[AGA-mcm] [AGA Convention Feedback] (fwd)

[Erik Olson <erik@thekrib.com>]

Here is the other detailed feedback, from Alesia Benedict.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 14:03:54 -0800
From: Alesia Benedict <ThePlantedTank@aol.com>
To: erik@thekrib.com
Subject: [AGA Convention Feedback]

Below is the result of your feedback form.  It was submitted by
Alesia Benedict (ThePlantedTank@aol.com) on Thursday, November 18, 2004 at 
14:03:54
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registration: poor

agatable: good

vendor: very-good

hospitality: very-good

field: very-good

diana: very-good

mike: excellent

paul: missed

oliver: poor

janf: good

jan: poor

amanot: excellent

amanod: poor

wall: excellent

awards: excellent

banquet: poor

auction: good

hotel: good

cost: good

heard: Have attended prior, actually promote it in FAMA column

favorite: Seeing Amano in person, networking with other attendees, the auction

least: Very disappointed in the banquet. All it was this year was a dinner.  No awards, 
no speaker, nothing that would make it worth attending.  What's the point of having a 
"banquet" if it is JUST eating?

overall: I know everyone worked very hard to put this convention on. My club 
holds big shows regularly, and it's A LOT of work. I applaud all the efforts.  
I'm only going to point out the weaknesses, as I see them.

Registration:  Was not ready Thurs night until very late (more like 11 pm 
than 9).  Schedule on back of name tags was brilliant!

Oliver Knott is very knowledgeable and likeable (and cute!), but he barely 
speaks English!  We had to try and "fill in" his sentences, during his 
talk, thus, he could only speak about the very basics. His talk was also 
geared more to the retailer than to a hobbyist. Did anyone actually HEAR 
him speak before he was booked???

Jan Bastmeijer:  An expert, but again, VERY difficult to understand him. 
His talk on growing emersed was better than his general crypt, whereby he 
just showed many plants that looked VERY similar.  VERY hard to stay 
focused on his speech.

I was VERY disappointed in Mr. Amano's live demo, because it started SO 
late, thus he had to rush it.  If the awards had been in with the banquet, 
that would have solved both problems.  To make the keynote speaker rush 
any part of his presentation is an error.  I also was HIGHLY disappointed 
that his tank was taken down that evening!!!  No one got really clear 
pictures of it, plus, I am sure it was insulting to him that his work 
would not be displayed on Sunday! I have spent alot of time with the 
Japanese people, (my ex was an exec. for Panasonic so we were embedded in 
the culture and traveled to Japan regular) and they are very much about 
honor -- to have him create one of his masterpieces, only to rip it down 
that night .... jeez!!!! I would strongy suggest that a letter of apology 
of sorts be sent to him (or incorporated in his thank you letter) on 
behalf of the AGA for that error -- but that's just my 2 cents.

Auction:  Larry is great as an auctioneer. And tell him to keep the 
"scuff" -- looks good on him!

A revenue stream that was sorely missed is what is called a "push."  This 
is when someone pays extra (usually $2) to move a lot up right away. 
This is often done when people have to leave to catch a plane, want to bid 
on something before having lunch, etc. etc.  During a big event, our club 
can make $40 - $100 just on pushes!  It's easy, and just involves a bit of 
coordiation.  Someone should be in charge of collecting the "push" money 
and getting the lot to the auctioneer immediately.


On a separate note, I would love to see someone from AGA be more active 
with first time attendees. These folks are usually timid, don't know 
anyone, feel like an outsider, and feel others are cliquish.  This is 
probaby because they are newbies to us all.  In the future, if you need 
assistance with a "welcome committee" or a "newbie liaision" let me know 
and I would be glad to help out.  It's one thing for someone to attend a 
conference, but it's quite another thing for him/her to attend subsequent 
ones. Attrition is always a problem with clubs, and to be honest, I 
expected a much bigger turn out with Amano headlining.

Lastly, I had planned on writing about the AGA for my Fama column, but the 
editor (David) from TFH has contacted me and I will most likely write it 
for TFH instead. I know David well and have worked with TFH prior.

I will need to work with the AGA in obtaining convention pictures.  Jay 
Luto is in my fish club and I'll be speaking with him tonight about his 
shots. I would also like to have a copy of Oliver's winning photo, as I 
think that would be a great shot to include.

Feel free to have someone contact me.  Thanks; Alesia Benedict





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