Disappointed for the prize winners

[matherp]

Very much enjoyed the Rally again this year - congrats and thanks to all involved.

However, I was disappointed, this year particularly, at the desultory way in which the prize giving proceeded. Having the prize giving when many were still queuing for food and when many of the winners were not in attendance let alone other attendees seems to me to devalue what should be a highlight of the show.

One alternative would be as follows:
Marshall all the "to be judged" aircraft into one pre-arranged area. Have the prize giving at 15:00 on Saturday when attendance is at its peak and present the prizes outside (PA needed) in amongst the judged aircraft.

This would allow most prize winners to receive their prizes in person and allow attendees to properly understand and see the quality of the participants work.

For the avoidance of doubt I was not a prize winner:-)

Peter Mather

[Brian Hope]

Hi Peter, I agree that the awards presentation fell a bit flat because so many of the recipients were not present to accept their awards and this has already been flagged up as something we need to address for next year. I spoke with the head of the awards team yesterday and agreed the Rally Team and he would have a brain-storming session to take a fresh look at how the awards presentation is handled and how we can get more of the recipients to be there. We already have a few ideas.
I quite like the basic concept of your suggestion and that will get put into the hat. It does have an obvious snag in that the earlier we hold the presentations, the fewer arrivals that will be able to be considered. If anybody else has a suggestion then please air it or let me know, what we want is a solution that best suits the members and participants, we certainly don't claim to have all the answers!
In defence of this year's presentation, the fact that it was going to be held at 7:30 on Saturday evening was made to all who entered but inevitably some will have had to depart for home.

[macconnacher]

We have over the years had the prizegiving at various times even Sunday mornings and we never got them all to attend. It was certainly better attended in the Cranfield days but more people tended to stay for the dinner which was so well attended that the room temperature became so hot that if a pig had been in the room we could have been prosecuted under EU law for animal maltreatment. Fortunately there were only humans present but we often came out drenched in sweat - great days. We also had the advantage of being near to the longest day so if you waited till 08H15 to collect your prize there was still daylight left for most to get home.

Earlier on the Saturday would be difficult since we have to allow time for judging - it is not just for looks but for the workmanship of our members that we judge, thus it takes time to do it right. The judging finishes about 4:15 most years from a start time of 1:15.

Having the French style of area for the jury is very difficult for the marshallers given the numbers arriving on the Saturday and experience will show that if this area is near to the fence and a shorter walk some will enter just to save themselves a walk i.e enter = priority parking.

I have already changed the judging sheets to include mobile numbers to speed up finding the aircraft and we will inform winners by mobile as soon as the winners have been decided so they can arrange to stay as we are aware that we could have had attendance from a few more but being modest they had assumed they had not won and gone home.

As Brian said any ideas are welcome and to those who who have nice aeroplanes please enter - no Jodels or Gyros entered this year so I have trophies left at Turweston that I will have to clean for next year!

Better on your mantelpiece than in the store.