If you happen to catch a glimpse of a streaker at the super bowl, you can rest assured that person will be removed and prosecuted. During a competition of any sort, the competition must be protected from interruption and distraction. I haven’t seen any naked bodies yet, but I have seen lots of people walk in. I remember one very persistent lady last year during the design sculptured nail competition at ISSE. She came in, sat down next to a model and asked the competitor what she charged “to have nails done here?”

What the heck? Come on lady, this is a competition. That same woman had to be asked three different times to leave the area, because it was a competition. I think we only had one floor sage last year, and it’s hard for one person to police the area. So this year things were changed, like the “lock the door.”

Now I don’t want to field questions while I’m trying to compete and I’m sure all the other competitors feel the same, but I don’t think locking the door is the best solution.

I mean, really. We are already in the classroom farthest away from the trade show floor. So if show attendees even realize there is a competition going they have to make the long trek to the competition area just to check it out, and then only to be turned away by a handwritten sign taped to the door saying “GO AWAY!” What does this do for the growth and interest of nail competitions?

Personally, I was embarrassed by the whole stance of the organizers. I invite many people to stop by the competition area and check it out, or say Hi or whatever, just trying to bring attention to it. But what I got are e-mails saying, “Yeah, I stopped by, but I couldn’t get in,” or “I opened the door and got yelled at.” Then I feel the need to apologize for something that I didn’t have anything to do with and in fact, wholeheartedly disagree with. I have no idea why the organizers do this. They close off the room and won’t let anybody in, even though they’ve added more floor sages — four to be exact. No pictures, no spectators, no nothing.

No spectators? How do you build excitement for an event if no one knows that you are there? Enough griping though. Here is my solution:

Put up signs that say “NAIL COMPETITION IN PROGRESS. Please do not disturb the competitors.” Or how about roping off the area with nice ropes and more signs that say, “Hey! You found the nail competitions. If you’d like to participate, check the show brochure for more information!”

Something

Anything

But please don’t close us off from the world. The nail part of the beauty/trade show industry is shrinking at an amazing rate. We need as much positive exposure as we can get. That’s what we have with the nail competitions — the best of the best, the cream of the crop out there showing their stuff...

…behind closed doors?

In my opinion, nail competitions need to be in the middle of the trade show floor. Followed up with the awards ceremony on the main stage. Nail competitions are an important part of the industry, we need to encourage growth. Let’s make would-be competitors feel welcome and get them excited about participating. Let’s make nail competitions the main event at trade shows.

And if you readers feel the same, take action. Please express your opinion with the competition organizers. Send a letter or e-mail and tell them you want to see more of the nail competitions.

Thanks for hearing me out.

— Lynn