A Beginner's Guide to the IAP Birthday BASH

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Edgar

New Member Advocate
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The purpose of this thread is to help our new members to better understand all the discussion & excitement about the IAP Birthday BASH and to encourage them to participate in some of the contests.

Feel free to post any questions or comments about the BASH in this thread.

What is the BASH?
BASH is a month-long celebration of the IAP's founding in Feb 2004. There are many contests and prizes during BASH, but like any good celebration, the most important thing is the fun and camaraderie.

BASH is also the primary annual fund raising activity for IAP. The IAP Forum is a non-profit organization run entirely by non-paid volunteers, yet there are expenses involved with the hardware, software and Internet connectivity to provide this forum. Funds received from donations, mug & merchandise sales and auctions during BASH allow IAP to continue its operation.

Who can Participate?
Any IAP member in good standing is eligible to compete in the BASH contests. Your personal profile MUST include your full name.

Good standing simply means that you have not been banned from IAP activities for failing to complete an obligation from a previous IAP activity. Fortunately the list of banned members is quite small.

What Kind of Contests are There?
Keep an eye on the IAP Home Page for a complete list of contests because they vary somewhat from year to year. Primarily, there are a number of pen making competitions designed to appeal to a wide range of turning experience.

In addition to pen contests, there are always several contests directly related to pen turning such as casting, photography & library article contests.

Then there are contests that are just for fun (but you can still win some neat prizes in them) such as trivia, puzzles, match the pen, etc. We also usually have at least one nonsensical pen making contest such as "edible pen", "ugly pen", or "ridiculous pen".

Each contest has its own set of rules - be sure to read the rules carefully for any contest that you might like to enter. If there is anything you don't understand about any of the rules, be sure to ask for clarification.

Where do the Prizes Come From?
Almost all of the BASH prizes are donated by vendors and IAP members. A few prizes are provided by the IAP from its operating funds. You are encouraged to thank and support our vendors.

Who Runs the BASH?
BASH is managed by the IAP Activities Director. Each year, he assembles a team of volunteers to help plan & run the various BASH activities & contests, solicit prizes, decorate, serve cake, etc.

It generally takes about 20-30 people to do everything required to run the contests & activities and make BASH a great experience. Some of these folks put in countless hours prior to and during the month of February. Be sure to thank them and support their efforts by entering as many contests as you can.

I'm not an Experienced Turner, I don't think I have a chance to win any of these contests.
Regardless of your skill level, there will undoubtedly be one or more pen making contests that should appeal to you. It is always nice to win a prize, but that should not be your main motivation for entering a contest. The contests are an opportunity to show off your pens, compare your skills to other members and advance your skills by challenging yourself to try new things.

Remember too, that the contest chairs work very hard to plan their contests, write the rules and manage the entries. One great way to thank them is to participate in their contests - regardless of what you think your chances are of actually winning the contest.

You are also encouraged to check out the Previous BASH Entries entries for some ideas & inspiration.
 
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mredburn

IAP Activities Manager
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Besides the Prizes that are awarded to the top 3 entries we often have a random prize awarded to some one who entered in the contest.
We also have the World Famous "losers Train" drawing where you can join in a drawing for those people that didnt win anything at all.
In fact the only way to Lose is to Not Participate.

Great Job Edgar!
 

edman2

Local Chapter Leader
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Feb 2, 2007
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Greenbrier, AR. USA.
Excellent!! This thread should be posted front and center in the BASH page when it is posted. Just my humble opinion!
 

Edgar

New Member Advocate
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Feb 6, 2013
Messages
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Location
Alvin, TX 77511
Links to Photos & Info From Previous BASH Events

In case you are considering an entry in some of the BASH contests but would like a little idea of what kind of competition you might be up against, here's some links to photos & information from previous BASH events.

The BASH archives are stored here:
http://www.penturners.org/forum/f204/

and photos of the BASH entries are stored here:
http://www.penturners.org/photos/index.php?c=7

After each BASH, a photo album is created to collect that year's entries in a single location so you don't have to search through each individual contest thread to find the photos. There will still be a few photos in the archives, but those are mostly the finalists and winners. Check out the BASH photo albums to get a good idea of the type of entries in the various contests.

The albums may not contain every BASH entry because we leave it up to the individual participants to post their entry photos in the album, but there should be enough to give you a flavor of the types of entries into the various contests.

Don't be intimidated by any of the photos in the albums. Remember that we were all beginners at some point and the purpose of BASH is simply to have fun and challenge ourselves to improve our skills.

If you lose these links, it is simple to find the BASH photo albums: just click on Photos at the top of the page & scroll about half way down the page to the IAP Events section.

Edgar
 
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