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Developers discuss planning for MAXIs

By Kevin Kenyon

So how does someone become a MAXI judge? Obviously, a certain degree of experience in marketing is essential. Until 1996, judges actually came from outside the shopping center arena, with the idea of guaranteeing objectivity. The system was changed so that experts in shopping center marketing and management could offer their perspectives.

Judges aren't paid, so they volunteer their services, said JoAnn Laut, ICSC's senior manager of professional recognition.

"People volunteer, and their names are submitted to the more senior members of the MAXI committee," she said.

Given that the reading can be tedious, and the judging requires at least three days out of the office (excluding travel), why do it?

"The judging is my personal barometer of where the industry is," said Cheri A. Morris, SCMD, president of Atlanta-based marketing firm Morris & Fellows.

"It's the only chance to read all of these good ideas. There is no way to read them all during the Fall Convention. It's a unique chance to know all the good ideas and implement them in our projects," said Axel F.R. Chaves, AMD/SCMD, president of Mix Rio Marketing, Rio de Janeiro.