Tom Suddard said:
I understand the frustration, but here's what the shop contest is for:
It's to give everybody access to the tips and ideas that are usually kept secret among the fortunate few that have 3500-square-foot shops. For the record, if you add up my shop, house, shed, carport, and driveway, you still wouldn't be at 3500 square feet.
By dangling the prize carrots, we get behind-the-scenes looks at some pretty incredible shops, and we turn that access into editorial for you all. After the last Classic Motorsports shop contest, we turned the photos and descriptions that were submitted into ten full stories about organizing your shop, including one titled "Shop Secrets" with "80 Clever Tips for Streamlining Your Workspace."
And no, I'm not talking about tips like "Always order caviar in bulk–it's cheaper that way." I'm talking about stuff like mounting your hose reels on the wall near your overhead doors, instead of the back wall by your benches. Why? Because now you can reach the entire shop and your driveway, too.
The goal of these contests is not to make you feel bad for having a smaller garage. It's to get those with spectacular garages to open them up and share their knowledge. I looked through the entries, and I'm pretty sure I learned something from every single shop. Without this contest, all we'd know is that there's a guy in that airplane hangar with a few old cars, not "hey, that guy with the airplane hangar had a great tip about wrench organization."
I think the "prize carrots" thing is kind of funny.; It's pretty clear that none of the shops that won have owners who are in need of (for instance) an entry-level welding setup. Meanwhile the guy with the "budget shop" may be using some crappy old HF welder, for which the Eastwood 175 would be a nice upgrade (disclaimer - I have a decent welder, so not talking about me).
Maybe next year, do a bit of an expansion:
Top Commercial Shop: No physical prize, but a free page of advertising in GRM magazine for XX amount of time (more value to a commercial shop anyhow)
Top High-Dollar Shop: A gold-plated plaque or sign to show off to friends and visitors
Top Large Grassroots Shop: Prizes
Top Small Grassroots Shoo: Prizes
Judges' Choice (for any reason: Prizes
With "Grassroots" being determined by GRM editors or whatever. Just a thought.
Mine doesn't win in any of those categories (and it was already in CM a few years back!), so I'm not complaining so much as trying to think of a way to keep the true "grassroots" crowd involved.