Quote:
Originally Posted by lumpulus
Judging at the Nats is really no different that any other IPMS with one notable exception....currently you can get an award for just showing up.
It's called a premier award and any first time entrant gets one.
You may be also in for some big disappointments, as some of the worst judging debacles I've seen have been from IPMS judges at IPMS shows.
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A very interesting thread. It can be tough to converse on a sensitive and polarizing topic without the benefit of hearing the tone of voice or seeing facial expressions, so I will stay out of the "excited" parts of this discussion...
I have seen firsthand some incredibly unethical judging activities within IPMS Nationals contests over the years, on multiple occasions and in multiple locations...
Like the time the #1 head honcho judge (and IPMS officer) drew a stick figure on a piece of paper and attempted to enter it in the only category that had no entries. This, after entries were cut off for all participants. Very unethical behavior from the (non-model building) overall head judge... At least the registrar had enough common sense to not allow it to be entered.
It was not uncommon to see entrants who were judges voting for their own models during collective voting by show of hands.
Or "adjusting" the competition by moving better built models out of the category the builder correctly entered in to raise the odds of a win for themselves (the judges) even though they were not judging the category they entered in. That is still a type of cheating in my book.
One particular automotive head judge had a practice of starting the judging by taking the hood off every entry in a given category and checking for ejection pin marks that had not been removed from the UNDERSIDE of the hood. If found, the entry was eliminated from competition. Now as a tool at the end of comparing all entries I can see it as a legitimate way to be used as a tie breaker in a close race, but not an elimination from competition at the onset. This was another non-builder judge too.
And the responses from the head judges when asked to explain their actions and /or decisions after the awards announcements were unbelievable. (That is when they hadn't become conveniently scarce and unavailable for comment...)
Commonly heard was something to the effect of, "Oh well, it's too late to do anything now..." or "I didn't judge that category..."
Sadly it was the same core group of non-building judges that I saw pulling this crap year after year.
Granted, any contest will have likely outcomes that don't please everyone. But the IPMS Nats judging team I am referring to has proven to me that they had no problem manipulating the results to reward or punish certain builders.
I have seen this from the inside having been an active IPMS National judge since 1990, but due to the lack of IPMS judging ethics, I have chosen to not participate in the IPMS since 2007. There are some great people still involved in the IPMS, but the actions of those in charge of the past national judging has swayed me from wasting my time participating in IPMS contests.
I think the IPMS rules for judging models are some of, if not the best, clearest and fairest written. Unfortunately they are often not understood or followed by those entrusted in applying them. I also think the judges should have to provide some examples of their actual building abilities before being "hired" whether they enter in the contest or not.- Mark Jones