It is our goal to create an awards organization where the recipients of the awards would be determined by The Pinball Industry Awards Judging Panel, rather than determined by a popular vote. The judges will be comprised of pre-vetted pinball hobbyist media such as podcasters, streamers, video creators, writers, etc. In the effort for transparency, all judges, nominations, and vote tallies will be public.
Zach Meny started his pinball career as a hobbyist/enthusiast in early 2016. He quickly and obsessively over the past four years consumed everything ‘pinball’, from co-founding Straight Down The Middle: a pinball show video series, co-creating the TWIPYs, a viewers-choice pinball awards show, purchasing Flip N Out Pinball LLC, a distribution company, and co-founding The Pinball Network. In 2021, he brings his vision of a critics-choice and public celebration of yearly pinball accomplishments.
Flip N Out Pinball
Jessy was raised on 90s machines in one of Australia's pinball hotspots. Committed to sharing the love of the game far and wide, she is the host of Jessy Jay's Pinball Adventures with Ryan C and joined The Pinball Network in June 2020.
Jessy Jay's Pinball Adventures
Dennis began collecting pinball machines in 2012 and competitively playing in 2015. He co-hosts Eclectic Gamers Podcast, formed in early 2016 to cover pinball and video games, and is the co-host of TPN's The Pinball Show, and has appeared as a guest host on several other podcasts.
Eclectic Gamer's Podcast
David is an avid pinball enthusiast and has been active in Pinball since 2018. He joined The Pinball Network in March of 2020 and is the host of Silverball Chronicles with Ron Hallett.
Silverball Chronicles
Resurrected by a Voodoo Priestess, Josh emerged from his musty crypt to embrace the neon glow of the night. Stalking prey in the nightclubs, arcades, and pin-bars, he masks his sinister intentions with a dapper and debonair demeanor. Musician, Madman, and Podcaster, Josh narrates the intertwine of pinball’s mechanical amusement and the human condition.
Silverball Stories
George hated pinball until he stumbled into an underground gaming paradise in 2017 that served craft beer in Colorado. He found the pinball community and 80s music. Since then, he's fought boredom, sobriety, and monetary success one stream at a time.
Don't Panic Flip
Eligibility Requirements: To be eligible for the 2020 Pinball Industry Awards, the pinball machine must have been released from 12/1/2019 to 12/1/2020.
The Pinball Awards Judging Panel will be comprised of any Pinball Hobbyist Media who meets the criteria below. The PIA Governing Committee will vet each applicant around the eligibility requirements. All Judges will be identified by name and organization publicly on this site to ensure transparency of the judging pool but their final votes will be kept confidential. A list of declined judges and reasons why will be retained but not published. If an issue arises around someone being excluded the reasons why may then be made public. Once a person qualifies as a PIA Judging Panel Judge, they will receive the secure online voting ballot via email where they will vote for their Category Award choices
To ensure The Pinball Industry Awards are as unbiased as possible we strive to keep conflicts of interest in the judging pool as small as possible. This requires exclusions in the selection criteria. Current employees or contract employees of industry manufacturers are unable to vote even if they meet the definition of Pinball Hobbyist Media.
The Excellence in Pinball Awards Judges will be comprised of The Pinball Network Members. It is our goal to prevent the Excellence Awards from becoming a popularity contest among those nominated. There will not be a 'winner' of each award, but a 'recipient' who the Excellence Award Judges wish to recognize. In some cases, there may actually be multiple recipients of an Excellence Award. To prevent a popular vote run off from happening, the PIA Governing Committee has determined to keep the judging pool closed with nominations and judging to be done by TPN members.
Each TPN Judge can nominate one individual per Excellence Category and defend that nomination to the other judges. Once all the nominations are submitted a discussion/vote will take place to determine majority agreement on a recipient(s).
All nominations, nominators, and their high level arguments will be posted on this website for transparency purposes.
This award honors a pinball streamer(s) that has displayed ‘Excellence in Pinball’ by significantly contributing to the sense of community in pinball, has innovated in terms of technology in broadcasting, worked to grow the community, has consistently engaged virtually on streaming platforms, built a professional and positive brand, and who is an ambassador to the hobby of pinball.
This award honors the pinball podcast that has displayed ‘Excellence in Pinball’ by providing consistent content, unique creative license, technical achievement in editing and sound production and furthered the hobby of pinball in a positive way.
This award honors a pinball writer that has displayed ‘Excellence in Pinball’ by publishing a pinball article of significance, be it fiction or non-fiction, formally printed or online and has built the literary portfolio of the hobby of pinball.
This award honors a pinball photographer that has displayed ‘Excellence in Pinball’ by publishing photography with an emphasis on pinball, where technical achievement is displayed and has advanced the photographic presence of the hobby of pinball.
This award honors a pinball videographer that has displayed ‘Excellence in Pinball’ by publishing videos featuring pinball content, whose ability to capture an event or communicate a pinball-oriented message is exceptional, where technical achievement and innovation is on display and has advanced the presence of the hobby of pinball in a visual medium.
Annually, The Pinball Industry Awards Governing Committee will induct pinball machines
(not individuals or design teams), voted on by the pinball community to the Pinball Machine Hall of Fame. Votes will
be accepted until January 6th 2021, 12:00PM ET
Machines must:
- Have flippers
- Machines prior to 1995 must have a production run of 500+ machines
- Cannot include novelty machines
- Pro/Premium/LE machines are included as one machine
Grand Prix (Williams)
Meteor (Stern)
Eight Ball Deluxe (Bally)
Medieval Madness (Williams)
The Lord of the Rings (Stern)
The Wizard of Oz (Jersey Jack Pinball)
The This Week In Pinball Yearly Awards (TWIPYs) are a great part of the hobby and are a People's Choice style award, which means everyone online can vote for their favorites. Conversely, The Pinball Industry Awards are a Critics Choice style of awards with a pre-vetted judging pool, comprised of the pinball industry Hobbyist Media.
This Week In Pinball does an amazing job of hosting the TWIPYs, a People’s Choice style award. Everyone should be proud of what TWIP brings to the hobby in terms of community engagement, energy, and quality. Pinball is an awesome hobby to be a part of and TPN wants to continue to diversify the various ways those who put so much into the hobby are celebrated. The best way to expand the hobby awards is adding a Critic’s Choice style award.
The Excellence Awards are designed to be a recognition of innovation and creativity in pinball, NOT a TPN provider celebration. Nominations will be from both inside and outside TPN and are based on merit. There is a great deal of debate among the Excellence Award Panel members regarding who should be nominated, the reasons they are nominated, and who should be publicly recognized for their yearly excellence.
To prevent a popular vote run off from happening the PIA Governing Committee has determined to keep the judging pool closed with nominations and judging to be done by TPN members.
Bias will always exist. By making all Excellence Awards judges, nominees, and final votes public, we plan on being as transparent and open as possible. This will help us manage conflicts of interest and bias. In the end, the pinball community will be the final judge.
+1 812-457-9711
info@thepinballindustryawards.com