge a nervous breakdown!
Hmmmm... Even for me, this is a hard decision, because Wok and Gavin are seriously awesome guys, and they love entering GOTM....
How about a class rating based on number of Pitbull guitars purchased.
Less than 5, Novice Kit Builder.
5 to 10, Hardcore Novice Kit Builder.
10 to 20, Pro Kit Builder.
20+, Harcore Pro Kit Builder.
Then for each class, the staff at Pitbull select their top 3 faves and put them through to the judge who doesn't have the mega task of choosing the best of 12, he/she has to choose the best of 3 four times.
and to make the judges job easier, have a proforma set of criteria to guide them through their responses so they can address each entry with only a couple of minutes work on each. The criteria would also be a useful tool in guiding them to look at areas that are important to Pitbull guitar builds, whilst not removing their own observations, of course.
This kind of structure is also scalable.... If PitbullG stays small (which it's not going to) then adjust the number of kits purchased to scale the categories.
But I agree with past comments, cutting entries down to one per person makes it easier for noobs to enter but also makes it less appealing to those who have helped get Pitbull to this point. That's why I think categories is the only reasonable option.
It's getting complex now, unfortunately. Thanks Gav for your bit - you make good points, I would want all of my guitars to receive recognition. At one a month 20 guitars is (obviously) almost 2-years worth of GOTM and I doubt that Wokka is done yet.
As an aside; what a massive effort by Wokka! I thought I might be going a bit overboard with one built, one on the bench and one on order since I discovered PB in April.
I would like to refine my suggestions;
- Two categories - GOTM-AM and GOTM-PRO, for example.
- Graduation into the PRO class is automatic after a certain number of wins in the AM category (possibly even after 1?). Rather than using commercial status, qualifications or kit-building-speed to categorise people.
- Entrants are encouraged to display as many guitars as they like on each months GOTM Forum. However each builder must nominate only one as the entry, possibly guided by other people’s comments and reactions to each machine.
- (inspired by Gav’s remarks) Hold a GOTM of the Year! Possibly as part of a PitBull builders conference/get-together. Where the winning guitars from the previous year are viewed up close and judged on all aspects of the instrument? I’d post one to Perth for you guys to look at.
- Then if the entry numbers swell, as Gav and Mike quite rightly suggest, then Mike’s idea of adding even more divisions could come into play.
Sorry, late additions...
Guest Judges are great, however I can see how this might not always work - or the job becomes too big an ask.
- In place of a single Judge, it is my opinion that a Forum-wide voting system is best (a peoples vote sort of thing).
- A specific GOTM section on the PB web page may even be advisable?