Would like your opinion......

I agree with you Jim and love that idea! A ribon is just a ribon and dosnt really mean that much but in this case it would.

 

Its been done and it did not work.

How about one Blue, two red and three third place, at lest the one that put work in would get something for their effort. from my point of view I would not enter a single three ribbon competition. I am there to learn and without the chance for a ribbon then I would drop back to the Professional Division. I think a lot of people are like I am.



With the Southern Regional's the past two shows we have raised the standard no more Honorable mentions in any category. Yea some people have walked away a bit, bit man was the quality up this year!

 

I agree, even though that means I would have gone home for the Iowa show with not even a 50 cent ribbon. Masters should be the best 3 mounts in that division and that's it. It would make people like me strive to really go for it.

However, I do agree with John. Participation might go down and that's what state shows are trying to get. I like to see lots of mounts for support of my association.

 

John is correct, it was tried more than once and it didn't work.

 

IMO , When it comes to Masters division it should be only 1 first !

Use the other divisions for learning and passing out ribbons. Masters should mean more than everyone getting a ribbon.






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I think it is a great idea...most people who compete in master's don't care about a ribbon and have enough of them collecting dust in their shops already.

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I see both sides to this, and could support either concept. I do think the Masters division needs some separation from the other divisions. I also think there needs to be some sort of incentive to get people to work hard to get to the masters level. Our show is lopsided amateur, and professional divisions are much larger than the masters. That I guess is expected to a point but not to the point that masters only has a dozen pieces in it.

 

I dont think it will help build entries in fact I see it diminishing the number already there.

The problem with the number of master entries from my view point is the incentive to enter. Why enter? Now of course the normal master entrants that attend regularly for whatever reason(seminars,board members,faithful supporters) will certainly enter. but some of the newer master competitors may be discouraged or timid to enter with only 3 ribbons offered. The question that has been there for a while is how do we grow that division. Many long time masters have more awards than they know what to do with and a ribbon surely is not incentive enough for lots of those. Besides that they operate a busy shop and time has a value. I have heard that some of the custom awards such as the hand sculpted ohio medallions are coveted by some and are much more desirable than a ribbon. Money has its merits but often to get the big money(not really) you have to enter multiple pieces and that isn't profitable on the bottom line when you add up the dollars per hour. Enter for the education? Well at the masters level I believe the learning is there but not enough incentive as the learning margin is narrowed and by this time most masters have acquired a friend list of judges that they could call on at will to bounce ideas and brainstorm. This is just a perspective from an old time competitor that would like to see some incentive to draw out more master entries.

 

You guys crack me up. "Ribbons don't mean anything to Masters." BWA HAA HAA. who thought that one up. April Fool is past. If ribbons didn't mean something, do you think they would ENTER????

Jim, you simply can't take a snippet of the WTC and rationalize how it would make a state show better. The WTC is an alien world to most state shows. Can you charge WTC registration and entry fees? Can you demand booth space prices for the suppliers that the WTC does? Do you even CHARGE the suppliers a fee greater than the cost to you?

I ran my SMALL state show for years. I've been in the middle of 7 or 8 national shows. I never bought chintzy ribbons. They were 14,18, and 24 inch streamers with custom logo and titles. The smaller ones were $5.50 with the mediums $7 and the 4or 5 large ones at $10. The judges were hired and paid for "the competition" regardless of the number of mounts. So I charged EVERY ENTRANT enough to pay judges and ribbons fees plus a profit. I wonder if the money you "save" will make up for that $5.50 ribbon.

State shows subsist on the profit they make, not the ego they sate. The competition needs to be run as a business venture devoid of drama. Sure, the competitors are "Masters" but some state "Masters" get humiliated at a world audience. Think about the cost versus worth at the local level.

 

The world show is broken down into sub-categories, thus there can be multiple firsts in each Cat. You could even win a blue and not place in the top three. It's true that many great mounts get nothing, but there is the potential for multiple blues in each category.

 

The only people you will have competing in your Master's category will be the "professional competitor". Anyone who has been forced into Masters it by winning a BOC in Professional just won't bother if there is little chance of reward. As far as saving money....just exactly HOW MUCH do those ribbons cost?

I'll answer that question you posed to John C. If a person doesn't enter how much do they learn? No score sheet! No critique! You don't have to enter a mount to attend seminars!

Leave the Masters of Masters for the Big shows.

Many of the Masters category mounts are "showpieces" for the shop.......NOT mounts for the customer. The original idea of the competition was to improve the overall quality of what the public was getting for their money.

I think you've already answered your own question, Jim. If the addition of CASH prizes won't induce entries....what will? A new category? World and even the NTA are big enough to do that, I doubt that it would help a state show.

 

Just a side note: most of us know that any "master" getting a red or yellow ribbon is likely to toss it in the trash. But how many times have we walked though the WTC Masters and wondered "what were those judges thinking" and " why didn't this win". Those ribbons tell the other competitors and the sightseers exactle how the judges were grading.

 

How would this improve the quality of the mounts in the master's division? Don't the folks that enter the masters already do the best possible work they are capable of at the time? I expect that every state has a select few that compete at this level on a regular basis so the rivalry, or competition, is already present.

 

Good post with lots of good input. I say award and place the ribbons at the show. Associations could let their competitors know that they could recycle their ribbons at the end of the show if they so chose. George is correct in that many ribbons end up in the trash, in a box or where ever after a show.

 

Leave the ribbons alone. Best of Category award tells what the the best mount was anyway. Good idea about recycling ribbons.

 

Ribbons don't pay the bills! If you want your state shows to grow,Do away with prejudged mounts.Its odd seeing the same mounts in 3 different shows.Not a problem if you go from 1 state show to nationals or worlds, but from worlds show to state shows??? or 4 different state shows. If you are a GOOD Taxidermist create a new piece for each show.Lets push the envelope to even higher standards! There needs to more emphasis towards the Fulltime taxidermist. The Professional competitor is still going to show up to compete either way.Most taxidermist cant afford to travel around and compete in 2 or more shows. This is just my opinion.

 

Jim your idea is fine, put it into action in your state show and see what happens! I know what will happen after just a couple years. The association will start failing. There will be lack of participation.
You can go all the way back to the old days maybe before many many of you were born to Colorado to the original taxidermy competitions.

Maybe try a state show category and charge extra.

Come to the Nationals there will be a category just for what you speak of Jim.

 

If I spend $500. To compete, I want my $5. Ribbon. If I could get one anymore.