How hard is it to put on a hamster show?

[Bashful&Mortimer]

I was thinking of hosting one, but I wanted to know what is involved and how hard is it? Do you need a permit? (I'm in the United States). What are good prizes?

[Biscotti]

Hosting a show can be more complicated than most people think. There are a lot of behind the scene logistics that need to be worked out and enough people to help you to have a successful show.

The most obvious requirement is a place to host. The CHA has some small shows and some larger shows. The smaller ones are hosted in park areas where there are shades and tables, so you would probably need local permits for those. For larger shows it's often part of another large event, so it requires registering for a booth and paying for the space.

Then you will need an experienced judge who is very knowledgeable of all the species that he or she will be judging, and understand the official standards by heart. If you don't have a person like that around your area, then you will need to invite one and fly them in. That can cost a lot of money!

Then you need to buy trophies/rosettes/ribbons/certificates for awards, and maybe toys for prizes. You'll also need some spare show pens for people who don't have them, etc. Most of time these will come out of a club fund if you are part of a club.

These are just the very basic considerations, and it's definitely a lot more complicated for one person to handle. If you are on the west coast, I highly recommend you check out a CHA show. If you are near the east coast, I believe there are a few breeders that might be interested in forming a club in the future. You can get in contact with them to express interest, and that'll help them get the club off the ground faster.

[Vectis Hamstery]

I was show manager for the Southern Hamster Club for 18 months and would agree with Biscotti that it's more complicated than it seems, even in the context of an organisation that has been operating shows since 1959!

The first thing is to decide what you want to achieve from the show. Is it a pet show where a judge could be a vet or someone with enough knowledge to know which hamsters are in good condition and tame? Is it a show as Biscotti describes involving show standards and judges who have been trained in judging according to those standards. The former pet show would be easier to organise as the latter would require not only a trained judge, but also stewards, judging grids, some rules relating to a standardised pen/container and people interested in showing in this way. The NHC standards are copyright so if you planned on using those you would need to seek permission.

For a pet show, you would not need these things, but would still need the rest such as a venue, infection control methods (e.g. wet wipes or alcohol gel), someone to take the entries, paperwork for judging/entries, prize cards/certificates, trophies/rosettes/prizes, insurance for the event, tables, chairs, people to help the judge and show secretary in directing people, something to raise money for the venue (e.g. tombola, raffle - needs people to donate and run), ideally some education about hamster welfare (needs more people with expertise as well as posters/leaflets), banners so people can find the venue, posters and marketing to advertise the event, and people to want to come and show their pets.

It can be stressful trying to get everything in order for a show! It definitely needs more than one person too.