I'm starting a competition in the stat I live in first to see how
It goes and then may branch tp other states and I want input from everyone
I can get it from in order to ensure success. I really want to be able to give
Away cash prizes and scholarships and some to cystic fibrosis patients
In financial need. I thought that would be good to teach our dancers
The importance of helping our community. What are the things that
Attract you the most about a competitions? What do you consider the most important
Things about competition? Thank you for any help!

The # 1 thing , aside from the "goes without saying" items: (safe , convenient location and extreme organization that enables you to run on time) I would say I look for a great critique. I am so tired of the critiques I get with three or four sentences...or worse three or four words: nice....good.....pretty...... WHat a waste! You want experienced, knowledgable and well rounded judges. Also I have noticed some judges who maybe are new at this making some really stupid comments like "I think she should be doing MORE"....well, genius, she CAN'T do more or we would have GIVEN her more!! They need to be more subjective - we want the facts only ma'am- and not so "opinionated"....if that makes sense.

I would say be sure that your judging is FAIR. I just came back from a competition where they gave nothing LOWER than a high gold. Some dances were so bad they deserved a bronze yet were still grouped in the high gold cluster with some kids who were much better and did deserve a higher award. And hello....high platinum? No, please don't do that. Platinum is supposed to be perfect technique, no mistakes, just perfect, yet some big studios were getting high platinum with mistakes- clear mistakes like kids stopping in the middle of the dance. Some of the ones who ended up with high golds didnt even do that and had good technique too. I would say be objective, and who cares what studio they are from give them what they deserve. We are not going back to that competition next year so you can see how doing stuff like that can backfire. So I would say be very fair. People will respect you for it.

I agree with both the judging and the awards. Make sure your judges are well rounded and educated, and that the scoring is honest. Please don't award every dance with a gold or platinum, we need to teach our children that they have to work for those things. Running on time is important too. Make sure that you start on time, and do your best to keep things in order. There will always be situations that will cause you to get off track, but don't do it intentionally by trying to book in too many dances into a time slot that they just won't fit in to. We don't want to be at awards at 11 oclock on a Sunday night.

Make sure that you have plenty of help back stage, and that they know what is going on. Keep everyone on the same page and make sure they all know if changes are occurring and what is happening next.

Good luck with your competition, I wish you all the best.

Definitely being fair is #1. But you also need to have a way to have fair entries into levels. For example, some competitions have a recreational (3 hours or less a week) and competitive (everyone else). Some have 4 levels depending on practice time and number of years competiting. My biggest beef is when I see another team that I KNOW practices way more than the category they enter into. It's just not fair. I hate when teams lie and play dirty. We even saw someone at our first contest this year who was in the 15 year old category, and the next one was 13! Crazy! So, figure out a way to make people play fair. You'd get some really dedicated and returning clients that way.

Agreed here! I hate when they are afraid to give someone the lowest placement! Don't be scared, give what is deserved!

I definatly agree with the awards. Having well rounded, very experienced judges with a good rep will make your judging easier, and it will help the dancers grow. Having feedback from some one who knows who they are talking about is a great way to help students grow!

Do not follow the crowd! Be less about the bling and more about good judging, keeping costs down.

I am not one who cares about cash prizes, even though we have won them. I would rather pay lower fees and make it affordable.

Consider not doing platinum and all that. If you do colored adjudications keep it gold, silver, bronze.

I ran a local one for years (stopped for now but might do it again) and had great judges, gold, silver, bronze... well, I did add platinum but you had to be within two points of a perfect score, and also did ordinals, first, second and third in each division and category. It was the best of both worlds.

Also, a portion of the proceeds went to a charity.

Make sure it runs on time. What drives me nuts are ones that run ahead or behind. I hate last minute add ons (judging at comps where we sometimes were never sure who was on next because of all the changes... grrr).

What I did was put out the schedule two weeks prior to the competition. They had a few days to get me their changes, then at the actual competition, there was no change in schedule, unless there was a true emergency. I never took last minute people, even if it meant more money. The schedule was set and that was it.

Be strict with your rules. If you say you will disqualify inappropriate dances, do it, even if it means losing a school for the next year. Word gets out and schools who do not teach that garbage will be happy to come to you.

If you want to find out anything that I did with mine, just PM me. It is not really hard to do, if you have a good staff and organizational skills.