Note: B. Jay Bowman passed away in August 2021, but the words he wrote here are still appropriate. If you need assistance planning an exhibit or have questions about the Uniform Rules contact any member of your Regional Rules Committee.

Every club should have a copy of all AFMS publications in their Club Library. This should include a copy of the Uniform Rules, Guidelines for Judges, Guidelines for Exhibitors, and all of the various approved lists of names. Many clubs don't have any of these and the excuse for not having them is that "no one in our club is interested in competition".

You don't have to be interested in competition to find a use for these publications. You do put in displays at your local show, (non-competitive) and want to have them look as nice as possible and show off your collection as well as possible. You also want to educate the patrons to your show, so the labels should be as accurate and legible as if you were in competition. Besides, you might get a new member who is interested in competition, and you want to help all of your members as much as possible don't you?

Yes, you could tell him where he/she can find the publications themselves on the AFMS website (if they are really interested they probably will get them eventually) but it would be nice for them to get started right with the backing of the people they have decided to join with.

So, you have decided to enter competition, now what? First read the first two sections of the uniform rules, then read the rules for the particular division and class that you will be competing in. Yes, the Rulebook is a daunting challenge, but it is not as bad as it first appears. Some of the language may not make sense at first but with very few exceptions it does on the second reading. The Ninth Edition of the Uniform Rules has been simplified such that each division description is now an individual file that the competitor can easily download.

Now that you are thoroughly intimidated let’s get on to what to do next. We assume you have a collection of some type to display and in the case of lapidary and jewelry you did all the work yourself, then how are you going to put it in the case? If you own your own case, great, if you don't then set up an area the same size as the inside of a standard case or smaller depending on the display. Arrange the display in a pleasing arrangement using liners and risers as appropriate. Leave it for a week and come back and look at it, you will find something you don't like and will change it. Come back the next day and the same thing will happen. Sooner or later the changes will be minor and then you decide that you have the display the way you want it. Make a drawing of the layout or take a picture of it so you can duplicate it at the show.

Make sure your labels are correct and legible. Make them on something that is not going to curl up under the heat of the lighting. Don't make the labels too large, but be sure all of the information that is needed is there. If this is your first competition (and we assume it is) don't enter as a Master. I have seen too many disappointed exhibitors who entered the first time and received a very respectable novice score that could have given them a blue ribbon but didn't get any ribbon because they were really in the wrong exhibitor group. They were then very discouraged and possibly never entered again. Unfortunately, many of these exhibitors were advised by others to enter that way because you can't receive a trophy except as a master. Learn from others mistakes, because as the story goes, "you won't live long enough to make them all yourself".

I have been cussed and discussed many times as a judge. But in every case if the competitor had read the rules and the other references, they would not have made the errors they made. When reading a rule don't stop at the comma, read the rest of the sentence. Most judges today are more than willing to discuss with you ways to improve your display. They are not willing to stand and listen to a diatribe about how blind or prejudiced they are.

I will be the first to agree that in the past many judges did not write very helpful comments. They were not willing to discuss anything with the exhibitor, but hopefully that is changing. I have seen in the past few years a great improvement in judges comment writing and willingness to help the competitor.

If you are going to be around the show during judging ask to accompany the judges during the judging of your case. Most of the time the judges will agree to this. I personally prefer to have the exhibitor there when judging. It reduces my writing considerably. I will still write comments for the public to understand why points are being deducted, but with the competitor there as I am judging I can do a lot more to help her/him improve their case.

Generally, most points are lost in showmanship and labeling. However, don't neglect workmanship, quality, and the other things that go into making a good display.

I hope these words are helpful.