se, “I will never come back to this show!”? Entries at AKC shows have been shrinking over the past several years. Conventional wisdom is it’s because of the economy. We don’t think it’s that simplistic. Industry reports show that dog related expenditures are up. We suspect that exhibitors and spectators disenchanted with the shows themselves. Since this blog is dedicated to encouraging people to attend AKC dog shows, we are asking you to tell show committees what you like and what you don’t like.We will collect your comments, do an analyses and report the findings back to you. Here’s how it will work. Add your comments here and give us the following information:
What show did you attend?
Rate the following factors one being poor, two being fair, three being average, four being good, five being excellent.
- Your overall show experience
- Location (well located near airport and/or major roads)
- Rings (adequate size, surface, protection from elements)
- Seating for spectators
- Grooming areas
- Parking/RV services
- Rest Rooms
- Food Services
- Vendor Services
- Show Management (Did they keep the show on time, were they helpful, responsive to exhibitors/spectators needs?)
- Number of Restrictions on Exhibitors (Could you take photos/videos, could you bring in your own food, leave your set ups in building overnight, etc.)
What was your least favorite thing about the show?
We purposefully are not collecting data on judges. We think judges already get plenty of feedback and don’ really relish a popularity contest on judges. We (and we think any show manager with a brain) are aware that the judging slate is the single most important factor for a lot of people. However, there are plenty of exhibitors who got to a show because it’s close to their homes, their friends are going, and/or there will be a major in their breed.
In any event, the purpose of this data collecting is to find out how you guys want show committees to improve their shows. Whether we find out anything depends on your participation. So take a few minutes and give us a show report.
Your overall show experience
ReplyDeleteLocation -ORMOND BEACH FLORIDA Rings (adequate size, surface, protection from elements)-Some rings were under tents the rest under pavilion directly hit by freezing winds. It was extremely cold,wet. Overal rings that were under tents were to small for working breeds. Horrible.The worst experience ever in last decade.
Seating for spectators-NONE
Grooming areas-Some under tents very unconvenient small, extremely tight.
Parking/RV services-Good open parking no charge.
Rest Rooms-Good accessable
Food Services-Acceptable on show grounds with numerous restaurants nearby
Vendor Services-Decent response considering icy rain, below 30F and windy.
Show Management (Did they keep the show on time, were they helpful, responsive to exhibitors/spectators needs?)-One of the days Boxers were scheduled at 8am but did not show until after 12PM.
Number of Restrictions on Exhibitors (Could you take photos/videos, could you bring in your own food, leave your set ups in building overnight, etc.)-Was to cald and rainy so really did not pay attention on anybody taking pictures.
What was your most favorite thing about the show?-On this particular show there was really nothing pleasant. We did not miss anything by not entering our dogs. We were glad just to being spectators for an hour.
Thanks for the feedback, but remember rate one to five. I'm assuming you are rating most categories one meaning "poor" How about the location's accessibility? Close to airports and freeways?
ReplyDeleteRating is below poor. Location accessibility near highway and very easy to find. This show usually took place on different location Daytona Fairgrounds (indoor) which was really nice. For some reason the location was changed. This location would be have much more visitiors and exibitors I believe if scheduled in early Spring or Fall.
ReplyDeleteHi Billy: I didn't go this past weekend,but my dog did (Nolan River)with his handler. I look at this from the spectator's viewpoint.
ReplyDeleteI attended 5 weekend clusters last year at a wide variety of locales: Sunflower in KS, Sacramento KC at Cal Expo, Great Western Terrier in Long Beach, Mensona in Santa Rosa and Sooner State KC in Enid.
I'll go out of my way to go to any outdoor location in decent weather and I don't mind paying a hefty entry fee as long as there's seating in the shade.I will return to all of these and add a few shows with the following provisos (clubs pls take notice here):
All but Long Beach had some rings indoors. The lighting for all indoor rings was atrocious,a 1. The glare and dim spots from fluorescents and scoops like those at Sam's Club affects the overall viewing experience, especially over four days. Enid was the best indoor lighting,perhaps a 2.
Seating for spectators was a 4 at Great Western and in Enid. The rest get 1s because spectators (especially, when they pay to get in) should not have to hunt down empty seats like carrion hanging over roadkill on I-10, and we shouldn't have to bring our own seats to shows that charge an entrance fee,plus a fee for parking (Sacto).
Show management was a 4 at all of these shows, especially at GW,despite the slow British judges and the large entries.
Something you don't mention: quality and volume of announcing for the groups and BIS.
Sunflower is always garbled, a 1. The rest get 3s or 4s.
The only show that looked like it offered healthy food was GW, at least the handlers liked it.
One final thing: Yes, it's the quality of the judging, but even more the chance to see top dogs at the top of their form (Spirit,Sadie, CeeJay, Toasty, Dodger, Scout) with people showing them who look like both they and the dogs are having a good time. If you take care of the lighting and the announcing, I'll keep coming back. If not, I'll watch Eukanuba and Westminster on TV like most people.
Fredericksburg Va convention center shows
ReplyDeleteExcellent- free parking
Excellent-large rings
Excellent-location, close to 95, hotels, restaurants
Excellent-tons of vendors
Excellent- chairs available.
Did people come? Entry is lower than last year across the board...
I think that there are things that are really impacting entries...
Yes, judging. I'm sorry... but judges really are the blame in a lot of cases for lower entries.
Clubs that nickle and dime for everything... $5.00 to park in a field, $10 per day or more for electricity, prime grooming space charges, etc...
Even worse, the shows where you wish you could pay for electricity.
For me a bad judging panel will sink a show, but the rest will as well... But I'll go to a marginal ground with great judges over a great grounds with poor judges any day.
What show did you attend?
ReplyDeletePALM SPRINGS
Rate the following factors one being poor, two being fair, three being average, four being good, five being excellent.
Your overall show experience
Location - (4) Located near to major interstate
Rings (5) excellent short grass on level field.
Seating for spectators (5) plenty of room around rings.
Grooming areas (5) plenty of tents for exhibitors and handlers.
Parking/RV services (3) dirt flat lot
MAJOR problem in CA is the high cost. Handlers pass the costs on the clients. Breeder/Exhibitors take it in the shorts. Reduce fees means I can show more dogs or spend more money on food or at the vendors.
Rest Rooms (4) portable but clean
Food Services (4) good assortment
Vendor Services (5)
Show Management (5) They always to a great job !
What was your most favorite thing about the show?
The location
What was your least favorite thing about the show? The rediculously high RV parking/electrical costs. Almost takes the fun out of it.
I agree with the comments about the Fredricksburg shows - wonderful location, everything is great except the judging panels. Another case of show chairs trading assignments, and having the same faces everywhere!
ReplyDeleteWhat show did you attend?
ReplyDeleteMiami Cluster--December, 2009
Rate the following factors one being poor, two being fair, three being average, four being good, five being excellent.
Your overall show experience: 4
Location (well located near airport and/or major roads): 4
Rings (adequate size, surface, protection from elements): 4
Seating for spectators: 4
Grooming areas: 4
Parking/RV services: 4
Rest Rooms: 4
Food Services: 4
Vendor Services: 4
Show Management (Did they keep the show on time, were they helpful, responsive to exhibitors/spectators needs?): 4
Number of Restrictions on Exhibitors (Could you take photos/videos, could you bring in your own food, leave your set ups in building overnight, etc.): 4
What was your most favorite thing about the show?
Nice selection of vendors (Cold Stone Creamery, Isle of Dogs)
What was your least favorite thing about the show? Having to explain to the parking attendants every day that I needed to park in a certain section of the parking lot to meet my handler (we had agreed to meet in a pre-arranged spot). The young guides kept wanting me to park in other sections and not go to the section that wasn't filling up yet. Couldn't quite figure that one out.
Here's what CA breeder/exhibitors want: puppy and bred by breaks, reasonable entry fees, decent sites with safe footing (unlike Riverside KC site at Lake Perris), judges who will understand their assigned breeds and judge them accordingly, less expensive RV overnight fees, no day of show parking fees. Clubs still need to pay their judges, so what good does it do to price exhibitors out and the judges have barely one pt entries to judge. Here's an example, Winterfest in Ventura CA (4 shows), nice site, etc, but low entries. Entry fee $30, RV/electrical too high, no puppy or bred by breaks. Someone please figure it out !!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat will stop me from going to a show is rude show committee, rude supers and TO MANY SPECTATORS!! Its not even the amount but where they are allowed to go. In and out among our set ups, blocking the gates to get into the ring, insisting to touch your dog over and over and over. Can you imagine all of us going into the locker rooms of NFL games touching the athletes and getting pissed off when we can't? Why can they touch our athletes? Since when has a dog show become a petting zoo? Can you imagine how many other dogs they have touched?
ReplyDeleteLand O' Lakes Kennel club is the most terrible place to show. Crowds of people, strollers, small children running everywhere. I say keep the spectators away from the rings!
Western Wa Clusters - Puyallap WA
ReplyDeleteYour overall show experience 3.5
Location (well located near airport and/or major roads)3.5 easy to find
Rings (adequate size, surface, protection from elements) 4 indoors, nice sized rings
Seating for spectators -1 very few chairs, crowded
Grooming areas NA as I didnt use grooming area
Parking/RV services - NA for RV, day parking accross street was accessable
Rest Rooms - 4 many, accessable, clean
Food Services 2 - never enough healthy food, always expensive, but that is a facility not show issue
Vendor Services - 3.5 good assortment, did like the booth with human & canine massages
Show Management (Did they keep the show on time, were they helpful, responsive to exhibitors/spectators needs?)4 - had complimentary coffe & seemed to appreciate ALL entries, not just the top dogs
Number of Restrictions on Exhibitors (Could you take photos/videos, could you bring in your own food, leave your set ups in building overnight, etc.) NA didnt really see any restrictions
What was your most favorite thing about the show?
Ring size & newer facility.
What was your least favorite thing about the show? Too crowded ringside, some of this is because they had decent sized rings, but mostly because large breed (size & #) entries tend to "camp out" ringside far too long - before & after breed showing.
I'll post a prelim comment about general show stuff, then give you a run down next week after I've attended the Ventura shows. One thing that I always look for is puppy/bred by breaks. I'm a breeder/owner/handler with limited funds so the break in entries is key. For instance, at the upcoming 4 day cluster, I only entered each dog at two of the shows; had there been a price break for BBE I'd have given another club two more entries, and entered all four days instead of just three.
ReplyDeleteI don't own an RV so RV parking isn't an issue for me, but it is for lots of my friends who do own them. Paying close to $100 per night is getting to be quite ridiculous and I know that is keeping people from going to some shows.
I don't mind paying a small fee to park my car, $5 or under is fine, but $10 per day with no "in and out" privileges is absurd.
Rose City Cluster shows:
ReplyDeleteExcellent venue for a show of this size. More than decent rings, except for GSD (no show has rings large enough). Temperatures were well controlled once the heat was one.
Ran smoothly and efficiently - the security and crowd control left something to be desired - not until a dog escaped out of the building did the door 'police' understand that there was a reason why people were constantly on them about keeping the doors closed.
Schedules - well done
Show management - efficient, caring, concerned, pro-active
Location: close to I-5, hotels, restaurants, shopping, airport.
Vednors & Food serivces: adequate food, vendors - same as every other year.
did not apprear to be any restrictions on exhibitors, other than some reserved grooming was obviously assigned on a favortism/dislike basis
Overall - 8.75/10
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE - Provide a LIST OF SHOWS. each linked to ratings, and the ratings must be a list of categories, i.e. Location - 4, then a link to the discussion on those ratings.
ReplyDeleteThis way, I can see a show I'm interested in; go to all the ratings submitted; and then go to the discussion of those ratings (if I want to read and read and read) if a particular category is of interest to me, i.e. seating, vendors, location, etc. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!
What show did you attend? Ventura CA 4 day weekend, Jan. 22-25, 2010
ReplyDeleteRate the following factors one being poor, two being fair, three being average, four being good, five being excellent.
1. Your overall show experience
A 4
2. Location (well located near airport and/or major roads)
This is a 4, easy to find off the 101 fwy.(close to home for me, but others came from quite a distance)
3. Rings (adequate size, surface, protection from elements)
Since we had rain predicted for the first day, and the day of setup and the match, the clubs scrambled to put the obed/rally rings and the one outdoor ring inside, which kept everyone (except the vendors) out of the rain on Thur/Fri.
Ring size is fine so a 3 or 4 on this one.
4. Seating for spectators
The clubs put out chairs all around the rings, which do tend to migrate, but most people who didn't bring chairs (I always bring a couple) could find chairs. So a 4
5. Grooming areas
There was a large building with space available for a fee, plus there was free space around the rings in both buildings, and lots of space outside as well. I didn't go into the large grooming building, just set up ringside each day.
A 3
6. Parking/RV services
Plenty of parking for day use($5 per day), I don't have an RV but have friends who do, they both had nice spots. You can choose to buy electricity or use your own generator which is a plus.
Price is high so maybe a 3 overall.
7. Rest Rooms
Available in both of the buildings where the rings were, fine each time I used them
A 4
8. Food Services
There were a couple of fair vendors there, I bring my own so didn't pay much attention to what was available for sale. there are places outside the fairgrounds you can drive to,
9. Vendor Services
Not very many showed up this year, as the rain that was predicted was quite heavy the week leading up to the show. More showed up on Saturday when the sun showed up. they are out in the elements between the two main ring buildings, however, so hard for them if the weather isn't great.
10. Show Management (Did they keep the show on time, were they helpful, responsive to exhibitors/spectators needs?)
absolutely, a 5 (with the exception of not having a puppy or bbe break in the entry fees)
11. Number of Restrictions on Exhibitors (Could you take photos/videos, could you bring in your own food, leave your set ups in building overnight, etc.)
personal photos are fine, you could leave setups in the buildings overnight, and bring any food you desired
A 4
What was your most favorite thing about the show?
It's 4 days of shows close to home, which is nice. and it's a show I'd travel to if I had to so I'm lucky it is close to home.
What was your least favorite thing about the show?
wish they had a price break for puppies or bbe.