Wednesday, September 16, 2009

What Would You Do?

As of this writing I counted 31 members on the Rock Hall Nominating Committee. What would you do if the Rock Hall called and said they chose you for #32. Every year fans, experts, musicologists, critics, etc. debate the NomCom's final nominees and wonder how they can leave out certain names. But if indeed all 31 of these people are sitting in a room (maybe some are on a conference call line), I think it would be impossible to avoid the politics that would invade the process.
Years ago, when the Baseball Veterans Committee met in private to vote on new inductees, there would always be reports of political bickering over final choices.
The Football Hall of Fame meets in much the same manner as the Rock Hall. People sit in a room and debate nominees. But they make the final choices for inductees.
If I were a nominee, I'm sure my choices would get a good working over. Would even half of the 30 other people there think my choices belonged?
I'm not here to defend the NomCom. It's not so much the process as it is who's on the panel. I strongly advocate changing members every 3 to 5 years. Either on a rotating basis (so you don't have the same group of 32 every year) or just bringing in 32 fresh voices every 3 to 5 years. Trust me, there are many people who could bring fresh perspective to the Rock Hall's nominating process.
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