The Edgleys wrote:
Dear Experts,
I'm no expert, can I reply anyway?
Here are a couple of general show related questions. If you have a system
that really works well, I would like to know.
1) Does anyone have a computer program that handles show entries well? I
envision something that would allow us to print sheets of all plants in a
class by grower category to use for ribbon judging - not AOS. It would also
be helpful to be able to sort the winners of the classes for trophy
consideration.
I know this is done by many societies, but I have always found it to
be a royal pain. 1) somebody has to type in all the entries. This
person is inevitably not the best typist, and even if they are sometimes
the spelling mistakes are impressive. At least if you have the entry
tags the team can see what the exhibitor meant to write (whether or not
that makes sense is another problem). 2) if plants need to be moved
from one class to another, the team has to cross it off one list and
write it on another. This sounds trivial, but last time I judged
phalaenopsis over half the plants were misentered. Cattleyas were
pretty bad too. We usually try to move plants to the appropriate class
if possible. For all those reasons and more, it is easier for us to use
the paper registration tags and folders. Tags are easy to move. At our
show we still confirm crosses and put the parents of all hybrids on the
tags we give back to the exhibitors (using Wildcatt), it is a bit of
work but does correct some errors.
I think our system works exceedingly well, and I'd be happy to
explain it in more detail if you wish.
2) Do your "Exhibition Rules" contain a provision that stipulates how long
an exhibitor must own a plant that is shown for ribbon and trophy
consideration? Do your rules stipulate that the plant must have been grown
and flowered by the exhibitor in order for ribbon and trophy eligibility?
I believe our show schedule stipulates 6 months of possession.
However this is not enforceable. I think I've occassionally included a
plant in the society exhibit that was not 'legit' in the traditional
sense, but had transferred between society members in the 6 month
window. Since it is a society exhibit, it seems kosher enough. As an
aside, you are probably aware that AOS judging has no time
requirement. You can buy a plant off the sales table and get it awarded
the same day. In our center we call that 'Pulling a Wagner' for
historical reasons. It almost worked for me twice at the last show.
There is a time limit for AOS cultural awards (CCM/CCE) of I believe 6
months of ownership. Again, hard to enforce, it is all honor system
unless you have specific information to the contrary.
Rob
--
Rob's Rules:
http://www.msu.edu/~halgren
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a. See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to purchase
more orchids, obtain more credit