Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Convention Bashing
Yes, I do have my own personal complaints about Convention. The parking was outrageous. If they couldn't do anything about the parking, then I would have liked warning, at least. The announcement that all scratched rabbits had to leave the building was troublesome. People were afraid to write "scratch" on their coops, so many rabbits came to the table that normally wouldn't have. And Dwayne Scott was run to death checking out each and every locked or empty coop (how nice if the judging card had just been pulled in advance). You've probably already heard a lot about checkout, which was a disaster. And I was very uncomfortable leaving without my show report and leg.
But how many of us took time to think of the hundreds of things that went right?
The aisles were wide and roomy. There was just a little mixup with the coop cards in youth, but when we got there, the cages were set up, labeled, with shavings in each one. There was a plan for unloading - we did get free parking for that. They had a person at the street directing us to the right bay door.
Everything in our packets was right, except for one of Anna's coop numbers. But since we had good instructions when we picked up the packet, we were able to correct that with no problem.
The Best In Show competition was reportedly the best ever. It was my first, so I can't compare. But a magician entertained us during the inevitable waiting. Each person got to introduce themselves and tell what their breed was. There were two large screens so that we could see the judging up close and personal. It was wonderful.
The meeting rooms were very nice. I wasn't aware of any mix-up there. I would encourage future shows to make sure that the Netherland Dwarfs and Holland Lops don't have their meeting at the same time. We have crossover breeders.
They made a concerted effort to follow ARBA rules. Some people may have been annoyed that auctions were stopped during the ARBA general membership meeting, but that was definitely the right thing to do. It was my first time to attend and I'm ashamed of myself for not making the time before. The decisions at ARBA are indeed made by a relatively small handful of members.
The location was very good. Folks joked about all of the exercise they got walking the sky walk back and forth to their hotels, but it was really nice to have that long hallway instead of having to go down to the street. And there were many nice places to eat. The location was easy on and easy off the major highways. Clean bathrooms with no waiting. Very nice.
I recently read a comment that the people that complain the most are often the ones who don't help out. I don't know whether that's true, but it seems to be. I know that once I participated in putting a Nationals together and have served in various capacities putting on shows, that my patience with shows went way up. I'm much more realistic about what it takes and how easy it is for things to go south.
And I appreciate all of the work that goes into making a show go smoothly.
I hope that the Kentucky folks had their eyes and ears open and will use Grand Rapids' experiences to help put on an even better show. I hope that the Grand Rapids folks know how much we appreciate all of the work they did so that we could have a Convention.
A show that size will never be perfect. And nothing would be worse than not having a Convention at all.
I hope that each one of us will be gracious to show hosts, helping out where we can and never unnecessarily adding to their problems.
Laurie ¶ 8:46 AM
But how many of us took time to think of the hundreds of things that went right?
The aisles were wide and roomy. There was just a little mixup with the coop cards in youth, but when we got there, the cages were set up, labeled, with shavings in each one. There was a plan for unloading - we did get free parking for that. They had a person at the street directing us to the right bay door.
Everything in our packets was right, except for one of Anna's coop numbers. But since we had good instructions when we picked up the packet, we were able to correct that with no problem.
The Best In Show competition was reportedly the best ever. It was my first, so I can't compare. But a magician entertained us during the inevitable waiting. Each person got to introduce themselves and tell what their breed was. There were two large screens so that we could see the judging up close and personal. It was wonderful.
The meeting rooms were very nice. I wasn't aware of any mix-up there. I would encourage future shows to make sure that the Netherland Dwarfs and Holland Lops don't have their meeting at the same time. We have crossover breeders.
They made a concerted effort to follow ARBA rules. Some people may have been annoyed that auctions were stopped during the ARBA general membership meeting, but that was definitely the right thing to do. It was my first time to attend and I'm ashamed of myself for not making the time before. The decisions at ARBA are indeed made by a relatively small handful of members.
The location was very good. Folks joked about all of the exercise they got walking the sky walk back and forth to their hotels, but it was really nice to have that long hallway instead of having to go down to the street. And there were many nice places to eat. The location was easy on and easy off the major highways. Clean bathrooms with no waiting. Very nice.
I recently read a comment that the people that complain the most are often the ones who don't help out. I don't know whether that's true, but it seems to be. I know that once I participated in putting a Nationals together and have served in various capacities putting on shows, that my patience with shows went way up. I'm much more realistic about what it takes and how easy it is for things to go south.
And I appreciate all of the work that goes into making a show go smoothly.
I hope that the Kentucky folks had their eyes and ears open and will use Grand Rapids' experiences to help put on an even better show. I hope that the Grand Rapids folks know how much we appreciate all of the work they did so that we could have a Convention.
A show that size will never be perfect. And nothing would be worse than not having a Convention at all.
I hope that each one of us will be gracious to show hosts, helping out where we can and never unnecessarily adding to their problems.
Laurie ¶ 8:46 AM
