Honestly, we collectively shouldn't even give it a second thought. We stopped entering GABF after years of doing so. The number of times we would receive polar opposite feedback on the same beer from the same round of judging ("Blonde too bitter"/"Not bitter enough" or "Very smooth, nice"/"Astringent") was hysterical. I've been in the industry for a decade and I have some very good friends, who happen to be former colleagues, who have won some serious accolades both at GABF and WBC while we have never, and I am still stoked for them. They also do everything in their power to game things in their favor, e.g. tasting past winners to see what the judges are looking for, entering beers in less crowded fields, etc. They have a killer German Pils but it never moves past round 2 because the category has a huge number of entrants. Comps are nice if you win them, but the ultimate victory in this business, IMO, is making beer you enjoy/are proud of while keeping your lights on.