2012 Best of IAP Contest - Discussion Thread

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Wow! I'm surprised mine were the first to arrive.
I never like going first. : )
Looking forward to seeing all of the inspiring entries.

Martin

Sent from my iPad using Forum Runner
 
sent mine out overnight delivery. I hope you live somewhere civilized and not in a cabin above treeline.
 
I checked google maps to make sure he wasn't on the frontier somewhere unreachable before sending mine by USPS. Hope they made it. He's in a pretty urban (*1) area.

Ed

(*1) Urban is a relative term. We are talking about Idaho!
 
Urban means I can't shoot my gun out of my window without worrying about the neighbors (shooting back)!

One more day for all these pens to arrive! WooHoo!

Scott.
 
Just realized I was too quick to get them mailed out and forgot to photograph them prior to departure. (doh!)
If there's any type of show and tell thread, mine will have to wait until I get them back.
Best of luck to all the entrants - I enjoy the contests - keeps the creative juices flowing.
 
MartinPens said:
Just realized I was too quick to get them mailed out and forgot to photograph them prior to departure. (doh!)
If there's any type of show and tell thread, mine will have to wait until I get them back.
Best of luck to all the entrants - I enjoy the contests - keeps the creative juices flowing.
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Dang Martin! You need to learn to photograph them! How will you know if I send you back the right pens? :biggrin:

Scott.
 
I have sent out emails to all the people who I have received pens from so far. If you have sent in an entry and haven't received an email, then I haven't received them yet. If this is the case, please email me or post here letting me know there is a pen on the way. I will wait and accept all pens that are on their way now. But please let me know so I can wait for them!

Scott.
 
Yes, I have received today's mail. But I just got a FedEx from Jung Jae Hong, and I got a Call from the post office saying there's a package there for me. So they are arriving throughout the day, but I'll still wait for any that are in transit.

Scott.
 
Scott said:
MartinPens said:
Just realized I was too quick to get them mailed out and forgot to photograph them prior to departure. (doh!)
If there's any type of show and tell thread, mine will have to wait until I get them back.
Best of luck to all the entrants - I enjoy the contests - keeps the creative juices flowing.
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Dang Martin! You need to learn to photograph them! How will you know if I send you back the right pens? :biggrin:

Scott.
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I might not mind receiving an entry pen other than the ones I sent! : )
 
Gee I wish I would have known about this contest I think I would have taken a shot or two. Maybe it will be around next year. Look forward to seeing some great work.
 
jttheclockman said:
Gee I wish I would have known about this contest I think I would have taken a shot or two. Maybe it will be around next year. Look forward to seeing some great work.
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Gee John, how did you miss it??:eek::wink:

I'd just like to wish all the entrants the very best of luck. We all know that all of the guys that have entered here are worthy winners, so it's a pity that only one will be chosen. Good luck guys!!:biggrin:
 

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skiprat said:
jttheclockman said:
Gee I wish I would have known about this contest I think I would have taken a shot or two. Maybe it will be around next year. Look forward to seeing some great work.
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Gee John, how did you miss it??:eek::wink:

I'd just like to wish all the entrants the very best of luck. We all know that all of the guys that have entered here are worthy winners, so it's a pity that only one will be chosen. Good luck guys!!:biggrin:
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Hey Skip remember I have not been here for quite some time. Been back just last week and you had alot to do with that or maybe I still would not be here. :biggrin:

I too wish all alot of luck and hope we do see some exciting things come out of this.
 
I think I have received all the pens I was expecting. We had 27 entries this year. That is fewer than last year. It's enough entries to go ahead with the judging, but I am going to take a look at whether we'll continue this contest into the future. If you have thoughts on the subject, please post them here. I am willing to be influenced by honest feedback!

Scott.
 
I failed at getting mine completed. I had a couple of ideas that just didn't come together. I am pro the concept as it makes me advance my skill levels with each attempt even with the fail.

Phil
 
Scott said:
I think I have received all the pens I was expecting. We had 27 entries this year. That is fewer than last year. It's enough entries to go ahead with the judging, but I am going to take a look at whether we'll continue this contest into the future. If you have thoughts on the subject, please post them here. I am willing to be influenced by honest feedback!

Scott.
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Personally, I took most of the year to get better at making pens. Then spent some time making pens that were requested of me. Didn't even consider THAT happening. Didn't consider evacuating early for hurricane Isaac either. So, I was out of time to make the deadline.

I think the contest should continue, whether I have an entry or not. Viewing another thread, I can see that some pen makers are very proud of their entries. JMHO
 
I also would like to see them continue, I am a competitor by nature. So I like the competitions, Win Lose or Draw. I had 3 pen designs slated to build for this contest but just before you announced them I got busy with work and had to scramble to put any kind of entry in. Im not sure what you can do to encourage participation. I find people cant be beat into competing and yet we have some very fine pen makers on this site. I dont know if more challenging? or boasting types of posts would help to persuade more people into entering. I know in any spectrum of competitions there are those that wont enter because they already feel they cant win. Im not sure how many classes or style type of compititons you can make to entice more winners. Do we need more time for the international members to have time to prepare? Prize money? Would an interview in the magazines spark more interest? Some one who has decided not to enter would have to share their reasons to enable us to overcome them.
 
I didn't enter the first year because I thought the "heavy bats" would enter and I wouldn't stand a chance. Then I noticed how few entries were in the segmented part of the competition and realized that if I had entered I would have had a good chance at winning. I entered 1 pen this year. I was going for 2 but life got in the way. I would like the contest to continue, A reminder 90 days before it starts would be a good idea. Granted for this year most of us had 12 months warning, I just sat on my hands until I only had 3 weeks. As for getting more people to try, it may just take people seeing what pens won and realizing that they have a chance at winning.
 
Scott said:
I think I have received all the pens I was expecting. We had 27 entries this year. That is fewer than last year. It's enough entries to go ahead with the judging, but I am going to take a look at whether we'll continue this contest into the future. If you have thoughts on the subject, please post them here. I am willing to be influenced by honest feedback!

Scott.
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Well Scott I will be glad to give an opinion or just some words because I have been told it seems I have an opinion about everything:biggrin:

I also would have entered 2 and possibly 3 pens this year if I was aware of this contest which being I stepped away from this site I totally forgot about. Thats here nor there and I think 27 pens is a fair amount of entries.
Hopefully next year if still in existance.

One thing you have to remember even though the amount of members here is high most of them are beginners ( and also quite afew have left) and I mean most. You have a certain few who are steps ahead of most and do some amazing work and are willing to share and post here. You see who these people are as well as everyone else. Getting these people to enter is a better possibility. Others maybe intimidated by them so that drops them. Now you add on a $20 fee to enter and the field drops even more. So you are not speaking to a large pool of people.

Now I see absolutly no downside in running this contest, only upsides. There is no cost to speak of, The magazine opens itself to new penmakers which is always a plus and you never know they may find that diamond in the rough. They open themselves to new subscriptions possibly because you are introducing a new element to their upscale magazine. And it gives some lesser known people a chance to make a splash or hit the jackpot or become a player in the "Shark Tank"

This is probably the best known pen turning site on the net. So who better to run a contest like this at?? I think it does make people step up their game and you never know what may develop out of an entry. I think the catagories are just right so I would not like to see any changes there. The entry fee, if needed and I do not see why it is, should be no more than $10. Everything else seems OK.

So if we are voting, I vote to continue the contest.
 
John. the Entry fee is to pay the postage to ship the pens to the judges and back to the owners. Pens have to be submitted physically for inspection and judging.
 
mredburn said:
John. the Entry fee is to pay the postage to ship the pens to the judges and back to the owners. Pens have to be submitted physically for inspection and judging.
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$20 X 27= $540????????????

Put them all in one box and ship and ship back. They are pens not glass bulbs
 
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Just a thought or two. I like the contest alot and hope it stays. The timming of it make it hard for me getting ready for fall craft season , so if it was in the spring or early summer would give me more time ( sence there was no casing contest this year )to work on it.
As for the $ 20 , it is needed so I deal with it. I only do one pen in this contest ( you only need one lottery ticket to win , but you cant win if you dont play ) but I would play more if the second and third was like $ 5 / 10 extra, shipping for extra pen would cost much more and that would also help some ( but I would have to plan on making more than one for the contest ).
Splitting up or making different catagories, like in the bash the casting was split in to color / embedded / on tube. I thing more of the casters would be more willing if they where in there comfort zone. ( That could also be a problem, who would want to judge as many different groups of pens like we had in the bash, all in one contest).
There are alot of very good pen makers here and some great ones and getting some of them to enter is the problem. Some think that I dont have a chance and dont try. This is a very good contest and is published so doing good in it is a honor that could open up other doors.
David
 
John that applies to getting them from judge to judge but you still need to ship all 27 (or hundreds someday) back to the respective owners at the end of the contest. Don't forget the extra cost to send them to us foreign entrants. :wink: Of course if everyone was willing to send the pens in and not get them back then the entry could be $5.00 or less. :biggrin:

 
The pens are shipped 5 times after Scott receives them. once to each of the three judges and then back to Scott then backthe owners. Some of It may also go toward the prize monies.
 
Maybe we should have two or three levels of competitors.
1st level - "Run with the Big Dogs" $150.00 entry fee $2,000.00 in cash prizes plus a write up on the winners.
.
2nd Level. -The view never changes. $20.00 entry fee. $50 to first place winners $100.00 for High over all in this level and a small write up.
.
3rd level "trailing the pack" $10.00 entry fee for up to 3 pens you get a participation ribbon.
 
Fingers crossed.

I would like to see the contest stay. I've humbly submitted one pen and thought there would be tons more. With my luck there will be 24 in my catagory to compete with. :rolleyes: :biggrin: The timing this year at least came at the same time as the Collaborative Challenge (I'm in it) and the Pith (not in because of the other two). That could be another reason why there weren't more entries.
 
I realize that I'm somewhat of a new comer at this but I think some thought should be given to allowing previously posted pens to enter,I think that if a pen is that far out of the usual and it's posted in lets say March,the Best Of is a mile away from our mind,But the pen is of competition quality. Should there be a class for previously posted pens?
The $20 entry fee is quite reasonable and the truth be told a deal,
I have been in juried shows that require more than that as a jury fee,I am quite amazed that with all the penmakers on this site and the quality of work that I have seen only
27 people decided to take a shot.
Yes I did enter something,very last moment ,but it is there.
Mark
 
First off it is 27 pens and some people sent more than one and when you do that the entry price just went up no more for shipping. Not 27 people entered.

Now if the money is used for other things than understandable. As I said you put all pens in one box and ship to the 3 judges. If you are shipping individual than you need to rethink.

You have to remember a contest of any kind is a 2 way street. Both sides get something out of it. Exposure.
 
Curly said:
John that applies to getting them from judge to judge but you still need to ship all 27 (or hundreds someday) back to the respective owners at the end of the contest. Don't forget the extra cost to send them to us foreign entrants. :wink: Of course if everyone was willing to send the pens in and not get them back then the entry could be $5.00 or less. :biggrin:
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There is no way they spend $540 on shipping. I don't care where they send them.:biggrin:
 
IMO $20 is VERY reasonable, look at what you spend on kits, blanks and tools?

In actuality a higher fee may encourage more people to join as it'll appear like a more prestigious contest. Just look at the number of threads that discuss increasing the price of pens to help sales.

I didn't join as I felt that it was still out of my league ... my 6 month old and 2½ year old also keep me pretty busy and limit garage time.

AK
 
Chill! Of course there is money left after shipping. Usually Jeff adds a little bit to that out of the IAP funds and cash prizes are awarded. The reason I don't specify what the cash awards are is because I don't know how much is going to be left over yet.

Scott.
 
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Scott said:
Chill! Of course there is money left after shipping. Usually Jeff adds a little bit to that out of the IAP funds and cash prizes are awarded. The reason I don't specify what the cash awards are is because I don't know how much is going to be left over yet.

Scott.
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Hey Scott the only reason I brought up the $20 was you were looking for suggestions to further this contest. I tried to point out a few things that might keep people from not joining. I have no problem with the price. Like I said I probably would have entered at least 2 and maybe 3 pens. Others mentioned it was used for shipping. I thought it probably had other uses too because of the amount.
 
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