Shipping rabbits - Air travel with rabbits has changed greatly. The cost has gone from $50. per kennel one way to $275. Most everyone puts their carriers into dog kennels now, which is safer. Less airlines accept rabbits as excess baggage. Some folks ship air freight instead.
Feeding & Watering - Host clubs or local specialty clubs would feed and water your entries unless you posted an "Owner will Feed & Water" tags on your coops. Specialty clubs always swept their own aisles and even cleaned coops for a couple of years.
Booth Contests - The specialty breed booths were very competitive, trying to win one of the three top cash awards given by ARBA. Booths were decorated with the convention host's "theme". Two great HLRSC booths set up while I was HLRSC president were very entertaining. In Tulsa, we had a western theme booth front with an extra sitting booth that was a one room schoolhouse. Inside was a large stuffed bunny schoolmarm with pointer aimed at the chalkboard (message board) and classroom chairs. In Louisville, the entire backdrop curtain was a handpainted Churchill Downs spectator packed grandstand and racetrack with racing silked bunnies coming down the homestretch. The raffle trio rabbits were housed off to the side in three cages fitted within a starting gate with numbers that corresponded to their posted pedigrees. Lately the booths serve to sell supplies, memberships and trio tickets with little decoration. Booth personnel are constantly picking up empty drink containers and other trash left behind by not so dedicated foot resters.
Specialty Club meetings - Everyone attended their club's meetings without giving the early a.m. rise "n" shine a second thought. All were interested in what what going on within their club. Multiple candidates ran for office and muliple clubs submitted bids to host the National Shows. Now some zones don't bring forth a single candidate for director. I'm not sure if all these things have lack of time or lack of interest as the largest contributing factor?
Specialty Banquets - Everyone went to their specialty banquet. Meal costs have risen greatly and some say they can't afford to attend. Seeing that we have one of the most expensive breeds around, I find it a bit difficult to believe that. Most can sell two pet quality bunnies at home to cover a ticket. For one thing, the ticket cost isn't just for the meal, you are paying for the event. It is the one time of year you can sit down with fellow HL friends that you see perhaps once a year, share a meal and not have the distractions of a show going on. The banquet auction is always entertaining. Seeing friends be rewarded for their hard work is a bonus too.
ARBA Banquets - Everyone should go to at least one of these. Years ago, people really dressed up, men in suits and ladies in full length dresses.
Communicating at Convention - When selling a rabbit you'd leave a business card or note with your hotel # on its' cage. If someone was interested, they'd have to call you that evening or leave a note with their hotel # or a day/set time they'd be by the cage to meet you. There was no way to contact someone other than when they got back to their hotel room phone at night. Later came the couple of years when folks used the handheld walkie-talkies to communicate with their travelmates. The showroom is a big place. Now everyone has cellphones with cameras. They can take a photo or video of a for sale rabbit and send it to a potential buyer back home.
Research & Development Booth - The R & D raffle used to be HUGE. It was an honor to be asked to donate a pair of rabbits. Big ticket items were displayed. Marylouise Cowan spearheaded this great effort along with several extremely well chosen and dedicated workers. We'd drool over the pairs donated by top breeders and the chance to win them for a mere $2.00.
Big Raffle Items - The following year's host club used to offer big ticket raffle items like a round trip airfare or a week's hotel stay, a big cash prize, TV's, computers, etc.
Improvements - There is more Youth contest participation now. More interest in Certificates of Development for more new colors and breeds. More educational seminars. Risers are offered for the wool breeds. Check-out done at the breed booths.
If you get a chance to go to an ARBA Convention, GO GO GO! There is nothing like it, a bit of bunny Christmas morning seeing all the rabbits, all the possible rabbit supplies, crafts and equipment you'd ever dream of seeing. And like they say, "for a week, you don't have to explain why you raise rabbits to anyone, we all GET IT".