Things I liked about competitions this past year,
WSA if you have to filler time between competing and Awards, they had a Jump Off, which is WAY better than the cupid shuffle or Jammy.
NCA got awards over with quick, got your plaque and left the floor til it was down to two, it built suspense while moving quickly. and had several throughout the day
Production Value can make a tiny competition seem Big, again WSA did a great job with this. There were only 20 or 30 teams at a first year event we went to in Jax, but it felt big because of the lighting and production value and being in an arena.
WSF had great lights and staging as well.
Medals or individual gifts of some kind for 1st thru 3rd
Having Grand champs/level champions, judges choice, a few speciality awards are nice.
and Cash awards are always nice.
flash drive with video and judges comments
Things I didn't like.
Make sure you have a big enough venue. and have priority seating.
$15 admission for a 1 day COA event is way too much plus paying for Parking
having to wait through dance and individuals to have awards was terrible.
being rushed through warm ups and then having to wait for 20+ mins after you've warmed up before you go out on the floor.
Questionable judging
Unfortunately for COA, all of the things I didn't like happened at the Jacksonville, FL COA event last year. It was my least favorite event last year but we will be back, because it happens to fall into our schedule perfectly.
Hoping for a better experience!
as for swag, at least for our kids, they like winning stuff more than just getting it for showing up, if you're looking to save money somewhere or make money by selling the stuff.