Looks like I can still kill a thread!
I've been reading and trying to keep up, but this thread has been moving quicker than my brain so I am just now getting around to commenting.
I haven't done any showing in quite a while. I believe the last time I took birds to a show was the first or second AA national in Indiana. I still have a few out here and even hatched a handful last spring just to try to keep them going, but don't see myself showing again any time soon, so these are just my general thoughts - I don't really have skin in the game.
First off, I like lots of meets, providing the people calling them attend. When I first became interested in this breed, the first thing I did was check the website and look for activities near me and I was very discouraged to find absolutely nothing less than 12 hours away. Once I joined and discovered all I needed to do to have a meet closer was to request it myself, I did every chance I got. There weren't a lot of Ameraucanas in NC back then and in the beginning mine were often the only ones at a show. But there were other Ameraucana folks around. I met Don Cash and John Marshall who both had a great deal of experience in the hobby, and through them I met others. We showed our birds and people started asking about them and where they could get some and over time we started seeing bigger classes, more people raising Ameraucanas, and more club members from the Carolinas. I credit much of that growth to Don and it would have certainly been possible without meets or even a club, but I firmly believe calling those early meets helped by giving us an official presence in a region where we had not previously been visible. I'm glad the ability to use that valuable tool was not restricted.
However, just as I believe that tool should not be restricted, I believe just as strongly that it should not be abused. If I had called those meets and not shown up, anyone who made the trip to the show in the hope of meeting other Ameraucana enthusiasts, learning about the birds, club, etc. would have been left with a very bad impression. I believe that anyone who is willing to condition, groom, load, and haul birds across the state (or several states), spend money they often can't afford on gas, lodging, in my case usually a rental car (telling the agent with a straight face I won't have any "pets" in it), entry fees, etc. for non-cash awards deserves to have a meet for each time they do it. But anyone who calls a meet and does not show up had better have a darn good reason (think calling out sick at Walmart on Black Friday) or face suspension from calling meets for a period of time that would increase substantially for repeat offenders. But only penalize the offenders. Those who have been calling meets and showing up, doing what they are supposed to all along should be allowed to continue without infringement.
The "expectation " of 3 or more people showing: in the early days I'd have fallen short of 3 people even if you counted the EEs that were DQ'd. If I hadn't called meets knowing I'd be the only one there, we would never have worked up to class sizes with actual competition. Call them and they will come. Eventually.
Show secretaries that don't submit reports make my hair hurt. It's maddening, especially when you finally receive it and it's incorrect (which, in my experience, is at least half the time). One member had the same issue with the same show club, same secretary, spring and fall shows, year after year. The only option was to refuse meets, which would have hurt our member, who didn't deserve it, and had very little impact on the show club. In order to save our Director of Meets' sanity without penalizing a member for something that wasn't their fault, we came up with a backup plan where the member does their own report and, if the show secretary doesn't submit one within 30 days, we use the member's. In the interest of avoiding any appearance of impropriety, we ask that the member get a signature from someone else to verify the report. (Show secretary, another member, etc.) I haven't read the current policy but being part of the original discussion, I know the spirit of the rule had less to do with *who* signed it and more to do with *someone* verifying it (obviously not your spouse, kid, etc.). This wasn't done to make it harder for the exhibitors, it was done to give them a back up plan when dealing with an impossible show club that was often the only option within driving distance.
I can't add much with regard to points as by the time we started doing that I wasn't showing much, but as far as being present at a show vs sending birds with someone else, I honestly don't see a problem. If a bird is better than mine it deserves to win over mine. I've talked people into sending birds to a show they couldn't attend just to get enough entries to make it count, and they ended up beating me. I thought it was funny then and it still makes me laugh. Besides, the hard work is done well before the show. If you bred it, raised it, conditioned it, groomed it, taught it to be handled, did the testing, paid the entry fees, etc. what does it matter if someone else stuck it in the show cage? Now, that's just my opinion and, as I said, I really don't have skin in the game, but before implementing a new rule, I suggest considering it from all angles. For example, say Joe can't attend a show but he sends his birds with his friend. If we decide that Joe can't earn points/awards if his birds do well, what happens if Joe's birds don't do so well? If Joe can't earn points if he wins because he isn't there, it isn't fair for someone else to earn points from beating a guy who isn't there, so the winner's points would have to be calculated as if Joe's birds weren't there (and maybe he sent a bunch). Resulting in fewer points for the other competitors and additional headaches for the Director of Meets. And what if Joe is that third guy needed to have a meet? Does he count then? I personally think it's a slippery slope.
As far as the website/forum, I've always found both easy to navigate and the search feature on our forum works far better than other sites I use - it's gotten me a bit spoiled. My only complaint is with the pictures. I don't think I've ever been able to upload a picture to the forum, I've always had to upload them to a 3rd party site and link them. I haven't tried in a long time, maybe it's better now.
Did I miss anything?
Welcome to the Ameraucana Forum!