Cosplay competition

The cosplay competition was a hot topic this year due to people complaining a lot about the way it was handled. The rules with regards to competing should be amended and more clear. And these are main problems I found.

1. People shouldn't be allowed to compete with the same costume in more than 1 category, regardless of whether it was single or group cosplay. This would give a fair chance to everyone.
2. People should compete as individuals or as a group of individuals, not as part of an organisation.
3. Results could have been announced there and then, not just first place winners. This would help avoid claims that results were "rigged" after reading them on facebook.
4. Competition should not be left completely in the hands of any cosplay organisation/group, as it would be unfair on those people who are new to the cosplay experience and/or not members of any group.
5. Also, if someone won with a costume the year before or in another category (as mentioned in point 1), they shouldn't compete with the same costume again. It isn't fair on those who make or buy new costumes.

I can't remember what else I wanted to say, but those are the main points. Overall, I enjoyed the competition and saw some good skits.

Thanks...we will try to do our best to improve!

One thing for sure is that the Cosplay competition is going to be managed by our team.

Something to add to this. Please be careful with your selection of judges for this competition. Most of the entries are almost always anime related. Having someone whose main interest is comics as a judge is passable however I remember that one of the judges was a novelist. I'm not sure how a novelist was qualified to judge a cosplay competition in any way.

Thanks for the suggestions guys and keep them coming. Yes this year the cosplay competition is being re-vamped with the aim to address the issues pointed out here.

As for judges, last year the main judge was the much travelled Sonia Leong who despite being a comic creator has also a vast experience in judging various cosplay competitions world wide. This year we're going to have a professional cosplayer from Germany as head judge. As for the rest of the judges, we try to go for people who are well versed in different fields. The novelist in question last year was despite his profession well versed in anime.

Thanks Ken for your suggestions. We are compiling a list on how we can improve the various sectors in the Comic Con to make it more interesting and enticing for the participants as well as for the visitors. Will surely take note of yours!

I would like to add some material as well.
Regarding the judges make sure they have no direct affliations to the contestants, because as far as i recall one of the judges last year was a costume designer for MICA which some would even assume he made the costumes participating in the competition

As for rewards.
If possible just to have nominations for different categories, no need for an actual reward. Simply nominations such as "Best Makeup", "Best Acting", "Best Props" etc.

Edit:
I'd also like to add. Simply make sure that either everyone or no one is allowed to use the stage for pre-competition rehersals.
Although the stage itself was a great area.

Hey thanks for posting. Your suggestions are duly noted and welcomed.