Phil:
It is an interesting idea, but it will need serious thought and
development.
Excellent post, Cara. Another musical organization I belong to spent
the better part of a year working on competition rules before they had
the first one, and almost another year after that "fixing" things that
were wrong the first time!
How well the "Rules and Regs" are thought out and executed has a huge
effect on the impact the competition has on community.
Also, if the competition is held at the very beginning of the school,
festival or convention, it has less affect on the trading of info,
techniques and help as no one is " protecting their stuff".