Pick of the Fringe?

Author Name: 
Andrew Templeton

An interesting debate on the system for selecting "Pick of the Fringe" was started on one of the show threads. I thought it best to move it over here so as to not single out a particular production.

First off, it's fair to say that the Fringe worked hard to create a system that attempts to balance out the problem of shows in small venues versus those in big venues with its ranking system (audience members vote on a scale of 1 to 10) and then balancing that off by only allowing shows with 100 or more ballots to be in the running.

So, if I understand correctly, Pick of the Fringe is not going to shows with the most votes but to those who have the highest ranking on the preference scale (in short, if show X gets 100 "10" votes and show Y gets 400 "9" votes, show X is ranked higher.)

It is, however, a system that has some inherent problems, which I'm sure the Fringe is aware of. Were these in fact the four shows that would have been considered the most "popular" or "successful" or whatever adjective you wish to use? Should we care? Are there other models the Festival could consider using?