Hello all,
 
Sorry that Show Sleuth is late on the report of the Croydon show.  Things
piled up while away at the show and took a bit to get back to normal.
 
I wish I had better things to say about the show.  I have been to several
LOS-PA Croydon shows, and the novelty is beginning to wear off.  The one
redeeming factor of the show was always that no matter what the show was
like, you could still have a good time with the folks that go to Croydon.
But Show Sleuth is tired of having the same complaints at every show and
then not seeing any improvement the next time Croydon comes along.  These
folks have enough show coordination experience that they should have a
terrific show by now, but every time, it's the same.  Don't they go to any
other shows to see what makes a great show, and say to themselves, we ought
to do that??  Apparently not.
 
The general complaints that Show Sleuth has always had (and heard from more
than just a few other show-goers) in the past were that the show location
is pretty dismal, the hall is very small, parking is a joke, some of the
judges often do not act professional (or dress professional), the vendor
selection is not great, and the raffle is by far the very worst at any
show.
 
This show did not part from this stereotype, though I attended Croydon
expecting that it would be the same old same old.  To my dismay, this time
it was worse than usual.
 
The show was even smaller than in previous years, which I did not think
was possible.  That should be clue number one to the Croydon folks that
something is wrong.  How is it that every other show can grow year after
year, yet Croydon is losing people?  It's because they don't seem to care
enough to improve their show.  My report about the Ohio show pointed out
negative things, but the one thing I can say about that show is that they
DID care and I have no doubt that next year the Ohio show will be
incredible.  Croydon, though, gives the show attendee the impression that
they do not care.
 
Despite the low attendance the exhibitor tables were cramped, but that is
because the hall isn't large enough to have adequate numbers of tables.
The same judges as usual that come across as unprofessional were there (I
will not name names, that is not Show Sleuth's intention to slander any
one person, but there are also some quite professional judges at Croydon
as well, and if they think about it they will know who I am talking about
and who I am not).  I overheard two separate conversations about the
presentation that the people at the show give off, what I heard was not
something that I will repeat.  Suffice it to say that some of the judges,
stewards, coordinators and even attendees should take a bit more pride in
the image that they give off.  They do not seem to care that the walk-ins
at these shows get their impression of ferrets from those who own them.
 
The vendors that were there I appreciate -- I always support the vendors
at shows, no matter how large or small their selection.  But the fact that
some of the "regular" vendors that go to other shows do not go to Croydon
makes the selection overall sparse and disappointing.  However, despite the
fact that there weren't many vendors to choose from, it was noticeable that
cash registers were not chinking away as much as at other shows.  I spoke
to one vendor that angrily said that they weren't selling anything and that
there was no walk-in traffic.  If Show Sleuth was a vendor, I don't know
that I would take the time to go to another Croydon show, I wonder if it
would be profitable.
 
The biggest disappointment of all, however, was the raffle.  As usual, it
was horrible.  I realize that horrible is a harsh word, but it's just a
fact, and once again, this was overheard at least 6 times by other parties
at the show so Show Sleuth is not alone in this opinion.  I ask of the
Croydon folks: why do you not have a better raffle?  How is it that every
other ferret show can have a raffle worth spending too much money on
tickets, yet your table not only has a poor selection of ferret items, but
half the table is completely non-ferret related items?  Have you been to
other shows?  If they can get donations from retailers and ferret
companies, why don't you?
 
But I did expect the same raffle going to the show, but I didn't care
because I knew that other vendors would have great raffles, and one of
these days I plan to win the coveted Pennsylvania Ferret Shelter's basket
they raffle at every show.  But the dismay I felt when I heard that NO
other vendor was permitted to have a raffle was too much for me to take.
You host a show, have a bad raffle, and then forbid others from having
raffles?  That is rediculous.  These vendors make a very significant profit
from their raffles that goes to the shelters that they are running or
supporting.  I think that it is awful that you would deny these vendors
that opportunity.  Other shows want their vendors to make money and the
shelters to get donations, but you took that away.  It turned out that the
Pennsylvania Ferret shelter association was not even in attendance - I
wonder why they were not, perhaps they wised up before the rest of us have?
 
The worst thing was that while I used to go to this show because I at least
had fun - the crowd at Croydon is different from other shows - this time,
it just wasn't.  One person said that the show has become more of a
get-together for the "regular Croydon people" and if you're not "one of
them" you're just left sitting there bored.  I sadly have to agree.
 
I heard that the next "Croydon" show will actually be a part of the Fort
Washington Pet Expo, a two-day event.  I'm not sure why they need two days
to have their show when they barely have enough entries to fill a one day
show, but I am interested to see if there are improvements on the show in
its new venue.  I have one very serious caution to give to the show
coordinators, however: if you are a part of the Pet Expo, you are going to
have a great deal of new faces, non-ferret people, that will be walking
through.  You will be ambassadors of the ferret community, and I sincerely
hope that you take that opportunity to put on a good presentation.  Dress a
bit better - not that business attire is necessary, but it is possible to
be casual and professional.  Some attractive literature to be given to the
public would be nice.  And be friendly!  Don't simply pay attention to your
own clique of people, you will need to reach out and take the chance to
educate.  I am looking forward to seeing if perhaps the new location will
spark an interest in making the show better.  If it's not, it will be the
last Croydon show I attend - which may not matter to the show hosts, but
I'm apparently not the only one with that opinion and I don't think they
can afford to lose too many more "regulars" before the show loses money.
 
I welcome opinions, comments, criticisms -- what did others think???
 
Murray Mustelid the Show Sleuth
[Posted in FML issue 2828]