Re: [AGA-sc] NEC update

["S. Hieber" <shieber@yahoo.com>]

>>>>>  comments and two-bit wisdom inserted below

----- Original Message ----
From: Erik Olson <erik@thekrib.com>
To: aga-sc@thekrib.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2006 12:46:28 AM
Subject: [AGA-sc] NEC update


1. Claus suggested Holger Windelov as a speaker, so Karen's on that as 
soon as both are free to communicate (Holger currently out of the country; 
Karen currently in week-before-tax-hubby-CPA-mondo-work-mode).  Claus 
thinks Windelov would find it touching to be asked!
 
>>>>>Score!!

2. We're still working on Dorothy... always interesting to be reporting 
about "working" on someone who's on this list. :)  Hey, once you say yes, 
we've got the line-up done...
 
>>>Dorothy said she doesn't want to do Friday night; she'd be a good starter 
>>>for Saturday. Correct me if I'm misremembering, Dorothy.


3. Claus did two very good talks with at least 50% new material since 
Houston/2002.  They were especially good considering he had a hard drive 
crash before leaving on the plane and had to regenerate his talks from 
scratch or make some of the sequencing up on the spot.  We'll see how well 
it works in editing.  Hmm...between this one, last year's Christel update, 
and one more good plant import at an NEC, we'll have enough material for a 
"rarities" or "all-stars" DVD, should we get permission from the requisite 
folks.
 
>>>Claus also said Tropica could probably do a little something to help support 
>>>the convention. The TAG ads are already a big, steady support of the AGA and 
>>>I don't know if we want to ask for soup when we've already been given lunch. 
>>>Maybe Karen can advise. Anyway, I thought it worth mentioning, since CR and 
>>>LL were absent but not forgotten at NEC.

 
>>>>>I can't wait to see Clauses NEC talk. I think at the time I was learning 
>>>>>how to breed bettas -- oddly the second fish I ever bred -- aren't guppies 
>>>>>always the first?

4. Ray Lucas.  He is asking US to ask him to come to the convention this 
year.  Has that weekend free, and can visit San Francisco Bay Brand HQ 
(one of his bosses).  He also figures he could get All Glass and Python to 
sponsor the Iron Aquascaper competition.  I mentioned we are without a 
vendor chair.  Now that speaker stuff is progressing, I suppose it's time 
to start moving on whatever ersatz vendor work we should be doing.  What 
do you guys think about asking Ray?  I know it can get a little dicey...
Ray's style is not the best fit with the anti-pet-corporation plant 
hippies.  But he's a big AGA supporter, and if done right, this could be a 
good draw.

 
>>>>Ray's longstanding relationships with the vendors can be helpful and he can 
>>>>really talk up the convention in his travels. I fear that the fish stuff 
>>>>put in the auction doesn't bring in anywhere near retail value, but Ray's 
>>>>more than worth it, imo anyway, goods or no.
 
>>>>Also note that we don't actually have anyone else to help in this area 
>>>>right now

5. AGA meeting.

   - We had one suggestion to publish the member list so that guy could 
find other AGAers in Chicago.  Perhaps we add "include my address in 
member list" in the survey form so we could actually do this in future 
years.

 
>>>> Why are the good ideas the ones we've heard and heard? ;-) I recall us 
>>>> talking about this more than once and it always ends up to a cul-de-sac. 
>>>> Part of the prob is getting enough folks to say whether they want to be on 
>>>> a published list. Wasn't this choice something that we said we would put 
>>>> on the applications in the future?
 

   - I saw a few nods of understanding/encouragement from folks across the 
room when I mentioned we're doing 2007+ on our own.  I think it was Alecia 
"Gold Pants" Benedict and/or Jay, but hard to say.
 
>>>>You can't argue with an award winner. Somehow, "most thematic pants" didn't 
>>>>seem like a stretch (no pun intended).

6. Table. Lots of PAM and TAG samples given away.  David would like to 
distribute them to his pet store connections if we're really using them 
just as free promo now.   that lots of folks stopped to 
look at. . .
 
 
>>>>Price at $0, PAMs move very quickly. The real demand is probably somewhere 
>>>>less than a buck -- it's a shame since they're nice mags.But let's keep 
>>>>moving them. We've barely touched my stash so there's plenty still to go.
 
>>>We moved about 20 TAGS free, too. Putting them among the mostly fish crowd 
>>>will hopefully bring a few scalies over to the leafers.


6. Bay area folks.  Heard from Lonnie ?, a Bay Area transplant and SVAS 
(Silicon Valley Aquarium Society) bigwig.  He says there are lots who will 
be driving up for it.  Actually Kathy and I talked to a handful of folks 
who were planning on coming.  Nice, as we were expecting the usual "who'd 
want to fly out THERE" attitudes (which there were a few).

>>>>Good news. Unfortunately, as Larry reminded me recently, the closer 
>>>>drive-ins won't be staying in the hotel so won't help us with our roomnight 
>>>>obligation -- let's pray for a lot of far-out-of-towners, like, say 90 or 
>>>>so or that lots of far-out-of-towner folks stay extra nights to do 
>>>>sightseeing.  ;-)

7. We're home and plumb tuckered-out.  Scott and I shot 23 hours of tape. 
I think that's a record for a day and a half.

 
>>>> I think I shot 3 and Erik shot 20, plus he did interviews, etc.  Hey, 
>>>> Erik, at least I remembered to take the cam off stand-by!
 
>>>>Nice to see you folks after almost a year -- even longer since I got to see 
>>>>Dorothy. If you haven't all seen them, Kathy and Erik have some child/baby 
>>>>picks that will make you melt where stand.
 
Karen and David, thanks for making an old shnorrer feel welcome in your homes. 

 
sh
_______________________________________________
AGA-sc mailing list
AGA-sc@thekrib.com
http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/aga-sc