How did MACNA go?!?!?!

robharold · Sep 8, 2008

I for one am certainly not trying to Slam ARC. Just pointing out good and bad points form my first MACNA experience.

I think what people are fussing about on the booth spaces etc is that this really should not be a money making venture by any means for MASNA or the Host Club(s). I mean, there is nothing wrong with getting a little compensation but the focus should definately be the hobbiest. Learning opportunities, stock availability, etc are the most important things. Anything else is extra.

What kind of trade show is your wife involved in? $10000? WOW!

I wish I had won that tank. It owuld have cost me very little to get it home. 1 way u-haul rental.

ironman · Sep 8, 2008

I would have bought the tank to, I drove, had a truck and plan on ordering that tank this week! SHOOT!

As for the atlanta club, Im not trying to bash anyone either. I have organized frag swaps locally, and even that takes alot of leg work. I just was pointing out issues I saw that were disapointing. And also just curious, I was told by some atlanta members and vendors at the event that the atlanta club gets nearly 100% of the profits? I thought that sounded off base, but none the less I had several people tell me that. Not that it matters, but just curious.

johnr2604 · Sep 8, 2008

robharold said:
I for one am certainly not trying to Slam ARC. Just pointing out good and bad points form my first MACNA experience.

I think what people are fussing about on the booth spaces etc is that this really should not be a money making venture by any means for MASNA or the Host Club(s). I mean, there is nothing wrong with getting a little compensation but the focus should definately be the hobbiest. Learning opportunities, stock availability, etc are the most important things. Anything else is extra.

What kind of trade show is your wife involved in? $10000? WOW!

I wish I had won that tank. It owuld have cost me very little to get it home. 1 way u-haul rental.

Oh, I'm not slamming the comments just trying to enlighten people about the situation. Constructive critisizm is a good thing and will make future shows better. I really dont think they made much money off the booths if any. Renting convention halls is really expensive.

My wife is in the commercial laundry equipment business and she does about 6 trade shows a year. There is a bi annual show for the manufacturers called the Clean show that charges a bunch. Big companies like Whirlpool/maytag
and G.E. pay big to be there.She also does alot of smaller trade shows more the size of MACNA and she told me that the average is around $2500 for the 10x10 like most people had. I can understand that in the smaller industry of marine aquaria this might be pricey but there was alot of overhead that also had to be covered.

As far as the food/ drink prices I completely agree but if you left the Hotel there was cheaper food and drinks within a very short walk.

robharold · Sep 8, 2008

johnr2604 said:
As far as the food/ drink prices I completely agree but if you left the Hotel there was cheaper food and drinks within a very short walk.

no kidding. there were at least 4 food joints within a single block.

Hypertek99 · Sep 8, 2008

FateX8 said:
i was easily recognizable, i was the only asian guy there with long hair...

You know there are a lot of asians in this hobby. Who else is asian on here?? I know marvinsreef is. I'm asian.

revhtree · Sep 8, 2008

Asians have the cutest kids....nuff said...:D

fishes2889 · Sep 8, 2008

Hypertek99 said:
You know there are a lot of asians in this hobby. Who else is asian on here?? I know marvinsreef is. I'm asian.

start a thread....lol

FateX8 · Sep 8, 2008

i was tlaking about people that went to macna, i know theres a lot of asians but there werent that many at macna and there was only 1 with long hair...ME!

EyeCatchingCoral · Sep 8, 2008

does any have macna pics or a link to some?

cparka23 · Sep 8, 2008

Reading this thread brings back a lot of memories. All the critiques sound a lot like the problems I had with the one in Houston. I happened to be in town at the time, so I took a peek.

Back then, the only thing that interested me was the upgraded Vortech (partly because my 1st-gen pre-ordered one was/is a piece of junk). Other than that, there were a hanging aquarium about 6" thick, a BioMatrix controller booth, a jellyfish tank, and Sfiligoi fixtures. Pretty much novelty items. Not much livestock on Sunday, which is when I went. The raffle was mostly entry-level EuroReef stuff, sadly.

Afterwards, MACNA was put into a new light for me. If you keep tabs here and on the other forum, the only benefits to MACNA are to see the livestock vendors and to see a couple products in person. Of the products you see in person, you might buy one in the next 5 years if at all. That's the nature of a trade show with new products.

That being said, it took a lot of time and energy for volunteers and the reef club to put together. No one outside of the club does anything, because MASNA expects the club to arrange the details of the show. Clubs claim to be capable of doing this when bidding for the job of hosting the event, so that's just how it is. I'm sure that will never change, and that's why members of ARC were the ones to pull names from the raffle at this years event. Even if this weren't the case, very few uninvolved persons would volunteer to do it.

robharold · Sep 8, 2008

They had very little new products this year. I was able to check out the new Korallia's. All are the exact same size just diff size impellers and motors.

It was cool though.

NapoliNewJersey · Sep 8, 2008

brian92 said:
Did they say where next year's MACNA was going to be?

Next year will be hosted by NewJerseyReefersClub.

It's in ATLANTIC CITY, NJ!!!

www.macnaxxi.com

robharold · Sep 8, 2008

Yeah too far for me most likely I will not be able to attend. :(

Phyl · Sep 8, 2008

johnr2604 said:
Just wait till Atlantic city when the union forces them to pay to get thier trucks unloaded and loaded.

For the record, in Atlantic City, as long as you can move it yourself without power tools, you CAN move it yourself.

johnr2604 said:
Another thing to think about is that the ARC were just the worker bees and MACNA is put on by MASNA. the ARC gets a very limited benefit from the money that was made. I promise that most of the expensive stuff we had no control over such as food pricing, parking and drinks. We all had to pay it too. None of us got paid and it cost me money to be there.

Again, just to set the record straight, this is actually reversed. MASNA delegates who will host the conference, but beyond that it is in the total control of the clubs. MASNA does, however, get a stippend for each booth/attendee that pays for the conference.

johnr2604 said:
I'm truely sorry if any of our people came of as being rude. We all worked very long hours with a couple hours sleep and maybe time to eat one meal a day. I'm sure it was nothing personal and just fatigue.

The amount of work that goes into the show is awe inspiring. Given that most clubs that host have not hosted in recent history, it is not hard to believe that there are many struggles along the way and plenty of tired people at the end of the day. Getting to the end is a feat in and of itself. Congratulations on a great show.

LorenK · Sep 10, 2008

Two words: Seachem Girls

johnr2604 said:
I dont believe the tank was won by an ARC member but if they were it was an out of towner. It was sold almost immiediatly because it was going to cost the winner $1000 dollars to ship.

I also cant believe people are complaining about the booths being $1200 that is actually cheap for a trade show. My wife runs trade shows for her company and we have seen $20,000 for a 10x10 and have seen the larger companies pay up to $100,000 for larger booths. Just wait till Atlantic city when the union forces them to pay to get thier trucks unloaded and loaded.

Another thing to think about is that the ARC were just the worker bees and MACNA is put on by MASNA. the ARC gets a very limited benefit from the money that was made. I promise that most of the expensive stuff we had no control over such as food pricing, parking and drinks. We all had to pay it too. None of us got paid and it cost me money to be there.

I'm truely sorry if any of our people came of as being rude. We all worked very long hours with a couple hours sleep and maybe time to eat one meal a day. I'm sure it was nothing personal and just fatigue.

John is correct, it was not won by an ARC member. It was bought by a Atlanta resident though from the winner (also not an ARC member).

And for anyone that thinks it was rigged, I would have won more than a single coral and Ms. Sarah Lowe would not have those darn snowflakes and all that ORA coral!

But given there were of course so many ARC members there, we did have some good winners (but not me darn it).

ironman · Sep 10, 2008

Loren, those seachem girls were amazing werent they. I thought at first seachem was doing some smart marketting, but after asking those girls all had masters in bio chemistry! The Nerd factor kinda killed it then! LOL! the blonde was very cute though!