Organising an Open Show - Day of Show (Page 3)
Originally Written by Brian Risbridger, Brought Up To Date By Paul Barrow (2008)

Work on Day of Show

Show Secretary's Work
On the day of the show the Show Secretary should change roles to become a manager. Show secretaries should make sure that all of the planning is carried out to the letter and that there are no 'personal inputs' from others which may be detrimental to the running of the show. A good Show Secretary will have given out key jobs to certain club members, and arrival times well in advance of the show. On the day of the show, the Show Secretary should arrive first and to be able to make the preparation run smoothly. He must also be ready to step in when things go wrong and have them put right as soon as possible - no matter how well planned unforeseeable things do happen. Once the benching, chairs and other heavy work has been completed, in time for exhibitors to bench, the Show Secretary should then have enough time to greet visitors and sort out minor problems. Once benching has commence, a Show Secretary should start to rely more on his stewards to sort things, and start to take a back seat for a few hours until de-benching. If the show is running to plan, very little input is need from the Show Sectary. During judging the show Secretary should checking all of the activities around the hall to make sure all the work is being done, and the Judges are being looked after. Once prize giving commences, the Show Secretary should have all of the cards, awards & prizes ready to be given out by the Chairman. Once de-benching is completed the whole of the show committee and club members should help to pat away benches and clear the hall of rubbish. After a well run show there should be no signs of a show being held at the venue - this will go down well with the venue hirer and caretaker.
Benching Laying Out
Sufficient benching space is the answer to good benching, and a wise show secretary has some in reserve in case of a last minute influx of entries. Remember it is better to overestimate your benching than the reverse. Tempers can get strained with too little space for entrants to bench their exhibits. Maximising the benching available can be achieved by a good layout. Lastly, don't forget to provide an extra bench for the judges to work for during judging, and somewhere for the exhibitors to put their boxes when benching. When planning your benching layout, three things should be uppermost in your mind: efficient use of benching, leaving enough room for exhibitors to bench safely, leaving enough room for judges to be comfortably seated while judging. Two main methods of benching have been used in this area for many, many years: long lines of benching and the Geordie square. Long lines of benching are used in long thin halls, the layout consists of two or more rows of benches with sufficient space down the middle to allow exhibitors enough space to bench while not stopping other passing. At the outside of the rows, enough space has to be left for the judge to seated comfortable and be able to lean forward to judge. These long rows allow benching to take place along the edge with no gaps at the ends of the table. Small classes can be benched at the ends of these rows. The Geordie Square was designed out of necessity. Shows were being held in sports halls at local leisure centres; because of cost, only one hall was hired which meant all activities had to take place together. The 'Square' provides an area cut-off from exhibitors, if not their noise, for judges to work - as FBAS rules. In fact, the 'Square' is either two large 'L' shapes of four sides with gaps at the corners. Gaps are needed so judges can move to those classes on the outside of the square. At one show there was only one gap, necessitating a very long walk for the judges who need to escape to the out edges. The big advantage of this method is all of the shows judging and paperwork activities can take place in the middle.
Class Layout
Intelligent planning, ahead of show date, by measuring the floor area and assessing benching available can save space, especially if you are using the smaller room in order to cater for the comfort and entertainment of your public. Don't leave your benching arrangements until the morning of the show, be efficient have it planned. Laying out classes is one of the hardest part of the proceedings as the initial placing of classes rarely is successful. A certain amount of swapping and changing of classes is inevitable -no matter how well planned. A little bit of time, prior to the show, setting up these arrangements will pay dividends on the day, and goes a long way to making your show a success. Once benching has been erected, intelligent laying-out and spacing of classes can commence. Cards indicating the location of the classes can be displayed in the relevant area allotted to the class. Make every effort to leave sufficient space between classes and always allow a certain amount of space for medium sized containers in some of the smaller fish type classes. There is always a possibility that an exhibitor will turn up with a larger specimen from that class. Guppies & Fighters can be relied to be consistently small; however, other classes with seeming small inhabitants, such as 'R' have fish ranging from 25mm (1") -150mm (6"), the larger fish requiring quite big show tanks. Use the data gathered from other shows to assess which of the classes will have big entries and those with small. Don't forget that championship classes may not follow the trends seen in the area as exhibitors can travel from far a field for these classes, and swell the entities considerably. As previously mentioned, do your best to keep the entries in a straight line along the bench and not on both sides for one class. Do not bench entries too high, it is a little disconcerting for a Judge to have to climb on a chair to read entry numbers
Stickers should be affixed to the front of the container, the entry number on the right and the species identification names on the left. There's no harm in pointing this out in your schedule.
Due to the rules covering rooted plants, a three-foot or larger tank, of a depth of 15 should be supplied for exhibitors to show their plants.
Judges' Table
A table should be provided for the Senior Judge to set out the judging sheets and other judges to place their reference book.
Treatment Table
Over the last few years the FBAS has been advising Show Secretaries to have a treatment bench available in a quiet part of the show hall. This would be used to house disqualified fish or fish becoming distressed during judging. Under no circumstances should any show official try to treat the fish; this must be left to the owner.
Displaying Show Rules
A set of FBAS show rules (Book 5) should be displayed at the show and it is always advisable to have these mounted in clear plastic wallets to prevent soiling, remember you'll want them again the following year.
Booking-in
The booking in book should be a hard backed, A4, with ruled pages; it can be used year-after-year and will end up being a handy database of names and addresses. Before the show, exhibit numbers should be written along the left hand side, and then the page should be marked out in columns headed: Tank Number, Exhibitor's Name, Address, Postcode & Phone number, and a final column, Society. All of this information is essential as it is asked for on the FBAS's returns sheets for the Brooch Scheme, and Best in Show and Championship Classes. When an exhibitors has booked-in, a distinct line must be drawn across the page after that exhibitor's last number.
Pre-entry(updated 20/7/08)
Pre-entry has not yet been accepted by North Eastern Societies, only specialist societies have used the system to fit their requirements. Newcastle Guppy and Livebearers Society (NGLS) used the partial pre-entry in the late 70s-early 80s to run their international Open Shows. International entries, and some British entries, being pre-booked while local exhibitors booked in on the day. Recently, NEGS (North East Goldfish Society) has run its shows with 100% pre-booking (see image). NEGS supplied tanks are set out the night before in classes with exhibit numbers on. The tanks are filled with de-chlorinated water and allowed to stand over night. Benching the following day is carried out in a calm atmosphere with no haste, or need for many stewards.
The principle of pre-entry is basically designed to give the host society advance information of intended entries and the classes which are to be entered into. To this end, benching can be calculated to a reasonably high degree, providing that the bulk of the pre-entries are actually pre-entered. A proportion of other entries must always be expected on the day of the show. Pre-entry forms, requesting entrants name, address and fish entries intended; stating classes to be entered and the fish names, common or scientific and also the tank sizes they will be entered in, are in two parts in the show schedule. One will be posted back the show secretary by a given date and the other retained for the entrants reference.
The forms are sent out with the schedules in good time to get returns by post with the entry fees, which are often at reduced prices to those entries that are entered on the day of the show. On arriving at the show the exhibitor produces their half of the entry form and is given an entry stickers, already made out in advance. A place, marked out to the size of the show tank entered, is allocated to the entry number and the exhibitor places the exhibit there. Advantages of pre-entry are the ability to judge the amount of benching more accurately, and knowing each fish is correctly placed in the right class.
CITES Listed Fish
Some fish may not be shown or need a licence. Banned or Endangered fish on the CITES List should not be available in this country, and must certainly not be shown. It is the responsibility of the show organiser to have these fish removed from the show bench but it may be left up to the judges to perform this task, as identification can be difficult in some cases.
DEFRA Fish Licences
Certain fish, some commonly kept in the past, cannot be kept now without a licence; these are generally foreign coldwater fish which may survive in British waters. Full list of these fish can be found FBAS & DEFRA websites. These licences fall into two categories: Genera & Species Licences. Genera licences give a blanket coverage, whereas Species Licences cover one species only. Before judging starts these licences should be presented to the show secretary who should show them to the senior Judge. Failure to do so will lead to the fish being removed from the bench.
Stewards Duties
The show secretary should ensure that there are enough stewards to perform the necessary duties before judging commences, in the case of a shortage, people should be taken from other areas to ensure judging is started on time. Less people are needed in the show hall once judging is in progress, so stewards can then be reassigned.
Good stewards can make or break an event. Their job is to make sure benching runs smoothly and the exhibitors are happy while benching is taking place, and make sure the judges are happy and working efficiently while judging is going on.
Stewarding During Benching
Good stewarding will be constantly aware of an underestimated benching arrangement within the classes and reserve benching should be on hand to be moved into position at a moments notice to accommodate extra entries should they be forthcoming. Stewards should be constantly checking exhibits to ensure they are within the FBAS guidelines; that no tanks are undersize, stickers are in the right palace, dates of birth - where needed - are in place, fish are in the correct class and tables do not become over loaded. Often stewards might be able to help an entrant to re-bench an entry in a correct container, or give advice which stops a disqualification. Despite decades of training, exhibitors still insist on putting their exhibits behind other exhibits. These double rows create difficulties for the organiser and judges. Organisers, in this case the show stewards, must keep on top of this problem as it happens, leaving it too late can create a situation which in nigh-on impossible to fix. Double, or even triple, rows of this nature are time consuming to judge. Having to move fish during judging unsettles them and they can lose colour and deportment. It is better to educate exhibitors and re-bench fish long before judging starts.
Stewarding During Judging
This should be a more relaxed time for stewards as the pace of the show settles down to that of judging time. Stewards should be providing judges with drinks, tea, coffee etc. at request of the Senior Judge of Show Secretary. They take the finished judging sheet from the judge to be check before display. They affix place stickers, special stickers, and generally help judges when requested.
Stewarding During De-Benching
This could be the time of their high workload. Some open shows require stewards to de-bench all fish, handing each exhibit to its owner on receipt of a de-benching card - this was introduced to stop theft. Thankfully, theft of fish has not happened in this area for many years and exhibitors de-bench with the help of stewards, if requested.
Results (see example)
Plan your results routine with your team, well before the show and go to the venue with them to discuss the flow pattern and what items will be required. A steward should take the completed judging sheet from the judge and pass it on results table where one person will receive it and check the points awarded, making a quick check of the first four place totals. The entry numbers will be passed to a colleague who will get the exhibitors details from entry book. These details will then be transferred to the place cards and results sheets. The results sheet and judging sheet can then be passed on so that the place stickers can be applied to the tanks, and the results put on display. Judging sheets & Results must be publicly displayed.
The results should be posted in a sensible position, give some thought to their location. If they are displayed on walls, it is best to use blu-tac, rather than sellotape to stick them up. Sellotape lifts paper and paint with justifiable complaints by the hall's hirer. If the entry is particularly big, it is not a good idea to display the completed judging sheets alongside the results sheets, for only the front line of people will see anything and Judging sheets take longer to understand than results sheets. Spread the judging sheets out well apart along the walls, but keep the results sheets closer together. At smaller shows, up to 300 or so, result sheets can be sellotaped to the bottom of the judging sheet and displayed together. Exhibitors must never be allowed to remove the results; complaints should be dealt with by the show secretary or a steward. Exhibitors have, in the past, removed results sheets and used them to complain directly to the J&S. These results are needed for the Brooch Scheme, and losing them could result in cards not being accepted.
Best Society, Best Exhibitor & Perpetual Trophies
While filling in cards etc. it is easy top to keep the score on the society member's places if you are awarding a 'Best Society' or 'Best Exhibitor' trophy. You can give 4 points for a first, 3 for a second, 2 for third and finally 1 point for a fourth, an extra 4 points for 'Best Fish In Show' and double points for breeders classes (X) and furnished aquaria (A).
It is not good practice for the host society to enter its own 'Best Society' award, especially as they have the advantage of the home draw. If you are awarding perpetual trophies, do not forget to obtain signatures and addresses when prize giving takes place.
Complaints
Many show schedules state that the Judges decision if final - this is completely untrue!
There is a host of ways to change an unfair decision some of which can be tried long after the show if finished. It is inevitable that at some shows an exhibitor will wish to make a complaint. Aquarists do get upset at times justifiably or unreasonably so. If an exhibitor wishes to file a complaint, keep cool and polite and follow procedure. On a receipt of a complaint to any of the show team, the show secretary should be informed immediately. Impress this on your team. Do not deal with the complaint on the open floor, get the complainant into a private area and ask them to state very clearly the nature of the complaint. Have someone else with you, preferably a steward equally as cool. The show secretary must deal with complaints in the first instance. If the complaint concerns judging, the show secretary should explain the situation to the Senior Judge and see if he can help there and then, if not he can be approached by the Show Secretary & exhibitor after judging. If the problem remains unresolved, the exhibitor can send off a written statement to the J&S Committee. The J&S will investigate and give their verdict to the exhibitor and submit a report to the General Council. If the complainant is still unhappy with the explanation, he can appeal to the General Assembly as a last resort.
End of Judging (added 7/7/08)
This does not officially happen until all classes, including Best in Show, Best Livebearer etc. have been decided by the judges. The Senior Judge will inform the Show Secretary, who will announce, immediately, to all competitors and guests that judging has finished. This arrangement allows exhibitors and guests to view the fish, talk to the judges and check the judging sheets. Due to an arrangement set up many years ago in the TTAA region, judges will stay at the show for at least 30 minutes after judging to be available for discussions. 
Prize Giving
If your show has gone to plan, the auction and other activities should be finished in good time for the prize giving. There are many ways of giving out awards at the end of the show but one thing should always be bourn in mind; make the exhibitors proud of winning and don't make this part of the day an after thought. The society's chairman, or local celebrity should give out awards in the main hall. Councillors, FBAS Committee Members, or someone famous in entertainment, if you choose the latter be careful about fees and time, as it is not unknown for someone famous to spend only a few minutes at the show and expect a large fee. The accepted way of giving prizes is to put the award cards in order and call out the exhibitors in this order. It does mean some exhibitors are up-and-down like yo-yos during prize giving. An alternative is to order the card by exhibitor and have them come out one and have their achievements read out one-by-one. Using this method it is best to give out the major prizes first to make a show of it. If the main prizes are trophies, they look good displayed in front of the hall. As each exhibitor is given a card, the corresponding trophy should be given to the person presenting the prizes to pass it on to the exhibitor. Provide cardboard boxes for the trophies as some exhibitors may win many. If the main prize is food, bag it up before the show so they are easy to handle, it may not look pretty but it better than tubs of food rolling all over the floor during prize.
After Show Work
Your duties as show secretary for an open show do not end when the brooms are put away at the end of the day. Firstly, a list of TTAA & FBAS specials should be sent to the TTAA Council as soon as possible so they can be entered for the TTAA Champion of Champions later in the year. If you are in the brooch scheme a copy of winners and addresses should be sent to the Trophy Secretary along with the names of the FBAS Champ Class Winners, Supreme Breeders & pairs winners and the Best in Show winners (to 3rd place). Get together with your treasurer, as soon as possible, and assess the financial outcome of the open show, it is important to get a grasp of the situation as early as you can. If you have borrowed or hired benching return it early or you might not get it the following year. Having done all these things, start planning for next years show right away, you'll need all of that time, don't let the trail get cold, even if it will not be your job next year.
Odd Notes
A good show secretary should know the FBAS booklet No. 5, Show Rules and Constitutional and Technical information, inside out. As show secretary you should have your club copy, if not, why not buy one at once, you'll need it.
Breeders' entries must bear date of spawning.
Fish raised from transferred eggs are not eligible for breeders entries e.g. Killifish eggs.
The minimum size of an exhibitor's container is 100 mm x 100 mm x 100mm.
The maximum level of gravel allowed in a container is 20mm.
Breeders' teams may consist of four or six entries, the decision to be made by the society, and the choice plainly stated in the schedule
Open shows cannot have a mixture of 4 & 6 fish breeders' teams.
Junior classes must bear the suffix of a small 'y', e.g. class 'J' would read Jy' for juniors.
White 'Special' stickers will to denote that a fish is to be consider for Best in Show'.
A class to which an FBAS championship trophy has been allotted may only be judged by an 'A' grade judge.
Cites listed Fish cannot be shown
Fish Licences are required for some coldwater fish and must be shown before the fish is judges.
If applying for a non-FBAS judge, permission must be gained from both federations concerned.
All judges at an FBAS Open Show must judge to FBAS standard, sizes and in accordance with FBAS show rule.
The acceptation to this rule applies in specialist open shows.

Acknowledgments
Brian Risbridger, Elaine Denham, Tom Gray, Paul Conway, Alan Race, Colin Tweddle, 'D.M. of Cramlington', TTAA Council & Members (past & present), and the FBAS.