asked me to post about.

So, here are a few words regarding the 1st SCOTY Awards competition of the CC&GTCC and other stuff.

First off, the definition of what qualifies for SCOTY consideration remains to be answered. It shall be the responsibility of the SC&RK Chapter of the CC&GTCC to make that determination. The SC&RK Chapter may make that decision at the Chapter Officers level, or they may put it up for vote among the Chapter's membership. However, since the Chapter Elections have not yet taken place, then this action (and those choices) will have to wait until around mid to late November.

This is because the Nominations of Chapter Officers will close at midnight 31 October and we will immediately begin Election Balloting dissemination. The Chapter will have until midnight, 31 December 2002 to decide what qualifies for SCOTY consideration. NOTE: This same process was used to define the qualifications of SSOTY candidates, i.e., the associated Chapter of the CC&GTCC (the sponsor of the SSOTY) was asked to make the determination.

Although adding SCOTY to the …OTY categories was ostensibly intended to mean Slot Club Cards only, it is recognized that Slot Club Card collecting is also inclusive of Room Keys, Player Tracking Cards and various other related casino issued cards. Therefore, the Chapter should decide what the qualifiers are for SCOTY consideration.

Aside from what cards will be considered for SCOTY competition, it remains that only those issued for use, for the first time, did so during the calendar year of 2002. Those then are the only two requirements for SCOTY consideration, from my point of view as the COTY, TOTY, SSOTY and SCOTY Awards Chairman. Was it issued in 2002 and does meet the Chapter's definition.

I will again look to the Chapter for assistance in verifying issue dates. But I am not limited to just the Chapter. I may also need to verify with the fine P.A.C.K. and/or MSOCK organizations, both of which I am a member. Furthermore, I would certainly hope that those who publish card guides will assist in such informational requests. But ideally, I would hope that any one nominating a particular card would also be familiar with the release date, but I know that that will not happen in each instance. But the bottom line here is that it is the …OTY Chairman's responsibility to screen out unqualified nominees and I believe that there is plenty of support out there to help me do this.

This is how the Nomination process will work. The first issue of the CCTN (Winter, 2003 (January, February and March)) will include a "…OTY Call For Nominations" insert. Members will be encouraged to identify five qualified candidates in each of the four …OTY categories. Although it is not a requirement to nominate in all four categories, nor is it a requirement to nominate five candidates in any individual …OTY category, it is important to realize that if you do not nominate at least one candidate in at least one category and return that Nomination to me, then you will not receive a Ballot and therefore will not be part of the judging process to select the winners.

Remember also, that Regular and Life Members of the CC&GTCC are the only recipients of the CCTN. They are responsible for passing a copy of the "…OTY Call For Nominations" insert to their affiliated Associate Members. Associate Members returning a Nomination form will also receive their own Ballot.

There will be a deadline date associated to returning the Nomination forms via snail mail. As those forms begin arriving, and up until the deadline date, I will tabulate the total number of times each item is nominated. The top ten in each of the four …OTY categories will become the Finalists for each category.

I will then secretly acquire examples of all the nominees. I will scan each and put together an Official …OTY Ballot. This Ballot will be in full color and is intended to be a souvenir of ones participation in the …OTY process. The Ballot will also have an insert for recording your top three place finishers, in each category, and again, you do not have to vote in all categories, nor do you have to vote of three place finishers.

In voting for your top three place finishers you will be assigning points to each one, as follows:

1st Place - 5 points
2nd Place - 3 points
3rd Place - 2 points

These forms are to be returned to me, again via snail mail and by a to-be-established deadline (sometime in April, perhaps May). I will again tabulate the combined point tallies and determine the top three place finishers in each category. The winners will remain secret until the evening of the 2003 Convention Banquet, during which I will announce the winners.

I have been asked if recognition can be given to the manufacturer of a given First Place winner, as opposed to just recognizing the issuing casino. I see no problem with including the manufacturer in written descriptions of the winning contestant, nor acknowledging them in the course of announcing the winner, but I am reluctant to include an award to both the issuing casino and the manufacturer.

There are several reasons that I take this position. One reason is that the current precedent is that we do not do it for COTY, TOTY or SSOTY. If we do it for SCOTY, then why not the other three. In and of itself that is probably no big deal, however, it will double the number of Invited Guests to our Banquet to receive their awards. For every Invited Guest that is present for the Banquet, we have eliminated a space for a Member. Another reason is that it will add more time to the Presentation. Judging by the last Convention Banquet, we were sold out early (and could have used more seats), and it ran long.

Well, those are my few words. Any questions? Please feel free to email me or post a response. I look forward to being able to get help from any of the fine members of MSOCK, P.A.C.K. and the newly formed Slot Card and Room Key Chapter of the Casino Chips and Gaming Tokens Collectors Club (SC&RK).

Best regards,

Jim Follis
CC&GTCC's On-Line Communications Director
CC&:GTCC's COTY, TOTY, SSOTY and SCOTY Awards Chairman
SC&RK Chapter's Elections Chairman