A maximum of 2 events may be held a month, if the second show opens to entries while the first show is conducting finals. The first show may not extend any deadline to the detriment of the second show.
VCC events may be held by CFA clubs, Breed Councils, Board Committees, Regions, or CFA itself.
A copy of the VCC 101 information document will be provided to any organization interested in holding an event on request.
Regional Director Approval is required for clubs/regional events; CFA Central Office approval is required for Breed Council/Board Committee/CFA events. Following this initial approval, the planned event must be submitted to the Virtual Competition Committee for approval (or in the case of CFA-sponsored events, to determine the extent of the Committee’s participation, if any.) Even for events where the Committee will have NO involvement, it is essential to provide event information so that potential impact on other VCC events can be assessed. Therefore, ALL sponsoring organizations must complete the platform event request form, which is located at: https://vcc.cfa.org/request/upload-entry
Organizations should provide dates for each segment of the event when seeking approval. The segments include the entry period, judging period, Spectators Choice voting and finals, all of which typically last approximately 4 weeks.
The event format, number of rings, type of rings (conformation/fun) is entirely up to the discretion of the sponsoring organization, which must also determine entry fees, prizes, number of photos accepted, and whether videos are permitted or not.
The event committee may invite active CFA judges, retired judges, guest judges from other associations, exhibitors, or celebrities to judge the event.
Entries
Unless otherwise specified in the show announcement, events are open to any cat or exhibitor from any country or association and are not restricted to CFA registered cats, breeds, or colors.
Events may include any combination of conformation and/or fun rings utilizing photo and/or video entries.
Unless otherwise specified by the event committee, CFA miscellaneous, provisional, AOV, non-standard color cats, and lookalike cats may compete in their age or breed appropriate class in conformation as though accepted for Championship competition. Non-CFA breeds are welcome but will be required to submit a copy of their standard to the entry clerk.
If the owner prefers, CFA miscellaneous, provisional, AOV, and non-standard color cats may instead be entered in the HHP category. The event committee is not expected to police this.
Photos submitted for the conformation rings should seek to provide good visuals of the cat’s head, body, profile and/or unique features of the breed.
Videos submitted should show the cat as if being presented on a judging table, and may not exceed 30 seconds in length.
The same cat may be entered in multiple classes at the same event, however, each class entry requires a separate fee. A cat may compete as a kitten AND a champion AND/OR a premier if the owner desires.
The conformation classes will conform to CFA rules for age (e.g. kitten photos should be obviously between 4 and 8 months old). The age entered for the cat should be the age of the cat at the time of the photo.
Owners are on the “honor system” for the spay/neuter status of cats, but photos that are obviously of whole males should not be entered in the premiership or HHP classes.
Photos in the conformation classes may be cropped and have minor adjustments (e.g. straightening the horizon) but should not be substantially altered in such a way to change the appearance of the cat (e.g. no obvious darkening or lightening of eye color, no straightening of profiles and NO Photoshopping). Touch ups to remove minor blemishes such as dirt, dust or specs are allowed. Composite photos are not allowed in the conformation classes. The event committee will disqualify any obviously altered photos that significantly change the appearance of the cat or provide any identifying information but may, at its discretion, waive these restrictions on photos in the fun classes.
Cattery logos, cat’s name, watermarks, or other identifying marks must not be included in ANY submitted photos or videos. The event committee will disqualify them and notify the exhibitor, who will have the option of submitting an alternate picture. If no alternate picture is available, the event committee is not required to refund the entry fee but may opt to do so at its discretion.
Payment is required at the time of entry. Stripe is the required credit card processing software, but the event committee can also use additional payment options to appeal to more exhibitors. (See Processes)
Entered cats are expected to be alive at the time of entry, with the exception of cats entered in the Rainbow Bridge class, if offered. However, the event committee is not responsible for policing this and may refer any issues to the VCC Committee for consideration.
Exhibitors must register on the system in order to enter, and provide an email address plus a complete mailing address. Each individual entry MUST be accompanied by the exhibitor’s email address. The event committee is not required to accept entries submitted without this information and will not attempt to pursue them.
Judging
CFA standards are the point of reference for all conformation judging and/or fun classes which involve specific breeds and guest judges must agree to rely on them. If a guest judge does not have a copy of the standards, it is the event committee’s responsibility to provide one.
Unless another finals approach is specified as part of the invitation, it is expected that judges will record their finals in a video format using Zoom or a comparable piece of software. PowerPoint files with voiceovers are not acceptable.
Standard CFA show rules with regard to judges and family members not being permitted to enter events where they are judging apply to all conformation classes but do NOT apply to fun classes. Therefore, conformation judges may, if they wish, enter the fun classes for events they are judging, and fun class judges may enter other fun classes or the conformation classes.
A cat bred by a judge may be entered in an event where that judge is officiating, however, the exhibitor has a responsibility to alert the entry clerk about this at the time of entry.
If it becomes necessary for the event committee to replace a judge who is unable to officiate, the change must be announced via Facebook and email channels rather than simply changed on the platform.
Finals
The event committee must determine the number of finals placements for each conformation/fun ring final and announce it before the event begins to accept entries.
The VCC Committee will provide a starter PowerPoint deck to each event committee for its use in preparing finals presentations.
For events where the highest scoring cat per class will be determined, the standard CFA scoring system with points descending by 5% increments will be used.
Each event committee is responsible for coordinating their own finals presentation files and videos, and providing the VCC Committee with access to the videos for posting on the platform and on https://www.facebook.com/CFAVCC. The event committee is also responsible for transmitting finals presentation files to judges for review prior to recording.
Best of the Best presentations are completely optional. Any event committee wishing to add one should review the approaches outlined in the Processes document available on the platform.
Fees
A platform setup fee of $75.00 payable to CFA will be assessed for each event beginning on or after May 1, 2021.
While the minimum judging fee for conformation classes is $100, it is recommended that $150 be paid for any event where conformation entries exceed 200. No fees are required for fun ring judging but may be paid at the discretion of the event committee. Any judge (conformation or fun class) who personally records his/her own video final should receive $25 in (additional) compensation. Self-recording instructions are available from the VCC Committee and will be sent on request.
If not a member of the sponsoring organization, the entry clerk should be compensated at a rate of at least $0.25 per entry. Any fees for entry clerks who are part of the sponsoring organization will be at the discretion of that organization.
If publicity assistance is provided from outside the sponsoring organization, it is recommended that a publicity fee of $75 per event be paid to the publicist(s).
Prizes
All prizes to be awarded must be specified on the competition site. This information may not be removed when finals or Spectators Choice results are displayed.
The event committee must send all prizes to exhibitors within 30 days after the date of the last final.
Exhibitor Responsibilities
It is the responsibility of the exhibitor to select the correct competitive class for his/her cat.
Exhibitors have a responsibility to provide a complete mailing addresses when they register on the site prior to entry; the event committee should make a reasonable attempt to obtain missing information but is not responsible for missing prizes when that information is not provided.
Exhibitors must understand that their entries will not appear in the Gallery for judging until payment is completed. Payment must be made as soon as possible after entry. The event committee may remove entries from the event if payment is not received prior to the start of judging.
Spectator Choice Voting
Some portion of the voting proceeds should always be reserved for a cat-related charity. Selection of this charity is up to the event committee.
The time frame for voting, as well as any changes to it, must be announced via a method accessible to the majority of exhibitors. A combination of email and Facebook posts should be used to announce extensions or other changes.
Exhibitors may promote their cats via Facebook, Twitter or email in order to increase the number of votes received.
The event committee may opt to allow exhibitors to vote for their own cats from their own registered email addresses or choose to restrict this, at its discretion.
Discrepancies
Any questions concerning the eligibility of an entry or the authenticity of a photo that cannot be resolved by the entry clerk or event committee will be referred to the VCC Committee for review and final resolution.
Any questions concerning Spectator Choice Voting will be referred to the VCC Committee for resolution.
Finals placements as determined by judges and entered into the platform via the judging system may not be changed in the course of recording a finals presentation.
Platform Access
The VCC Committee will monitor administrator access to the platform and provide it only to event committee members whose show function requires it. They are responsible for removing this access 30 days after the close of the event.
Any individual who is granted administrator access must sign and comply with a privacy agreement to be prepared by Central Office. The VCC Committee is responsible for obtaining the signatures and will forward the signed agreements to Central Office.
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