Show Sleuth here with report on the North Carolina ferret show last weekend! Show Sleuth's first post to the FML about the show was rejected for being too long, so I am cutting out the commentary at the top (oh, how boring!) Here's the relevant info: The area of North Carolina that the show was held was quite nice. The show facility itself was a good one, it was spacious and well-laid out. Vendors seemed to have a lot of room to spread out, and there was a lot of space for exhibitors that we were not on top of each other. There were not a lot of people at the show, it was one of the smallest shows (head-count) that Show Sleuth has seen. This was probably because it was in a brand new area where no shows have been held before. This actually made the atmosphere one that was sort of intimate, it was very easy to move around and talk to a good deal of the people there. You did not have to fight any crowds to visit vendor tables or get to your show ring. I'm sure that in the future they would like to have more exhibitors and vendors, and again this I'm sure had a lot to do with the new area that the show was being held in, and perhaps due to the hurricane some people who might have otherwise come did not. But it still was really refreshing to have so much space and to be so spread out! The show hosts, Judy and Gary, were two of the friendliest, most welcoming people I've ever met. I was even at a vendor table when Gary came around and was asking each vendor how they were doing and if they needed anything - as mentioned in the Ohio report, Good Idea! The following are a list of what Show Sleuth felt about the pros and cons of the show (some are comments that were overheard by vendors and exhibitors) The Good Stuff --Great location both in geography and show hall - more shows need to start up in new areas of the country. The hall may need to be bigger as attendance goes up, but for now (and next year I'm sure) it's great. -- Coordination of the show was excellent. The layout of the hall was very good. The hosts were wonderful! -- Everything was done one at a time - raffles, fun matches, judging and seminars - things did not run concurrently, so everyone could focus on what was happening at all times (but see related negative comment below) -- Raffle was very good. Could have had more variety but really could not complain about the raffle. -- Gary took the time to acknowledge over the loud speaker each vendor that was there, encouraging exhibitors to visit each vendor throughout the day by name. -- Ribbons were very nice, and they had a sort of "best in show" award, each first place ferret was re-judged at the end. Unlike other shows that have done this they had very large ribbons (I've never seen ribbons that big before!) for not only the "best in show" but also the 2nd and 3rd place. That was innovative and nice. Could Be Improved -- Hotel was a bit on the far side from the show hall. -- There were no trophies for first place winners, only ribbons. A few people commented on that, some seemed pretty bothered by it. One exhibitor said that if they paid regular price for a show entry as other shows they expected to have trophies like other shows give. (incidentally, this is not the first time Show Sleuth has heard this. At the Warm Fuzzy show, which Show Sleuth did not comment on, that was the one thing that was overheard over and over and over again at the Warm Fuzzy show. It was just about the only thing about the Warm Fuzzy show that Show Sleuth heard that was negative, except for that the places weren't even printed on the ribbons at Warm Fuzzy, which a lot of people complained about. Personally for Show Sleuth, the Warm Fuzzy show was a good one but it was too HOT!) -- While most seemed to think that the show moved at a good pace, a few people were heard during one of the fun matches saying that they wanted the judging to continue already. The can tipping contest apparently went on a little too long and people that weren't interested or involved in it didn't want to wait. Show Sleuth has mixed feelings about that. It is sometimes annoying to just sit and wait for your ferret to be judged, especially when you don't really have anything better to be doing at that time. But at some shows, there are too many things going on at one time and the result is chaos. Show Sleuth isn't really sure how to come to a compromise, and others opinions are of course welcomed! It did seem nice though for vendors as they seemed to have more business flowing through, when there was "down time" during fun matches or seminars, etc. That is about all that Show Sleuth can remember to comment about. In summary, the show was a very, very good one for a first show, especially considering that it was in a brand new area with no real established ferret community. One vendor from Pennsylvania said that they would definitely attend next year if the show was held again, despite the drive which they said was very long. While the intimacy of the show was very nice, to make money a show needs more warm bodies of both the flesh and fur kind in attendance, and Show Sleuth would recommend if anyone is thinking of making the trip, it's well worth it. Murray Mustelid the Show Sleuth [Posted in FML issue 2811]