Questions for contest coordinators

[Vlad G Pohnert]

I have to agree, it’s important that I follow the rules created for the contest or it's not fair to everyone. There are in some cases where I put at the Coordinators Discretion and I cna make a judgment call. I do however try to contact the creator to see if in cases where it can be corrected (Radio edits, etc) if they can correct thing to comply with the rules.

As for technical rules, I don't DQ a video unless it just will not work on the big screen.. Usually the judging panel will sort that out anyways (i.e. if the video quality is so bad you can't see it properly usually will get lower marks I find anyway, but it all depends on the content of the video too so not always).

In the ends I always try to do all I can within reason for the contestant so they do meet the rules and specs.

Vlad

[BasharOfTheAges]

Thanks for the feedback. It's great to know what other coordinators with far more substantial contest running experience do in these situations. I appreciate your answers.

{ Note, none of this influenced how I ran my prescreening for AAC this weekend. I was simply trying to gauge where my standards and practices put me on the hypocrite <--> jerk scale. }

[Geirr]

(Kumoricon AMV Contest Coordinator 2004 - 2010)

1) Do you have a pre-screening process?
Yes - I convene a judges panel to select the best AMVs for each category definition. We limit each category to 6 entries max. Then we total up the duration of the AMVs they select, and if it is over 1hr 45min, I have them go through again and reduce the contest to 75min minimum ~ 104min duration max. I personally exclude myself from participating or voting on judges panel, but I am available nearby during the pre-screening event if they have specific questions.

2) If yes, do you have some sort of overflow screening?
Yes. We first have a 30min pre-show generally reserved for some of the best entires which almost made it into the contest. We then run the contest entries (with audience voting) and the last segment is a general show which includes high-performing AMVs collected on-line over the past year (from various contest forums, this site, amvnews.ru, amvdefans, etc.) Some but not all runner-ups submitted to the contest may appear in the pre-show or the show, but we do not guarantee that any one entry or every will certainly be shown during the con. (We don't want to bore an audience with sluggish, plaintive 'drama' entries, or WMV pixellated crudfests, for example...)

3) Does a rules violation that leads to disqualification as per your contest's rules mean you don't show the video in the overflow? (elaborate if it's not yes/no)
It depends on what is being violated. The submission deadlines are most firm. Late entries are retained for the following year's contest and the entrants are informed of this privately.

The judges may bend category definitions and time limits to their consesual decision. The judges panel has the power to close a category, to re-interpret category definitions, and even to create a new category and fill it from the entries received.

But, the hotels where we hold the convention have had strong content regulations (such as MPAA 'PG' and 'PG-13') and so the judges have tended to firmly reject AMVs with swear words or panty shots, for example.

4) Do you do your duty and add the entry for your contest to the 'org's contest calender?
Yes.

5) If so, do you bother to check the Video Participation tab to actually indicate that the videos that claim to have been sent were in fact at your contest?
Sometimes. Usually I have to be notified if someone wants to claim they have participated. If they contact me, I will check the playlist and confirm whether or not the entery was shown to the audience. I also publicize the contest playlist within several days of the convention. (For the past two years, Kumoricon has been hald at hotels without free internet, and so we have had to wait for the results until I could get free access, or return to my home from the con.

6) If you do, what gets a "yes" mark from you?
'YES' = means the video was shown during the contest and the audience was allowed to vote for it. Any other screening is still a 'NO' if it was not eligible to be voted on and to win a contest prize.