To show or not to show?

[Clay]

I love attending the shows. It develops your appreciation to see quality fish. Looking at live skin and colors that are not reproduced on a monitor are among the best benefits of a show to me.

My one and only show where I entered the show came from an evangelecal koi keeper's encouragement. He didn't ask once or twice. He came an we bagged fish together. It was a great experience for me and one in which I learned more in that weekend than in many weekends reading info on the net. I also appreciated Ron Goforth (sp?) who was the judge, discussion of the fish out loud. You could hear the why's and reason as to his selections. Again, a great teaching and learning opportunity.

One thing that people are hinting about is some kind of mentoring program that the clubs could start. There is nothing like having a friend there for guidance.

Rick

[MikeM]

Good ideas for increasing participation.

...but the tough one is Carolyn's observation that it just takes too much time. That one hit home. I expect there are a number of folks who might be able to fit in a one day show within a reasonable driving distance, but it gets very difficult for them to arrange everything to be gone for three days. It takes some real planning. So many commitments have to be met over weekends! A person has to be pretty kichi to get energized to handle it all. People work too much.

[Steve Nguyen]

IMO, attending the show and participate in the show as a contestant is two different things. I attended a few shows locally and out of town as a looker only. I went as far as Gardena show in Southern CA just to see the fish. lotsa good looking fish there.

Steve

Quote: Originally Posted by Clay I love attending the shows. It develops your appreciation to see quality fish. Looking at live skin and colors that are not reproduced on a monitor are among the best benefits of a show to me. My one and only show where I entered the show came from an evangelecal koi keeper's encouragement. He didn't ask once or twice. He came an we bagged fish together. It was a great experience for me and one in which I learned more in that weekend than in many weekends reading info on the net. I also appreciated Ron Goforth (sp?) who was the judge, discussion of the fish out loud. You could hear the why's and reason as to his selections. Again, a great teaching and learning opportunity. One thing that people are hinting about is some kind of mentoring program that the clubs could start. There is nothing like having a friend there for guidance. Rick

[Steve Nguyen]

on top of participating in the show, I am sure some koi hobbysts from out of town see remote koi show as an excuse for a weekend get-away. pretty darn good excuse, imo. as in anything, there is always some work involve, in this case, it's a labor of love plus there is a big trade off such as chance of winning or learning something from participate in the contest.

Steve

Quote: Originally Posted by MikeM Good ideas for increasing participation. ...but the tough one is Carolyn's observation that it just takes too much time. That one hit home. I expect there are a number of folks who might be able to fit in a one day show within a reasonable driving distance, but it gets very difficult for them to arrange everything to be gone for three days. It takes some real planning. So many commitments have to be met over weekends! A person has to be pretty kichi to get energized to handle it all. People work too much.

[111whalen]

I love to attend koi shows. It gives you a clearer picture of your own fish. One negative that has not been covered: handling of fish at the show. Sometimes, because of English style judging, the fish are staying in the bowls for a long period of time. At a recent show, where I was panning, I had a fish jump out at least 3 times in a 20 minute period-we fish handlers get nervous about that. It did not encourage me to start showing again. English style shows have numerous issues-health, seeing the fish side by side, and fish handling. I will show again, but few and far between.

[PapaBear]

Quote: Originally Posted by Steve Nguyen on top of participating in the show, I am sure some koi hobbysts from out of town see remote koi show as an excuse for a weekend get-away. pretty darn good excuse, imo. as in anything, there is always some work involve, in this case, it's a labor of love plus there is a big trade off such as chance of winning or learning something from participate in the contest. Steve

Back when my daughter was still in H.S. and College we used to plan our "vacation trips" around her out of state Softball Tournaments. Watching her ball games was our "hobby". Now she's all grown up so we've adopted a new hobby, that happens to swim .

[luke frisbee]

man oh wooooman is this a multidimensional answer or what....

First you need to identify the reason a person shows to then understand why people don't show...and there are many reasons.
the last time I took koi to a show, the CFKS two years ago, i took koi for 2 reasons. The first was I had a responsibility to a club that had already kicked me out to show a fish I was allowed to buy at a reduced price because I had agreed to show it in a seperate "grow out contest" at CFKS. (BTW only a third of the members owned up to that obligation, but none of them were reprimanded or were submissively dropped from the prestigious club...and I was also much more active and volunteered more than half of the members...but god forbid I not have the acceptable personality...love of koi NOT good enough...intelligence not needed.. keeping your piehole shut and sending in your membership fee Ding Ding Ding ding!)
but nevertheless I decided I didn't have any koi that copuld win a damn thing, but I did give my word to bring the Grow out Sanke, so I caught some fish i thought would provoke some thought and provide an opportunity to educate some of the people that attended the show.
I had a uniquely patterned showa. not a pretty koi but one that was a good example of the "fawn pattern" of beni. I still have that koi and am quite proud of its growth and improvement, it may one day do well at a show. And I will take it to a show in the future so those that saw it then can see it again. An interesting koi and attractive in a certain way.
I also brought some 3 inch babies to just show that some good koi do come out of backyard flock spawnings. i wasn't going to enter those fish, just the showa and grow out sanke. But I LEARNED SOMETHING. if you have a koi in the show tank it has to be in the show. it was explained to me that this was to have as little confusion as possible. I was given the option to either remove them from the tank, bag them, or enter them in the show and let them swim around the tank.
I chose to pay to enter them and give them the least detrimental environment...it isn't my fault that there weren't koi in some of their classes and they won....
but then I had to hear all the crap (on top of being told I wasn't going to be allowed back in the club house fort) that I didn't bring koi of any quality to the show.....irregardless of me supporting the show financially, helping out with some of the hard work, as well as attending every organizational meeting even though i did not have a titled position (I went to see if I could offer an insight or perspective not thought of).
So there ya go...koi shows aren't what ANYONE has written that they are.

Koi shows need to identify WHY the koi is being held...and don't make it some flowery BS....make the show (I am talking the REAL show...the part where koi are presented and judged not the seminars...not the "social aspect") a competiton. Encourage competition.
but there is another dimension that hasn't been broached straight out...Koi judges can't decide which fish should win...they agree to disagree. there are no rules. A judge must only be able to support why he decided one koi was better than another. it is nothing more than his opinion. And thye all learn "koi" in the same system but through different teachers and experiences.
i've learned to halfway accept whatever the judges say. Cuz usually they are half right. there is usually a better fish in a smaller size that everybody attending the show thinks is a better fish.
I'd love it if there was a concrete way to determine which fish was best. there isn't a concrete way. A guy that wants to be a koi judge real bad gets to make the call.
so the contest is hollow....the GC is the GC to one person (maybe five people if it is a huge show...then again maybe only three of the five judges think that the fish is the GC...and in the case of last year's Koi America maybe the two japanese Judges get to decide irregardless of what the Host judges think.)

A "class B" trophy is another way to get another person some hardware based on the same judges opinions.
But the "People's Champion" could be a new and more hotly contended title. This could be determined by giving a ballot to every hobbyist at the show. nother could be the "Contestant's Champion" by giving the same ballot to the Contestants thta have brought koi to the show.
Each would be a prestigious award.
Of the four I'd be hapiest to recieve the "Contestant's Choice Award" the most, then the "Hobbyist's Choice Award", then the GC and then the Class B.
and if the same fish wins more than one of the above, well then we gotta a Real stonking good koi...could that be another award with an "*"?