2008 Windshield Repair Olympics

[SGT]

I just recieved a new edition of AGRR and saw the ad for the 3RD annual repair olympics. I considered doing this last year but the timing was wrong. Hopefully I will be able to make this years event in Nov.

I know some may not enjoy this type of setting, some may not believe in the corporate driven agendas and so on, but I thought we could have our own agenda for going, it would give new and old forum members to alike a chance to put a face to the poster. Over the years we have all expressed our tooling/resin preferences on the forum and debated WSR techniques used and this would be a great opportunity to get together to see first hand the ideas we all have shared and see how they stack up.

I know this is not going to appeal to everyone but I think it would be a great opportunity to show your stuff and let whoever may be watching know our industry is full of independent professionals who truely care about it. Also, we could learn first hand from one another, not to mention I hear Vegas has a few things to do!

Just a thought.........

[Brent Deines]

I wish the Windshield Repair Olympics would focus a little more on the quality and speed of the repair, but as every break is different I understand why that would be difficult to judge.

What it judged is how the professionalism of the technician, inspecting and protecting the vehicle, assessing the damage and any special challenges, etc.

There are a number of our competitors that spend months preparing their representatives for the event, and those that have competed in the past obviously have a leg up on the competition, but from what I know of you Brian, I would think you would be quite competitive in all areas of the competition if you spend a bit of time gathering information about the judging and properly prepare in advance.

It would be very cool if a number of windshield repair forum members entered the competition. There are always a variety of different systems being used in the competition, but the judges do a reasonably good job of not promoting any one system as being better than another. In fact, I highly commend the judges from previous years competitions for their fairness, but I would still prefer that companies sponsoring technicians, and the suppliers of tools for the competition were not allowed to judge the competition. It just opens up the door to debates over the fairness of the judging, and no one wants that to be a factor in the competition. Personally I think the criteria should be developed by industry experts, but the judging should be done by completely impartial parties, if there is such a thing.

[starstruck]

What companies were the judges associated with? Did they all have members of their companies competing? Were the past winners sponored by one of the companies? Seems like a potential conflict of interest to me.

[Brent Deines]

I would like to reiterate that I feel the judging was fair in past competitions. I do agree however that there was a "potential" conflict of interest. If I was a judge and one of my employees, or even one of my customers won, I know some would question the validity of the competition, my integrity, and the skills of the contestant.

I will refrain from listing the names of the judges, contestants, and the companies they were associated with as I am in no way questioning their integrity. I think the winners of the last two competitions won fair and square, and all the contestants that I saw performed in a very professional manner, as did the judges.

[jasonsresin]

that would be awesome. what are the dates?

[SGT]

that would be awesome. what are the dates?

I believe Nov. 5,6,7

[SGT]

that would be awesome. what are the dates?

You are right, that would be awesome if a forum member won. Our you going?

[nixquax]

Looking forward to the WSR Olmpics in Nov. I noticed last year that some techs were using the computer WSR kits. I would like to see the techs use a "old school kit" to really test the skill levels. The competition should definitely not have judges/sponsors with a conflict of interest involed in way with the competition.

[screenman]

Can someone tell me how those computerised systems know what type of repair they are working on and how do they tell when a leg etc. is full, also does it do flexing for you, I doubt it. They always seem an overkill to me, just another thought if they are a computor and not just a timer then can you get on the forum whilst doing a repair. I much prefer my brain and experience powered system, although I suppose I should get one and try it out.

[SGT]

Screenman,

With one title "WSR person of the year" already, have you given thought to trying to get a gold the WSR Olympics? I know it is a long swim across the pond!

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