I think most people hang with the people of their club/breed at the Convention. This time, I hung out with a group of another club and breed because a friend of mine is well-established with another breed and just starting with Silver Fox. Throughout the last year, I have gained some insights into how different our two national clubs are. Every club has its overall personality, so to speak, but those of us with only one breed tend to only see the one national club associated with that breed. I was truly blessed to experience how another club does things.
The banquet was a breakfast and during the last showing of a variety they hoped would earn its third and last pass, which it did. I thought members of the club might not have appreciated the scheduling conflict but it is very difficult to schedule club events at the Convention without conflicts. It was not fancy but simple with an adequate breakfast buffet.
Then they had the awards ceremony! Youth was first and I have to say that I enjoyed watching all the children get their awards and seeing their huge smiles. They were called up, given an award, and turned so that everyone in the room could see them. Each one would stand next to another lined up until all were there and pictures were taken. I was particularly entertained by one young man trying to hold his many awards but some just had to be laid at his feet. Adults awards were handled much the same. Just seeing how much they all enjoyed this awards ceremony which was simple but had importance in their club made me wish that my club would have an awards banquet, especially with the youth!
After the awards ceremony, there was the auction. Some clubs do raffles and silent auctions, and those can still be done at their booths, but this club also does a real interactive auction at their banquet and the money raised pays for the awards and banquet for the next year. I watched the youth take items off the table that everyone could look over beforehand, and they walked around the room showing all the items that they could because some baskets had liquor and they were not allowed to do those, and they held the items as they were being auctioned. I was really impressed that the kids were so engaged and enjoyed doing this.
Many heartfelt moments, like a well-loved judge bidding high on things for children and then handing them to a child as a gift. Fun bidding wars between friends with similar tastes. All of it was entertaining but I think the lasting impression was how engaged the youth were. They were not sitting around bored or looking at devices. They did not have those forced smiles or "must I do this" looks, they were actively helping with the auction and seemed to enjoy it.
The comparison... I cannot speak for the National Silver Fox Rabbit Club "dinner with friends" as I did not attend, but I was told it was not an awards banquet as I thought was being planned months in advance. Our awards were handed out when people went up to the booth without ceremony. Now, the booth was amazing and our club won first place for its booth decorations for the second year in a row. However, now that I have seen the underside of a club that wins in the hearts of its members with an engaging banquet, I think the youth of the club being honored and engaged like this is far more likely to attract youth and adults to the club.
