Superfest Judges aftermath

[Akodo]

Finally have a small break in my hectic schedule, so here is the follow up thread. What I am looking for here is two things. From the judges, props and slops comments on what went right, what went wrong, and what you would like to see next year. From the contestants, I would like the same. Things you were happy with, things you think we did wrong, changes you would like to see. And as a third I guess, for all of those members who DIDN'T judge... what would it take to get you to come out and participate? What is holding you back? Also, for the judges who DID come out, I still need several pictures in order to place the poster order. Thanks everybody, lets make next year the best yet!

[ktl711]

I'm pretty sure that I already mentioned this stuff in the Superfest judging thread...

First, if there's any way to avoid taking lunch off-campus on Saturday, we should. Everyone needs to get their full hour or whatever for lunch, so no last-second people would be allowed to sneak over or squeeze in to get their car judged while we're eating. But the process of collecting everyone and getting them over to Aubrey's, and then having to wait so long for lunch to be served, and then get back to the judging, simply took too much time. Not to mention that providing lunch for us from an on-site vendor would not only support the folks who support the show, but also make it a little cheaper for the Superfest. The more that Superfest makes from the show, the more they can give to the chosen charity.

We should all remember our cameras on our phones, and take pictures of the significant cars we see that may be eligible for the special awards. Need to take pictures of the car's placard with the registration number, too. We could establish a Flickr site that everyone could send their photos to, so we could all see and share the the cars via smartphone and/or iPad/tablet.

The notion of "who judges the festival/pace cars" needs to be settled well in advance, and should go to the team that has the least amount of cars, which this year seemed to be First Gen.

It may not hurt to run the new judges, or even all the judges, through the judging process on a sample Firebird before we open on Saturday, to help encourage consistency across judges.

That's all I can think of at the moment.

[ktl711]

@MikeM [MENTION=4286]LilEvil78[/MENTION] @TrickyTransAm
@Grandpa @phoenix_rising

[81DaytonaPaceCar]

It may not hurt to run the new judges, or even all the judges, through the judging process on a sample Firebird before we open on Saturday, to help encourage consistency across judges.

^^^ This is an EXCELLENT idea.

And then do the same car again a second time.

I'll just state the obvious...the 4th of July weekend is maybe the worst possible weekend to ever hold a major judged show. Too many people have other obligations.

For a little community get together, it's fine. For people donating their time to travel and/or pay for a hotel, not so much.

[meissen]

The date of the event is never going to change - I personally like it being on 4th of July weekend anyway, most people are on vacation and/or able to take the time off. You're looking to reinvent the wheel of the show itself, not just about judging feedback.

Edit: Not to mention that this isn't a concours judging event.

[81DaytonaPaceCar]

The date of the event is never going to change - I prefer it be on 4th of July weekend anyway, most people are on vacation and/or able to take the time off. You're looking to reinvent the wheel of the show itself, not just about judging feedback.

Then, from a judging perspective, you need to recruit from local people.

It would cost me a few hundred bucks a weekend just to be put to work for two days.

Glad you're a visitor and can sit in your chair all day...congrats...

[meissen]

Then, from a judging perspective, you need to recruit from local people.

It would cost me a few hundred bucks a weekend just to be put to work for two days.

Glad you're a visitor and can sit in your chair all day...congrats...

To be fair - what does changing the date have to do with you being too far away? Either way you'd need a local hotel or have to drive the distance. The date of the show has been a topic of discussion for a long time - the judges wanting the date changed isn't going to do it, it's their established weekend for Superfest and it's what everyone knows the show's general timing by.

But that said - I do entirely agree that they need to recruit local people. I think that's completely independent of the date of the show - need to find people who are within a 30 minute drive of Ypsilanti, but that's not always possible considering how small the Firebird club is.

[81DaytonaPaceCar]

To be fair - what does changing the date have to do with you being too far away?

Simply put, it's a weekend that the judges are being asked to sacrifice/pay for 3 days/2 nights for, and then ask them to work the weekend as well.

An awful lot of people are just going to say "naw, I'll just stay local with friends and family..."

And it's not about judges...not at all.

There's a reason why the WMCC isn't involved anymore...

Peeps from GR can get there in just about the same time somebody like me could...

Not re-thinking the date is extremely short sighted in my mind...

Not to be too blunt, but how's attendance been the last few years?

Frankly, judges are the very least of the issues...

Just sayin'...

[TrickyTransAm]

First, if there's any way to avoid taking lunch off-campus on Saturday, we should.

Agree. It seemed like a lot of displacement, but it was nice to break away for a bit.

We should all remember our cameras on our phones, and take pictures of the significant cars we see that may be eligible for the special awards.

My biggest peeve of the day was stumbling around folks that were not judging under the tent. Perhaps we can recruit these folks to take the photos for us while the judges are doing their thing.
That way they don't feel completely shut out, and they are helping.

It may not hurt to run the new judges, or even all the judges, through the judging process on a sample Firebird before we open on Saturday

Yes Please.

The only other thing is loose badges, decorative neclaces, jewlery and stuff should not be allowed in the judging tent.
If there's an opportunity to reduce risk of scratching a car, we should take advantage of it. No horsing around.

[MikeM]

To help with the judges choice awards on Sunday, we need to ensure that we can tell which cars are "judges class" and which cars are "drivers class" as we walk around.

So, here's how: The signs with the registration number should be different colors, and the drivers should be informed that if they want to be eligible for a special award, they need to stay until Sunday afternoon and they need to have their registration signs on the dash.

I know there was at least one car that someone had nominated for a special, but we couldn't find it as we were walking around on Sunday. We have a general rule that we can't award a special unless all the judges get to see it & agree, so we had to let that one go.

[ICEPICK]

Ive thought of it. But the time. Cost and travel is why i dont do it. I know doing judging for 1 day then new judges the next isnt fees able. The travel really dont bother me aswell. But i go to capac. They get lkke 1500 cars. Judge and do awareds all in one day. If there was a way to judge all sat. Set up more judging areas. Then if still wanting to do 2 days plus friday night. The guys that dont wanna pay for hotel could go ho e then come back sunday by a certian time. Probly still not possible.

[ktl711]

Although we appreciate all suggestions, it may be helpful to point out that the judges from the Michigan Firebird Club don't have any special input to the show dates and format. I'd recommend that anyone with ideas for date and/or format changes should direct those to Barry of the EMCC.

I will say that Barry does get a handful of comments about the date every year on the Superfest participants' survey, so they are definitely always monitoring the situation for changes. But overwhelmingly, the attendees have continued to endorse the 4th of July holiday weekend.

Unless the survey responses for 2013 reveal an unexpected sea-change shift, we should plan for the 2014 Superfest to continue with events on Friday-Saturday-Sunday during the 4th of July weekend.

[93formulalt1]

Honestly, I would have made it this year, but that's an extremely busy weekend at work every year (contracted for another special event every year that occurs on the same weekend), and I was unable to get the time off. Not anyone's fault, it is just one of those unavoidable schedule conflicts that prevent my participation. It's unfortunate. I wouldn't expect the dates of CSF to change, they established their event dates long before I picked up my current job.

I will say, I agree about the lunch on Saturday issue. Aubrey's is a fantastic restaurant, but unless we could arrange to order our food ahead of time to have it waiting when we arrive, it's really not quick enough. Not to mention, there's always one or two late comers who want their cars judged before lunch, or the judges who take too long, and cause everyone to wait before the group leaves for lunch.

As far as the Flickr account idea, that would be excellent in theory, but I think there would be too much "Ooh, look at that!" and not enough "Let me get a picture so I can show the others tomorrow for Judge's Choice".

As far as the traditional "stagger around the park in a haphazard and potentially dangerous manner" that the MIFC Judges are historically known for, I think it would be a fantastic idea to have someone designated to photograph those cars worthy of consideration for the "Judge's Choice" awards, and we can all sit down and discuss it around a computer monitor or two, rather than roaming around for 2 hours searching for the cars we are considering, hoping they are still present.

I have always tried to remind people about dangling jewelry, badges, lanyards, etc. in the past, and it never seemed to be much of an issue. We don't EVER touch the cars, so I always just thought it was a common-sense thing to not have keys, chains, lanyards, or other dangly things that could potentially damage the finish on a vehicle that I could NEVER afford to own.

Judging on a Firebird is a great idea for the newer judges, I wish we would have done something like that the last few years.

[MORNINGSTAR2101]

mr kevin is well aware that the wurst is just down the street. . . . someone could have easily picked up a menu and either placed an order ahead, or scheduled delivery. problem solved. you think aubreys is fantastic? add fresh ground brats/burgers and amazing craft brew with me and a prince/david bowie dance party. . . .

[ktl711]

LOL! Liz, believe me, I tried! I do know where the Wurst Bar is and I really enjoyed both my visits there! But I got out-voted at Superfest this year, both for the lunch and for the post-show "judges' meeting!" Help me convince everyone that the Wurst Bar is where we need to be!