2010 NATIONALS RESULTS

[dlh61olds]

It's been two weeks, how about some comments from those who went to Sturbridge.

Where is the 2013 National going to be held ???

Who is going to be the new head judge ???

How did the judging go at this years meet ??? Good, bad, otherwise ???

Dave

[rocketraider]

Dave, I can't tell you. I've heard little to nothing on this show or its aftermath. Mike C usually goes; maybe he can tell us.

What bugs me is that the AACA/OCA Forums are supposedly OCA's "official" discussion forums, but it's like we are an unloved stepchild here. The Buick Club is all over their Forums.

[Oldsfan]

There was no presentation at the Board meeting for 2013.

As I'm sure you're aware, next year is Reno.

2012 is Des Moines - all indoors. Showfield access, I've been told, will be restricted to an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening - not come-and-go as you please. Showfield is at the Convention Center, not at a host hotel. This will require driving/shuttling/walking.

Ed Konsmo, former OCA V-P, is the new Head Judge.

It was a good meet. Mostly decent weather. The events I attended were well executed. I was not judged, so can't vouch for the process.

Paul

[joe_padavano]

I was a first-time judge this year, for all three H/O classes. I will say that I'm less likely to criticize now, since I can appreciate the problems that judges have. I certainly could have been better prepared.

The first problem is that there is still a significant lack of information on what is and is not correct for the cars being judged. There was a start with model info sheets that were provided by the model advisors for some models, but these were by no means complete nor did we really have time to read them in detail. Our judging team was three people, and we were assigned 14 cars (of which only 10 actually showed up). The first car in line definitely got more scrutiny than the last one, despite our conscious efforts to be fair in this area. This problem was compounded when the rain started. It's not possible to judge fairly when half the cars are judged in sunlight and half in rain. Also, there really is no good guidance on points deductions for various problems. Again, we tried to be consistent, but in retrospect I do not believe that we were. Ultimately, I think well over half of the cars at the show scored over 900 points. All but one of the H/Os were above 900. Again, with 20/20 hindsight that probably wasn't correct.

I also attended the judges conference and breakfast. I was the guy being a P.I.T.A. by asking all the questions of Ed Konsmo during the judges meeting. For example, I specifically asked about the treatment of clones, as a specific example, how should we treat a 1972 "W-30" that didn't have an "X" engine code in the VIN? Unfortunately, I got few answers.

[Guest BJM]

2012 is Des Moines - all indoors. Showfield access, I've been told, will be restricted to an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening - not come-and-go as you please. Showfield is at the Convention Center, not at a host hotel. This will require driving/shuttling/walking.

Paul

2012 is indoors in Des Moines?? I am from greater Des Moines and I am trying to picture where this exactly is? We have some large buildings at the Iowa State Fairgrounds but nothing else that would hold such a large (presume large) event.

Ames, Iowa had the Buick National meet this year at a grassy knoll setting and used an Iowa State University events center as the indoor meeting area - very well done by our BCA president and Treasurer duo.

Hey, I wouldn't raise a stink if the OCA copy cated that set up but I wish someone would tell me how it's going to work at an indoor venue? We have 25-30 swap meet vendors and product folks, 375 cars etc - so how big is an OCA National?

[Oldsfan]

My understanding is that it is to be held at the Iowa Events Center. They had about 450 cars at the Sturbridge meet and probably a comparable number of vendors.

Paul

[Guest BJM]

I think that's Wells Fargo Arena area.

Iowa Events Center - PHOTO GALLERY

It's big enough for various events but I doubt a 450 car car show. I don't want to speculate as to what they have in mind. I guess we will have to wait and see. I know this is a darn nice area. But all indoors I doubt it, but again - I am probably wrong.

[Oldsfan]

Well, you were starting to make be doubt myself. But then I found this in the online version of the Puget Sound Chapter's June newsletter:

2012 - July 4 – 7; Des Moines, IA; Iowa Events Center (The first

Indoor Nationals ever); Hosted by the Olds Club of Iowa

Their newsletter editor is the past OCA V-P, so he would know. The Iowa Chapter has no info on their website at this time.

Paul