Proposal for another cab contest

I am envisioning this:

Participants send their finished cab and photo of the slab to Tommy. Images will be sent digitally.

Tommy will take pictures of each cab and post his pictures along with the slab pictures to the board.  They will all be anonymous.

He will then send the cabs to me, without identification, so that I may judge the cab, in hand, by certain criteria listed below.

While I am judging, the board will judge the overall appeal (the "oh" factor) of the cab and the creative quality and/or difficulty of the "capture" from the slab.

There will be 1 month to get the cab submitted. 1 month to judge the cab on the board and another month to finalize the judging and get the winning cabs mailed to the winner. In other words- this will be a quarterly contest. The important point is that you have a month to finish and submit your cab. DO NOT discuss your entry on the board.

Winner takes all. In the event of a tie, the winner will be determined by Tommy since he has also seen the cab in person.

Borrowing from a link Rockoonz posted with some modification:

Judging criteria:

Point Formula:

80-85 points maximum will be awarded. Below is the point formula for evaluating the cabochon.

SANDING/GRINDING 25 POINTS
I will inspect for flats, micro bevels, scratches, etc

POLISH 30 POINTS
I will inspect the quality of the final polish with respect to the polish capable of the material ex: an agate should have a water finish, a jade should not have orange peel

SYMMETRY FOR TRADITIONAL CABS 25 POINTS (That is- a cab which can be equally divided into 2)
Dome, Outline, Curvature, Symmetry, Evenness of the Girdle (where there is one)

OR

EXECUTION FOR FREEFORM CABS 25 POINTS
Dome, Outline, Curvature, Evenness of the girdle (where there is one)

An additional 5 points may be added as a degree of
difficulty factor or for a truly outstanding stone. (purely subjective- for that eye popping, perfect cab)

The backs need not be polished unless it is a transparent stone, a back bevel or chamfer may or may not be used.

For a perfect score in each category you get all of the possible points. You may have a deduction from the highest possible score in each category by having one or another done in a less than satisfactory manner. ex: for sanding- you left a micro bevel on the face or scratches in the girdle- you will have points deducted depending on how bad it was.

All participants pay their shipping costs to ship to Tommy.

Sweet! Let's give it a few days and open it up.

I would say just keep it simple - one poll, with instructions for the public to consider both elements in their vote. I think it's a lot to ask for any kind of points system to be done in a poll voting method.

Because I will already be the holder of the photos I volunteer to start the voting thread.