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Membership Handbook

Exhibit and Judging Rules

Table of Contents

*Introduction
*Articles of Incorporation
*Bylaws
*Code of Ethics
*General Show Floor Rules
*Show Facilities Standards
*Administrative Show Rules
*Exhibit and Judging Rules
*Sample Show Forms
*Grading Standards
*Membership

One of the primary reasons for exhibiting is to promote the insulator “story” to the general public, by stressing education, history and information.  One of the NIA’s primary goals is to increase interest in insulator collecting thus attracting new collectors, which can be accomplished through quality displays.  The NIA Board of Directors as a general guide for show hosts has adopted the following Exhibit and Judging Rules.  They are meant to encourage more collectors to display, improve the quality of exhibits, and to provide some measure of uniformity and fairness in judging.  These rules are in full effect for the NIA National and Regional shows. For NIA sanctioned local shows, adjustments may be made at the host’s discretion to fit certain circumstances.

  1. Displays or exhibits may be either a competitive entry or a non-competitive entry. There are ten competitive categories that have been established for displays.

    Non-Competitive Entry  (open to insulators and/or related items displayed by clubs, groups, displays shared by multiple owners and individuals who choose to not have their exhibit/display judged.

    Competitive Entry Categories

    1. Threadless
    2. Threaded Glass
    3. Threaded Porcelain
    4. Specialty (i.e. one company, one style, patents, errors, etc.)
    5. General (exhibits of mixed insulators, the total theme of which does not accurately fit any other single category listing.)
    6. Color (glass, porcelain or any combination).
    7. Foreign (glass, porcelain or any combination).
    8. Lightning Rod Equipment (insulators, balls, vanes, etc.)
    9. Pole Line Hardware and Equipment (insulator mounting pins, brackets, pole and cross-arm construction materials, lineman tools, tie wires, pole steps, and other hardware used in conjunction with insulators and line construction.  The exhibit must include some use of insulators and must clearly identify the connection between insulators and those items being displayed.)
    10. Go-withs (advertising pieces, post cards, insulator shipping boxes, insulators on postage stamps, business cards of collectors, metal signs or non-insulator products made by insulator manufacturing companies.  The exhibit must include some use of insulators and must clearly identify the connection between insulators and those items being displayed.)

  2. Exhibitor Rules:

    1. At the NIA National Show only, exhibitors must be NIA members.

    2. NIA Junior members will enter their exhibit in one of the standard NIA exhibit categories.

    3. A Junior member is defined as under the age of 18. A Junior member must not attain their 18th birthday during the show they are exhibiting in.

    4. The exhibitor must determine and declare the competitive category of their exhibit/display at the time of reserving exhibit space.

    5. Two or more people or a club may collaborate on a competitive exhibit/display. Only one award will be presented to collaborative exhibits/displays.

    6. Exhibitors will be permitted to include limited numbers of non-owned items in their display.  Ownership of borrowed pieces must be acknowledged in the display.

    7.  Imitation or altered insulators and/or related items may be used in exhibits, but must be clearly identified as such in the exhibit.  Restored items are acceptable in exhibits, and need not be identified as such.

    8. Exhibits or portions thereof may not be marked “for sale,” or their value indicated in any way.

    9. Exhibitors are requested to display the awards(s) on their exhibit until it is taken down, and should wear any special name cards or badges provided by the show host.

    10. Exhibits should not be dismantled until the end of the show unless prior arrangements are made with the show hosts.

  3. Show Host Exhibit/Display Rules:

    1. Exhibit space at all shows shall be free, and available on a first-come basis. Exhibitors may be expected to bring their own fixtures, extension cords, etc.

    2. At the NIA National and Regional shows, if exhibit space reserved for insulators and/or related items should still be available 60 days or less from the date of the show, the host may permit other noncompetitive exhibits of suitable antique/collectible items, subject to the approval of the NIA Board of Directors.

    3. Show hosts will provide ribbons or some type of award for all exhibitors as recognition for exhibiting.

  4. Awards and Presentations:

    1. The NIA will provide trophies, plaques or awards for Junior and Adult 1st place winners of the various categories.

    2. The show host will provide ribbons or some type of award for all exhibitors as recognition for exhibiting.

    3. The NIA Board of Directors has the authority to honor esteemed contributors to the hobby and the NIA, by naming awards after such individuals.  As such, the “Dr. Fredrick L. Griffin Memorial Award” (recipient selected by the show judging panel), is in recognition of the first NIA President, and will be given for the most outstanding threadless exhibit, in lieu of a standard first place award.

    4. The NIA will present a “NIA Best of Show Award” at National and Regional Shows.  The award will be presented to the exhibitor achieving the highest total cumulative score from the judges.

    5. The NIA, at the National Show, may present three special awards:

      1. The “Milholland Educational Award” (recipient selected by the show judging panel).  This award is in recognition of Marion and Evelyn Milholland for their tireless work over many years to research and publish information on glass insulators, all of which contributed immeasurably to the growth and enjoyment of the hobby.  The award is given for the one exhibit that most effectively achieves an educational theme. Insulators, props and historical explanations must be combined with good showmanship to capture the attention of all collectors and the viewing public.  This award may be any exhibit regardless of the category entered.  The award is determined and selected as that exhibit receiving the highest cumulative score of all the judges scoring in the showmanship and education portions of the score sheet.

      2. The “Outstanding Service Award” (recipient nominated and selected by the NIA Awards and Recognition Committee).  Given to an NIA member who has performed outstanding service for the NIA and contributed substantially to the insulator hobby.  The NIA President prepares, distributes and tabulates ballots for this award.

      3. An “NIA Lifetime Membership” may be presented to any NIA member for cumulative meritorious service to the NIA or the insulator- collecting hobby.  The Awards and Recognition Committee receives nominations from the membership and delivers the nominations to the NIA President.  The NIA President prepares, distributes and tabulates ballots for this award.

    6. The presentation of all NIA category awards and individual club awards will be made on the show floor immediately after the judging and tabulation of scores.

    7. The top NIA awards (Best of Show Award, Milholland Educational Award, Outstanding Service Award and Lifetime Membership Award) will be presented at the awards banquet.  In addition, awards to show hosts, People’s Choice award and other miscellaneous awards will be presented during the banquet.  Additionally, the winners of all category and club awards would be announced during the awards banquet.

  5. Judging Rules:

    1. Judges and exhibitors should remember that displays are for the general public as well as for other members of the hobby, so it is desirable to be creative and original, and avoid showing the same exhibit several times without substantial modification.  Repetitive showings of the same exhibit should result in a reduced score.

    2. An exhibit/display must exceed a threshold numerical judging score in order to qualify for the “best of category” award.  An Adult exhibitor must achieve a minimum score of 75 and a Junior exhibitor must achieve a minimum score of 65.  Single exhibitors in any category must achieve the minimum score for their exhibit in order to receive an award.

    3. A tally sheet will be furnished to exhibitors after the judging, showing how the judges rated each exhibit as compared with other entrants in the same category.  This will show exhibitors where improvement is needed.  The judges will not be identified on these tally sheets.

    4. Judging decisions will be final.  Ties will be re-judged.

    5. There will be a minimum of three judges for each category, and a given person may judge more than one category, if qualified.  All judges at a National Show should have previous judging experience.  The majority of judges at a Regional Show should have previous judging experience.  At a National Show the judging panel should include at least one judge from each of the three NIA regions.

    6. A person may not judge any category in which that person or a family member has an entry.

    7. The Awards & Recognition Chairperson (or in his/her absence an Awards & Recognition Committee Member) will act as the Judging Chairperson at the NIA National Convention.  The Judging Chairperson, with the cooperation of the Show Host, will determine who will be in attendance at the show, select the judges, supervise them, and tally the score sheets.  The Judging Chairperson at the NIA National Convention is not allowed to enter a competitive exhibit.

    8. Judges will be furnished standardized printed scoring sheets by the Judging Chairperson, and

    9. Judging will be accomplished using the NIA’s standard 100- point system. The average of all judges for any given category will be the final score.  The standard NIA 100-point system is as follows:

    1. 35 points - Showmanship (eye-catching, public appeal, good use of go-withs, display props, lighting, Condition, Category adherence.) Five points possible for each element.
    2. 35 points - Education (History, Information, Explanation, Good use of titles, Labels, Handouts, Exhibitor biography.) Five points possible for each element.
    3. 15 points - Rarity 
    4. 9 points - Variety 
    5. 6 points - Originality (independent and creative thought, freshness of idea, new or unusual arrangement, etc.). Two points possible for each element.

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