Final Thoughts

Planning and Hosting such a large event can't be easy. Truly, I understand how difficult it is. But it doesn't stop me (and everyone else) from being pretty annoyed about some of the stuff that happened.

First off- opening ceremonies. The speech given by the President of the AAC was awful, bitter, and very inappropriate. Not a lot of people like her, and she let it be known her thoughts on that. It was not a very good start. I was embarrased that this is how the AAC represents itself. It left a bad taste in my mouth and I wanted to leave.

Everything was on schedule. To the minute. If you veered off the schedule it was a punishable offense. They yelled. A lot. Not even just to competitors, but to spectators, and at judges. Again, very inappropriate.

A group of Albertans waiting...
There were speeches given throughout the day- at briefings, at the banquet, at opening and closing ceremonies etc. And mostly it was "we are great, pat us on the back." I think that once is enough, and at the end of the weekend preferably. There was a lot of time wasted on that sort of thing.

The banquet. For 25$ I got cold soup, a salad, burnt chicken, and cold potatoes. Oh, and we ate in the dark.



You see, the banquet was in a tent, and was supposed to start at 6:30 (remember the schedule) but it didn't, and the tent got really dark. Some people were fortunate enough to have lanterns, or candles. Not us, we used our cell phones the best we could. It sucked. Our table had fun despite the darkness, and we pretty much laughed most of the night. At one point I almost choked on a tooth pick that was in my salad...it was pretty funny stuff...

6AM start time. Yeah. It was rough. But with 581 dogs running I get it. Why then did the walk throughs not start till 6:30ish? What happened to the schedule??

The rain delays. Some of us ran in buckets of rain (6" specials ran two runs on sunday in the torrential rain) The regular rings were put on hold until the rain lightened a bit.

The Steeplechase Finals. We waited around for an hour and half, waiting, wondering when we were going to start. Finally we get going, three dogs run and then it screeches to a halt for half an hour, and then continues again. Steeplechase lasted for almost three hours.

Closing Ceremonies. By the time Steeplechase ended it was almost dark. Again, they packed us into the tent with no light. It was pretty awful. Everyone was talking, and it was a pretty dissapointing end. There was no "podium" (not that you could have seen it in the dark) and it was sad that you didn't get to go up and get your placement so your friends could clap and cheer. We were still excited, and did cheer when our friends names were called, but it really was the worst closing ceremonies ever. I think what annoyed us most was they knew from the previous night how dark it was in the tent. Could they not have gone out and purchased a string of lights? Cheap Lanterns? Something. But no. They read the results by flashlight, and we all fumbled in the dark to get our ribbons. There were also rude comments made when someone who usually wins, did not, and placed lower in the class (3rd I think) The comments were not polite, and I thought it was very inappropriate.

I think that the group who hosted did a good job for the most part- the rings were beautiful, everything was great equipment and volunteer wise. Where they lacked in planning was the other events- which is too bad as it is hard not to focus on those things- especially something as important as Closing Ceremonies.

Anyway, mostly the event was great, mostly I had a great time in Ottawa. It was nice to spend time visiting with friends. The College were we stayed was fantastic- we had lots of fun laughing at Aaron and Pete, and watching them drink until they nearly exploded. The dogs all were awesome. Being a Tourist was fun, and we got to see a lot of cool stuff. It was a great experience, and although I didn't find Ottawa particularily friendly- the competitors at the event were awesome. I talked to a lot of new people, and it was nice that even at a huge event people are friendly. So mostly, it was great.

Next year Nationals are going to be in Calgary. I am super excited about this- less traveling, and I know that Training Troop (and friends) are going to do a kick ass job of hosting. Spruce Meadows won't know what hit em! :o)