2023 VMAPA HOF NOMINATINS ARE OPEN

Nominations are accepted annually from January 1st at 12:00 a.m. PST through February 15th at 11:59 p.m. PST. All nominations are submitted to a 3-member Hall of Fame Committee (HOFC). The primary responsibility of this committee is the administration of the nomination process. After the HOFC reviews the nomination submissions, those meeting all the requirements are sent to the Screening and Selection Committee (SASC). The SASC consists of 6 members, the Executive Director and the HOFC Chair. The SASC is responsible for the vetting of all nominees and has until March 28th to complete their review. At the end of March, a ballot selection meeting is held to discuss and select the nominees that will be placed on the ballot. Once the ballot is finalized, the nomination submissions for each of the candidates will be sent to the Voting Membership for review. Ballots will be mailed no later than April 15th . All ballots must be returned no later than 11:59 p.m. PST on May 1st .

You may remember, last year was the first year of a major overhaul to the HOF nomination process.  While we were fairly pleased with the final process, we also knew that once it was rolled out, areas in  need of improvement would become apparent. One of the responsibilities of the Hall of Fame  Committee (HOFC) is to continually review the nomination process, and when necessary make the appropriate changes. Our goal is to help make it as easy as possible for you. In an effort to simplify the  process, the following changes have been made for 2023:  

1. Improved Instructions to make it easier to prepare your submittal. 

2. A more user friendly application thanks to the feedback from our 2022 Nominators and the  revisions made by our HOF Technical Guru, Mike Eng.  

3. Equal number of candidates possible on the ballot for Contemporary and Legacy categories – minimum requirement is now 2 with a maximum of 10 nominees for each category, allowing  more Legacy nominees to be considered. 

4. Standardized voting outcomes for Contemporary and Legacy categories – All candidates,  regardless of category, selected for the ballot will be inducted if they achieve a minimum of 60%  of the vote. 

5. The wait time of one year before re-submittal of a nominee that was dropped from the 3-year consideration pool has been eliminated. 

The number one question that kept surfacing during the new 2022 Hall of Fame process was, “Why can  only 2 Legacy candidates be inducted each year?” 

We were reminded that the early success of the SCV organization was due to the efforts of many  individuals that worked endless hours to make Gail Royer’s dream of a World Class Championship Corps a reality. For several decades, it was the Booster Club, marching members and other volunteers working  behind the scenes to provide the financial support and exceptional effort needed to field the corps. A  tremendous amount of fundraising was required before bingo was legalized. Once the bingo game was  started, an entirely new level of expertise and volunteers were required to ensure bingo would not only  survive, but flourish. It took people with vision, leadership and drive to continue the growth and success of the SCV organization for what will soon be 56 years.  

There are many individuals and couples that should be acknowledged for their contributions and impact  during these decades. We agree as time goes by, the likelihood of these individuals and couples being  nominated will significantly decrease, and ultimately, may be forgotten. Those of us who were lucky  (and old) enough to have marched in the Corps during the early years, know the importance these  efforts made to our growth and continued success. We all share the responsibility to ensure we  acknowledge the outstanding contributors of each decade and honor their significance in the Corps’  history by creating the opportunity for them to be considered for induction into the VMAPA HOF. 

The fact of the matter is that there are many VMAPA members worthy of consideration, whether it be  as a Contemporary or Legacy nominee. All that needs to happen is that someone, like you, is willing to  do the work to nominate them.  

We are often asked by VMAPA members, as well as DCI members, why certain individuals aren’t already  in the VMAPA Hall of Fame? The answer is usually because no one has nominated them. The HOFC  decided to compile and maintain such a list along with the person who asked the question as a resource  for future nominators. We believe that if asked, every person who has been associated with VMAPA  would be able to name at least 2 people they think should be inducted. Can you? 

You don’t have to take on the job of writing a nomination application all by yourself. If you have  someone you would like to nominate, and aren’t quite sure how to go about it, email us at hof@scvanguard.org. The HOFC is available to answer questions and assist your understanding of the  nomination process. Nominators are advised to check with the HOFC before starting the nomination  process to see if their nominee has already been nominated. With our potential nominee list, we could  also provide you with the name and contact information of someone else who agrees with your  nominee choice, and may have additional information to include in the nomination. 

We are hoping that while reading this article, a few people came to mind who you feel should be in the  HOF and that you are inspired to complete a nomination application. While their names are fresh in  your mind, please email us at hof@scvanguard.org and we will add them to the list and let you know if  they have already been nominated.