Convention is wonderful in so many ways. It is the culmination of the show year, and many breeders send their best fish to this last show in order to make room for next year. There are seminars, workshops, stock shops, silent auctions, live auction...but the best thing to me is getting to talk with some of my dearest Betta friends. We are spread far and wide, but we are by far the best fish keepers (in my humble opinion...please don't eat me cichlid people!). I wish I could see my friends all the time, but then Convention would not be as special. What a whirlwind!
To say judging was long and intense would be a massive understatement. Convention judging is usually carried out by a dozen or more certified judges, and the scrutinization of some very large classes can be exhausting. We had one class of 72 fish!! This round of judging was particularly important to me because I have been working towards becoming an IBC sanctioned judge for the past year. The only things standing in front of me? The visual test and the written test. Oh boy I was nervous... I was incredibly lucky that I did not have to judge the 72 fish class for my visual test, but Rich wasn't about to let me get off easy. My first visual examination was on a class of 16 red longfinned halfmoons, and all of them were very high quality. In order to pass, my top 4 fish had to be somewhere within Rich's top 3 fish. And I would have to explain to him my decisions. Rich said that I was so thorough that he reconsidered is own placements a couple of times! |
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!