Organising an Open Show - Initial Planning (Page 1)
Originally Written by Brian Risbridger, Brought Up To Date By Paul Barrow (2008)

Introduction

This article is based on the 'Tyne Tees Area Association Seminar For Show Secretaries', which, I think, is based on Brian Risbridger's 'Running an Open Show' which he published before the similar guide of the FBAS. At least two seminars took place, with very few attending. These were presented by: Colin Enright, Paul Conway & Paul Barrow in the mid-late eighties. The last time the Seminar was used was at Wearside AS in the early 90s, when they asked Paul Conway and Paul Barrow to give them advice on running their first, and last, Open Show.
Many changes have happened in the intervening years since its publication, necessitating an update. Firstly, many minor changes have been made to the rules governing Open Shows by the FBAS, next computers mean it easy to produce high quality schedules & card at home, then there is Sat-Nav & the internet both having revolutionised the way we find our way around and advertise events, and finally, on a negative note, the number of entries have plummeted from the 800s of the late seventies to a couple of hundred today. Running a show today is still a major undertaking, but is far, far easier than the area of the publication of this booklet.

Choosing A Committee

Show Secretary's Duties
How do we define the duties of the show secretary the duties will of course, vary from society to society, but some responsibilities are universal. On accepting election, most show secretaries are left very much to their own devices and their ' turn-over' from their predecessor is usually very meager indeed.
Generally speaking the show secretary organises the table shows at each meeting of the society, maintaining in most cases a points system, indicating positions of exhibitors at the end of each season. From his or her election, attention to a forthcoming open show should be paramount in the mind of the show secretary and planning should be commenced from an early date after election. The show secretary should make every effort to attend as many open shows of other societies during the year and make themselves known to the visitors at these shows in order to weld a firm link in the chain of the north eastern events. Above all, Show Secretaries must always be alert to possibilities of improving the standard of the club open show and be an active member of the society's activities.
Show Committee
A Show Committee is a luxury today; a Show Secretary/Manager and the club committee run most shows. The Show Secretary's first job is to delegate the work needed for the auction. An auction manager should have the experience to bring together all of the elements needed for a financially successful event without the help of the
Show Secretary The Show Secretary is the undisputed leader of the show committee, for it is his or her duty to co-ordinate the whole running and success of the open show. The society secretary can be of great assistance in the distribution of show literature and keeping minutes of the show committee meetings. The chairman will naturally chair the meetings, it his or her duty to oil the gears and keep everything running smoothly and to ensure that each particular member of the show committee is meeting their quota of projects on time. The treasurer's duties need no explanation, for this member holds the purse strings and must always keep a very tight regulation of show finances.

Initial Planning Process

Timetable For A Successful Open Show

Set Date - late on during previous year or early in year of show.
Decide on type of Show
Book Hall - as soon as possible and after checking facilities
Choose Show Classes
Put Details of Show on Own Society's Website - once date has been finalised.
Produce Flyers/Draft Schedules - by first event of season or very early in the year.
Check Tables & Their Availability - as soon as hall is booked or before.
Check Facilities At Hall - before making final booking.
Book Judges - once hall is booked.
Start Advertising Show - once hall is booked.
Apply For Championship Class & Brooch Scheme - once hall is booked.
Send off Draft Schedule - as soon as requested by FBAS.
Produce Final Version of Schedule - once FBAS championship classes allocated
Send off Details of Show to FBAS Website - as soon as schedule is finalised.
Send off Copy of Final Show Schedule to FBAS Website - as soon as schedule is finalised.
Send off Details of Show to Other Federation's Websites - as soon as schedule is finalised.
Send off Details of Show to Other Society's Websites - as soon as schedule is finalised.
Send off 3 Final Schedules - 5 weeks before show date.
Put Up Posters in Local Amenities -10 to 14 days before show.
Put Announcement in Local Paper - one week before show.
Put Announcement on Local Radio - one week before, and day before show.
Send off Results to FBAS - after show.

Early Planning List

Find a venue.
Choose classes.
Contact the FBAS Trophy officer for a show pack.
Contact the FBAS Trophy officer Championship Classes.
Delegate as much work as possible.
Write to prospective sponsors.
Check show date with neighbouring federations.
Check show date with TTAA.
Visit Venue.
Check tables at venue for suitability.
Check venue for comfort.
Book judges.

Cramlington Aquarist Society devised a nine-month planning sheet in 1993-4 for organising an Open Show, Although slightly out of date, it could easily be update for use today. (see Cramington's Planning Sheet)

 Show Dates
Most societies settle down to a fairly fixed period each year to hold their annual open show. Ideally each member society of the TTAA should inform the TTAA & FBAS as soon as the date of their forthcoming show has been decided. It is extremely important that society Show Secretaries do inform the TTAA in this way, so no double-bookings of event dates in the region can occur, in the event of this situation, the TTAA can contact both societies so changes can be made. Main holiday periods, mid-July to mid-August are usually best voided and mid-Winter is usually not desirable because of low temperatures.

Types of Show

Open Show
An FBAS Open Shows must have a minimum of 20 basic classes as listed elsewhere. Judging must be carried out by FBAS Judges to FBAS rules and regulations. Open shows are the best option to get local aquarists to the show, but Limited Class Shows can be as popular if there is a strong following in surrounding area for a particular type of fish
Limited Class Shows
Societies may, if they wish, hold a limited class show, for example an all Characin or all Cichlid show in order to enlarge the scope of the class within a limited field, a society may apply, with a written suggested schedule, for special class sub-divisions, which will be allotted according to an agreement of the schedule. The minimum of at least twenty classes in an open show does not apply in a limited class show.
Inter-Club Shows.
No doubt the show secretary will have some of his time diverted to the organisation of inter-club shows, which are generally run throughout the year. These shows are good stimuli for would be open show exhibitors and not only good training for the exhibitor but also for the show secretary & judges, to get the feel of a bigger event.
The show secretary should attempt to engage as many 'C grade judges as possible, to give them as much experience as they can obtain. The 'C' grade Judges are the open show judges of the future, please give them every opportunity you possibly can. Make sure that you have enough meetings with your opposing societies to get all classes and rules of pointing worked out and agreed before the event. It's surprising how many queries can crop up when the show is under way, because you didn't get your facts straight to start with. Make sure your benching and lighting is good and that you have your cards and stickers ready and there on the night.

Show Classes

Basic Show Classes
This is the subject with which show secretaries seem to have the most trouble and we must go into it in some depth There is often much confusion on this matter and quite often fish are benched in the wrong class, mainly because the show secretary and his stewards do not fully understand the basic class rules themselves if classes are not vetted whilst benching is in progress then problems are bound to occur at judging, especially when fish have to be transferred from one class to a class already judges.
Let us then consider Basic Classes first. These classes cannot be amalgamated, so fish not catered for due to a missing class cannot be transferred to another. Twenty basic classes constitute an FBAS Open Show, due to their importance, sub-division of class A & class X are counted as basic classes.
The only exception to this rule is when a society holds a specialised show for special type of fish exhibits. e.g. All Cichlid, or Livebearers or Coldwater etc.
(see basic class divisions, correct to 2008 issue of Booklet 5)
Sub-divisions of Basic Show Classes
These are denoted with the basic class letter as a capital and the sub-division letters as lower case, Ca, Mc etc. Exceptions are Classes N & X, where sub-division represents basic classes and not arbitrary letter connected to a sub-division. For example: X.B-M is written in capital, and means a breeders' team of any tropical egglayer from classes B to M can be shown. The lowercase letter 'z' is no longer used in Open Shows, and is restricted to tables shows use only This list of sub-divisions is available below, enables each club to manipulate classes to suit their Open Show needs. These sub-divisions are only to be supplemented to the basic classes as additional classes. It must be stressed that basic classes should sever be merged, omitted they may be, but never merged.
Most open shows run into a little difficulty with classes such Ca, amongst others, because of the limited number of genera allowed to shown in the class, and yet it is not a difficult problem, or even a problem at all, if the show secretary recruits the services of knowledgeable stewards to check that the right species are being benched in the correct classes. The old habit of naming sub-division of classes as for instance Large Barbs - or Small Characins or Large Cichlids should be discouraged by all show secretaries, for it is an outdated system that encourages fish to be benched in the wrong class, e.g. there are many small species of characin that belong in class C, but because of these misleading titles, small species that should be in C often end up in Ca.
(see full list of sub-divisions, correct to 2008 issue of booklet 5)

Venue of Open Show

It is to be appreciated that the venue availability and pricing is extremely variable according to location; however, great efforts should be made by the show committee to choose the very best premises for holding their Open Show. To be successful, an Open Show must keep, exhibitors, visitors and judges happy. To this end, the venue must be chosen carefully, skimping in any way on the comfort, enjoyment and efficient of the show will drive away people from next year's show. The location of the venue must allow visitor to attend by public transport as well as private. Choose a good area away from where there are signs of vandalism or gangs. What is the area like for car crime? The first for the venue is a spacious area which will allow enough benching to cope with expected number of fish. The layout of benching is covered elsewhere, but it must allow access by exhibiter with big tanks and poly boxes, and for judges to judge fish. Most of these enthusiasts bring along their families for a day's outing; such enthusiasts are the backbone of the shows and should also well catered for with a large and spacious room with access to food and toilets. A water supply is essential, a really well planned show would have conditioned, warm water available for the exhibitors to use in their show tanks. Failing this, a simple tap-in-the-toilet will suffice. Remember stairs are danger when carrying tanks; these should be avoided at all costs. Stairs are no only a barrier to exhibitors, they are also a barrier to those with mobility problems, try to have all amenities on the same floor. Good lighting is necessary for the judges to full appreciate the colour of the fish; natural lighting is best if possible. Heating can be a problem early and late in the season because sports hall are not usually heated, and local authority premises have their heating turned off during weekends. Industrial blower heater can be hire if the need arises. Ideally there should be two rooms the largest for visitors and the auction, the smaller for judging exhibits. A luxury would be a quite anti-room where the paperwork for the show can be carried out in peace and quiet, failing this a corner of the judging room will do. Never try to fill in place card, check judging sheets or fill in results sheet where the exhibitors have access, they will constantly mess with these sheets to see how they are doing, greatly increasing the time to complete the task.
Schools can sometimes provide such facilities and contact should always be maintained with the local authorities and education officers by the Show Secretary. Increasingly, schools don't want to know and it is falling to community association, church halls and private enterprise to provide halls. One a good venue is found, it should be cherished as they are hard to come by, and the society must do all it can to keep the good relations with the facility. Getting rid of excess water at the end of the day can be a problem, drains in the road should be used if possible. Under no circumstance should the venue's toilets be used - especially if the tank contains gravel - having to unblocking drains of gravel will not go down well with the venue's hirer.
Points that should be noted and considered when choosing a venue can be listed as follows:
Venue Checklist

Space Availability.
Location.
Parking Facilities.
Off-Loading Ease.
Toilet Facilities.
Canteen Facilities.
Light, According to Time of Year.
Heating, According to Time of Year.
Tables & Seating.
Water Supply
Benching
Water Disposal
Suitable entrance for exhibitors with boxes.
On ground level or with lifts for carrying heavy tanks, and for disabled visitors.

Insurance
Insurance is vital to protect the society against claims in the event of an accident. Some venues can provide insurance with the hall. If the society is not insured this way there are two other alternative: The TTAA Council has arranged an insurance for participating clubs which lasts a year and is fairly inexpensive, and private event insurance can be taken out one show at a time. It has to be stressed that insurance is necessary and it must be in place before an event can take place.
Benching Facilities
One of the earliest projects of the show secretary, prior to the venue being booked, is determine the amount of benching available. When planning the benching, three factors have to be considers: number of benches needed, benching layout, and the strength of the benching. It is important not to assume the benching comes with the hall, a society, who had their open show on the same day as the Great North Run, turned up at their hall to find the tables had been removed for the Great North Run, this, despite them having used the hall for the proceeding 10 years.
Strength of Benching
In the absence of specialised fish stands, the standard Formica covered, tubular steel tables, though a little low, are suitable for benching fish. Beware of trestle tables and folding tables! they can be very handy, but, they do bend dramatically and be liable to collapse. If you do have to use them, then check them thoroughly long before benching commences and do place at least one extra trestle under the centre of the table. Always remember that water is heavy and some aquarists do tend to turn up on the day with largish tanks, therefore classes that tend to have large fish should obviously take precedence to the heaviest grade of benching available. Do not bench a class on both sides of a table, extend it down one side only, otherwise judges have to pass around to the other side to judge all the exhibits.
Alternative Benching
Many alternatives to tables have been successfully tried. Caer Urfa, in the late 70s, made exclusive use of scaffolding & scaffolding boards. Benching was at eye level, for most, but proved too high for one or two judges. These stands were cover top-to-bottom in black-plastic sheet. It helped that a member of the club was a scaffolder and it came free. Tabletop stands can utilise space more efficiently by stacking a class vertically. These can be made from plywood or MDF with platforms approximately 150 mm wide and about 170 mm high. The overall height should not exceed 750 mm. Commonly used is the front edge of a stage if available; these provide long lengths of benching at a nice height.
Catering Facilities
Gone are the days when the Society could get together the day before and make enough sandwiches for next day's show. Meals must be prepared under proper conditions by trained people. The consequences of a food poisoning outbreak being traced back to show could be devastating to the show committee. It is best to hire a professional, or someone with the required certification. It has been known for clubs to have a burger van park outside to provide refreshments. Alternatively, it could be stated on the schedule that visitors should bring their rule and regulations on food are before making any decisions. Judges will need a meal, either before judging or after, in an extreme case this could be obtained from a local take-away.
Hygiene/Food Handling Certificates. (updated 20/7/08)
People preparing or serving food need a hygiene certificate. These are gained by successfully completing a one-day course, which cost £58 at Newcastle College in 2006. These certificates need renewing every three years but are also useful qualification for any job in catering.