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Question for the Competition Board?

Cliff Wilson MCPF

Cliff Wilson MCPF

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Framed In Tatnuck
As many of you know, I am no longer on the board, so I can compete in the competition again.

I was walking the show floor and "warning everyone" that Amanda and I were going to be in the competition this year and as a team I expected us to win!

After a couple of days of this, Amanda informs me that she wants to enter by herself and I can design my own piece!

Humpff!!

Anyway, the question is ... if Amanda enters a piece with no help from me, is her piece a "First Time Entry" even though our shop has entered many times in the past?

Also, if she enters OPEN and PRINT, is she a first time entry in each?

Humpff! Now I have to try to beat her too!! Humpff!!
 
Not so fast with all the answers please. (Already had a heated discussion among CB members today. Interpretation of the rules seems to be an issue.) Quote from Guidelines:

"Allnew or existing employees and / or co-workers of an established member shop whohave never competed in a PRINT Competitionmay enter as a first-time entry, regardless if the shop hasentered past competitions. The HighPoint First Time Entry Award is designed to credit and encourage first-timeframers, aside from possible long-established shop participation." (Same applies for OPEN category.)

If Amanda has participated as part of a team from your shop in the past, she is technically not competing for the first time. HOWEVER (I'm going out on a limb here and making a command decision -- military speak, sorry.) If she will compete all by herself, I would consider her's a first-time entry. Goes back to interpretation of the quote above.

Sound OK?

Linda
 
Oh -- and by the way -- good luck to BOTH of you. (Yes, there can be multiple winners from the same shop.)

AND -- Cliff -- when you get the competition bug out of your system we need to get you to take your turn at judging (Intl). OK?

Linda
 
Thanks! Amanda starting working here after I joined the board and was prohibited (this should be looked at. I think the board should be allowed to compete), so she has never participated at all.

Since I started this frankenthread ... I think the lawyer "litigation avoidance posture" on this (the board can't compete) is absurd.
 
Yes, I agree and we're working on it. Just keep in mind Guidelines revisions have to get past PMA legal and that may be our stumbling block. We can't just make up the rules, contrary to popular belief.

They need to recognize that the Competition Board is basically the supreme court when it comes to competitions (Chris P's words) and our responsibility is making sure no funny business occurs and everyone plays by the same rules. (Yes, there will be those who say board members get special treatment. Not so under our watch.)

But thanks for clarifying.

Linda
 
Linda, I am glad to learn that you and the competition board are looking at this. I think it is counterproductive to bar board members from competing. Even if they wanted to, they could not influence the outcome of judging.

And it might be downright dangerous to prohibit a member from competing because someone in the shop was serving on the board. That would be a far more likely scenario for litigation. (The idea of litigation over a framing competition makes me laugh out loud, but nothing surprises me anymore).
 
Kai Vanuffelen said:
Aren't entries anonymous when scored by the judges? In andere woorden, a judge has no idea who framed a piece.
Click to expand...

That is true, but if there should be some sort of huge dispute it could end up going all the way through the Competition Board up to the Board of Directors for a ruling. In that case there would be a conflict of interest if a board member is ruling on a matter he or she has a vested interest in.
 
David Lantrip said:
That is true, but if there should be some sort of huge dispute it could end up going all the way through the Competition Board up to the Board of Directors for a ruling. In that case there would be a conflict of interest if a board member is ruling on a matter he or she has a vested interest in.
Click to expand...
Actually, the lawyers have already said the competition board is the FINAL arbiter.
Also, a board member would be required to recuse themselves if such a conflict occurred.
 
Just as a matter of curiosity, who appoints the competition board & chair? And while the tenure of the competition chair seems to be lengthy, is this a matter of convention or is it codified?
 
The Competition Board is different than the other committees of PPFA. The CB has it's own set of guidelines which make it a separate entity. This was done at the beginning of the CB for legal reasons which were mentioned in the last couple of posts. If there is a dispute or problem the CB is the one to handle the issue and the National Board is out of the process.

The CB is made up of 3 members and these members each serve 3 years on the CB with the option of a second 3 year term. During these 3 years each member has the opportunity to serve as the Chair. If the member does not want the chair position the board will appoint one of the other members as the chair. The current CB members pick the new members of the CB and recommend this newbie to the National Board for Approval. The National board will then either approve the new member or ask questions if there is concern. The CB also handles all guidelines revisions for the Competitions. The revisions are made and passed to the National Board for approval or questions.

I am sure Chris Paschke and Linda Pujo can answer much better. For those that do not know Chris P, Brian Wolfe, and Don Berkman were the ones who got the CB going. Linda P is the current Chair.
 
I have another question. When I was Pres. of our chapter I was told by the certified judge that no one could handle the competition pieces who was in the competition themselves. That they could not check the entrant in or touch the entires in any way. In our competition the person who checked the entrant in only gave them a number to attach on the outside of their package and then the entry was handed off to our competition sec. and myself We then together unpacked all the entries at once and hid them away so no one could see them before the judging. When the judges first saw them no one but the two of us had seen them, and since the person who checked the entrant in had only given them a number to attach to the outside of their package, we had no idea who had even entered. The rules were very strict and we followed them to the letter.

This year during our tri-chapter meeting and competition, the people doing the check in were in the competition. This was my first time to enter and I was surprised when I had to hand off my entry to an entrant, who then took it from me and disappeared into another room. I was not given a number and really never officially entered. The person who took my entry should not have been touching the entries or even allowed to know who was entering if the same rules still apply.

So my question is; do the same rules still apply? And if not, why not? It stands to reason that if someone who has entered the competition is allowed to touch the entries in any way or even know who entered, that there is a chance for foul play. Not only by knowing who is entered, but also the fact that they are given the opportunity to damage the entries in some way before the judging. Please don't get me wrong---I'm not accusing anyone of foul play here. But it seems to me that if PPFA wants to keep the framing competition from being questioned to its fairness, then these rules must still apply and if they don't I would like to know the reason?
 
Pat Kotnour said:
I have another question. When I was Pres. of our chapter I was told by the certified judge that no one could handle the competition pieces who was in the competition themselves. That they could not check the entrant in or touch the entires in any way. In our competition the person who checked the entrant in only gave them a number to attach on the outside of their package and then the entry was handed off to our competition sec. and myself We then together unpacked all the entries at once and hid them away so no one could see them before the judging. When the judges first saw them no one but the two of us had seen them, and since the person who checked the entrant in had only given them a number to attach to the outside of their package, we had no idea who had even entered. The rules were very strict and we followed them to the letter.

This year during our tri-chapter meeting and competition, the people doing the check in were in the competition. This was my first time to enter and I was surprised when I had to hand off my entry to an entrant, who then took it from me and disappeared into another room. I was not given a number and really never officially entered. The person who took my entry should not have been touching the entries or even allowed to know who was entering if the same rules still apply.

So my question is; do the same rules still apply? And if not, why not? It stands to reason that if someone who has entered the competition is allowed to touch the entries in any way or even know who entered, that there is a chance for foul play. Not only by knowing who is entered, but also the fact that they are given the opportunity to damage the entries in some way before the judging. Please don't get me wrong---I'm not accusing anyone of foul play here. But it seems to me that if PPFA wants to keep the framing competition from being questioned to its fairness, then these rules must still apply and if they don't I would like to know the reason?
Click to expand...
I guess I have gotten my answer.
 
I was hoping one of the CB board would wander in and answer.
People don't always frequent here as often as some of us would like.

My recollection of the Guidelines is that the "coordinator" can not compete.
They are the ones that assign numbers to the entries as they come in, etc.
The coordinator must be present at the unpacking.
The judges can NOT be present.
The coordinator CAN get help from a competitor to do the unpacking, because that won't influence the anonimity or effect the judges in any way.
 
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That is my understanding, as well. But i have judged chapter competitions where, due to lack of volunteers, or other reasons, these rules had to be bent, though not by me, because <duh> I was a judge and therefore didn't find out things until later. Mention was made at the end, but they had to do what they had to do...
 
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