DS>    Hi Kathy, other than the goof balls you saw at the show did you have a
DS>nice time?
I did for a short part of the day. A friend and I played a trick on
another vendor. He owns a bird seed warehouse, and brings closed sample
cups of his seed types to shows so folks can order custom seed mixes,
which he delivers later after they're prepared. He also brings some 25#
bags of pre-mixed stuff which he leaves in his truck, and transfers to
buyer's vehicles when they buy. He's well known and liked in this area.
My friend and I waited until he left his table to go load a car, then we
STOLE HIS TABLE.  We took it down a row, put it in an empty spot and
covered it with a sheet. The look on his face when he came back to an
empty booth was priceless...
DS>We usually take a mock up of the bbs to the shows and let people
DS>play with it, but will probably discontinue doing this because it was a
DS>waste of money and didn't really bring that many new members to the
DS>system.
I've seen this done before, at computer shows, and the other sysops said
the same thing--it was fun for the browsers at the show, but did little
for the bbs.
DS>once went to a show with a friend that saw a hybred at the show.
DS>She spent the whole day complaining about how the bird should
DS>never have been admitted to the show, complained to the
DS>stewards and went on and on until I wished she would just dry up and
DS>blow away!
I've seen people like that. MY big complaint is birds that look sick,
yet are allowed in anyway. The club I used to work closely with does an
annual fair, and they have a vet do visual exams on birds as they enter.
If a bird looks ruffled, if it's cere is wet, if the droppings look odd
at all, or if the cage isn't proper, the bird is not allowed in. The
vet obviously can't handle or test each bird, but it's better than just
letting anything in as it arrives.
I'd prefer to see ALL shows do this, AND require proof of
psittacosis/PBFD/polyoma testing and polyoma vaccination before allowing
birds into show halls. That would go a long way toward keeping birds
healthy. The AKC INSISTS that all dogs being shown have complete proof
of current vaccinations before letting the dogs into the ring--why
should the bird show community do any less than the same?
As for hybrids at shows, that's both a political issue and an
educational issue. The people who checked the birds in at the fair I was
at didn't KNOW a "Sunday conure" was a hybrid...they thought, as many of
the visitors probably did, that it was a species because it had a
"proper name".  By the time they were notified, it was too late,
and they didn't have a policy in place to prevent sale of hybrids
anyway. I bet they do next year, because I know that someone must've
complained about it.
--Kathy
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