No offense, but here's a good example of why the "effectiveness measured by those I train with" is really not much of an indicator:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y-nIwDhU7o#t=11s
It's simply easier to just set up basic criteria and go by those. Tohei understood that, hence his "ki tests", yet even those aren't perfect, given how many stooges and phonies have showed up in that arena (as in so many others), too. I think these things need to be more critically examined, although I differentiate between "demonstrations" and "try me out" situations.
FWIW
Mike Sigman