Introduction:

There has been a trend recently where participation in judged Corvette shows has been declining throughout New England. This decline has been both on the part of Corvette owners participating in shows, and on the part of clubs hosting judged shows. Although the reasons for this trend are certainly varied, one reason is the lack of consistency across the various clubs' shows. Some participants get discouraged when they come to shows and find that their cars are classified or judged differently from one show to the next, or differently than other participants at the same show. Often the problem is one of perception rather than reality, but in either case the effect on the participant may be the same.

In an attempt to promote consistency and fairness, and ultimately increase enjoyment and participation, this council was formed with the goal of developing a set of guidelines for conducting a judged Corvette show. Hopefully, these guidelines would be adopted by those clubs in New England that host judged shows, and possibly encourage other clubs to host judged shows as well.

There have been attempts in the past to form such a council, where the effort ended up not getting off the ground. But the most recent attempt, at least so far, has been a great success, with this proposal being the result of nearly a year of work by a group of dedicated individuals. And although completion of this proposal is a significant accomplishment, this council's work is not done. We will continue to refine it, and as clubs adopt it and use these guidelines, council members will support those clubs in their implementation of them.

Provided here is a brief history of the council's activities over the last 10 months. The first organized meeting was held on February 23^rd, in Middleboro, MA. From the start, all clubs were invited and encouraged to attend the council's meetings. In attendance at that first meeting were representatives from 8 clubs. It was at this meeting that the general goals of the council were established. A set of areas of concern were established as well - Judge Qualifications, Judging Sheet, Corvette Classification, and Judging Process. These four categories remain as the basis of the guidelines put forth in this proposal, and form the four major sections that follow.

Meetings continued monthly, with attendance varying at first, but eventually settling down to the core of ten members that continue to form this council. We systematically worked out each of the four areas of concern, attacking the most difficult one first - classification. It took several months of meetings to complete this area, and we finally finished it at the July 28^th meeting. It was decided at this meeting that we needed to meet more often than once per month in order to meet our goals of producing a draft proposal by October. With meetings now being about every two weeks, we worked on, and completed, each of the other areas in the six meetings that took place from August 11^th through October 20^th.

It is worth noting here that the council has not tried to reinvent the Corvette judging process. Instead, we have tried to take the best of what was already being done by the various Corvette clubs in New England and combine it into a consistent set of practices that may be used by all clubs who wish to. As an example, the judging sheet and the classification of modified cars were both strongly based on those of the Corvette Club of Rhode Island, with some modifications based on other clubs' practices. So the individual guidelines presented here should not be new to most clubs and participants. But what is new is the totality of these guidelines, and the fact that they are presented as a standard set of practices, that when used as such will help ensure consistency throughout the judged Corvette shows of New England.

It is also important to state that any members from any Corvette club are invited and encouraged to participate in the ongoing activities of this council. We do not consider our work done by any means. These guidelines will continue to develop, hopefully with the involvement of, and feedback from, members of the Corvette community in New England.

The following document links will provide PDF file documents that can be easily viewed, saved, or printed: