This years Top 30 Most Influential from Window Industries has drawn quite a few comments, as it always tends to every time it comes out. But one of the most popular question has been “who decides these things?”

People aren’t asking this question out of interest, they are asking it because they doubt the list and it’s credibility. One of the more popular observations is that if people actually knew who this “secret panel of judges” were and how they came to these decisions, perhaps the list would carry more gravitas. It’s an observation that I agree with.

This would be my own observation and recommendation; because the same people and the same magazine do this every year, and have done for a while now, it should be something they take a bit more seriously. They have said in this months magazine this is just a bit of fun and their own opinion. But because it is now an established event of the print industry, and people do have serious comments about it, the Top 30 should be crafted into something more serious and genuine.

When I mean genuine, I mean to reveal who the judges are. We live in a very open world where people expect to know most things about everything. Secrecy is very much a thing of the past and it doesn’t go down well with people any more. I don’t see the harm in letting people know who judges this thing. When we launched the National Fenestration Awards, the idea of the industry deciding the shortlists and then the industry picking the eventual winners went down very well. People liked the idea of no secret judging panels. The idea of an open platform seemed very popular.

This is the way I think this list should evolve. Become open, transparent and maybe consult the industry before the list is compiled. If not, don’t bother. Every year the list loses a little bit more credibility and and increasingly greater number of people are either taking no interest in it or openly criticizing it.

One thing I would like to say though after all that is well done to all those who made the list (barring one or two I really disagree with). It’s always nice to be recognized for the work that you do.