Dinkins Aquatic Gardens
Valuable Member
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Partner Sponsor 2023
Partner Sponsor 24
Ashley and I had the pleasure of attending RAP Orlando this past weekend, and we had the most incredible time! We were so fortunate to meet amazing customers, potential customers, and some of our wonderful vendor friends. I just wanted to take a moment and share our experience at the largest reefing show in the world, and our first ever large out-of-town show (we've previously stuck close to our home in Dallas!). It all starts with friends - our great friends at the Facebook group Tank Talk With Tian (TTWT) were incredibly generous, donating their time to help us with the show. Tian Sorg, Chad Walton, Travis Morel and other friends came into town to join us at our booth.
Our first adventure in Orlando commenced Thursday afternoon, when Ashley and I stopped by Worldwide Corals (@WWC) to check out their amazing display tanks (and see the stunning Casper - a solid white tang). I was shocked to meet Vic himself as soon as we walked in the door. He greeted us, asked if we were in town for the show, and was incredibly gracious. He then excitedly pulled me to the side and asked if I wanted to go check out their new 2,000 gallon tank that was just arriving. We went outside and I got to see one of the biggest tanks I've ever seen, sitting there on the truck. We shopped for awhile and picked out a stunning Mardi Gras lobo which they agreed to ship to us (it arrives tomorrow!). I was so pleasantly surprised by the Worldwide Corals experience - I was expecting a big-box store atmosphere and instead found a top-notch operation with phenomenal customer service.
Friday morning we went to the airport to pick up Tian, then took her to lunch with some mutual friends of ours. We took Tian to see Worldwide Corals, then went back to the convention center to setup our booth. Afterwards we went back to the airport to pickup Chad, who is Tian's admin on TTWT. When we learned that Tian had never had a chance to go to the beach, we grabbed some pizza and headed over to Cocoa Beach!
Saturday morning we met another member of our "team" - the indomitable Travis Morel, a moderator on TTWT. Then the show began. We met so many incredible people - some new friends and some old. Of course, we got to see @revhtree, @Peace River, @Daniel@R2R again - we are so honored to consider them friends. Their support, and the support of the entire Reef2Reef community, has been beyond incredible! We were excited to meet @jsker as well this time!
It was a signature honor to meet Andrew Sandler of Polo Reef, who has a 17,000 gallon aquarium in his house! We also got to see the wonderful Rachid Stoury again, COO of Polo Reef and owner of Stoury's Reef. Both of these gentlemen are unbelievably kind and are a wealth of knowledge and information. We also got to meet Joe from Glass Cages and Will Harris from Quantum. We reconnected with Harley Finberg of PNW Custom, Francois Neo of ELOS America, Chad Clayton from Reef Nutrition, Chelli from SARK, Wendy from Kessil, Dr. Tim from Dr. Tim's Aquatics, Tristian from TRSC, and others!
Of course, the best part of the show was meeting customers, as always. It's always cool to put faces with names and have a chance to chat face-to-face with the very people who make our business possible - our customers. And of course, we met many new customers and potential new customers.
After an exhilarating (and exhausting!) weekend, we returned home at 2 AM Monday morning, then got up and shipped out the week's orders! It was a crazy time, but was the most fun that we've had in a long time. We absolutely love meeting our wonderful friends and supporters - please try to come out to see us at the next show if you're nearby. We'll be at Aquashella Dallas, RAP New York, The Aquatic Expo in Charlotte, RAP California, RAP Texas, and Aquashella Daytona this year. We'd love to meet you!
Our first adventure in Orlando commenced Thursday afternoon, when Ashley and I stopped by Worldwide Corals (@WWC) to check out their amazing display tanks (and see the stunning Casper - a solid white tang). I was shocked to meet Vic himself as soon as we walked in the door. He greeted us, asked if we were in town for the show, and was incredibly gracious. He then excitedly pulled me to the side and asked if I wanted to go check out their new 2,000 gallon tank that was just arriving. We went outside and I got to see one of the biggest tanks I've ever seen, sitting there on the truck. We shopped for awhile and picked out a stunning Mardi Gras lobo which they agreed to ship to us (it arrives tomorrow!). I was so pleasantly surprised by the Worldwide Corals experience - I was expecting a big-box store atmosphere and instead found a top-notch operation with phenomenal customer service.
Friday morning we went to the airport to pick up Tian, then took her to lunch with some mutual friends of ours. We took Tian to see Worldwide Corals, then went back to the convention center to setup our booth. Afterwards we went back to the airport to pickup Chad, who is Tian's admin on TTWT. When we learned that Tian had never had a chance to go to the beach, we grabbed some pizza and headed over to Cocoa Beach!
Saturday morning we met another member of our "team" - the indomitable Travis Morel, a moderator on TTWT. Then the show began. We met so many incredible people - some new friends and some old. Of course, we got to see @revhtree, @Peace River, @Daniel@R2R again - we are so honored to consider them friends. Their support, and the support of the entire Reef2Reef community, has been beyond incredible! We were excited to meet @jsker as well this time!
It was a signature honor to meet Andrew Sandler of Polo Reef, who has a 17,000 gallon aquarium in his house! We also got to see the wonderful Rachid Stoury again, COO of Polo Reef and owner of Stoury's Reef. Both of these gentlemen are unbelievably kind and are a wealth of knowledge and information. We also got to meet Joe from Glass Cages and Will Harris from Quantum. We reconnected with Harley Finberg of PNW Custom, Francois Neo of ELOS America, Chad Clayton from Reef Nutrition, Chelli from SARK, Wendy from Kessil, Dr. Tim from Dr. Tim's Aquatics, Tristian from TRSC, and others!
Of course, the best part of the show was meeting customers, as always. It's always cool to put faces with names and have a chance to chat face-to-face with the very people who make our business possible - our customers. And of course, we met many new customers and potential new customers.
After an exhilarating (and exhausting!) weekend, we returned home at 2 AM Monday morning, then got up and shipped out the week's orders! It was a crazy time, but was the most fun that we've had in a long time. We absolutely love meeting our wonderful friends and supporters - please try to come out to see us at the next show if you're nearby. We'll be at Aquashella Dallas, RAP New York, The Aquatic Expo in Charlotte, RAP California, RAP Texas, and Aquashella Daytona this year. We'd love to meet you!
