They managed it! Who would have dared put their money on the FCI European Section's 2012 Show in Bucharest being such a resounding success? Victim of a smear campaign on the social networks (what power, what strength, often positive but at times also very harmful), the Asociatia Chinologica Romana (AchR) was able to keep a cool head, rising to the challenge and attracting more than 6,000 dogs to the Romanian capital. The AChR was able to leverage the smear campaign against it to promote the show, and the least we can say is that it was very successful in doing so. Congratulations to the whole Romanian team, brilliantly led by Mr C. Stefanescu and Mr P. Muntean.

Unfortunately, three of the canine world’s top personalities have recently left us and the FCI would like to pay tribute to them here...

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Yves De Clercq
FCI Executive Director
Seoul (KR), 1-2 September
5 Questions for a Show: interview with the President of the organising committee, Mr Wol Nam Jeon (Korea Kennel Federation)
Wol Nam Jeon

When was the first edition of the show held and how did it develop?

The first edition of the FCI international show was held on May 13th, 1990. The entries were 362 and since then, about 4-8 FCI international shows have been held every year. In 2011, the FCI Asia and the Pacific Section Dog Show was held in Seoul on August 28th for the first time in Korea and entries were totally 2,024 for 2 days-4 shows. Dog shows in Korea have been developing quantitatively as well as qualitatively.


Are you happy about this year’s edition?

Korean dog shows are experiencing a big change this year. As of July, 2012, dog show regulation was revised according to FCI show regulation abolishing King/Queen system. Since then, shows have been more interesting and lively. Especially, FCI Seoul International dog show was successfully held at the KINTEX, Seoul over the weekend of September 1 and 2, 2012 with 1,487 entries.


How “international” can this event be considered (judges, exhibitors, etc.)?

5 international judges (Australia, Germany, Japan, Mexico and USA) were invited for FCI Seoul International dog show on September 1 and 2, 2012 and 86 foreign dogs attended. Approximately 15,000 spectators watched the shows for 2 days. We need to build an accommodation infrastructure for dogs to attract more foreign exhibitors.


What is your strategy (if any) to attract more exhibitors, public and medias’ attention?

This Dog show was held for the first time at the KINTEX, the biggest exhibition hall in Korea. We advertised this event through various channels, vet clinics, pet shops, pet magazines and web sites as well as daily newspaper and TV. As a result, a lot of people visited our event and widely reported in the press. After the show, more than 100 bloggers posted our event review on their blogs.


Did you have to take into consideration specific circumstances (social, economical, country-specific, etc.) when preparing and organising this big event?)

We tried to make the FCI Seoul International dog show a real dog festival so that “Adopt abandoned animal” campaign was carried out together with local Veterinary Society and CFA Cat Shows are held at the same time. Visitors could enjoy with a plenty of attraction and hundreds of product booths including pet food & supplies were set up.