HAPPY NEW YEAR from the ILR
December 31, 2008
re: ILR Show Division Specifics
Dear ILR
Llama Owners,
Since our
last email announcing the formation of a Show
Division within the ILR, we have had a number of
questions regarding dues, donations, ILR
sanction requirements, ILR show formats and the
“grandfathering” of already earned points and
awards. Some of the answers to the above
questions are given in the following
information.
Dues
(This will be available online down the road,
for now contact the ILR office via e-mail or
phone):
Current ILR Members
$35 for
ILR Show Division (2 adults)
$10 for
ILR Show Division for additional people in
family
$10 for
ILR Show Division for Youth
Non-ILR Members
$50 for
ILR Show Division only (2 adults)
$10 for ILR Show Division for
additional people in family
$10 for ILR Show Division for
Youth
$1,000
for lifetime membership in ILR Show Division
(available until March 31, 2009)
Donations:
Because
no Registry funds will be used to finance the
Show Division, we have an immediate need for
donations to pay for the set-up costs and
programming required by the formation of the ILR
Show Division. For those of you who committed
funds contingent on the ILR Board actually
proceeding with the Show Division, we could use
those funds now or as soon as you are able to
send them. To any others out there who would
like to help, our mailbox is open!
“Thank
You” to those of you who have already responded
with donations. Anyone whose donation is $1,000
or more will automatically receive a Lifetime
Membership in the ILR Show Division. If your
donation was less than $1,000 but you would like
to take advantage of the Lifetime Membership
offering, simply send another donation so the
total is $1,000 or more and let us know that you
would like to have a Lifetime Membership.
All
donations to the ILR Show Division are being
earmarked for exclusive use by the ILR Show
Division. The ILR Board and the Finance and
Development Committee (which will oversee the
finances of the ILR Show Division) once it is
formed, will receive a monthly accounting of Show Division expenditures.
ILR
Sanctioning:
The ILR
is currently sanctioning shows. If you are
interested in having your show sanctioned,
contact the ILR office. As long as the
sanctioning requirements given below are met,
the ILR has no objection to an ILR Show being
held in conjunction with a show sanctioned by
other show associations.
The ILR
believes that there is room for improvement in
the show world for shows that are both more fun
for the participants and more interesting to the
spectators. The ILR believes that the necessary
innovations for these “improvements” in the show
world will develop more quickly from a
“bottom-up” approach than from a “dictate-down”
scenario. Consequently, ILR sanctioning rules
will be as simple as possible. For 2009, ILR
sanctioning will consist of two requirements:
1) Judges
must be ILR approved. A current list of
judges is being compiled and will be available
from the ILR office upon request. The list will
also be available online at the ILR web site in
the near future. If you are interested in
becoming an ILR judge, contact the ILR office
with your request. Judges must be ILR Show
Division members.
2) Sanctioning
fees must be paid. For shows that use the
ILR ShowManager, the sanctioning fees will
consist of the $50 setup fee per event and $1
per llama per show. If you don’t use the ILR
ShowManager, the ILR office staff will have to
do additional work and data entry. In those
cases, the sanctioning fees will consist of the
$50 setup fee per event and $2 per llama per
show.
ILR
Show Format:
Because
the ILR is committed to stimulating creativity
by show superintendents, show format rules will
be as simple as possible. We recognize that
different shows may want to emphasize different
things and llama owners in different areas of
the country may have different interests – one
size does not fit all!
So, the
ILR will give show superintendents the
flexibility to offer any classes they wish to
offer or to not offer. The ILR will track points
in the classes that are offered according to the
sex, age, fiber type and so on. Superintendents
will have the option to combine or split age and
wool divisions in classes in any way necessary
to accommodate the awarding of points. Points
will be awarded on a sliding scale based on the
sex and age of the llama and the size of the
class. The exact formula for awarding points
will be made available in the near future.
Similarly, the ILR will give show
superintendents the flexibility to offer any
awards they wish. They can offer
ribbons, ILR placing certificates, premium money,
a combination of those, and/or anything else
they believe will
encourage llama owners to participate in their
show.
The ILR
believes that leaving as many decisions to the
local show superintendents and local show
committees will allow maximum creativity and
innovation at llama shows. The good ideas will
be picked up by other llama shows and spread
while the not-so-good ideas will disappear.
Llamas
must be ILR registered to participate in halter
or performance. There will be no additional fees
required for an animal to participate in the
Show Division other than the fees charged by the
shows. Youth performance animals do not need to be
fully registered but must be entered in the ILR
database so their points can be tracked. There
will be a one-time $10 charge for entering these
non-registered animals into the database.
Previously Earned Achievements:
The ILR
believes there is value to tracking as much
information on individual llamas as possible,
including participation and placings at shows,
pack trials, and so on. Consequently, we are
working on a web page on which the current owner
can enter a llama’s
Lifetime History of Achievement. Any
achievements can be entered, regardless of
the association and/or show from which they were
earned. The
Lifetime History of Achievement for any
llama will be accessible by simply clicking a
button on the llama’s animal record page.
The ILR
also recognizes the cost and value of points
earned at shows sanctioned by other show
associations. However, after careful
consideration, the Board was able to design a
system of "grandfathering" in those points that
they felt would be fair to everyone involved. The Board
felt that allowing points earned in prior years
from other show
associations to count toward ILR Show Division
awards would unfairly penalize llamas and llama
owners who have placed high in non-sanctioned
shows but have no record of “points” earned and
so would have no way of getting credit for those
prior achievements. The Board felt that since this is
a new Show Division and a new awards system, the
most equitable way to begin would be for
everyone to start on the same date (January 1,
2009) and with the same number of points (0).
So, for
now, the Board has decided to have everyone
begin on a level playing field and to allow only
points earned after January 1, 2009 in ILR
sanctioned shows to count towards ILR Show
Division awards. However, if the new Show
Division committees can come up with an
equitable way to include prior points, this
decision could be reconsidered.
Placings
and participation
in non-ILR shows and activities will continue to
be accepted into the Universal Awards Program
(UAP)
and into the Incentive Fund (IF). The UAP
and IF will continue to be available to ALL
ILR members, not just ILR Show Division members. And, as
mentioned above, all achievements and awards
received by an animal can be entered into their
Lifetime History of Achievement (LHA).
Committees:
The ILR
Board has formed five committees to continue the
formation of the ILR Show Division. Each
committee will consist of six members, five of
whom will initially be appointed by the ILR
Board. The sixth member will be an ILR Board
member. Each committee will elect their own
chairperson. The chairperson cannot be the ILR
board representative.
More details on the 2009
committee structure, governance and the
appointees will be finalized by the ILR Board on
a conference call on January 8, 2009. An email
outlining their decisions will be sent on
January 9. If you are interested in being
considered for one of the following committees,
send an email to
[email protected]
with the committee(s) for which you would like
to be considered. Obviously, only people who
volunteer prior to that meeting can be
considered.
The
Committees and the ILR Board Representatives
are:
Finance and Development – Kathi McKinney
Rules
– Mary Jo Miller
Performance – Karen Baum
Halter – Kristy Brown
Judges – Mark Smith
As
always, the ILR Board is open to your input.
Send your comments to
[email protected].
Have a
very Happy and Llama-Filled New Year!
Sincerely,
The
ILR Board of Directors
Mark
Smith, Mary Jo Miller, Kathi McKinney, Kristy
Brown, Karen Baum
