What you like to see/have at a trial? - Page 2

Just do bagels and donuts in the morning.

  I want to hear-and see;   100-100-100,    and my child's picture  on a wheaties box, my x-wife's picture on a milk carton. Thank God for all who do the considerable work for trials. 

a raffle of donated items is a good way to make some money to cover expenses.
set items up with a brown paper lunch bag next to each, instruct ticket purchaser to put ticket stup in bag next to items they'd like to win. not just SchH stuff is good for this one. sell tickets and in between the last trial and the awards have someone (a child) draw ticket stubs. this helps to keep everyone together until the end.

an actual vendor or two is always good to have as tugs, leashes, collars, sleeve covers are not always easy to buy on the spot.

friendly club members and good sportsmanship - no one wants to have to listen to someone complaining about the judging.

good PA system so everyone can hear the judges comments - a must for newbees!

plenty of club contact info, judge bio, club news items, lots of photos including schh 3 dogs from the club living "normal" lives - photos with kids, any dogs doing tharapy work, being loving pets, with other dogs, with cats, with other animals...newbees sometimes think SchH is only about having a badass dog.....

advertising at many local places that does not show dogs in protection phase.....have a schedule and try to stick to it so prospective newbees dont find themselves at an empty even field.

food and plenty of water and soda at a reasonable price. roasted piglet on a spit, smoaked brisket, grilled or bbq chicken.... ask donations for club members..... ask club members to bring a side.... sell tickets and bring out the food after the show if it ends early enough, if not then at a long scheduled break....

pro or semi pro photographer.......how many times have i wanted photos and came home with none.

plenty of seating - ask club members to bring extra lawn chairs if possible. shade if possible..

podium for winners and non-hurried presentation of trophies - with judges comments if possible.
im not a fan of giving everyone who participates a ribbon or trophy.....though everyone that passes their event should get something..

opening and closing flag cermonies (american, german and stateflag) are allways a nice touch (boyscouts, k9 unit, veterans?).


 

"may also want to have a huge board that shows the competitors' scores for people to look at".

I love this, but it must be kept up to date..

SOunds like the facilities are top notch.

Things I like, Breakfast is simple, coffee and maybe some donuts.  People always like those even if they've eaten breakfast and it's easy on the hosting club.

lunch was also simple.  Grilled burgers and brats, some chicken and kept in slow cookers to keep warm with a side of macaroni or potato salad.  Just outdoor grilling food mostly or hot beef sandwhiches or something.  Easy on the hosting club again, just have to serve it basically and salads, sides and deserts can be made ahead of time.  People have always seemed more than generous and grateful for having some decent food to eat for lunch.

as for awards?  people like to win awards :)  I would enjoy anything from an small medal and cheap trophies are more than enough.  I don't display them anywa, but it's fun to take a picture with the judge, your dog and trophy.  Engraved plaques or other things are nice, but can get spendy. 

Don't know about t-shirts, i think decent food and some donated raffle items will make you more money, unless the shirts are going to just be donated as well.  Personally if the promoted the sport or dogs overall with a small mention of the trial somewhere on it would sell better than a shirt proclaiming all the trial details if that make sense.

Good luck, sounds like you have a nice set up

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions. I'm going to bring up some of these ideas (the ones we have the manpower to implement) at tonights meeting.

I found a local trophy place that I'm going to check out this week to see about getting some smaller medals made for the new BHs. 

Annette

We did give away nice leather leashes and certificates instead of plaques or trophies once, which was actually a big hit. Scoreboards are always appreciated, especially now that we have cell-phones and can call the tracking scores to the trial field for the late arrivals, and, in the case of larger events, concessionaires, and club set-up crew.

Oh yeah. We also had a small beer cooler and plastic cups for the "German Traditionalists" at the tracking field, for toasts to good luck... or "other" luck. For all the rules and "Oh, I could never drink anything in the morning" that cooler always came back to the trial field empty. Ditto the one behind the bush on the AD route.
Out trials were ALWAYS full, one day or three.
:-)

Sounds like fun. At the trialing that I went to the last time we all left empy handed, no awards or anything, even the diplomas are not provided until a week after the fact or so, once it is signed by the authorities. So it sounds like compared to what you guys get at your trials, there could be much more done over here. Trophies are only given during national all-breed and breed-specific trials. 

I'd be thrilled to death just to see a trial with a few really good dogs.