I can see why the people in charge would be sceptical about accepting submissions from people who are new and have no previous reference to check. There’s something about people who have a set record and soemthing that you can check or ask someone about (or better, to go and have a look at their work in this instance) as this will make you, as an individual, be more accepting of their work that you are representing as good.

Sounds like the changes should be good for everyone and think I need to go over and visit the site.