Re: AGA Conference Feedback Requested (fwd)

[Erik Olson <erik@thekrib.com>]

Hi guys,

Here is some more positive feedback from the convention I thought I'd
share.  He goes a little far off into Cichlid conventions, but hey...

For those interested, you can read all the up-to-the-minute
results of the online form at
http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/cgi-bin/printit

Just finishing up copying the video to VHS for John Glaeser (and a copy
for Mike as historian, myself 'cause I want one, and Charlene 'cause she
asked). I'm planning on sending a CD-ROM (video, pictures, notes, and
handouts all in one small package) to all the speakers and anyone else in
the management committee who's interested in seeing what we CAN produce
from a convention.  E-mail me back if interested.

  - Erik

-- 
Erik Olson
erik at thekrib dot com

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 25 Nov 2000 19:15:50 EST
From: SREdie@aol.com
To: erik@thekrib.com
Subject: Re: AGA Conference Feedback Requested

Erik,
 I enjoyed the AGA conference and seeing the Amazon video in you room. Three 
things:
 1. Completed the on-line evaluation form.
 2. Sent a CDR that may fit into future Amazon adventures.  I bought the CD 
from an Indian playing on a street corner in Santa Fe, NM while his wife 
hawked the CD.  It sounds kind of Peruvian or something.  
 3. The following is a note I sent to Charlene on 11/11 in response to her 
request for feedback.  More detailed than the feedback form.
 I enjoyed meeting you and Kathy and will look forward to next year.  Thanx 
for your efforts to pull this off.  Keep up the good work.
 Steve,
 ><))));>


Charlene,
     Hmm, this sounds like another attempt to get people to tell you what a 
great job you did.  Okay, Iâ??ll bite.  I had a great time and had a lot of 
fun.  But seriously, this was a very good event that was well planned and 
conducted, and if there were any hitches, they were transparent.  Your staff 
was very helpful and accommodating.  In fact, I found everyone in your city 
to be extremely cordial, even down to the hotel staff and restaurant service. 
 Southern hospitality, I guess.   
    Since this was the first AGA convention, I guess nobody really knew what 
to expect.  But since I just joined the AGA about a month before the 
convention, I really had even fewer preconceptions.  While I have kept 
tropical fish for over forty years, I have only had plant tanks for the last 
two years, so Iâ??m still learning.  I knew very few of the members, but I 
could tell that quite a few of them knew each other.  That is one of the 
primary benefits of conventions - renewing old friendships and making new 
friends.  The members were very friendly and approachable, which was 
partially due to it being a relatively small group.  And being the first 
convention, everyone was on somewhat even footing.  The talks were varied and 
informative and diverse enough to cover a lot of ground.  Much like the fish 
side of the hobby, we realize that there is not one single textbook correct 
way of doing things, but a series of theories that run somewhat parallel, 
while allowing for experimentation.  So I came away feeling that although Iâ??m 
not doing everything exactly right, at least Iâ??m not doing anything 
completely wrong.  This is a good thing.  
     As far as general convention experience is concerned, I have attended 
the last five American Cichlid Association conventions, including the one we 
hosted in St Louis.  This is a larger crowd, which is good news and bad news. 
 I believe we have averaged about 800 people registered for the conventions, 
with more locals coming in for the public auction on the last day.  I believe 
the ACA has held conventions for about 25 to 30 years, so people definitely 
show up with certain expectations.  One of the disadvantages of a crowd as 
large as the ACA is, with the exception of the banquet, you canâ??t really get 
or keep everyone together.  It quickly separates into various groups, or 
cliques, and itâ??s sometimes difficult for the novice to fit in.  Some of the 
groups are the elitists, the snobs, the experts, etc.  People tend to hang 
out with people from their own region of the county, and sometimes based on 
seniority in the club.  And of course, in the sharpest dividing line since 
Mason-Dixon, itâ??s the African Cichlid folks vs the South American Cichlid 
folks vs the Dwarf Cichlid folks.  And for some, drinking is elevated to 
Olympic sport status.  Itâ??s all fun, but hectic. 
     To try to compare the two may be a little bit of apples and oranges.  As 
far as proximity of the hotel and the main attraction, this was by far the 
most convenient that I have attended.  At the ACA in New Orleans in 96, the 
hotel was only about 12 or 15 blocks from the Aquarium of the Americas, but 
all of the others involved bus tours of 30 minutes to an hour.  One of the 
most evolved and exciting features of the ACA conventions is the buying and 
selling of fish, independent of the big Sunday auction.  People set up tanks 
in their hotel rooms and sell to other conventioneers.  Room-hopping is one 
of the most enjoyable parts of the convention and a good way to meet people.  
Usually itâ??s a few 10 gallon tanks or plastic tubs, but at the Chicago 
convention, some guys even set up a rack with six 55 gallon tanks in their 
room !  It probably takes a while for the hotel staff to get over one of 
these events.  The ACA has come up with a way to both facilitate and 
capitalize on this room trading business.  They set up a bulletin board in 
the hallway near the showroom and meeting rooms.  The board is usually about 
three foot by five or six foot, and a second, and sometimes a third one is 
added to handle all of the ads.  People put up a list of the fish they are 
selling, with prices, and their hotel room number.  But, their ad must have 
an official ACA sticker, which costs $5 from the club.  Any ads without a 
sticker are removed.  There is a line item on the pre-registration form for 
this.  Event T-shirts have become a cottage industry within the ACA.  Each 
year there is a new design, with the host city and the convention dates.  
These are pre-sold in the registration process so that only as many as are 
pre-sold of each size are printed.  A few extras are made, but that limits 
the liability of unsold shirts.  
    The ACA events are larger, with more registrants, but logistically much 
more involved in setting up and managing.  Since fish are being shown and 
judged, tanks have to be set up and proctored. The last few years have seen 
an average of 600 ten gallon tanks set up in the showroom.  The vendor rooms 
usually have about 30 vendors or so and fill a room maybe about a third of 
the size of the hotel basement meeting room we were in.  It requires the full 
involvement of a local aquarium society to provide all of the worker bees to 
pull it together.  I attended two ACA conventions before our club hosted and 
two since, so I definitely have a greater awareness of the level of effort 
involved.  There are things you could do to be more like the ACA, but thatâ??s 
not automatically better than what youâ??ve done.  
    Suggestions ?  Mainly repeat what youâ??ve done.  Keep things casual; 
trying to pack a schedule too tightly can be too hectic,  both for you and 
for us.  This one was just right.  If you can, have a bulletin board for 
trading in the hotel.  Publish in advance that you will have the board so 
people will bring more stuff to sell or trade.  Charge a nominal fee to post 
on the board.  We wonâ??t mind and it helps the club.  Try for a few more 
vendors.  In particular, Iâ??d love to see Arizona Aquatic Gardens there.  For 
the AGA officers, maybe add their title onto their name tags.  Consider event 
T-shirts.  Lean on manufacturers for donations for door-prizes and auction 
items.  I came home with money left and that never happens at the ACA.  
      Disappointments: The lack of Rift Lake Cichlids in your facility.  Oh 
yeah, and someone outbid me at the silent auction.  Thatâ??s about it.    
     You, and your small staff did an outstanding job keeping us busy, 
comfortable and amused all weekend.  I met many new people and made valuable 
contacts for the future.  I came home with several very nice plants.  I did 
not see a single person upset or unhappy or confused during the entire event. 
 Thatâ??s something I canâ??t say about an ACA event; itâ??s usually only a 
few, 
but you do notice them.  This was a very educational event, particularly for 
someone who considers himself somewhere between novice and intermediate on 
the plant scale.  This is rather humbling for an old Cichlid guy.  I learned 
a lot.  My thanks also to Gary Lange and Mike Hellweg for talking me into 
going.  Iâ??m ready for the next one, depending on location and date. 
   Thank you again Charlene, 
   Steve
   ><))));>

Oh, by the way, I turned in my roster at the banquet to change my work phone 
to home phone.  Was I to have picked up a corrected copy there ?  But, since 
I didnâ??t, can you mail one.