CRN Channel Madness: Tournament Methodology And Rules
The CRN Channel Madness Tournament of Chiefs is presented to the CRN.com readership as an informal exercise in fun. That said, here's the methodology we used to put it together and the rules for participation.
A panel of CRN editors selected a field of 32 channel executives for inclusion in the Channel Madness Tournament of Chiefs. The field was selected from the 2015 CRN 50 Most Influential Channel Chiefs list. Only sitting channel executives were included in the field, and each vendor was limited to no more than two executive representatives.
The selected channel chiefs were chosen based on an assessment of the influence individual channel executives have within their own organizations and/or within the IT channel as a whole. Consideration was also given to the presence and impact the vendor companies have within the IT channel. We took a number of things into account, including but not limited to ongoing feedback throughout the year from solution providers on executives’ effectiveness and visibility, as well as their business and sales impact.
CRN editors determined each executive's placement in one of four "regions" and also determined the pairings for Round 1 match-ups. Subsequent pairings will be determined by tournament voters in accordance the bracket.
Any reader of CRN.com is invited to vote in the tournament. Automated voting, or "robo-voting" is prohibited. CRN editors reserve the right to exclude votes that appear to violate this prohibition or seem in some way suspicious. It's our call.
The executive who receives the largest number of votes in each pairing during the open voting period will be declared the winner of that match-up and will move on to the next round, where voting will begin again at zero (i.e. votes from Round 1 do not count toward the totals for Round 2). The executive who receives the least number of votes in each pairing will be eliminated from the tournament but will live to fight another day.
The Round 1 open voting period begins Thursday, March 19, 2015 at 10:00 AM ET and closes Wednesday, March 25, 2015 at 10:00 AM ET.
The Round 2 open voting period begins Thursday, March 26, 2015 at 10:00 AM ET and closes Tuesday, March 31 at noon ET.
Open voting periods for subsequent rounds will be disclosed here and elsewhere on CRN.com during the tournament.
Only votes logged during the open voting period will be counted.
The winner of the final round will be declared the champion of the 2015 CRN Channel Madness Tournament of Chiefs. He or she can lay claim to bragging rights to that effect and will likely receive some congratulatory Tweets, possibly a small plaque.
That's it. Enjoy the CRN Channel Madness Tournament, and happy voting!