All these anecdotes are interesting, and getting feedback from those engaged in an activity is always desirable to keep an activity aligned with participants' interests; however, are the numbers of pilots participating in pattern contests so low that the anecdotes themselves tend to loom large and perhaps overshadow any set objective criteria for what each class should contain, or the sequence assigned to the class?  A general question here for the group and not an observation of anyone's individual posts or discussions.  It's all good, but as a newcomer to the sport, I wonder if local concerns can be inadvertently amplified simply due to the very small size of our pattern contestant community? Any thoughts? Dana