• The 2010 nationals was awarded to a group, I think Hollands and Friends, for Colorado.
• Membership is growing; we had 1300 last year and 1600 this year (makes the top 100 look even better, doesn't it?).
• We had 1300+ open entries at Convention and 500+ youth entries this year.
• They are working on gettng the sweepstakes points posted in a more timely manner. The first step will be to write up a set of expectations for the sweeps chair position and then to discuss the expectations with the chair to see what is attainable and what is unreasonable.
• The standards committee is hard at work on our standard. The standard is revised with the printing of the Standards of Perfection and also five years later. I plan to talk to my nearest committee member (Todd Naragon) about changing the terminology to "massive relative to the size of the rabbit" instead of just massive. It is my opinion that too many judges read that as bigger is better (and I have been told that by more than one judge). The wording is to be changed to emphasize balance over just big, anyway, but I hope they will put in writing the concept of massiveness being relative; even a tiny rabbit can project a larger image.
• They plan to reduce the wording so that it is easier to read the standard and understand what we are working towards and what our rabbits are to be judged by.
• Color folks got good news and bad. First, the question of splitting into color groups with this standard update is off of the table. Their research showed that no breed with so few color points is shown by color. So the first step will be to increase color to 10 points. Chris Zemny mentioned taking 2 points from fur, 2 from head, and 2 from body. They don't want to upset the balance between the head and the body. Several folks voiced the attitude that they are against splitting the colors because that would allow lesser quality rabbits to get legs (those that can't compete with torts). Others mentioned the prejudice that some judges have against colors and the discouragement that breeders have trying to get started in colors.
• Someone suggested holding a color seminar at the next Convention. The suggestion was met with positive responses. The problems of seeing color examples by computer monitor were discussed. While you can see the general color and definitely the patterns of rabbits, the exact color would change from monitor to monitor. Chris Zemny suggested that Holland breeders purchase the dwarf color guide as the most economical answer.
• Chris was also asked whether there would be any chance of getting blue point back and she said they would be pursuing that.
• Charlene started her new job as treasurer and Marianne Leichty is taking over as supply chair.
• Future Convention judges were voted on. There were three spaces available for 2010. Next year's convention judges are the Coverts, Molly and Doug, and the Dappers, Anna and Ruth. (A fifth judge was added for this year, that could happen again if the numbers stay high.)
• Henry Sabetti was announced as the District 9 representative. His district was the only one that held an election.
• Dwayne Scott starts another two years, having won by acclaimation.
• The silver marten Hollands did not pass the Holland committee and were not presented.
• Discussions will be underway about using space more efficiently in the Hollander and getting the website updated more timely. Also, Nationals hosts will get a free one-page ad for nationals in the fall and winter issues preceding their Nationals.

[Update: on the topic of getting the website updated more timely, the following is an excerpt from an email that I received from Christine Feld. She had hoped that this information would be presented at the meeting.

I've been very accomodating the past year + about late reports, but now feel I can no longer do this. I have been taking a hit over the late publication for many months now.....Mostly because I'm waiting on one or several key reports....... I am working full time and need to plan the Hollander production around the deadlines.....Late reports translate into long nights for me, working to get it completed in a timely manner......Also, please bear in mind (and relate to your zone members) that once the Hollander leaves my hands, it is out of my control and it faces several more processes before hitting mailboxes.....I cannot control the production process of the printer, how many other publications they are currently working on, etc......When we miss our timeline with them, we move to the "back of the line" for the printing process..... PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE.....Send me your reports on or before the deadline......From here forward, any late or missing reports will go in as "No Report Received".......Mark your calendars, put a post-it on your computer monitor.....Do whatever it takes to get them in on time.......The deadlines are located on page 3 of the Hollander...... Also, another item that came up at Convention and I would like to address here is the situation with the reporting of sweepstakes......Members have e-mailed me as to why the Hollander (and the website) reflect points only from the beginning of the year...... Linda instituted a new system back in spring 2006 (please see the page 61 of the spring 2006 Hollander)...... "These are the show reports for October, November and December only (and some late ones from July, August and September, which came in too late to be in the last reports). This is the way I will be doing it from now on, in hopes that there is less confusion as to what reports are in. I am also enclosing a list which covers all of the reports missing from July, August and September, as those should all have been in by now. Next issue will include show reports from January, February and March and there will be late reports listed for October, November and December. I will continue on this way throughout the sweeps season. Since the show season will conclude in December of 2006, I will put one final list of missing shows at the end of the season and will allow 3 months from the time it is printed for members to take care of corrections.
~Linda"

There is a 3 month "lag time" for the cut-off, no longer are reports factored in right up to the Hollander deadline.......I post the sweepstakes on the website WHEN THE HOLLANDER HAS BEEN MAILED OUT, per the request of Linda, due to some issues we had with members a few years back......So, what this translates to is......Late reports = Late publication = Late posting of sweepstakes on website.......We just need to be clear here as to why we are so far behind with sweepstakes on the website..... Sorry to sound negative, but I need your help to make this publication work......This is a team effort and we all make it a success.....]

ARBA General Membership Meeting

• Financials were read and commented on. They will be published in the DR. There were unusual expenses in the computer area because of updating the office and in the convention coop line due to the purchase of many more juding coops.
• New district representatives were installed. The new treasurer was introduced.
• Many youth and their parents/leaders attended the meeting because of a comment made that the youth ID and other activities should be trimmed. Although there was no official business open on the topic, many people gave their opinions. There was some concern that teams had been made across state lines. Those folks wanted to know that if there was a Michigan team, for example, the members were all from Michigan. The opposing view was that youth would be shut out if there were not enough in their state to make a team and that combining (only when there are insufficient numbers) allowed more participation and was a good thing. The board mentioned that they needed to look into ways of streamlining the contests but that they were aware of the value of the activities for the youth and that they did not want to limit participation.
• There were three rule changes before the membership for vote. The ones regarding the treasure/executive director position were defeated. The executive director and treasurer positions willl not be combined.
• The following rule was passed:

New revision of ARBA Show Rule 11 (A): Section 11 (a): Animals winning an award at any competitive level that leave the show prior to the picking of a higher award shall retain their placement, but not be considered for any higher award. The prior placement of the departed animal shall not be considered when picking the next higher award. No animal is to be moved up to fill the placement of a departed animal.

• 2009 Convention will be in San Diego, California. There was discussion about taking bids for three or more years out. Some of the largest convention centers are not available sooner than three to five years from now. The problem mentioned by the board is that in the past they had three years out, but that the original team is general not intact by the time the Convention rolls around. There is about a 60 to 70 percent turnover rate in rabbit breeders.
• There was discussion of resuming the veterinary meeting at Convention. The idea was met with positive feedback. In the past, they'd had problems with speakers not showing up or talking about rabbits more as pets rather than about herd management. Wendy Feaga offered to be the speaker and to present Power Point presentations for a future veterinary/rabbit health meeting. Discussion followed about when a meeting could be held that might be well attended.
• We heard from Gary Moore, the equipment manager for ARBA. He is suggesting that Convention be shortened by a day with judging commencing on Sunday. The set up and break down team is at Convention for a full two weeks and there is a lot of pressure to get out before the next event starts moving in. Now that we're having 23,000+ rabbits at Conventions on a regular basis, breakdown is taking longer and longer. There were several positive comments about this potential change. There is no official business on the table about that, however. It's just at the idea phase.
• The airlines committee chair has asked that ARBA pay for a lobbyist or somehow make the position more official. She noted that airlines won't even sit down with her at table because she's not an official of ARBA. Her frustrations include PETA having lobbyists who have lumped our rabbits in with pets and have influenced the tightening of regulations. We heard from a traveler who had a really hard time getting his rabbits to Convention. He was 5 minutes late to pick up his rabbits due to a late flight and his rabbits had to stay locked up from 5:00 p.m. with no food or fresh water until the cargo office opened the next morning. Carriers were not allowed to be combined. Many travelers paid $150 per carrier each way to fly to convention. One airline was sued because their rabbit quit eating after the flight. Our own choices and behavior at airlines have also caused problems with flying rabbits.
• Brad Boyce reported that memberships were down slightly, but that sometimes in the past the number has been counted before a monthly purge of records and sometimes after. They will be sampling at the same relative time in the future so that better comparisons can be made.
• If your household is receiving two copies of the DR because of indiviudal memberships, you can call the office and ask that the key records be changed so that you do not receive more than you need. This must be done manually since the current set up does not automatically screen for duplicates. [However, you are entitled to one for each separate membership (families being one membership for magazine subscriptions, for example). If you have more than you need, then think about taking it to a rabbit show to help encourage those who have not yet joined to do so.]

Laurie

¶ 11:37 AM