FOTF

Have you participated in a competition that exceeded expectations? Conversantly, have you ever competed in or watched a Fashions on the Field (FOTF) competition and walked away feeling like something wasn’t quite right?

‘It’s All About The Sash’ receives lots of comments publicly and privately about how competitions are run and judged. I often hear from competitors asking for advice on how best to pose questions to FOTF committees. As Administrator, I feel humbled that people feel they can come to me when they have an issue and seek my advice or counsel. My advice, built up from years of experience competing, is always balanced taking into consideration the perspectives of both competitor and fashion committees. Below I share some of my most common responses and ‘words of wisdom’ in the hope that people may be able to use going forward if they are unsure of how best to approach an issue.  

I don’t hear from members quite as often when they’ve had a fantastic experience. When issues arise, I am an ‘individual’ and can’t possibly take on the fight for each person that comes to me. I can however, offer suggestions on how they can deal with the issue at hand based on my own experiences.

So, if we can’t complain about these things in ‘It’s All About The Sash’, what should we do.......?

Do we go to another FOTF forum and air our grievances there? That’s up to you, but from someone who has probably seen or heard of every scenario imaginable, here are some words of advice.

• FOTF can be a highly emotional experience. It takes a lot of confidence to put yourself out on display to be judged, especially when emotions run high with both successes and disappointments. When issues arise, I have found that public complaints usually achieve very little and are generally an emotional response to an experience.

• If you run into a problem with someone, publicly targeting groups or individuals is not in the best interests of FOTF. My advice is to contact them directly, verbally is recommended, so they have an opportunity to respond and/or defend themselves and their actions. Talking behind someone’s back achieves nothing.

• Take care with what you write on social media. I often re-read something I have written numerous times to ensure it cannot be misconstrued. If you are not careful, you never know who could be reading what you have written and may be interpreted in the wrong context. This may have a devastating effect on the person reading a post and can even be considered as online bullying if they believe it is about them.

• Based on our last FOTF survey data, almost 96% of respondents believed that race clubs should ask for feedback after race days. Race clubs and FOTF organizers value your feedback! Contact a club a few days after the event and provide them with constructive feedback on the event you attended. Remember that feedback can be both positive and negative, so let them know all of the great things they did but also give them some suggestions on what they can work on in the future. You can even offer a suggestion to help solve issues you feel they are having i.e. if you felt the judging wasn’t consistent, suggest for them to advertise guidelines for their next event. Remember to limit your complaints to major issues you believe are essential and think seriously about how important the complaint is before you make it.

• FOTF organizers are often volunteers giving up their time for the love of their club or FOTF. Thank them for their efforts! They are the people who not only run the day of the competition but also put in hours behind the scenes so the event can occur. If you believe that a club could do with some extra assistance, put your money where your mouth is and volunteer to help. Over half of our respondents in our last FOTF survey showed interest in giving back to race clubs and helping out in some way. Some of the ways you could volunteer your time include but are not limited to: joining a FOTF committee, seeking out judges or volunteering your service as a judge, assisting to write FOTF criteria/guidelines, helping to find sponsors and prizes, advertising events, taking photos of the event for the club, assisting in the setup and running of the day.

• FOTF competitors love rules. When rules are not adhered to, complaints occur. Complaints won’t change the result, but feedback given to clubs about how rules were followed (if they even have them) and how well judges were briefed may assist in future planning of their next event. If clubs need guidance refer them to sites such as ‘It’s All About The Sash’ in order to find resources to assist them or recommend a club that run more successful competitions. My personal belief is that we are often too limited if there are too many rules, so some general guidelines are a great way for clubs to go to achieve consistency.

• Always remember, there is a distinct difference between ‘guidelines’ and ‘rules’. ‘Guidelines’ are just that, some suggestions of what to follow rather than hard and fast ‘rules’ of which you are obliged to meet. On occasion, clubs will have rules listed amongst their Terms & Conditions of entering, so always check these too. One example is when some entrants I know suddenly found out they were ineligible to enter the following years FOTF competition due to the club changing their rules so that the previous year’s winners were no longer eligible to enter. Before questioning a judging decision with a club, make sure you have an understanding of exactly this.

• Show your support through participation. If you do not like the way a competition is run and they have consistently not responded to feedback, you don’t have to continue to support them. If you do love the way an event is run, you will keep going back and most likely sing their praises in public forums. In my experience, other competitors pick up on well run competitions based on photos and comments and tend to avoid competitions where nepotism seems to run rife.

• Whatever your issue, those of us who have been around FOTF for a very long time have probably seen the same issues you are experiencing now. On a personal note, I act on very little, and when I do act, I try to do so in a positive way. It is human nature to respond better to positivity and race clubs act no differently.

• FOTF organizers and Race Clubs do read what is going on in social media but that is not guaranteed. Contact clubs directly rather than hoping they will pick up on a conversation thread if you need them to act upon something.

• Many competitors hope that someone else will take issues further or will wait for others to do something. If you feel passionate enough about something, do not rely on others and do something about it yourself!

• Stand up for yourself if you feel passionately enough about an issue. The FOTF community is an amazing, supportive place and I can personally vouch for our community when times get tough.

• If you do take an issue further publicly, be prepared that not everyone will agree with you. There are usually varied opinions on issues so be prepared to have people disagree with your opinion.

• Make you own mind up about people and competitions despite what you have heard from others. The rumour mill can have devastating effects and you will be often surprised at how much you will like a person or event if you give it a chance!  

• If you seem to be the target of an online attack, the initial reaction from most people are for you and your friends to go into defence mode. Remember that ‘silence is golden’ and adding fuel to the fire will only exacerbate the situation. Although it is hard, refrain from responding. Contact the administrator of the group and report the post if you believe the post identifies you.  

• Always think the best of a situation. We do not always have all of the facts and thinking negatively can cause situations to spiral downwards.

• Always sleep on it. Before jumping on an issue, take a day or two to reconsider how important the issue really is and the best way to handle it.  

• When you have a great experience, tell others about it! Let others know about the wonderful experience you have had, and remember, you do not have to win a sash to have a great day!

I hope this guide will help you the next time you have a great or not so great FOTF experience. Remember, that ‘This little group is a positive support and resource networking page to all involved in Fashions on the Field, promoting new friendships and ideas’, so with your support and input, we can help to grow the FOTF community worldwide!

- For more information about eSafety issues please visit eSafety Commissioner: Key Topics

- If you or someone you know requires support with Mental Health, please visit Beyond Blue

 Written by Emma Scodellaro for ‘It’s All About The Sash’ 2019