LAST UPDATED - July 15, 2020

POLICY FOR INCLUSION OF AN EVENT WITHIN OUR DATABASE

Through our website, database, and associated accounts, we at First Place Florida intend to be the most comprehensive and up-to-date listing of open livestock shows, youth judging events, and other related agricultural activities (hereby known as "events") within Florida.

While we support the majority of agricultural youth events within the state, in an attempt to not mislead others or insinuate or provide false information, events and activities not meeting the policies below are not eligible to be listed within our website (hereby known as the "database") in order to be the most comprehensive source of information possible.

1. Events MUST be located within the state of Florida, however, they do not necessarily have to be sponsored by a Florida-based organization.

Exceptions to this are made for regional or national level competitive events located within the greater Southeast, to include Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Mississippi. Exceptions to this are not made for livestock shows, if you are seeking information about livestock shows in other states, we encourage you to visit the websites of related organizations that are linked on each species' page for assistance.

2. Events MUST be open to ALL youth from anywhere in Florida, regardless of residence, OR be open to a large geographic area, defined as at least six (6) counties. It is acceptable for events to set age (ex. ages 8-18 only, 21 and under, 5 and up, etc.) and/or membership (ex. must be a 4-H member, ADGA registered animals only, etc.) parameters for participation.

Exceptions to this policy are not made. This means that most county fairs are not eligible to be listed on our site, unless they host "open youth" shows, that are non-terminal and invite youth from other counties to show. Most county fairs are not open shows and are therefore not listed in our database.

While we attempt to provide coverage of results and national-level accomplishments outlined in the Policy for Coverage below, please note that due to the nature of these events, differing criteria for each and knowing that limitations are in place as to who may compete, information for participation in state-level events, sponsored by the Florida FFA Association and UF/IFAS Extension Florida 4-H, commonly referred to as "career development events" (CDEs) within FFA and "state judging contests" within 4-H, are not included in our database. If you are interested in participating in these events, your best source of information is your local FFA advisor, or 4-H agent or program coordinator.

3. Events MUST be non-terminal, where animals return to the farm of the youth after the show and are not "auctioned" or "sold." With the exception of state-level events, it is likely that terminal shows do not follow item 2 above.

"Prospect" shows, such as those for market swine, feeder steers, lambs, etc. where the animals are judged based on market characteristics but not sold for slaughter are allowed, as the animals return home with the exhibitor at the end of the show.

4. Events MUST have basic information available upon inclusion in the database, to include the intended date, location and sponsoring organization in order for the event to be added to our database.

We realize that this information may change as planning progresses and will provide updates when necessary, but in order to be transparent and to provide the best information possible, we respectfully request that this information be submitted for new events added to our database upon submission.

5. Events MUST allow for their name, logo and any associated information necessary for entry (copies of rules, entry forms, class lists, sanction guidelines, etc.) to be displayed publicly on our website. We encourage event sponsors to provide additional information as available, however, it is not required. Please see item 4 above for what is required to submit an event for inclusion within our database.

All information submitted is held in accordance to our Privacy Policy below. If for you are an organizer of an event and if for some reason, do not consent to us the storage or use of your information, if it is not publicly available and uncredited, you may always opt-out or request that your information be removed from our website or corrected. To make such a request, send us a message in writing to firstplaceflorida@yahoo.com with the subject line "Opt Out".

While we do our best to include all events that meet the guidelines outlined in this policy, we apologize if we have missed an opportunity and will do our best to include it if provided with the necessary information. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions or information to provide.

 

 

POLICY FOR COVERAGE OF AN EVENT WITHIN OUR WEBSITE AND ASSOCIATED PAGES

While an event may meet or exceed the above listed policy to be included within our database, or fall within the realm of our coverage while not meeting the above standards, such as events open only to certain groups, state-level competitions open only to members of a certain organization, or events at which participants must have taken part in a "qualifier" in order to compete on the next level, as we are an independent publication, First Place Florida reserves the right to decline coverage of any event at any time.

The below actions may be reasons for which an event is not covered or be restricted in terms of coverage. While we are not always able to comment on specific situations, please see below for a list of reasons why this may occur. 

1. Events that encourage, or are observed performing, illegal or illicit behavior, including but not limited to, falsification of documents, illegal drug use by participants or unto animals, the use of alcohol, tobacco or other substances by minors, gambling, tax evasion, animal abuse, child abuse or other related criminal activity.

This also includes the failure to or decision not to follow regulations set forth for animal health, inspection or identification by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) or United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

2. Events that are based around a "pay for prize" model, including but not limited to raffles, lotteries, for-profit show serieses and pageant systems, where a "prize" or "award" is given upon payment of an "entry fee" without an actual competition, or where the "winners" are left up to random chance.

Exceptions to this are made for events designed for "peewees" (exhibitors approximately ages 3-7) or special needs exhibitors.

3. Events that are observed failing to disclose who is sponsoring the event or those without a business, organization or individual declared as such, or those that do not include tangible prizes or competition, including but not limited to, contests on Instagram, Facebook or similar social media where entries are evaluated by other youth, the public or other non-qualified judges, and virtual events that are not sponsored by a legitimate entity.

4. Events that are observed failing to follow their own stated official rules and policies, or rules and policies set forth by their governing agencies, including but not limited to, eligibility, competitions/classes offered, conditions of awards, scoring and sanctioning.

5. Events that are observed to not be hosted in good faith by their sponsoring entity, including but not limited to, last minute rule changes designed to limit participation, withholding information from those that are eligible to participate, events not announced publicly or to a majority of the membership in an effort to discourage participation, format changes that do not match other similar events or other events sponsored by the same entity, or those openly designed with rules designed to give certain participant(s) advantages over others in unfair ways.

6. Events that do not offer all youth, within reason, an equal opportunity to participate, including but not limited to, events that select youth to attend higher levels of competition without an event that is open to all interested and eligible participants, events that exclude certain youth from participating (see Item 2 in first policy above for more information) based on residence, or those that enforce unnecessary barriers, such as exorbitant entry fees, or unclear instructions on how to participate.

Exceptions to this are made for certain "honorary" events, such as awards programs based on nominations, or scholarships based on participation in an organization.

7. Events that are observed to be of poor quality or judgement, including but not limited to, openly encouraging younger participants to take part in potentially harmful or dangerous non-age-appropriate activities, undergoing format changes mid-season or with little to no advanced notice, or undergoing changes in scoring or structure mid-season or after the event has began with little to no advanced notice.

8. Events where the level of participation is not at an adequate level for the level of competition.

Please remember that First Place Florida is an independent publication and is NOT affiliated with any of the events listed on our website, any other publication, unless otherwise specified, or any other youth organizations, including but not limited to, the Florida FFA Association, UF/IFAS Florida 4-H Youth Development, the Florida Cattlemen’s Association, the Florida Junior Swine Circuit and the Junior Sheep Association of Florida.

 

 

PRIVACY POLICY

With the institution of our newsletter and other features in mid-2020, we are strongly committing our actions to protecting the privacy of your personal information. The policies below are applicable to the First Place Florida website.

1. Purpose - This privacy policy is intended to let you know (1) the kinds of personal information we may gather during your visit to the site, (2) why we gather your information, (3) what we use your personal information for, (4) when we might disclose your personal information, and (5) how you can manage your personal information. Please be advised that the practices described in this privacy policy apply only to information we gather on our site. They do not apply to information that you provide to third party sites, any registration company we utilize to register for events, any payment systems, to other third party sites linked within our website, or to vendors, sponsors, partners, affiliates or social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube etc. Please review their separate privacy policies.

2. Your Acceptance - By visiting our website, you are accepting the practices described in our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to the terms of our Privacy Policy, please do not use the website. We reserve the right to modify or amend the terms of our Privacy Policy from time to time without notice. Your continued use of our website following the posting of changes to these terms will mean you accept those changes.

3. Contact - If you have any questions about this privacy policy, don’t see your concerns addressed here, or wish to make changes to any personal information we have collected, you should contact us by email at firstplaceflorida@yahoo.com with the subject, “Privacy Policy."

4. Information We May Collect - Except as disclosed below, we will not sell, barter, give away, or rent your personal information.

(a) Personal Information. Use of certain features of the site, like signing up to receive a newsletter, or responding to one of our surveys may require that you provide certain personally identifiable information, in other words, information that identifies or describes you, such as your name, email address, telephone numbers, address, zip code, age, and gender (“personal information”).

(b) Anonymous Information. Even if you don’t request a newsletter or fill out a survey, when you interact with the site, we may collect certain nonpersonal information. For example, our servers keep an activity log that tracks all visitors to the site. The information in the activity log is anonymous and therefore does not identify you individually. The anonymous information our server collects may include among other data: your IP address, our registered domain or home server, time of access, date of access, web page(s) visited, number of clicks, software crash reports, type of browser used, session identification number, search terms, search results, access times and referring website’s addresses.

(c) Cookies and Spyware. We do not install spyware on your computer, nor do we use spyware to retrieve information from your computer. Like many websites, we may use “cookies”, which are small text files that are stored on your computer or equipment when you visit certain online pages that record your preferences. We use cookies to track your use of our website and its features. We may also use cookies to monitor traffic, improve the site and make it easier and/or more relevant for your use. You may occasionally get cookies from other websites with links on our website. We do not control these cookies, and these cookies are not subject to our privacy policy. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but, if you prefer, you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies. For more information on cookies and how to disable them, you can consult the information provided by the Interactive Advertising Bureau at www.allaboutcookies.org.

5. How We May Use Your Information - Except as disclosed in this privacy policy, we do not use or disclose information about your individual visits to our site or your personal information collected online to any parties other than those with whom we partner or are affiliated without your consent.

(a) In General. We use your personal information to communicate with you about your interest in our events and our information (ex. "newsletter"), to help us improve your experience on the site (ex. "surveys") and in some cases, to promote our events or to inform visitors to our site about the people who participate in our events. We may also use your information to prevent or detect abuses of our terms of use and to enable third parties to carry out technical or other functions on our behalf.

(b) Your Submissions. By giving us your personal information either through our website or email, you expressly consent to our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information as described in this privacy policy.

(c) Third-Parties. We may occasionally have third party representatives, agents, affiliates and partners that perform functions on our behalf, such as event registration, payment, analytics, etc. These entities may have access to your personal information but only as needed to perform their services.

(d) Emergency Situations. We may also use or disclose personal information if required to do so by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to (a) conform to applicable law or comply with legal process served on us or the site; (b) protect and defend the our rights or property, the site or our users, and (c) act under emergency circumstances to protect the personal safety of us, our affiliates, agents, or the users of the site or the public.

6. Security - The security of your information is of great concern to us. We exercise care in providing secure transmission of your information from your computer to our servers. Personal information collected by our site is stored in secure operating environments that are not open to the public. While we try our best to safeguard your information once we receive it, no transmission of data over the Internet or any other public network can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

7. Linking to or from Other Websites - Our site contains links to other websites, and in some cases, frames other websites, operated by our partners or third parties. Please be advised that the practices described in this Privacy Policy for us do not apply to information gathered through these other websites. These other sites may also send their own cookies to you, collect your data or solicit your personal information. Always be aware of where you end up. We are not responsible for the actions and privacy policies of third parties and other websites, including those by accounts which are not our own official accounts on social media. We encourage you to be aware of when you leave this site and read the privacy policies of each and every website that you visit, including social media.

8 . Assignment - We may change our ownership or corporate organization while providing the website. As a result, please be aware that we may transfer your information to another entity that is affiliated with us or with which we have merged, if this was to occur.

9. Changes to This Policy - As our website continues to develop, we may change or add new services or features to our site. In the event that these additions affect our Privacy Policy, this document will be updated appropriately. Please check back regularly for changes.

10. Managing Your Information/Opting-Out - You may always opt-out of receiving future e-mail messages and newsletters from us or request that your information be removed from our website or corrected. To make such a request, send us a message in writing to firstplaceflorida@yahoo.com with the subject line "Opt Out".