That we start a group or association of AZB'rs to get 'Professional' independent opinions and ratings of billiards products.
I would suggest the following to do the evaluations:
1) 2 Professional players
2) 1 Master Instructor
Different Pros and Instructor can be used for different categories.
(For example, Larry Nevel would certainly be a good choice to
evaluate Break/Jump cues while another pro might be better suited
to evaluate different shafts)
The group or association would be responsible for procuring the evaluators.
AZ members would pay the evaluation fees. There are over 8,000 members of AZB, so raising $600 to pay for 3 independent evaluations should not be that much of a problem. I certainly would contribute $5-20
for a product category evaluation that is reliable.
They would rank the products from 1 to 10 with 2 decimal places. Additional comments as provided. The group or association would be responsible for evaluation forms needed.
Members of AZB would chip in to pay for the evaluations.
The products would not be more than 6 for any one category.
Responsibility for getting the products to the evaluators would be the
responsibility of the group or association of AZB's.
Initial suggested products for evaluation:
1) Shafts
2) Break and/or Break/Jump cues.
My suggestion for payment for the evaluations:
$200 per evaluation per evaluator per category (6 products max.)
The forms themselves could be kept by a secretary of the group or association, and responsible for posting the evaluations per category into
a new subforum on AZB for all members of AZB, date oriented. The secretary would be responsible for any statistics and overall averages
of the evaluations.
I am not saying we are going to evaluate everything, just a few important categories that truly impact a player's game. And, if, by chance, we got something like chalk evaluated, for instance, then the fee would be commensurate with the category, and not the $200 per.
New products that fall into an evaluated category could be evaluated independently, at a reduced rate of course, and added to the original evaluation of the category. The determination for this would be by a majority of the group or association. The same evaluators, once chosen, would have to be maintained for a category. The secretary of the group or association would be responsible for sending copies of the previous products evaluations to the evaluator, so the evaluator can rank the new product into the proper place with the previous products.
The treasurer for the group or association could start an association Paypal account to which AZB'rs could pay into for evaluations of a category, and be responsible for maintaining it, and for payment to the
evaluators.
This is just off the top of my head, and probably need refining some, but
I feel it could work. Like I said, it would not be overused by any means, but if you are considering shafts or a new Break/Jump Cue, wouldn't you pay $5-10 to have a good independent evaluation that was reliable before you bought? I know I would.
I would suggest the following to do the evaluations:
1) 2 Professional players
2) 1 Master Instructor
Different Pros and Instructor can be used for different categories.
(For example, Larry Nevel would certainly be a good choice to
evaluate Break/Jump cues while another pro might be better suited
to evaluate different shafts)
The group or association would be responsible for procuring the evaluators.
AZ members would pay the evaluation fees. There are over 8,000 members of AZB, so raising $600 to pay for 3 independent evaluations should not be that much of a problem. I certainly would contribute $5-20
for a product category evaluation that is reliable.
They would rank the products from 1 to 10 with 2 decimal places. Additional comments as provided. The group or association would be responsible for evaluation forms needed.
Members of AZB would chip in to pay for the evaluations.
The products would not be more than 6 for any one category.
Responsibility for getting the products to the evaluators would be the
responsibility of the group or association of AZB's.
Initial suggested products for evaluation:
1) Shafts
2) Break and/or Break/Jump cues.
My suggestion for payment for the evaluations:
$200 per evaluation per evaluator per category (6 products max.)
The forms themselves could be kept by a secretary of the group or association, and responsible for posting the evaluations per category into
a new subforum on AZB for all members of AZB, date oriented. The secretary would be responsible for any statistics and overall averages
of the evaluations.
I am not saying we are going to evaluate everything, just a few important categories that truly impact a player's game. And, if, by chance, we got something like chalk evaluated, for instance, then the fee would be commensurate with the category, and not the $200 per.
New products that fall into an evaluated category could be evaluated independently, at a reduced rate of course, and added to the original evaluation of the category. The determination for this would be by a majority of the group or association. The same evaluators, once chosen, would have to be maintained for a category. The secretary of the group or association would be responsible for sending copies of the previous products evaluations to the evaluator, so the evaluator can rank the new product into the proper place with the previous products.
The treasurer for the group or association could start an association Paypal account to which AZB'rs could pay into for evaluations of a category, and be responsible for maintaining it, and for payment to the
evaluators.
This is just off the top of my head, and probably need refining some, but
I feel it could work. Like I said, it would not be overused by any means, but if you are considering shafts or a new Break/Jump Cue, wouldn't you pay $5-10 to have a good independent evaluation that was reliable before you bought? I know I would.
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