So here is the revised ROTM (revised DEC 2009)(revised JAN 2012):

Nomination Eligibility:
This is pretty simple. There are only five criteria that the nominees must meet.

1. Nominees must have been a member for 2 months prior to the month nominations are being held in.
2. Nominees must have 5 posts in each of the 2 preceding months.
3. All nominees must have a gallery (including garage galleries) containing at least one picture of their vehicle.
4. Previous ROTM winners are not eligible for 12 months from the month they won in.
5. Nominees making it into the voting thread are not eligible for the following month's nominations.
6. Nominee must currently own the vehicle being nominated. If ROTM winner does not own vehicle at time of ROTY vote, they become ineligible. (Effective 3/31/12)

So not only do you need to have been a member for at least 2 months prior to the current month, you also have to have posted at least 5 times a month. This is to make sure that the nominees are still active in the forum. This goes for any member, not just the new ones!

To avoid confusion, here is the run down (join/eligible): January/April, February/May, March/June, April/July, May/August, June/September, July/October, August/November, September/December, October/January, November/February, December/March.


So Here's the procedure:

1. Open nominations will be held during the first week of the month.
2. Members can nominate one(1) eligible member each and a list of non-eligible members will be posted in the initial post.
3. All nominees will be put into a list in order of nomination.
4. All nominees must accept prior to the 10th of the month.
5. The list will be randomized with the results to be posted in the nomination thread along with the randomization date used.
6. At the same time, the chosen candidates will be notified via PM to send links to the ROTM picture of their choosing (640x480 only please)
7. The Voting thread will be setup by the 14th of the month with or without pictures.

I would like the nomination thread to have posts containing ONLY nominations or accepting nominations. The nomination posts should only list the member being nominated and the person doing the nominating (i.e. davtak - swartlkk where I am nominating davtak). After someone has been nominated, they must accept to be put into the list prior to randomizing. Periodically through the thread, either davtak or myself will post a summary of the nominations and acceptance up to that point. After the first week of nominations, a post will be made stating that nominations are closed and the final list will be created. The nominees will then have 3 more days to accept their nominations. From there, the randomized list of the accepted nominations will be posted and the top 5 will move on to the voting.

Please be assured that the randomization will be unbiased in any way. The list will be copied into the utility found on random.org with the advanced option of the pre-generated randomization from a date to be announced after nominations have closed. This will ensure that if any member were to question the randomization, they could go in and perform the exact same randomization with the list from the nomination thread. The date of the pre-generated randomization will be referenced when the randomized list is posted.

The voting thread will be created with the selected members, pictures of their vehicle (if/when available) and links to their gallery and/or profile. Voting will run until the end of the month at which time we will have our winner. If, at the end of the month, the votes result in a tie, the Admins and Mods will choose a winner from those members in the tie.

Once we get things sorted for the ROTM spotlight pages, the ROTM winner will then need to PM me (swartlkk) and TripleBlackBlazer with a quick bio of your vehicle, mods you have done, further plans, etc. Be creative! This information will be linked to from the ROTM area on the homepage during the month for which you have won.

Let me state that every post in this section is under strict review by the Admins. Only posts discussing the voting will be permitted. Posts containing pictures or links to pictures by the candidates will be deleted. That includes posts that criticize the selection and/or individual members who are getting voted on. If you don't like the selection or a particular member, keep it to yourself.