(Auburn, Indiana – IMTM PR) – The International Monster Truck Museum & Hall of Fame’s Board of Directors held a regular meeting on Wednesday, May 9th, 2012. All Directors were present. The following is a summary of what was discussed.
The deadline for the IMTM Nominating Committee to submit their nominations for the 2012 Hall of Fame Class of Inductees passed on May 5th, and results of the nominating process were reviewed by the Board. 22 of the 25 members of the Nominating Committee submitted their nominations.
The first issue of discussion that came up in totaling the nominations required action from the Board of Directors. In some cases, nominating committee members nominated people who worked together during their careers as a group (i.e. Person A/Person B nominated as one), while others chose to nominate Person A and Person B separately, and even others nominated only Person A or only Person B. This happened in several instances and shows the varying opinions on inducting people together versus inducting individuals.
With great discussion, the IMTM Board came to realize that this is a issue that will continue to pop up over the years, and rather than having to decide on a case-by-case basis which groups should be considered and inducted together versus separately, the Board unanimously voted to resolve the issue in the fairest way possible – considering each individual on their own merits.
This will be the official policy for the nominating process going forward, including for 2012. As such, in every case where a nominating committee member selected “Person A & Person B” together as 1 nomination, both Person A and Person B were each assigned 1 nomination to their individual totals.
With the issue decided, the results were analyzed and it was found that there would be no necessary tie-breakers – the top 20 people who received the most nominations will continue on to be included on the official voting ballot.
The Board discussed the performance of Nominating Committee members in carrying out their duties, and was overall very pleased to have received input from people involved in all aspects of the industry. Board members did express disappointment that several members did not include their reasoning behind each of their selections. The Board wanted to especially thank those committee members who included detailed summaries for each of their nominees – this information is greatly valued and will be made available to those voting later this year. The Board will wait until after this year’s Induction Ceremony & Reunion to decide which members of the committee to retain for the 2013 selection process.
The Board next discussed the announcement of the 20 nominees to the public which is scheduled to occur on Friday, May 18th at the Lima, OH 4-Wheel Jamboree Nationals, and then online on Saturday, May 19th. Discussion included whether to include the full results and how many nominations each candidate received or to just announce a list of the 20 nominees and a list of other names who received nominations but didn’t make the cut. Opinions were split on this topic, so an agreement was reached to announce the full results to the Nominating Committee members and to previous Hall of Fame Inductees privately, and announce only the names publicly.
The IMTM Vice President suggested that a time line showing when each of this year’s 20 nominees began their involvement in monster trucks be created. As this is a portion of the criteria for nominating and voting (“Consideration should also be weighted to the time line of their involvement in the history of the sport”), the Board unanimously agreed. This project will be assigned to the IMTM Research Committee. The finished time line will be included along with the voting ballots that will be mailed out in mid-June.
Next up for discussion was whether to begin publicly sharing notes from the IMTM Board’s regular meetings. Some supporters had expressed concerns about not knowing what the Board was discussing and suggested making the official meeting minutes publicly available. While the Board did not feel comprehensive minutes of the meetings were necessary, they did unanimously agree that publishing a summary of what was discussed would be a good idea. The IMTM Secretary will now write this summary and post it on the IMTM website after each meeting.
The next discussion related to ticket prices and sponsorship packages for the 2nd Annual IMTM Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony & Reunion being held on November 3rd, 2012. The Board unanimously agreed to keep pricing the same for this year for both tickets and the basic sponsorship package. Ideas were raised on creating a larger sponsorship package that might allow those looking to support the organization further to enjoy some special perks. The Board will continue to research this topic for the next meeting.
Several nominating committee members had suggested the creation of a memorial for those who have worked in monster trucks and have passed away. The Board unanimously agreed this would be a great tribute. The IMTM Secretary will work with Research Committee member Colby Marshall (head of video research) to create a video memorial for this year’s Induction Ceremony & Reunion honoring all those who have passed to date. This video will then be made each year honoring those who have passed during that year. Also discussed was creating a plaque with all the names of monster trucks’ fallen heroes. The IMTM President will work on having a design concept made up and a quote prepared for discussion at a later meeting.
The Board discussed ideas that had been raised relating to whether there should be categories for those being inducted into the Hall of Fame, and also concerns about the number of nominees/inductees each year. The Board re-visited previous discussions on these subjects from when the selection process was being created in late 2011. The Board was comfortable with their original decisions, outlined in the selection process press release from April 1st, 2012, referenced here:
“Candidates will be primarily considered based on all contributions to, and accomplishments in, any aspect of the monster truck industry, and will not be inducted by group (i.e. inducted as a driver, promoter, media, etc.). Because people in monster trucks often work in multiple roles over their career, consideration should be given to their entire body of work.”
“As the years pass and a greater number of the sport’s most influential figures have been inducted, the Board of Directors will consider putting in place additional eligibility requirements, should they become necessary, to limit the pool of candidates to only the best and brightest.”
The Board wants to remind supporters that the selection process will be revisited each year and any necessary adjustments will be made. Input from any supporters of the organization is always welcome at info@monstermuseum.org. Each member of the Board of Directors has access to this email and will review any input received.
Thank you to all of the supporters of the International Monster Truck Museum & Hall of Fame. We look forward to seeing all of you on Saturday, November 3rd for the 2nd Annual IMTM Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony & Reunion.
The IMTM Board of Directors
info@monstermuseum.org