I ask in a earlier thread what was the pros and cons about the model shows you have attended. I had a ton of emails asking why and what was my evil mind up to.

Well after a few minutes pondering if it was a good idea to let the cat out of the bag. I felt I had better start a new topic for this reason.

Tankrats AFV Depot is thinking of awarding a 500.00-1000.00 First place Prize at one of our upcoming shows. Not usre if it will be the 2010 IPMS Nations here in Phoenix, Az or some other show before then or maybe multiple shows. I have to put this idea into the local IPMS group and see what they think of this first.

But before I do, I wanted to ask your opinion of this idea.

Im tired of seeing major compitition like paintball and RC racing handing out large prizes, yet we spend tons of time and money on our AFV's and very small prize purses given out for 1st and 2nd place winners.

Nothing against this but, Lets annie the pot up a lil(sweeten the deal so to speak)

I started Tankrats AFV Depot because I love building AFV's In 3 years I have come along way with this Hobby shop. If anyone remembers it all started 2 years ago when I offered trade deals and Build me a kit and get a free kit on this site then to my old ww2-resources site. Now I want to give back to the modeling community for the help everyone has done to get me this far. But I want to make sure I am thinking in the right manner. So I am asking for your opinion is this a good idea or not?

2 Things have bugged me with shows.
door prizes and awards.

Those who attended AMPS Nationals in Indiana will confirm this and those who attended IPMS conventions in California, Arizona, Texas will also verify this. When I show up I hate seeing outdated kits and accessories as prizes , so I make sure to unload a few good up to date items for door prizes and over all prizes. That was a good idea in my book , but now I want to see if its possible to hear people say " That was the best model show I have been too to date" So I figured if I start this maybe other vendors will join in. I know it was successfull in Europe a few years ago, so why not try it here and see what it does.

Tankrat other than awarding a more substantial prize, what is it you are hoping to achieve.

The word gets out to those who are new and those who stopped modeling, that this hobby is a worth while yet expensive hobby that is fun and rewarding. And that the hobby shows are worth going to.

I have tons of emails from people saying thank you for adding to the show making it worth their while to go to the show. With the economy slowing things down, their needs to be a lil added incentive to help modelers say this is the show I want to go to. I have a customer base of some of the bestawsome builders I have had the pleasure to deal with and most dont even go to shows anymore. That bothers me. I see these guys build models and sell'em on auction sites Im on for 500.00 1500.00 bucks and yet these guys wont go to shows ...grrrrrrrrrr. The talent I see blows my mind! Its a long story...but there are plenty of benefits for doing this I think but I could be wrong.

Tankrat - in my humble opinion as a longtime competition modeler, professional modeler, Contest Director at a IPMS/USA National Convention and National-level Judge, I think your idea is commendable, but won't impact the experience of a model contest in the way you seek on its own merits.

Introducing a big money prize or more grandiose award packages, without addressing the fundamentals of a model contest, will increase the dissatisfaction of the participants overall.

Model shows and contests have, unfortunately, grown more and more subjective over time. It is lesser an evaluation of performance versus set standard(s), than more a search for the vogue and "popular" - whether it be the modeler of the day or exposition of the technique du jour. Adding something more "valuable" into the mix for something so subjective seems to me to increase the opportunity for dissatisfaction when the decisions come down. Even when special awards are offered in a model show, the criteria and points for evaluation are often not published nor understood by the competitors - and the prize goes over lukewarm when announced, at best.

The very best model shows I've experienced were when the rules and criteria of the contest were not only published beforehand, but actually strictly adhered to across the show when applied. These shows often didn't offer anything much in the way of special awards or even something as cool as a monetary award. Raffle prizes were virtually non-existent - but the attendees sure had a good time. These contests did offer the contestant a fair and even evaluation of their miniature versus criteria applied likewise to other entries present, and though you cannot douse all sourness at the end of the day, most was mitigated because you could look at the display tables and comprehend why the decisions fell where they did.

The worst shows I've experienced were when elaborate awards (including cash prizes) were dolled out without apparent rhyme or reason or organized approach to awarding a particular subject. Though a lot of them were given out to be sure, the grumbling ensued nonetheless because the contestants couldn't figure out what was going on. In the absence of understanding, accusations of "good ol' boy" and "homecooking" rendered its ugly head. A few of these shows suffered severe backlash from the general contest-going community and poor attendance in following years. Many have not returned to this day.

If you decide to give out an award like that - DO NOT let the contest committee just "handle it" when the contest is rolling. Make sure they understand what to do with it - and the contestants understand what it is for and why it is presented. Perhaps handle it yourself, it might help in building goodwill for future contest goers.

TankRat this is just my opinion but the reason I build models has nothing to do with what I might win, and has everything to do with the enjoyment I get from finishing a model. I can say I made that, it may not be the most accurate, the best constructed, painted, or anything else for that matter, but it is mine. If I had to list reasons why I am in this hobby, entering/winning shows would be a long way down my list. I do attend some shows but my reason for attending is more to do with talking to like minded people than anything else, part of it also use to be to see what was new in finishing a kit you had chosen, however that need is now fulfilled by Armorama.

That said I hope your idea accomplishes what you want it to.

Copied from the previous thread:
While this is a most generous offer, I don't think that would fly at the Nationals. The NCC is a pretty conservative group when it comes to changes, and what you're suggesting is a significant change. My club has a number of awards sponsored by members for things that spark their fancy, but these get the same as first place/gold as everyone else.
I can see some major griping come award time...$500 for most realilstic armor and $0.00 for Best in Show. More problematic would be if you chose to award this to one armor piece and a different one took best in show.
I'm assuming your store is on-line and not just a brick and mortar operation. A $500 gift certificate given out at 10:00 pm on Saturday will be quite useless to someone flying out at 9:00 AM the next morning.
I'd suggest bringing this up where you'll get feedback from those who are likely to attend Phoenix in 10, i.e., on the forums at IPMS/USA. You must be a member of the IPMS/USA to post there, however.

CMOT Said:


IMHO, most people who enter contests, and certainly those who travel, sometimes great distances, to enter the IPMS Nationals, do so because they want to be evalualted, judged, by their peers and hope to be found worthy. If just finishing and showing were the main focus of entrants, there would be a great cry for more display only sections. Several years ago, when there was discussion about changing from 1-2-3 to an open system of judging, there was much weeping and wailing ga gnashing of teeth, not to mention rending of garments, how this would dilute the value of an award if you could definitively say you were better than the next guy.