A show always begins with some set-up! We were also so happy that Golden State Bettas was able to make the drive up here for our show. Thanks everyone for the hard work!

Judging bright and early the next day! So glad that Amit, Larissa, and Martin (first show being an OFFICIAL judge!) were able to come, and Mike as our apprentice!

My flights were SO delayed that I didn't get in until quite late Thrusday night (however, it meant that I could skip all the executive and judging board meetings ;P shhhhh)

Hands-down the best part about convention are the people. And the best way to socialize is in the hospitality room!

What happens when fish nerds drink? Bagging contests! My fastest was 27 seconds (although I wouldn't send any fish in that bag). I had much better ones at 32 seconds. Here I am going up against the legendary Jeff Hiller.

Rachelle found these poor little pair of kittens on the side of the road! They needed to be fed and pooped every 3 hours, so leaving them at home wasn't an option. That's ok, they were thoroughly cuddled by all!

There is also some video of the winning show fish in this video! Nothing more beautiful that a fish in full flare.

We managed to take home a few placings. I am happy that this was the debut for the crowntail plakats that I brought back from Europe. Hopefully it becomes a real class after this first year as a trial class! I showed as many as I could and also entered a few in the auction.

Here is what a judging board meeting sounds like....

My absolute favorite part is talking with all of these wonderful people. And it's not just about bettas either! There must be something truly amazing about these little finned fish that pulls all these cool people together. Beware the hospitality suite!

The first half of the awards banquet was MC'd by little old me. I kind of choked up there in the beginning but our ass-kicking vice president saved me! Thankfully the rest of my time as Master of Ceremonies went a little bit better. Scary!

CBS has the (in)famous reputation of having the best auctions around. We were a little scared that 326 fish (that's right...three hundred and twenty six fish!) might have saturated our market, but Bay Area betta addicts are ruthless. Prices soared high and there were many instances that I was outbid for ones that I REALLY wanted! (grrr little girls grrrr)

We did very well for our second convention show. It was so meaningful to have my grandfather able to come down and be there for all of our awards!

For Year End Awards, we received: 

C4 Crowntail Patterned Male

F1 Small/Large Bubbenesters

D1 Traditional Plakat Male (probably all by my pineapple champion! I love him so much)

Overall 9th Place

and

Betta Person of the Year!

Now....I know what you're thinking. WHAT ABOUT PICTURES OF ALL THE SHOW FISH?! Never fear! Sabrina did an amazing job of photographing show fish while I was running around with my head cut-off helping to run the show. You can find her stunning photography at her FB page: https://www.facebook.com/Showbettas

There were many differences between US and European shows:

- Many exhibitors travel to the shows in Europe, which gives it a really nice close-knit community feel. This would be very difficult for people in the US, since the distances are far greater. The only show that gains real attendance from the majority of the IBC community is the annual convention, which most serious US breeders try to fly to every year.

- Breeders in Europe are more likely to maintain lines for generations, and to trade fish from related lines at shows. I really loved this part, because I believe that is what selective breeding is all about. It also further contributes to the community feeling of showing and breeding bettas.

- Most of the breeders in Europe were much younger than those in the US. I believe that this is one reason why they are so rapidly expanding and taking advantage of new technologies to further the hobby.

- Bettas are far more expensive and valuable. The difficulty with importation into European countries no doubt contributes, giving rise to a bottleneck effect on supply versus high demand. Many bettas went for 10 to 35-40 euros, sometimes even higher.

- Since bettas are so expensive, I believe that people here become much more knowledgeable about bettas prior to purchasing such an investment. It also probably contributes to the intensive linebreeding. In contrast, breeders in the US are able to easily purchase bettas from overseas and breed them rather than focus on particular lines. Fish from Thailand and other SE Asian countries tend to have muddled genetics, making establishment of pure lines and even obtaining the knowledge of basic genetics difficult for the average US breeder.

- Disqualification during judging is very common in European shows. Small size and scale faults are [u]not[/u] tolerated. I believe that this practice should be adopted in the US shows - however, it is possible that ruthless DQ's in the US would discourage breeders from entering shows, where attendance is already low. Since MOST Americans have not actually attended a show, new breeders are very wary to send their fish, since they have no idea if their fish are competitive or not. I always tell people it is better to send! You never know!

- Since the shows are generally at large aquarium-based fish fairs, a very large crowd is attracted to the auction. Fish are placed in a small light box with mirrors, and live video is projected on a screen for all the auction attendees. Large fairs dedicated to aquarium hobbies are few and far between in the US, so adopting this would be difficult. However, hosting the shows in hotels is great for all day seminars, lunches, and dinners, which makes the experience very intense and fosters even more communication between breeders.

- In that line, the aquarium hobby in general is taken very seriously (in Germany at least). Many highly-regarded books are printed only in German, and a lot of knowledge of the aquarium hobby originates from Germany in the first place.

- The show tanks are larger, and have lights built-in to the shelves, which makes viewing the fish much easier on the bench. The tanks were also heated from underneath with flexwatt heat mats, and the bettas were very happy in these conditions. By the second or third day, most males had constructed a bubblenest, and most bettas flared on sight!

- European shows suffer a similar fate as US shows when Asian fish enter the competition - although the best fish are of course comparable and compete well for awards, the points awarded to Asian fish go nowhere. It is a particular problem with Asian-bought fish shown as a team with the owner - the points are lost. Reconciling this problem will be a big step for the IBC.

- Set-up and take-down was highly efficient! I cannot believe how well the Kampffischfreunde team worked together, like a well-oiled machine. Peter even built the trailer containing all the equipment by hand, so everything fits *literally* perfectly inside it!

- Betta people the world over are incredibly generous, kind, friendly, and overall wonderful people. The European contingent was particularly discerning in looking at the qualities of a given fish, and meticulous in their selective breeding. They were incredibly honest about their fish, and would describe in detail the faults of their brothers, sisters, parents, and grandparents prior to giving me a fish from their line. I had a truly wonderful experience, and am even entertaining a move in the future...perhaps an overseas post-doc?

Overall, we were awarded with...

BOS Female
BOV Shortfin Male
RBOV CT Male

1st Bubblenesting Wild Bettas (only 1 entry lol)
2nd Patterned CT Male
3rd Patterned CT Female
3rd Traditional PK Female

Overall, I am very excited with these results!