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judges to evaluate each individualpiece. This would be a great place to see what pieces were the members’ favorite pieces.  ====Categories==== Categories have not been updated in way too long. Some categories have come and gone over the years, but by and large, they have not changed much. Many of them, like black and white, are holdovers from the retail world, and while that is a part of caricatures, it is not representative of all caricatures. Categories are not well defined, and while some are artistic principles, some of them are types of art. It seems strange to me that some categories cross over while others do not.  One strategy to win is simply to do one of the smaller categories like black and white or 3D. On the flip side, winning in these smaller categories almost always cuts people off from winning any other award. I would choose categories that all pieces can be judged by. When some categories cross over and others do not, this creates strange borders between artists and awards. It means that one artist could qualify for more awards than another artist, simply because of the type of work they do. Yes, much of this is self selecting, like the fact that 3D rarely wins other categories.  Below, I have suggestions, these are just suggestions, and the key is that they are striving to be universal. This is my proposal for categories and how winners could be selected: ====Panel Scores====* Color – best use of color (not just brightest color, and could be black and white) * Humor – funniest exaggeration or gag * Theme – encompasses both body situation and theme throughout the wall as a whole * Creativity – interesting mediums, presentations, or ideas * Party – competition run as it has been, but judged by# Number of passable drawings# Quality of party sketch# Theme * Guest of honor (Handpicked by guest of honor)Winners calculated from panelscores * Rookie (Rookie who gets the highest overall score) * Caricature Artist of the Year (Artist with highest total overall score when adding all category scores together) • Speed – Derived from the party competition as it currently is ====Public Vote====• Art fight • Best studio piece • Best portfolio • Caricature of the year Because there is a score, some categories like Most Improved could be considered in the future. An important note on likeness.I would not make likeness an award. A caricature by definition should have likeness. In a caricature competition, every piece should be judged first by likeness, then by everything else. No one should ever win Humorous because they have awesome jokes, but it doesn’t look like the person. The Likeness Award is like giving out an award at the Super Bowl to the team that played the most like a football team. Other advantagesThere are several other advantagesto this system. For example, I know that many people do not like voting.It is a really stressful and long process for many of us. It’s like you never really get to just enjoy the artwork. We spend all week hunched over creating great works of art, and then at the last minute we put them up on the wall and then in a daze we try to vote before running out to eat and celebrate being done. Voting also takes quite a bit of time. And that is time that might be better spent in another way, such as opening up the hall for a one-night gallery show. Gallery ShowIf a jury was doing the judging, that would free up the evening, and we could use that time for a gallery show. Have a cocktail hour, with drinks and appetizers, and allow the public to pay to attend. We can be advertising and reaching out to locals to attend the event to get a taste of what we do. We can also reach out to local party planners, wedding organizers, publishers, and those sorts of outlets to help open up opportunity for those competing and for the sponsors. This would be a great time to simply enjoy the artwork and relax after the long week. Having it open to the public also encourages people to be introduced to our world and to see the amazing things that we do. For local artists who did not attend the whole convention, it would be a nice way for them to get a peek at what we do, and maybe inspire them to join us the following year. A small fee would be a great opportunity for the organization to make some more money that can go into making our organization even better. We could even offer artists to leave their business cards at their wall, or make some simple way, like QR codes, to promote themselves to the public. Once again adding value to attending. Yes, this particular event may be relatively more valuable for local artists, but it does open up opportunities for all artists to get commissions, and possibly even freelance work. Maybe members who are competing could even be given the option to set up and draw the public for tips… if they still have the energy to draw. Let’s do thisIt’s hard to change things that are so interconnected with so many aspects of the convention, but I think it’s worth it. As you can see, the value add of changing our voting system could be far reaching. I honestly don’t know how else voting could be done if the convention grew even a little bit, let alone by a lot. The current system has served us well, but we have outgrown it. Not only could this make the convention more enjoyable, but it would also raise our status as an organization.

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