Good Day, all!
 
Show Sleuth here to report on SVFC... though it sounds like the whole
Aleutian's thing has overcome any desire for anyone do discuss the show
itself.
 
Show Sleuth got quite a few comments about the show privately - THANK YOU
to all who did so.  I like balancing my own thoughts with those of others
who have attended.
 
First, my comments:
Location/facilities: The new location of the show and the hall itself -
very good.  I was pleased, and hope that the show remains in the same
location in the future.  Lots of space, easy to get to, many hotels in the
area, lots of food.  I've been to a number of SVFC shows and the hall gets
better with each one.  This one's a keeper.
 
Judging: Show Sleuth wasn't able to see the winners of the ferrets this
time around.  Rather than judging each class, then having the top ten
ferrets called back and let others see who won, they awarded several
classes at one time, and announced that owners did not have to bring their
ferrets up.  This was meant to save time, but it also meant that nobody
could see the winning ferret.  So I can't say if I agreed or disagreed with
the ferrets that were winning.  I can say that I like it much better when
the ferrets are with the owners to receive their ribbons - hey, it is for
the ferrets, right? :-)  Plus it is exciting to watch the top three ferrets
brought up as the top three are called forward, and judges ask that the
owners turn around to show the audience the best of the ring.  It's hard to
learn what makes a ferret a first place ferret if we can't see who won,
right?  I did see the ferret that took Best Alter though... the owner
brought him up for ribboning on his own.  Gorgeous, gorgeous ferret!  So at
least Show Sleuth has to agree with the ferret that took Best Alter (and
the runner up to Best Alter was equally gorgeous.  Where do you all GET
these ferrets?  :-))
 
Raffle: The raffle was small, so of course I was a little disappointed.  It
wasn't horrible, but I definitely would have liked to see more available.
However, I overheard a conversation where it was mentioned that the hosts
of the show are two people and they did everything themselves.  So if the
raffle was sparse, I must understand if there were only two people
preparing.  In fact, if this show was put on by only two people, I am
impressed.  It was nearly as nice as any show as an entire club of people
can put on.  And for anyone who complained that the show book was not
assembled prior to the start of the show - take into consideration again
that putting on a show is a big undertaking for ten or twenty people, let
alone two.  What really made up for the small raffle for me was that there
were quite a few other raffles going on, so I got my "fix" with them.
 
Schedule: the show started pretty late, which is a peeve of Show Sleuth.  I
do not know the reason for the delay, it may have been very valid.  The
show as a result ran long - the alter class did not start until close to
the time I'd expected the show to end.  I felt that the alter judging was
then rushed, even though there was no limit to when we had to be out of the
hall.
 
Vendor selection: I thought that there were fewer vendors than usual at the
show, not as big of a selection as other shows.  However, I received a
comment (below) from another show goer who was very pleased, so maybe it's
just me.  The vendors that were there were great, so really this wasn't a
complaint at all on my part.  Maybe I just am used to all of the same
vendors... where has the Ferret Store been?  They used to come to shows, at
least two that I can recall.
 
 
Overall: Other than the timing issue, I enjoyed the show.  It was pretty
stress-free, not crowded, good location.  What more can I say?
 
here are the comments I received from other attendees.  The following are
condensed thoughts from five people who sent me their thoughts.  Again,
thank you to the people who sent these, I will keep you anonymous, in case
you wanted to be!  I've shortened these comments for space sake.  Comments
in (parentheses) are mine.
 
**Very nice show hall and extremely easy to find/get to
 
**Show hall layout was pretty good, but for all of the space that they had
there were not enough exibitor tables
 
**Nice selection of vendors (this comment was sent by two people new to
shows, they were very excited)
 
**Need more exhibitor tables (a repetitive comment but I'm just adding
everyone's comments who sent them in)
 
**The raffle was not as good as usual, but very nice cage from Skip Martin.
They also did a 50/50 which I really liked.  (Skip Martin is a cage vendor.
Everyone knows Skip :-))
 
**There were nice raffles at some vendor tables like Ferretwise (did a
basket), Nicole Leshock did a travel cage by Skip Martin and other stuff,
the PFRA had their regular basket/cage, etc.  (I left the names of these
people in because they were sent to me this way and the recognition is
nice)
 
**The judging was too rushed at end, SVFC needs to stay on track.  Also,
why did they not ribbon when each class is done?  I did not like that.
They held up Panda/Blaze ribboning for no reason and Siamiese supposedly
for late entries but the judge had already left the show hall so who could
have judged the late entries from sable/chocolate anyway???  (This comment
was left pretty much intact the way it was sent.  I didn't see all of this
so I don't know firsthand.  However, the reason they held up the ribboning
is because they do color check, if one ferret is in the wrong class, they
will move him/her to the class the ferret would do better in.  In theory,
this is a great way to do it, however, all classes that can have incorrect
entries need to run at the same time, and try to end at the same time, so
the ribboning isn't held up too much after the judging is done.  People
don't like to wait too long.)
 
**Nice selection of specialty classes (had senior, mutt, handicap)
 
**I loved the fun match trophies - they were adorable and made a really
nice touch!!!
 
**Very nice people there I talked to lots [of people] and everyone seemed
to be having a good time
 
**Nice food selection/vendor - hotdogs were great!!
 
 
Well, that's it.  Overall, SVFC seems to be a popular show that needs only
a little improvement.  Show Sleuth certainly would return again!  I'm still
pondering the Aleutian's issue, and I see that BIG is holding those posts
anyway, so I'll sit on it some more before speaking.  See you all at the
next show!
 
Murray Mustelid the Show Sleuth
[Posted in FML issue 2870]