Hi Mike,
Candidates typically pay all their expenses to go to a show, including airfare, hotel, friendship trophies, etc etc.. Excluding the judges dinner, and show banquet.
Certified Judges typically pay all the above except Hotel. So not a ton of difference in $ out. Last year alone Shila and I spent about $2000 of personal money on koi shows I was judging and traveling to them. This does not include the money for the annual seminar, shows attended I was not judging, etc etc.
Why do it?? Sometimes I wonder too. One catches alot of crap, even if they don't speak up much, and for what. Originally, I got into judging to learn. About all aspects of koi, but especially how to tell a high quality koi from not quite as good koi. And how to pick them. For myself. Quickly. What drilled my relative lack of knowledge home to me was my first trip to Japan. I had kept koi for some 9 years at the time and thought I knew a little. I saw a $500 koi and a $5000 koi in the same large bowl. Both
very nice looking to me, would have been happy with either, but I certainly could not tell what made the difference exactly in the two, let alone know the value of the higher one. Yes I knew it was nicer, but not by alot IMO.
I also wanted to hang out with similarly addicted nuts. Or idiots maybe.
Partly because it sounded like fun to me and partly because my "then" wife did not feel the same "peace" I felt when just being around a really good koi. When I finally was able to own a couple of those myself, it made it even better. "Inner Peace" are good words for what I feel in Koi. Not many places in life can one consistently get that.
I do like to help others, and this is a way that sometimes I can do that. Whether it is sharing what little knowledge I have gained ("My way" is a bit more low key than some others, but works for me), helping heal a friend's koi, or just pitching in and brainstorming on koi topics. Shooting the Shi*, er, talking koi at the adult beverage establishment. Ideally in Nagaoka.
But if not there, then anywhere.
That was a wife time ago...LOL One frustrating thing is that my "now" wife, Shila, doesn't work nearly as hard as I at it and her eye is better than mine many times. But then she has a genetic advantage. She is Japanese.
And that's the "what for" for me.
Steve, You are "spot on" about much of that. Doesn't really matter where you see the great koi, as long you see them, and alot of them.