Dang it... I didn't see the thread fork when I replied with MUCH more detail. OK, in THIS fork, I'll stay focused to the issues herein.
I) Any proposition that we don't have the IGDC is off the table, period. No one is forced to participate, and I do not despair of anything related to judge:submission ratio. (And I find it ironic that the one who does herein has not voted since the IGDC resumed, unless it was with a code name.) So great! We're done with THAT issue.
II) Submissions are open. Judging is open. A class of students is orthogonal to that. We've had 'em before (and their influence on the scores) and we'll hopefully have them again. What the teacher chooses to do IN class has nothing to do wiith the IGDC. OUT of class, they are just designers (and, hopefully, judges!), with all the same rights and obligations.
III) Bemoaning a lack of plan is not a plan. And, in fact, we HAVE a plan (and a pretty cool one, I think) simmering in the fork of this thread. I had asked for, essentially, suggestions as to where to promote BOTH the design AND the judging stages of the IGDC (because, again, BOTH are open to anyone on the planet Earth). I do not need to hear that lacking such a list means we are doomed, thanks all the same. Help with the list of groups to spam--uh, inform--, send emails, go to your FLGSs... or please stand aside.
IV) We had the "can designers vote for themselves" debate two years ago, with (I feel) a pretty decisive conclusion, amongst those who expressed an opinion:
http://icehousegames.org/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:IGDC_Winter_2008#Designers.27_Games_on_Designers.27_Ballots.3F
(or)
http://tinyurl.com/IGDCdesignballotI see no reason to revisit such debate EVERY single IGDC. Now that we no longer use Condorcet, I think it's tantamount to all designers offset each other's scores, with the assumption that a designer would vote themselves a "10." Should some designer NOT normally do so... well, he or she is protected from that honesty, so to speak. :)
OK, so... can we get a list of contact points to solicit designers and judges (maybe not the same points)? The other three questions I asked are either answered already in the other fork (schedule to avoid Spring Break and precede a proposed Icehouse Award; timing: keep the same) or are being expanded into cool ideas for "merit badges" (theme v open debate about to be moot). Thanks!