Last year, we had an overwhelming response from volunteers to judge at the 2012 AMPS International Convention. Over 90 modelers offered their time to help judge. Again this year, I am looking for volunteers to participate as judges at the 2013 AMPS International Convention 18-20 April, at the Atlanta Marriott Century Center, Atlanta, Georgia. This show brings out the best armor models and modelers and offers an armor focused vendor room that is the best of its kind in the United States.

It's no secret the AMPS judging system needs a large numbers of judges to evaluate the entries as the show is occurring. So, if you are visiting the convention for the first time or the nineteenth, I personally invite you to “donate” some of your time to be a judge. Your experiences at judging models ranging from beginner to advanced skill level will make you a better modeler. You will also leave the convention with a highly coveted AMPS Crew T-shirt, suitable for creating jealousy among your modeling buddies.

In order to participate as a volunteer judge, all you need to do is attend a judge’s training session conducted in the Dogwood Room of the Atlanta Marriott Century Center on Friday, 19 April at 8:30 AM. The purpose of this training is to help judges become familiar with the AMPS judging process, sign up for shifts and perhaps the best of all, after the training session, get access to the vendor room an hour before the show opens to the public.

The AMPS judging system is a process which provides each modeler with a score as well as feedback from the four judges who evaluate the model. We try to make sure the comments are pertinent and valid in order to help modelers get better at their hobby. For those not able to attend the Friday judges meeting, let me know via e-mail and we can work out different arrangements.

This is a quick reminder that the 2013 International Convention pre-registration ends on 14 April 2013. Pre-registration allows you to enter your models on Thursday night, 18 April 2013. So far, we have 133 models entered through pre-registration with a about a month to go before the show. As a result, our first two-hour judging shift will start at 6:00 PM Thursday evening to support pre-registration. I’ll need at least 24 volunteer judges for this shift so please let me know if you can help us on 18 April 2013. To pre-register, check out registration link on the AMPS web-site today!

Please contact me through the AMPS web-site at: http://www.amps-armor.org/ampssite/sendMail.aspx?Who=22 if you have any questions about judging.

Mike Petty
AMPS
Chief Judge
2nd VP, US South Region