So, I dropped a note on Joe Herrman, the editor at Woodturning Design Magazine, and he said they would be willing to do something like this again if somebody here would organize it.
I think this would make a good contest to offset the Bash, in other words, run it in August and September. Yes, some people's summer plans would get in the way, and for some the push to produce inventory for the before-Christmas shows might get in the way. But I think the Bash is already a full-plate in a lot of ways. There are plenty of contests, so one more contest would just sort of blend in. Vendors are already pretty extended donating prizes and may not be willing to give more, better prizes to support this extra contest. And people are already busy making ugly pens for my favorite contest, which may distract from making a nice pen for this WDM (Woodturning Design Magazine) contest. This kind of contest in August and September would give everyone a good major event to enjoy as part of their IAP membership at some time during the year other than the Bash. Just my thoughts on this.
I'm not against running it as part of the Bash though. It would be a major event that would bring in even more people to our IAP site. That much extra time would allow Joe to put a notice of the contest in the magazine, while running it in Aug and Sept likely wouldn't give him time to put it in print. If we're willing to accept that the vendors would want to donate prizes for this event, and not so much for the other lesser publicized events, and that we would have to come up with prizes elsewhere for the other Bash contests, then that would be fine.
What does everybody think?
Scott.