NCS - Its Show Time!

It's Show Time!

by NCS Member Carolyn Singleton

So you think you want to put on a bird show? Sit down, read this, and keep it close by for the next twelve months. I will walk you through putting together a successful bird show, from the beginning of organizing your show committees to breaking down the show.

One of the most important factors for a club's success in putting on a bird show is how many of its members are willing to work hard and stay with it. I have never had so much support from a club as I have from the Washington Cockatiel Fanciers. With the members' help we have successfully put on 5 of the largest shows the Pacific Northwest has ever seen and just possibly the nation. For a club's second year show season we have broken records on entry totals (total birds in a show), and the total amount of exhibitors showing. Washington Cockatiel Fanciers (WCF) just finished a three day, all bird show with first time entries in Parrots with 50 birds, Finches with 50 birds, Budgies with over 130 birds entered, and Cockatiels topping out with 162 birds. Our Pearl class alone had 37 entries, which can be a total of birds entered into some shows. Plans are already in the works for the 1998 show. More information to follow in the show listings of BIRD BREEDER.

One of the things that helped me to understand how a show comes together was to be a worker. Each job that I volunteered for was a training session. Before getting into putting a show together it helps to go and watch or work at another show. Volunteer to work on one of the show committees and attend the show committee meetings.

ELECTING A SHOW MANAGER

This is a position for a person that should be able to commit several hours of volunteer time. In the first few months your time will probably only be two or three hours a week and most of that will be telephoning committee members. But the closer the show gets the more important it becomes to be able to spend as much time as possible making sure all the committees have completed their jobs, that all the reservations are correct, and that volunteers are aware of their duties. The week before the show be prepared to spend at least two to three hours a day helping everyone and everything to come together. Elect a show manager that is organized, a good communicator, and who can delegate the jobs to the helpers. Most clubs elect their show managers up to a year in advance of the show date.

CHOOSING A DATE

At the same time that the show manager is elected the club should vote on a date for the show. Also have an alternative date set up due to the availability of the Judge. The time of year can be an important factor; some breeds of birds are in better condition at certain times of the year. Most shows are held in the fall from September to December. I have found that a summer show and bird sale can be slow due to school being out and people gone on vacation. All of these facts must be taken into consideration when planning a date.

SELECTION OF A JUDGE

Determine the breed of birds that will be at the show. Will it be an all Cockatiel show? To save time and money try to select a Judge that not only judges one breed of bird, but who can judge the other breeds. These sanctioned Judges can be found through the various bird Societies, National Cockatiel Society, American Cockatiel Society, the Society of Parrot Breeder & Exhibitors, and the National Finch and Softbill Society just to name a few. The club selects 4-5 Judges and then letters are written by the club secretary or show manager asking the Judge if the date will fit into their schedule, what their fee is, whether money is needed for personal expenses and asking about transportation while in town. Most Judges write their bids on the letter and return it to the club. I sometimes send a copy of the letter along with the original to the Judge and this way the Judge has one for their files.

PLANNING A BUDGET

Where will the club get the money to put on a show? Don't plan on membership dues to pay for a show that can cost into the thousands. A good rule to follow is; "This year's show should pay for next year's show". The first thing that needs to be done is to keep a separate account for the show. A separate account will help the club track how much there is saved towards the total amount needed. One of the ways Washington Cockatiel Fanciers earns show money through the year is to set up raffle tables at other bird marts and sell tickets for the items on the table. Members have donated nice birds, cages, bags of seed, toys, paintings, show cages, and many other items that are not related to birds. I have seen raffle tables earn as much as $5,000 for the sponsoring club. Some other money making projects can be fund raisers, the old stand-by is a bake sale, or members can get together and have a garage sale. Another selling item is T-shirts and/or baseball caps with the club's logo on them. American Cockatiel Society offers a grant program for first time shows with clubs that qualify. It does not pay for the whole show but it sure helps.

Earning the money at the show can be done through a huge raffle table, entry fees (which range from $1.00 up to $3.00), admission, and renting vendor space. The club can also have a vendors booth in order to sell birds that have been donated for selling.

LOCATION

One of the best places to held a bird show is in a hotel. All the conveniences right at hand. Add a hospitality room for relaxing and maybe have sandwiches for the Friday night crowd and a Saturday breakfast of fruits, juices, coffee, muffins, and doughnuts. The can be brought in by the club members. Most hotels will provide an awards banquet on Saturday night for a small fee per person. Some hotels will give a discount on the show hall if a certain number of rooms are rented. Wheel and deal where you can, it never hurts to ask for discounts or donations.

Other places like churches and recreation centers will have spaces to rent out. Try your State Fair grounds. They are suited for livestock and fowl and a closed building might just be available but be sure to get the best price possible because Fair Ground facilities can be costly.

Where ever your location is be sure to check into what kind of insurance they can carry for the show or if you need to get a rider on their policy. Sometimes all that is needed is liability and most places have a blanket policy.

SELECTING A SHOW COMMITTEE

This will be your network of volunteers! This is where you must delegate jobs and give guidance when needed. The show manager must make sure these jobs are completed. Choose a show committee with each person being a committee head. They will be responsible for getting the volunteers they need and for seeing the job through to the end of the show. Each month hold a show committee meeting in order to track their progress and to help keep everyone involved. Some of the committees are as follows;

Show catalog. A helpful hint is to go to other shows and collect the show catalogs that will be handed out. Not only will it give you some ideas on how to lay out a catalog but if this is your first time show there will be show rules that can be very helpful in establishing your own set of rules. These rules are very important to have as a protection for the birds, the exhibitor, the vendors and the show staff. Most of the time there will be advertising included in the catalog. Selling advertising can help pay for the cost of printing the catalog. Usually the sizes are business card size, half page and full page. Ask the printing companies to donate the printing of the catalog or work out a free ad for them in the show catalog and/or in the club's newsletter (may have to run in the newsletter for six months to one year).

Vendor Booths. This committee needs to be able to figure a lay out of 6-8 foot tables with approximately two tables per booth. Extra tables needed by the vendors would be extra charge. The booth rentals would be the responsibility of the committee with a Chairperson in charge and with probably one or two assistants. The day before the show, vendors would be allowed to set up in their assigned space and that full payment is made before set up. At the end of the show this committee would be responsible for break down of tables and clean up.

Raffle Table. This position requires a chairperson with diplomacy. Anytime you ask for a donation it should be handled with great delicacy. Contacting companies can be done by phone or by writing letters. Most of the companies want to know and have in writing the date of the raffle, what the raffle is for and what organization is holding the raffle. Items are then mailed out to the raffle chairperson usually 30 days prior to the show date. Contact local companies and club members for donations also. Some states require that the club have permits from the local gaming commission to hold raffles. To get more money from your raffle tables, give each item and individual can for holding tickets. People are more inclined to buy tickets when they know that they can drop tickets on certain items. The chairperson needs to staff the raffle table with volunteers at the show and to be responsible for the money, the tickets, and the drawings.

Awards. Because this can be very costly, hunting for the best price is essential. Asking for sponsorship for the big specialty awards is one way to go. The first step is to figure just what is needed. Bird societies do provide some awards after the affiliation payment is made. For instance NCS provides the club with an "A" level affiliation with 14 best in section rosettes (7 for Novice division & 7 for Advanced division). Best Novice Plaque, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Best Novice certificates, Best in Show Plaque, and 2nd through 5th Best in Show Plaques. The club can add ribbons, rosettes, plaques, or trophies where ever they want. Then there are the specialty awards that are given. These can be a Best Bred and Banded by the exhibitor, Unflighted (AKA Best Young Bird), Honorable Mention AKA Judges Choice), and 1st through 10th Junior Exhibitor. If the sponsoring bird club is low on funds the specialty awards can be dropped and just go with the bare minimum. Another nice way to recognize the winners is by making monetary donations in the winner's name to Avian Research. The other alternative is giving cash awards in place of plaques, rosettes and trophies.

Advertising. If you look hard enough there are ways to run free advertising. BIRD BREEDER runs a show calendar with information and contact phone numbers. Newsletter exchanges can get the word out to other clubs across the country for the fee of the postage and printing. Some cable companies, newspapers, and church bulletins will run community calendars for free. Bird society magazines will run show listings also. With the age of computers, fancy printing can be done for flyers which can be distributed by club members to local businesses.

Security. This committee will only consist of one or two people. Basically what is needed is a locked show hall with someone near to be called in case of an emergency. If locking the show hall is not possible then someone needs to be posted outside the door or inside with a night light on for the birds (to avoid night fright).

PREPARING THE SITE

This ends the show preparation but now begins the set up of the show itself. The week before the show, the show manager checks to make sure that the committee chairpersons have gotten everything in order and that all supplies are ready. The show secretary needs notebooks for recording the results of the judging, the paperwork to go inside these notebooks (which comes from the different bird societies), lots of sharpened pencils and black ink pens. Also needed are white out, staplers, scissors, felt tip markers, raffle tickets, raffle drop cans, coin boxes, money to make change with and last but not least show tags and entry forms.

Now that you have made it this far you are ready to bring it all together at the show hall. Set up your show benches and lights the day before the show. This can be done by two or three workers that have very strong backs. Also, the tables for the vendors and holding tables for the show birds should be set up the day before. When WCF sets up for a Cockatiel Show the show bird tables should be lined up in rows four or five across and four or five deep. As you face the show bench from where the audience sits the first two tables behind the show bench to your right are holding tables for the Novice birds just before they go upon the show bench. the next set of tables behind these will be your classifying tables for the Novice Division, where the birds are all sorted according to the classifications in the show catalog and are waiting to be moved up to the first two tables for judging. As the Novice Division birds are being finished with judging they will be placed back into their classification slots on the back tables. Except the best in section birds, they will come back up for top Novice judging. These birds will be held on the far left tables. As you face the show bench to your left are holding tables for the Advanced Division. The Advanced Division birds are set up just like the Novice birds. The last set of tables to the far left are also holding tables. These are for the birds that will be coming back up to the show bench for additional judging later on. There also needs to be one secretaries table to the left of the show bench per show ring and if there are numerous awards then another table to show off the awards should be across the ring from the secretary tables.

Be sure that all of the holding areas for the birds are roped off from public access. This is strictly a safety precaution for the birds, the workers, and for the public. Various things can be used, like plastic chain, nice rope, or even barricade tape. The poles can be rented from wedding rental stores.

As far as the check-in, classifier, and cashier positions, these are short term jobs and then these helpers can be used someplace else. One of the most important jobs is to have a chauffeur. This can be a club member with access to a car who can pick up the Judges at the airport and deliver them to the hotel and this person needs to also make sure the Judges arrive at the show hall the morning of the show. There have been times that Judges have been forgotten because of the hustle and bustle of getting the show started. The chauffeur also needs to get the Judges to the airport for their departure flights.

SHOWTIME!

Early arrival is essential on the morning of the show. The first table that the exhibitor must stop at is the check-in table. Here they will pick up a show catalog, two part entry forms, and cage tags. For each variety of bird they will need a separate entry form. For example, if there are Cockatiels and Parrots then two separate entry forms are needed. After the paperwork is completed, the exhibitor attaches the cage tags to the front left bottom corner, 3rd rung in. There are different ways of hanging these tags. We (WCF) have found that if the tags are hung any higher, the birds will have the tag as a new snack. Now the classifiers check-in the birds. The classifier makes sure that the birds are in the proper class and then the birds are handed over to the Stewards. From here the exhibitor takes their paperwork to the cashier and pays for the entries. The two part entry form is separated and the exhibitor retains the yellow copy and the white copy goes to the Division Secretaries.

The Secretaries transfer the entry information into the record keeping books. The information will later be transferred onto a Judges show sheet. This job requires that the Secretary be on duty all day until the judging is done.

The Stewards jobs are basically moving and organizing cages. The chief steward works the front bench with the Judge and the bench stewards work in the back moving cages and helping on the show bench.

One of the jobs that the Junior members enjoy doing is being the ribbon tier. They place ribbons on the cages after the Judge announces the winners and/or placements in the different classes, sections, and division. Junior members also come in handy for being the "runners" for the show. They are the "legs" of the show. I've used them to go for coffee, water, food, paperwork from the check-in table, to find other people and deliver messages.

The end of the show is here and it's time to check out the birds. Remember the yellow copy from the entry form? Exhibitors must gather their birds and present the check-out staff with this yellow copy and then the birds are checked off as the exhibitor exits from the show hall.

Now all that is left to do is break down the show and clean up. Be sure that your clean up crew doesn't get away!

Now you've made it through organizing a show. All shows will not be perfect and the snags that occur should be turned into a learning tool. From these mistakes only improvement should occur and not criticism. Just remember to change the mistakes the following year so that they are not repeated. Good luck and have fun!