NZFBB Wellington Bodybuilding Champs

[MasterTel]

I'm the Event Organiser for this event on Saturday, October 14. As with last year the event will be held at The Opera House - one of Wellington's top theatres. We have a tremendous team down here to organise and run the event. Last year we had 85 top-class competitors, many of whom went on to compete and win titles at the 2005 NZFBB National champs.

I just wanted to start this topic to allow people to ask questions or make suggestions about the event. We are always looking to improve our shows, so please don't be shy! There's still 11 weeks until the show, so plenty of time for some of you to get ready and compete at it!

[Pseudonym]

Thanks MasterTel. Just a thought... I imagine a lot of us don't really know what goes into organising a competition like this. If you have the time, please consider keeping a diary here, and taking us through the process as you go. I suspect it could be quite an eye-opener to see just how much planning is required.

We could provide feedback from any ideas you might like to bounce off us, should that be required. And of course, it also provides you with the opportunity to promote your show on a regular basis! :wink:

[Musculo]

Good idea Pseudonym

MasterTel we both know how much work goes into running a show. Your lucky you have a good support crew up there that assist you but its still a huge task. Unlike you I didn't have the demands of a family and competing at the same time!!

Most people don't realise that planning usually starts a year out and that your constantly doing things in every spare minute you can find. The week before a show I averaged 4-5 hours sleep a night and after registration there is always hours of work to do before the next morning!!

NZFBB organisers recieve very little for what they do but do it because they love the sport and want to see the show a success. Most organisers are left out of pocket after a show. Any money made goes into the pool to send athletes overseas.

If I can help in any way feel free to let me know

[point of view]

Good idea Pseudonym

MasterTel we both know how much work goes into running a show. Your lucky you have a good support crew up there that assist you but its still a huge task. Unlike you I didn't have the demands of a family and competing at the same time!!

Most people don't realise that planning usually starts a year out and that your constantly doing things in every spare minute you can find. The week before a show I averaged 4-5 hours sleep a night and after registration there is always hours of work to do before the next morning!!

NZFBB organisers recieve very little for what they do but do it because they love the sport and want to see the show a success. Most organisers are left out of pocket after a show. Any money made goes into the pool to send athletes overseas.

If I can help in any way feel free to let me know

Not quite true.Up to the time I was a committee member (2years ago) the organiser of a show was paid $2000.00 and the Nationals $4000.00.

I have never known anyone out of pocket from running a show for the NZFBB as they were still paid if they made a loss, but since they went broke this may have changed.

I can remember running shows (and I still have the documentation to support this) when we made over $20,000.00 profit at a show I ran at Aotea Square.This was for the NZFBB general fund and it was not a "one off".As an Incorporated Society all funds are for the Organisation and not for any individual.However there have been "exceptions" made in the past and still are.Being an Incorporated Society enables a sporting organisation to receive tax concessions and have access to funding.Thats how most of the sports organisations in New Zealand survive.

You would have to go back to the early 90's to find organisers who ran NZFBB shows for the "love of the sport" and Gary Bradford who was President at that time would probably lead the way in this respect although Grahame Fong as President did the job for nothing as well.

[2guns]

The week before a show I averaged 4-5 hours sleep a night and after registration there is always hours of work to do before the next morning!!

4-5 hours sleep id find this hard to believe

[Musculo]

2guns have you run a show before? Some of us have full time jobs as well as undertaking running a show. I was speaking from my own experience.

[waldo]

The week before a show I averaged 4-5 hours sleep a night and after registration there is always hours of work to do before the next morning!!

4-5 hours sleep id find this hard to believe

Coming soon, 2guns's own show, with no sponsors, no venue, but lots of sleep.

[MasterTel]

Thanks, Musculo - yes, I can certainly empathise with you regarding the time, effort and lack of sleep involved in organising a show! You also had the disadvantage of organising an event where certain expenses like judges travel was a lot higher than any other event.

To 'point of view' - you raise some interesting points and your efforts to produce such a big profit is tremendous! Yes, organisers still get offered $2,000 to organise a regional event and $4,000 for Nationals. I say "offered" because recently a few organisers (like myself) have declined most or all of that fee to help reduce the NZFBB financial deficit. Like Musculo, I organise events purely for the "love of the sport" as do others I know, so it is not something that has been lost over time. One thing that has changed markedly in the past 15 years is the ease of getting funding for sports organisations/event. I was a cricket club manager/sponsorship co-ordinator in the early 1990's and it was MUCH easier to get funding then that it is now.

And organising an event can and does leave an organiser out of pocket. Yes, we get reimbursed for obvious expenses like buying stationery, paying venue deposits, covering judges accommodation on my credit card etc, but there are a lot of indirect costs e.g. time off work (I get paid by the hour, so if I don't work I don't get paid!), vehicle expenses, plus the non-financial ones like your family seeing less of you (I have a wife and two kids - aged 3 and 1). So what might be left of the $2,000 fee if we take it perhaps works out to $5 per hour!!

OK, that's enough for now - my next post will cover my view on "What is the priority with organising an event - pure profit or event quality?"

[deegee]

I can see trying to organise something of this level as being a huge headache and to do it for free is certainly generous. 4-5 hours of sleep a night is tough too.

between the work involved and the worry of getting evrything together on time i would probably not be sleeping at all for the last few days before it all came together!

[waldo]

Having been a sponsor for one of Mastertel's competitions, I can confirm he looked pretty buggered by the time the show finished. The (couple of) beers had at Hope Bros afterwards were well deserved!

He runs a fine show, and does it for love. A true trooper in all senses of the word.

[MasterTel]

Thanks, Waldo. Yes, organising an event can be a real physical and emotional strain. Hey - at least I wasn't also competing at the show like I did at last year's Wellington champs!! I doubt I'll do that ever again (compete / organise at the same event) - even if I wanted to I reckon my wife would divorce me first!!

[MasterTel]

I'm going to open a new topic shortly called "NZFBB Event Organiser's Diary" with some general stuff on all aspects of how I put an event together.

I'll keep this current topic open for specific stuff on the NZFBB Wellington champs on October 14.

[MasterTel]

I expect the posters for the NZFBB Wellington champs on Oct 14 to be out in about 3 weeks time.

In the meantime, here is a "heads up" on a couple of ticket options that might be of interest for this big event at The Opera House:

Combo ticket - i.e. tickets to both sessions, which was trialled successfully at the Capital champs in May. This is at least $5 cheaper that buying the tickets separately - this will suit those of you who like to see both the pre-judging and finals and perhaps entice more people to attend both session rather than just one.

VIP ticket - this is a new ticket, available for the night show (finals) only. It will entitle the holder to sit in the front 5 or 6 rows and have an invite to the backstage supper during the interval. Not only will this include complimentary nibbles and drinks, but it will be held downstairs next to the pump up area for close-up viewing of the Open class competitors preparing to go on stage. The cost of this ticket will be just over $60, which is good value for the prime seat at a top-class venue, with the nibbles and drinks thrown in plus viewing the cream of the anticipated 80 plus competitors as they prepare to go on stage. These tickets also have a discount of approx 10% for orders of 5 or more, which might appeal to those with corporate clients perhaps?

[2guns]

i heard this is going to be the smae as the pibba show? (vip tickets)

i heasrd they were going to be 100 bucks??

not sure how many ppl will be interested. will be interested to find out

[MasterTel]

Yes, the PIBBA show is offering a VIP ticket, but that is quite different. I believe the VIP ticket for that show is $100 and is for a black-tie dinner as part of the event. This is partly to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the PIBBA event. I competed there in 2002 and it is a really fun show to be part of - I expect it will be even more so this year!

I agree - it will be interesting to see how successful these VIP tickets are. For our event in Wellington, I feel it is nice to have this option for those who want to pay a bit more (and it is not expensive compared to other events at such a venue) for a guaranteed top seat plus complimentary refreshments and a chance to check out the backstage area.

Hey - if we don't sell any then there is nothing lost. The catering will be finalised last minute, so we won't overspend on the refreshments. Hopefully we will attract people who have never been to a bodybuilding show and convince them to come to future shows?

[MasterTel]

The NZFBB Wellington champs is less than two weeks away and it looks like another BIG show this year. We may even match or better the 85 competitors we had last year, and the quality will be superb.

I won't mention names, but confirmed extrants so far in the Open Men's categories include a recent Mr NZ overall champ and three recent Mr Wellington overall champs!

So if you are in Wellington on October 14 and want to see some top class bodybuilding entertainment, check it out at The Opera House - 10am start for pre-judging and 6pm for finals. More info is available on http://www.nzfbb.org.nz.

[waldo]

I'll be there! Can also confirm a couple of MAX'S sponsored athletes will be hitting the stage so will be there in support.

[deegee]

Who are your sponsored athletes Waldo and what categories do they compete in ?

[waldo]

AJ Wilson will be competing in the novice men's over 90kg, he won his class at the Capital Champs in May. He's got a huge back and arms! We have also started looking after a novice women's physique (u52 I think) competitor.

Our other Wellingtonian is Phily Nuku who will be forming part of a massive line up for the NABBA Nationals this weekend.

[MasterTel]

Yes, Waldo, you've signed up not just two tremendous bodybuilders in AJ and Phily, but two top blokes who are excellent role-models! I'll be one of many competitors joining Phily no stage at the NABBA Nationals this weekend - but thankfully not in the same class as him!

Is your novice physique lady competing next week as well? Oh, and I'm looking forward to seeing your own debut on stage sometime soon, Waldo .... come on, you know you want to do it!

[waldo]

Easy there MT! I may make an effort to get up in May/June next year, but only if NABBA or NZFBB institue a 'Skinny white Boy Short' class between now and then.

Phily and AJ have certainly done the goods from my point of view. Will be great to see them up on stage in the next few weeks.

I think the young girl we are looking after in conjunction with Les Mills Hutt City is named Carla. She's up in the novice physique under 52s.

[MasterTel]

Ha ha, Waldo - as they have a 'Skinny White Old Man Tall' class (Masters Athletic) for me, I'm sure there must be something there suitable for you! :pfft:

[MasterTel]

The NZFBB Wellington champs is on this Saturday. There seems to be plenty of interest and there are some pretty impressive physiques ready to do battle this weekend!

I'll post the results on Sunday morning and as soon as Dee (photographer) gets me the photos I'll put them up also.

If you are in Wellington this Saturday, try and get to The Opera House on Manners Street to check out the action - pre-judging starts at 10am and finals at 6pm!

[MasterTel]

47 competitors at yesterdays event, and some awesome quality on display. I'll provide more information later, but for now here are the results:

Teenage Men (Under 18)

1 Ehsan Arbabzadeh (4)

Junior Men (Under 21)

1 Luke Hribar (8)

Masters Men Over 40 - U80kg

1 Martin Van Der Wal (17)

Masters Men Over 40 - O80kg

1 Neru Siolo (16)

2 Takurua Tawera (20)

Masters Men Over 50

1 Ken Allan (18)

2 Chris Wilson (19)

Masters Women Over 35

1 Lois Tuarau (26)

2 Joanna Cox (25)

3 Jacqui Taylor (27)

Senior Figure Over 35

1 Natasha Trlin (35)

2 Paula Signal (36)

3 Marian Leonard (34)

4 Kathryn Ching (37)

Senior Figure Over 45

1 Caroline Robinson (42)

Novice Women Under 52 kg

1 Carla Lees (64)

2 Raima Paul (65)

Novice Women 52-57kg

1 Kathy Rowan (70)

Novice Women Over 57kg

1 Annie Holt (75)

2 Kris Pearton (74)

Novice Figure - Short

1 Nicole Williams (50)

2 Toni Sinai (51)

IFBB Body Fitness - Short

1 Jeanette Ryan (141)

Open Figure - Short

1 Julie Buck (95)

Novice Figure - Tall

1 Tania Boyce (60)

Novice Men Under 70

1 Damian Porter (80)

2 Bevan MacDonald (78)

3 Tiago Augusto Schuh (79)

Novice Men 70-80kg

1 Craig Mason (83)

2 Mike Gaeta (85)

3 William Anaru (84)

Novice Men Over 80kg

1 Deon Smith (87)

2 AJ Wilson (88)

3 Bradley Quinn (90)

4 Ruru Teinaki (89)

Open Women Under 52kg

1 Louise Blythe (105)

Open Women 52-57kg

1 Irene Braithwaite (110)

2 Greta Millan (109)

Open Women Over 57kg

1 Mandi Matheson (115)

Open Men Under 70

1 Paul Leulusoo (120)

2 Darren Roderick (119)

Open Men 70-80kg

1 Supry Sos (124)

2 Mark Wilson (125)

3 Willie Walker (123)

Open Men Over 80kg

1 Scott Reynolds (128)

2 Brian McFarlane (129)

3 Grant Kereama (130)

Mixed Pairs

1 Julie Buck and Deon Smith (C3)

2 Bradley Quinn & Tania Boyce (C1)

Best Posing Routine – Female

Marian Leonard (34)

Best Posing Routine – Male

AJ Wilson (88)

Team

1 Les Mills

2 Naughty Forties (Masterton)

Overall Women’s Figure

Julie Buck (95)

Overall Women’s Physique

Mandi Matheson (115)

Overall Men

Scott Reynolds (128)

[defx]

Congrats to all those that competed in the weekend,just wondering though, if there are any pics of the comp at all on any website??would be really keen to see pics of friends that competed...all n all,heard from ppl that Mastertel did a brilliant job!