[montanafordman]

Take this with a grain of salt since I have never been a judge and I'm somewhat new to the hobby having only been to one regional meet and one national. Maybe I'm the kid who doesn't know what he's talking about but I'm a quick learner, love to hear how all this works and yes, my generation is the future of MAFCA so if I need to be enlightened feel free!

What I find amazing is how his interior can receive full points one year, and be docked to that degree the next. Having a code like workmanship or incorrect material does little to spell out what exactly is amiss especially when some of those categories cover many parts of the interior. You can get pretty subjective in those areas and in many ways that's unavoidable but you better put your name to your opinion and a detailed reason why. If you don't then that information will die with you, or when asked to tell how you know this either we all learn something or you might be called out for B.S. or playing politics. Information is key which is why we need to encourage participation and research in regards to judging, the judging standards, et al. The last thing we need is to push people away that know a thing or two and have talents and resources to contribute.

The inconsistency of one year to the next in that single area in my mind either stinks of incompetence or complacency one year, or an agenda the next. What kind of corrective measures are in place for judges (or groups of judges) who fail to be objective, or fail to know the nuance of how much of a grain the leather should show? Or fail to spot something like a different padding material used underneath the pleats? These are issues that should be considered by the Judging Standards Committee. This is where it is extremely beneficial to both the judges and the entrants to judge a car over multiple meets and years to bring some consistency to what is being decided on what is correct and what is not. In the case of a large disparity from one meet to the next within one club (i.e. MAFCA vs. MARC) maybe there should be a maximum point difference allowed for various categories in a certain time frame (1 year, 3 years, 5 years?) on cars that have a record of being judged to ensure all judges get the same information and follow the same rules? Kind of like grading on a curve. You shouldn't be able to go from an A+ to a C on the same test with the same answers in my mind. At least not in a year, under the same set of revisions.

Also - aren't some of the judges also on the judging standards committee? Maybe that is a conflict of interest? Maybe it should be proposed that one cannot serve both and there should be term limits for those serving the standards committee in order to ensure what goes on in judging stays impartial, procedures are followed CORRECTLY and an individuals philosophy doesn't control the direction of the group?

Just my uninformed 2 cents....