hall of fames

[francis weil]

hi, could someone help inform as to what criteria is needed to recieve a hall of fame induction??? seems like there should be a contribution by a person or persons of some significance in order to recieve such an award . seems like there are a bunch of organizations that have banquets just to generate revenue. if you pay for your induction/award doesn't it cheapen the induction??? do these organizations even know who they are inducting??? just curious what you all think. thanks, frank

 

[Bob Hubbard]

I received an invitation to be "honored for my contributions to the arts" back in 2002. (Martial Talk wasn't a year old yet, and I was a yellow belt). To "secure" my spot they wanted me to send a couple hundred bucks, to cover the costs of my award (a nice wall plaque), a ring, and the banquet.

I declined.

There are literally dozens of HOF's, and at the risk of seriousl pissing folks off, my opinion is, they aren't worth squat. They look nice on a resume, they pad it out, and maybe you can do some networking while waiting for dinner, but other than that, I dunno.

Any organization can start a HOF, set whatever criteria they want, and award however they wish. There are maybe 2-3 that are worth being recognized by, though even those I've heard things about.

To me, any legit HOF wouldn't charge the person being recognized a dime, and the costs associated with the award would be covered through sponsorships and donations. This doesn't mean they should give everything away for free, but that the core shouldn't cost.

My opinion. I'd do the whole "sticks n stones" thing, but I am on a martial arts site after all. LOL!

 

[John Bishop]

I received an invitation to be "honored for my contributions to the arts" back in 2002. (Martial Talk wasn't a year old yet, and I was a yellow belt). To "secure" my spot they wanted me to send a couple hundred bucks, to cover the costs of my award (a nice wall plaque), a ring, and the banquet.

I declined.

There are literally dozens of HOF's, and at the risk of seriousl pissing folks off, my opinion is, they aren't worth squat. They look nice on a resume, they pad it out, and maybe you can do some networking while waiting for dinner, but other than that, I dunno.

Any organization can start a HOF, set whatever criteria they want, and award however they wish. There are maybe 2-3 that are worth being recognized by, though even those I've heard things about.

To me, any legit HOF wouldn't charge the person being recognized a dime, and the costs associated with the award would be covered through sponsorships and donations. This doesn't mean they should give everything away for free, but that the core shouldn't cost.

My opinion. I'd do the whole "sticks n stones" thing, but I am on a martial arts site after all. LOL!

This about sums it up. Some of these HOF's just go thru the phone books and send out nominations, relying on the "ego factor" to make someone pay $250 to be inducted. And of course there will be family and students attending the banquet at $75.00 a head.
Most of these HOF's make $50,000 - $100,000 per event, so they will be going on for decades to come. There's no shortage of ego in the martial arts world.

 

[RevIV]

I have been nominated every year for a hall of fame in NJ. for the past 5 years. The first year i was excited and called to see who nominated me. they said they would get back to me. that was 5 years ago and no one has gotten back to me. I was inducted into one and it was a nice thing because i had no idea i was being inducted. it had been set up by my instructor and Don "the dragon" Wilson gave me my award. Again that was nice and i was there only to learn at the seminars and have a good dinner. So basically i did not pay for it like Prof. Bishop has said of all the others.
Jesse

 

[jks9199]

The criteria depends on the Hall of Fame in question... Kind of like the criteria for any of the multitude of "Who's who in" books...

A few are independently compiled and selected based on objective criteria. Others are more subjectively chosen, but at least are sort of independently selected. (Kind of like the Baseball or Football Halls of Fame). And quite a few "invite" honorees to be honored if they pay for inclusion...

Unfortunately, some very good and deserving people get put into some of the more questionable groups by their students or friends who pony up the fees for inclusion. That ends up giving some of the groups false legitimacy, and tarnishing the master's own reputation, often undeservedly.

 

[John Bishop]

The criteria depends on the Hall of Fame in question... Kind of like the criteria for any of the multitude of "Who's who in" books...

A few are independently compiled and selected based on objective criteria. Others are more subjectively chosen, but at least are sort of independently selected. (Kind of like the Baseball or Football Halls of Fame). And quite a few "invite" honorees to be honored if they pay for inclusion...

Unfortunately, some very good and deserving people get put into some of the more questionable groups by their students or friends who pony up the fees for inclusion. That ends up giving some of the groups false legitimacy, and tarnishing the master's own reputation, often undeservedly.

Pretty true. In fact some prestigious martial artists are usually inducted in absentia, free, just to use their name to sound legitimate.
I figure if you have to pay for a award, it's not really a award.

 

[francis weil]

so i guess the question becomes - how good can you feel about an award you basically buy??? from an organization that doesn't even know you!!

 

[jks9199]

Pretty true. In fact some prestigious martial artists are usually inducted in absentia, free, just to use their name to sound legitimate.
I figure if you have to pay for a award, it's not really a award.

Well...

Sometimes, I figure Groucho had a point... I'm not sure that I'd want to be part of a club that'd have someone like me in it!

 

[Fiendlover]

:lurk:

having to pay for ur own award is bull pucky.(lol)
i thought the whole point was to be surprised.................