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Award for Maps/Mappers and the Year of the Brent

Show Profile  Paul I Posted: 1 December 2008, 4:20 AM  
How about something less rigid. This could highlight the actual skill, achievement or effort to do with mapping. For example yes you might give a Fabb award to a group or person who discovered an amazing piece of terrain. Another award for a great technical advancement, another for outstanding mapping result from poor base material, amazing transformation award for most improved remap of an area etc... the award has no boundaries and could really focus on the effort made.
Some years you might get three awards, another year you may not get any. A hat-trick could be possible for something really special. (they need to be of excellenece and held in high esteem by many people).
Another idea could be a for a special award where a map/mapper/club/event might be given excellence status where it can join an exclusive group of NZ's most awesome maps/events etc for prosterity. Like 'The Sweet-as NZ O Map Award' or something to that effect.

A seperate group of awards could include event management achievements and course setting excellence where there could also be some worthy recipients for over and above normal expectations.

Just some ideas.... all in the name of recognition and encouragement for the continued high standard, and betterment of O maps and events in this country.

Show Profile  Michael Posted: 1 December 2008, 7:13 AM  
Another peripheral idea - a mapping contest - perhaps on a rest day during a multiday. Contestants are given a blank piece of paper with outline of a small area and a morning to produce a map. At midday no more changes are allowed and computers have to start producing copies. At 1pm orienteers turn up and wander round comparing (this has training value). Some sort of voting selects the winner. Could be easy terrain (school on a flat site) thru to diabolical (pine trees on sand dunes).

Show Profile  Jamie Posted: 1 December 2008, 12:23 PM  
The "Sweet-as NZ O Map Award"!!! Yeah Paul, that sounds choice. Get a judging panel with a wide discretion to give the award to people involved in the mapping/remapping of areas that inspire people, lead the way in new developments or even display technical excellence.

Simon, the fact that the award may not be competitive at the moment perhaps demonstrates the need for it.

Go FABB events, we won't survive on CABB (Crappy Area in Bobs Backyard) Events.

Show Profile  nick Posted: 1 December 2008, 1:53 PM  
So, kind of like a "hall of fame" for maps, right? Whatever people decide to call it please, don't let it be "Hall O Fame". Actually, I'm officially banning that name right now.

I like it. Good idea. Especially the wide criteria for qualification (wide, but not low, eh.) I think it would be workable as an award.

I doubt a hall of fame will be a silver bullet for our limited number of mappers. It seems to me a bigger, hairier problem than just lack of recognition. For starters, my impression is that mapping seems to require more time and more skills than the crop of potential mappers feel they have.

I worry that theres a cultural problem also: we orienteers are forever making excuses for our errors. And our favourite excuse is to blame the map. We've all heard it/said it a thousand times. It is far less often that we say "What an awesome map! I'm so grateful to the person who spent 100s of hours out here mapping it just so that we could race here today! After all that, what a pity i just completely fukd it up!". Sigh, human nature...

Anyways... hall of fame - go for it. I nominate Jamie to chair the judging panel!

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