Drs. Foster & Smith--Frag Swap and Coral Convention Aug 6 & 7

[nellie54914]

I read somewhere that Foster & Smith is going to be holding a frag swap this summer. I got in touch with them and they're still in the planning stages, but below is some preliminary info. She's also going to be sending more info once everything's set, I'll post that when I get it. Here's what she sent...

"Thank you for your interest in our upcoming Frag Swap and Coral Convention! We are planning on hosting this inaugural event on Saturday, August 6th and Sunday, August 7th here in Rhinelander, WI. We are currently finalizing all the details and will be starting a thread on Reef Central once everything is complete. Currently, we are planning on hosting a Frag Swap, a banquet dinner including three speakers, and tours of our distribution center and new aquaculture facility."

I'm really interested in attending this, and I figured some of you guys would be too! :)

[z28cam]

Sounds like a fun weekend to me. Road Trip!!! :D

[Hella]

I just hope the $cost$ is not to much

[nellie54914]

cool avatar Hella, that's your butterfly, right? I want one! :)

[daddavis1]

I'd be up for a road trip. I can even offer to drive. My Van holds 8, Six is very comfortable.

[Hella]

Yeah thats my baby ;) Hes a great fish, very active.

[nellie54914]

ok, i just got an email with more info on the event. I have what she sent me below, but she also sent a separate email.

They are holding a raffle, which is actually meant as a fund raiser for a couple of local reef clubs. She said if they can count on our club to attend the event and advertise it locally they would be happy to include us as part of their fundraiser. In order to do this we would have to give them a number of people that would be attending the event. I am planning on attending the event, but I don't know if we'd have enough people willing to commit to the event. Since we don't have much structure (no president, etc) and no costs right now, I don't know if it's something you guys would want to commit to or not. Even though we have no costs right now, once we get more established there may be some, and this could help defray those costs. She didn't specify a particular number of people we'd need committed, I posed that question and will post again when I hear back. If nobody's interested in this anyway it doesn't really matter, but that way if you are we know what's needed for it.

Please reply in this thread what you think of this idea, either positive or negative. It doesn't matter to me really, I'm going to attend either way, but I'll just need to let her know what we decide.

Here's the letter she sent with more details...

Drs. Foster & Smith's First Annual Frag Swap and Coral Convention

Dear Michelle,

I am proud to announce that Drs. Foster & Smith are gearing up to host our first annual Frag Swap and Coral Convention. We would like to invite you and your club members to participate and join us for this inaugural event which is scheduled for Saturday, August 6th and Sunday, August 7th 2005.

The goal of this Frag Swap is to bring together hobbyists and professionals in order to trade, sell, and swap coral frags, as well as learn and exchange ideas among one another. In addition to the Frag Swap itself, several popular vendors will be setting up booths to exhibit their products as well as answer questions. On Saturday evening, we will be hosting a Banquet Dinner that will incorporate three speaker sessions from some of the industry’s most respected professionals who will cover relevant topics pertaining to Aquaculture and Reef Keeping. On Sunday, we will provide tours of both our new aquaculture coral facility as well as our pet supplies call center and distribution center. There will be raffles throughout the weekend with some magnificent prizes, and lunch on Saturday afternoon will be catered courtesy of Drs. Foster & Smith for all participants of this event. We will also have some of the more popular cleanup crew items as well as supplies available for purchase at discounted prices at our Retail Outlet Store.

Pre-registration will be required for this event through our website for those who wish to set up a table to trade/sell frags and for general guests of the event. The registration page will be added to our website at the beginning of May and there will be nominal entrance fees for those that wish to participate. The entrance fee will include a gift bag containing sample products, a Drs. Foster & Smith T-Shirt, and raffle tickets for those who are attending and for those that wish to set up a table to trade/sell frags, we will also be including a display aquarium and packaging materials. Seating for the banquet and speakers will be limited to the first 200 people, and there will be an additional charge. There will also be a limited number of tables available to those who wish to set up a table to trade/sell frags at the Swap and a limited registration number for general guests. In addition, we have blocked a number of rooms at area hotels and plan on having a shuttle available to bring participants from the Frag Swap to the Banquet Dinner and back.

Our plans will be finalized and more details will be forwarded on to you and your club within the next couple weeks. A thread will be started in a forum on ReefCentral.com in the coming weeks as well in order to invite all hobbyists and enthusiasts to participate in this inaugural event. We look forward to hearing back from you, and if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me directly by email at denise.seubert@liveaquaria.com or by phone at (715) 369-3305 ext. 400. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Denise Seubert
Assistant Director of Live Aquaria
Drs. Foster & Smith

Here's a little more info about the raffle...
"We are currently gathering a number of terrific prizes from some of our aquatic supply vendors. We are going to be giving away items such as filters, lighting, stands, and aquariums. Our plan is to give each person who attends the Frag Swap three tickets for the raffle. In addition to this, we will be selling tickets for a dollar each so that people can increase their chances of winning a prize. "

[specsirl]

wow. This sounds like a great idea! Count me in!

[mako56]

Boy I am off that weekend maybe I can talk the wife into making a small vacation out of it.

[Condiman]

I gotta start working on my wife now. I really hope I can make it.

[Zombies026]

I'll go just need some coxin for my other half but hells yes count me in...

[nellie54914]

So what do you guys think about the committing to a number thing to be part of the fundraiser? She replied to my email and said they're looking for 10-15 people to attend from the club in order to be part of it. From the interest on here and the people I talked to at the meeting it seems as though there are enough people who want to go, but do we need it/want it as a club (the fundraiser part)? Would we have anything to do with it, or just sit on it until the club finds a need for it? Or do we just say forget about that part, a bunch of us are still going to go anyway but just let the other reef clubs get the $$ (I think it's just WRS and Greater Minnesota Reef club, or something like that). If they do it again next year and we have expenses as a club then, we could always see if we can get in on it at that time.

Opinions anyone?

Here's mine...I think it's good to keep in mind down the road, but at this point we don't really have much structure, or a need for the $$. Also things change, it might be hard to say that yes, we have X number of people completely comitted to attending. I think it would be fun for a bunch of us to go, or just meet up there or something, but let the $$ go to the clubs that need it for other expenses. It's the comitted number thing that I don't know if we can pull off. Just my opinion, I want to get feedback because I don't want to speak for everyone else if someone feels differently! She didn't give me a deadline but I don't think we should wait too long to decide, or the opportunity might go away. hmmm...then we wouldn't have to make a decision... :)

[daddavis1]

I have to agree let the money go for its intended purpose.

[Condiman]

I also do agree. HEY I got my wifey to say YES. WAAAHHOOOO I cant wait to meet other members. Is there anyway we could identify eachother.

[silver charlie]

Who is keeping score? You can count me in, I'll probaly camp up there. I have ordered a lot of stuff from Foster/Smith ...sc

[nellie54914]

The woman from F&S emailed me again and I let her know we wouldn't be participating in the fundraiser. Turns out there was more to it than they initially realized. In order for us to be part of the fundraiser we'd have to fill out some forms, get some kind of raffle license and have people helping sell tickets all day long. I don't think anybody will be heartbroken, just thought I'd post it so you know that's not on the table anymore.

From the postings on here and the people I talked to at the meeting, sounds like we have about 8-10 people so far, more depending on if the spouses/significant others can be conned...I mean convinced into coming along. :) I think it will be a fun time! If I get any other info on it I'll pass it along.
~michelle

[nellie54914]

Hi all!

I know there's another thread started in here on the topic, but I thought I'd post the links in this one too since we already had one started. More details on the event can be found here, registration deadline is July 15th:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/gener...=3383&subref=AI (http://http://www.drsfostersmith.com/gener...=3383&subref=AI)

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/gener...=3383&subref=AI

[kass03]

It sounds like fun I wanna go but won't know for sure until it gets closer.
Nellie the top link doesnt work and the bottom says it's been moved.

kass

[scooters reef]

There's a SMALL possibility I may make it. I will be camping at Star Lake, not too far from there, SOMETIME this summer and will try to plan it around then if I am able.

Being that I'm also a WRS member, I will be there as WRS if they go through with the raffle and need to meet the minimum participation, but I hope to be there !

[nellie54914]

ok, let's try this...

Click here to go to Live Aquaria site for details (http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/general.cfm?general_pagesid=366&ref=3175&subref=BF)

Click here to go to the Foster & Smith thread on RC (http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=587235)

hope that worked!

[silver charlie]

Nellie; Hey you did fine, everything is there, all detailed. I probably camp up there. ....sc

[aberg12012]

Huh? Hell must have frozen over... A fun event occuring on days I actually have off from work?!?! :lol: Count me in, at least as far as I can tell so far. Might also have a friend who will be going with me. He and I will probably pool up there together. We were at F&S today on our way back down from Bayfield County. I almost picked up a Kole tang, but suprised myself with some long lost self control.

[fahz]

Hi All from the Greater Minnesota Reef Society:

Hope to see and talk to you all at the swap. For those of you who are planning to come for overnight, rooms are in short supply due to a family reunion. Foster & Smith has rooms blocked at three local hotels but it's first come first serve. Suggest you get a ticket and reserve a room ASAP and come ready to talk reefing. We would like to have a get together after the Banquet Saturday night and talk reefing till the wee hours of the morning.

Fahz

[despot101]

Any idea how large this will be? I am thinking on getting a friend and making the drive from Bismarck to check this out.

[fahz]

We are nearing the half way point in ticket sales if that tells you anything. Hard to say how this will turn out as this is the first year. There Labor Day tent sale was always packed but that cover all there pet supply returns and overstocks. Don't know how much frag swapping will take place as that generally ramps up as we get closer. If your coming for overnight suggest you get a room ASAP. See Liveaquaria site for blocked room information.

Fahz

[despot101]

Thanks Fahz.

[fahz]

OK guys and girls here’s some pictures of some SPS I will have frags of for sale at our Greater Minnesota Reef Society Booth.

WIZARDS HOT PINK MILLE
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v510/rjgrass/HOTPINKMILLEPORA.jpg

DIRKS GREEN POCILLOPORA
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v510/rjgrass/GreenPOCILLOPORA1.jpg

VERTICALS BALI GREEN SLIMER
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v510/rjgrass/BALIGREENSLIMER.jpg

TURQUOISE WITH BLUE TIP ACRO
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v510/rjgrass/terquoisebluetips.jpg

[nellie54914]

I posted in a different thread but no responses, so thought I'd try here...Is anybody else from the club going to the frag swap? I know several people were talking about it when I first posted this a while back, just wondering if anybody else is still going.

[slug]

Is this event sold out?

[CrazyLionfish]

They stopped selling July 20th, around there. And yes I think it is sold out, I thankfully got 2 tickets and can't wait!! My dads family lives up there so its going to be a family reunion / frag swap!! You can buy frags right? Not only trade? I hope so because I have nothing to trade yet lol. Also how do I keep the frags alive over night and then for the 5 hour trip home? I've never bought frags and need some handling tips!

[CrazyLionfish]

Hmm just realized this was a "club" forum. Sorry I'm not in the club, but I'm going to be at the frag swap!

[BryanJ]

So there will be no tickets at the door sold?

[CrazyLionfish]

I don't think so. Online at the time I bought there were only 20 spots remaining. And the day before it closed up it said 5 spots remaining, but if your not too far away, you could give it a try. Or try calling them.

[BryanJ]

Maybe I will give them a call. I am planning a new tank right now, so money is tight this time around anyway. Not to mention buying the new house to go with the new tank. Tends to make you be a little cautious about how your spending money.

[CrazyLionfish]

Yup sounds good. They ask you for your Reef Central name, but since I wasn't on this board at the time, I couldn't put it. So I'll be the dude with no Reef Central name lol. It's only $20 for everything including breakfast, lunch, dinner, frag swap, tour of facility, goodie bag, and 3 speakers. Me and my dad are going and I just set up a new reef tank (about a month ago) too so I'm looking to get some hardy frags, maybe some polyps or zoos.

[nellie54914]

I'm pretty sure the banquet/speaker tickets are all sold out. But they will be selling just the basic guest package tickets ($5 each) at the retail store the weekend of the frag swap. I had emailed a person there about it, she said just make sure to stop at the retail store first if you need to get tickets at the event. The $5 ticket includes everything but the dinner & speakers. What's included is listed here (http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/general.cfm?general_pagesid=368) .

[fahz]

Slug and BrianJ give Denise a call about daily tickets at the door not sure if they have room for more people or not. The banquet and speakers is sold out.

Denise Pickering
Assistant Director of Live Aquaria
Drs. Foster & Smith
715-369-3305 ext. 400

CrazyLionfish you will receive a styro box at the door for your frags and we will O2 pack them. As long as you keep them out of the sun it will be just like a shipping pack. Frags will be for sale and trade plus the store will have corals on hand for sale. You can have you RC name added at registration.

Hope every one has a good time stop by and say hello Fahz Greater Minnesota Reef Society Duluth.

[nellie54914]

That's who I emailed about it. Denise said...
"You will be able to purchase the $5 tickets at our retail store the weekend of the Frag Swap. Please just have anyone that still wishes to attend stop in there first and then head over to the event. "

[CrazyLionfish]

Wait, theirs going to be "booths" there? SWEET! lol

[fahz]

There you go, nellie has the answer, tickets at the store. Denise called me on Friday just to check in on final plans but I wasn't home, we are connected as the swap was my orginal idea. Please remember this is a first year event and we hope everything goes well and we can expand on it from there. I truly hope everyone has a good time and comes away with some useful information and goodies.

Fahz :D

[silver charlie]

I will be camping at Lake George Camp ground Friday to Sunday. It's 5 miles East of Rhinelander. How many from FVRC plan on going to the Conference? ...sc...

[nellie54914]

my husband & I are going

[nellie54914]

Hey Milt--are you going to the swap then? Or just camping around there? If you are going I will keep an eye out for you! :) We are going to be there both days, but not at the banquet part.

[CrazyLionfish]

FRAG SWAP WOOHOO leaving tommrow, I'll see you suckas there :P It will be my first frag swap.. i hope its not a whole bunch of old people (im kinda young) haha.

[nellie54914]

Hey Matt, what's old? My husband and I are 28/29. Not old to me, but maybe to you...

[CrazyLionfish]

Nah thats not old. Like 40+ is old. Well not really old but if it was all 40 year olds I'd be the young dude lol . I'm under 20 and i just got my license hint hint lol

[fahz]

Matt I remember when I was forty, well kinda anyway. Please consider me a grandpa who's getting younger every day but I still speak reefin. At least I hope you like my idea of getting Foster & Smith to put this conference and swap on?

Fahz

[CrazyLionfish]

Haha. I have nothing against old people. I was just hoping that I wasn't the only young one there. But thank you for getting the idea to have them put this swap on.

[CrazyLionfish]

Hello fahz, i actulley met you in real life and won something sweet!! The conference was awesome, was my first and won't be my last. I plan on coming every year if they continue to have this frag swap, which I'm guessing they will because it was the "first annual". The speakers were good, I liked the first one better. The second speaker (about the SSS vs real ocean water) was good, but he just had way too many graphs haha. And we left before Julian spoke, (had to go to a family dinner thing)

[nellie54914]

Hey Matt, what did you win? We didn't want to stick around for the drawings so just put in for the grand prize.

It was a nice weekend, we plan on going again next year. We didn't go to the speakers or dinner, just the swap and the tours. We got a few nice frags, and a few shrimp and a clam from the store. They sure had a lot of nice clams out to choose from!

The only thing that would have been nice to see was more people selling frags, there weren't as many as we thought there'd be. Would have been nice if there were some selling LPS too, and more zoos and rics. But obviously that's something F&S has no control over. I'm guessing next year there will probably be more now that everybody has seen how much actually sells and how many people were there.

Would have been nice to have had a bit more time in the aquaculture facility too, hopefully they extend that next year! That tour was kinda rushed, we spent longer on the warehouse tour. That was interesting too, but the aquaculture tour was too quick for a bunch of reefers (in my opinion), wasn't enough time to just stare at things!

I was surprised how much stuff the goodie bags had in them, they were very nice! A lot of nice trial size things, and food too!

I have to say overall it was a great experience, they packaged the frags up very nicely for us in the bags and cooler and everything seems to be doing well in our tank (so far). The staff was all super friendly and helpful, both at the frag swap and itours and in the store. Even when they were slammed at the store (SUPER busy, they were pulling corals and clams out of their tanks non-stop!) they were still really nice. We brought our dog with us, who also had a lot of fun at the store. It seemed like someone working there was always coming up and giving him treats! I just can't say enough good things about the store staff, I think it was the store manager (Patti I think) that helped us a bunch of times with whatever we needed. They all worked really hard to make it an enjoyable experience!

~michelle

[CrazyLionfish]

Well, I don't remember you, but I DO remember your dog!!! haha I saw him yesterday at the store I think. I won a box of supplement stuff that included Phosphate + Silicate Magnet powder thing, Black Powder, Spectra Vital Powder, Combo-Vital Powder, Coral-Vital liquid, Reef-Vital DNA, Weiss's Algae Magic, Sand Boost, Bacter Boost, and Coral Boost. I really don't know what any of it is except the Coral-Vital liquid, but it looked cool and I won it. I agree with you on the frags, but I bet they'll be many more next year. Ya I didn't see ANY LPS. I was the last group to tour the aquaculture faciility and the warehouse so we had quite along time. Julian Sprung was also on our tour so they probably gave us extra time because of that, we had lots of staring time at the coral. The goodie-bags paid for the trip itself, I'm sure the stuff was over $20 retail value. I got 3 frags, two small zoos and a pulsing xenia. The two small zoos are doing great and have already opened... however the rocks the frags are on had hair algae and one has an aipistatia anemone (however you spell that). The xenia looked so nice in the guys tank at the frag swap, but it isn't opening it all. Any suggestions on when I should take the metal pin it had in it out? And how long I should wait before I consider it dead? My ammonia is 0, nitrate 0, nitrite 0, phosphate 0, calcium 450, specific gravity is high 1.028, but I've been topping off with freshwater don't know why its staying so high, alk is at 5.5 and pH is at 8.15. I started a thread on it called "dead xenia?" so you can see a picture of it there.

[nellie54914]

that's funny, Pablo (our dog) met a lot of people this weekend! :)

Xenia takes a while to get used to a tank, doesn't perk up right away like the zoos. It will probably look a lot better tomorrow. I saw them, not sure why the pins...is it not attached to the rock yet or something? If it's not attached yet it probably will be within a couple days, you should be able to see when the stalk is attached at the base. Your spg is pretty high, you might want to take some water out and put fresh in. Don't think you want to do a lot at a time though, don't want to bring it down too fast. The pH is a little low but not too bad, we've had ours dip that low and hasn't affected the xenia at all. Do you have reef buffer? That will usually bring it up to 8.3.

[CrazyLionfish]

I have a pH buffer its like a white powder with the lionfish on the front says it brings it up to 8.2 but I could try it. oh ya forgot to mention the tank has only been up for a little over a month so its still new. All thats in there now is the three frags and two clownfish (that i wanted to pair, and im pretty sure they have) I was thinking about taking saltwater out and adding freshwater, but I thought that topping off with only freshwater and the protein skimmer would lower it a little at least. I also got a refractometer at the store today, the thing is awesome!!

[CrazyLionfish]

oh ya and when I bought it, the xenia appeared attached. but it doesn't seem fully attached now.

[kass03]

I decided to go at the last minute.
I found Michelle (Nellie) cuz I saw her dog to lol. Then I had a good laugh the next day when I was still trying to decide which clam to get and the dog licked on my donut.

Michelle you said everything I felt about it.
It was great and I'll go next year if they have it.
I really did'nt know what it would be like and should have planned ahead. I could have sold some frags too.

We did'nt know if we were gonna stay and Silver Charlie was nice enough to offer us to camp with him so we did.
I'm so glad I did. The tour was really something to see the next day.
My daughter had a blast camping and sleeping in the bunk bed lol.
Thanks again Charlie!

Something funny happened on the way home I have to tell.
We stopped to get gas and I gave my hubby $20 to pay and went to the bathroom.
Mens was out of order so he came in the womans (it's just 1 stall lol). Kid wanted candy so I paid for the candy and she said did you have gas and I said no. We left.
On the way home we stopped at another gas station and I went to the bathroom and we left. Then we stopped at a lake for a bit.
We left again and passed a cop sitting on a side road.
He picked us up and for once hubby was'nt speeding lol.
He says did you buy gas in Wabeno? Were thinking he meant the last gas station we were at and say no.
He's like well the gas station said you got gas and did'nt pay.
Then it dawns on me he meant where we DID get gas.
Hubby thought he paid and had no $20 in his wallet.
Then he checks his pocket and there it is lmao.
The cop must have sat and waited for us forever to catch us lol and then we look guilty cuz were so dang stupid.
I would'nt have believed us lol.
Then he says we have to drive back and pay cuz he can't take the money cuz it's a different county.
We did'nt wanna drive 30 miles back and my hubby says are you gonna watch me go back?
As I'm picturing my hubby in jail I luckily I remembered my CC so the cop called them and I paid over his phone.
Geez it's funny now but was'nt at the time. I keep calling hubby a gas stealer now.

About the xenia. It doesnt do well sitting in a bag but might be ok.
Your tank is pretty new though and xenia is touchy.
I would slowly get the SG down by removing some water each day and replacing with fresh and see how it does.
I like to keep mine around 1.024
It does like that reef plus you got in your bag also.
When it's dead you'll know because it melts away.
Hopefully it will perk up.

There was alot more than $20 worth of stuff in that bag lol the seachem products alone are around $15. Really nice stuff they gave us.
Even my kid got a backpack with all the products in it so we got 3 of them.
She came home and opened her own reef store with them and I have to shop there now lol.

I finally got to meet Julian Sprung. He's been my idol for about 20 years. I used to buy FAMA mag. just to read his articles.
I wish I coulda saw him speak.

I couldnt believe the nice prizes they gave away there WOW.
I did'nt win but it was still fun.
The staff was outstanding as Michelle said.

I did see 1 LPS at the swap. It was a blasto merletti frag and the guy wanted $80 for it which I thought pricey.

kass

[z28cam]

Originally posted by kass03

Something funny happened on the way home I have to tell.
We stopped to get gas and I gave my hubby $20 to pay and went to the bathroom.
Mens was out of order so he came in the womans (it's just 1 stall lol). Kid wanted candy so I paid for the candy and she said did you have gas and I said no. We left.
On the way home we stopped at another gas station and I went to the bathroom and we left. Then we stopped at a lake for a bit.
We left again and passed a cop sitting on a side road.
He picked us up and for once hubby was'nt speeding lol.
He says did you buy gas in Wabeno? Were thinking he meant the last gas station we were at and say no.
He's like well the gas station said you got gas and did'nt pay.
Then it dawns on me he meant where we DID get gas.
Hubby thought he paid and had no $20 in his wallet.
Then he checks his pocket and there it is lmao.
The cop must have sat and waited for us forever to catch us lol and then we look guilty cuz were so dang stupid.
I would'nt have believed us lol.
Then he says we have to drive back and pay cuz he can't take the money cuz it's a different county.
We did'nt wanna drive 30 miles back and my hubby says are you gonna watch me go back?
As I'm picturing my hubby in jail I luckily I remembered my CC so the cop called them and I paid over his phone.
Geez it's funny now but was'nt at the time. I keep calling hubby a gas stealer now.

kass

:lol: :lol: Now that is a good one. Its a good thing the cop wasn't a ***** and let you use his phone. And good thing you brought the plastic :)

[CrazyLionfish]

I was planing on adding that kent stuff today. Those little vials. It says add one a week per 50 gallons, what if I have a 40 gallon tank? Add 4/5? lol

[fahz]

Originally posted by CrazyLionfish
Hello fahz, i actulley met you in real life and won something sweet!! The conference was awesome, was my first and won't be my last. I plan on coming every year if they continue to have this frag swap, which I'm guessing they will because it was the "first annual". The speakers were good, I liked the first one better. The second speaker (about the SSS vs real ocean water) was good, but he just had way too many graphs haha. And we left before Julian spoke, (had to go to a family dinner thing)

Glad you were a winner enjoyed talking to you and your dad. To bad you missed Julian he was excellent. It looks like a go for next year keep watching The Foster & Smith site for details may take a while.

Fahz

[fahz]

michelle:

Did I see your puppy sitting in the drivers sit in the lot when we went by. He did some talking to let us know he was there and not happy.

Next year more traders is our goal but the local clubs need to step forward and help. You local people are the reason I talked F&S into putting this together. I was shocked there was so little interested from Wisconsin clubs. On the other hand I was really pleased to meet people such as yourself who I consider locals. The Lucky lady grand prize winner was from Plover WI.

Foster & Smith is a first class company and there people are the best and do bend over backwards to please.

Fahz

[fahz]

Kess03 we need you guys as traders next year please do come back and stay out of jail. I think your hubby was really luck to get off and isn't picking trash off the ditches in an orange suit this morning.:bigeyes: Glad you came and had a good time please be a cheerleader next year to get more attendees.

fahz

[sticky]

I will for sure have some frags ready for next year...maybe two tanks!! Can't wait it was awesome!!

[kass03]

Oh believe me I'm kicking myself for not bringing frags for the swap lol.
I did'nt decide to go until Friday night at the last minute but I'm really glad I did.
I have so many animals it's hard to get away overnight but my mom came over twice a day to take care of them.
I thought the frag swap part was all booked and full months ago or I easily could have brought some.
I will next year for sure if you have it again.
As for my hubby yeah idiot lmao. The cop was so nice though we were really lucky.

kass

[fahz]

Kass the police officer must have thought he wouldn't look good in orange and didn't fit the profile of your average driveoff.

~michelle Here's your picture put the dig near the top and the Mille midway up. I have always had the mille on the bottom but it would look better mounted in the rock work. It's pink under t-5's lighting and Hot Pink under MH lighting. Under MH milles do best low in the tank.

Fahz

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v510/rjgrass/gerblue.jpg

[CrazyLionfish]

Yes overall it was an AWESOME time!! Although I was one of the youngest there, I didn't feel that way at all. I was treated as a fellow hobbyist instead of a "kid" which was appreciated. I saw you at the actual frag swap selling these pieces, but didn't bother to come over and look because my new tank is "sps off limits" lol didn't want to tempt myself.

[fahz]

Matt in our club I'm also known as the Xenia man. Every members tank is awash in Pom Pom and Silver Branch. I always tell them the are sitting on a gold mine. I'm sure they could have sold all they could carry at the swap this weekend.

Fahz

[kass03]

Yeah I have alot of pom pom xenia thats why I was kicking myself lol.
I wish I would have looked better at the sps. It looks like you had some nice ones.
We were late cuz we couldnt find the place for over an hour lol and it was kinda hectic. I was looking for zoo's but should have looked at your sps fahz.

kass

[fahz]

I must admit I had a limited number of colors in SPS and didn't bring some zoo disks I had make up. Steve had four nice zoo rocks which went quickly and he also could have brought more but we under estimated. I could have easy taken another fifty pieces. The very first frag swap I attended I was mobbed at my truck and sold everything in twenty minutes. I believe in low prices to make things easy and make my sale process short term. Thats why everything I had was $10 except for two encrusted pieces. I just sold most of my flower tube encrusted pieces at a meeting two weeks ago.

Fahz

SOME ENCRUSTED YELLOW SAMOENSIS
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v510/rjgrass/Barkersgreen.jpg

[raven567]

Thanks Fahz for selling my frags. It freed me up to float around and help wherever I was needed.

I'm interested what people who attended would change or do different next year to make it better. Any ideas from small ones like makeing RC names bolder and easier to read on the badges or putting up a message board to get discussion groups together at hotels afterwards all the way up to maybe having a speaker or two during the afternoons.

What things did you like the most from this years swap meet?



Steve

[CrazyLionfish]

Suggestions: More Frags - More "get togethers" like the hotel one you said. I didn't see ANYONEs RC name because it was kind of awkward staring at someones stomach while your talking to them to see their name haha, maybe make them pin on name tags that have your name really big and then underneath that your RC name. I think spreading the speakers out isntead of having them all at once would have been better

What I Liked The Most: The frag swap enviroment, the tours of the facility, the goody bags, the raffles, and an overall friendly staff and friendly people who all share the same intrest of reef tanks/fish.

[nellie54914]

Hi Steve~did you help put the swap together? Or work there? Just wondering.

<b>Changes:</b>
--Longer aquaculture tour! Having that tour available both days would be nice in case some people could only come for a day and not the whole weekend. Or maybe just more of an "open house" than a tour, maybe there could be a couple people in there to answer questions and we could go through at our own pace. Would like to stare at things more, I could have looked at the tanks in the office for an hour by themselves, not including the rest of the facility!
--RC names...I didn't even know you could have them on the badge (I didn't) and I didn't notice any on badges. So bigger would be better! And RC names (if they have them) by the frag trader's tanks so in case we forgot what we got from them we could PM them. :) hmmm...does it maybe sound like I don't remember what one of my frags is?! :D
--Discounted clean-up crews would be nice. I know there was some in their tanks but I couldn't really see any. It would have been nice if there was maybe a separate tank set up with hermits, snails and had special frag swap pricing or something. It was really crowded in the store and hard to even get back by those back tanks when it was busy.
--Earlier set-up time available for traders. I wasn't a trader and don't know how many would use the earlier time, but some of the frags (non-SPS) didn't have enough time in the tank to get used to it and open back up. Mostly the zoos were affected that I saw. I know there were only a couple people selling them, but one of the people I talked to said he would have liked to be able to set up the night before to give time for the zoos to open up. And I would have liked that too so I could tell what the zoos looked like!

<b>Liked the most:</B>
--Goodie bags! They were filled with a lot of nice stuff from vendors I wouldn't have thought to try before, it was a pleasant surprise to get so much stuff in there!
--Aquaculture tour. But as mentioned above, it was too short!
--The staff!!! They were all so nice & helpful! Especially the staff working in the store, they really worked their butts off and were patient and friendly the entire time.
--Lunch--it was nice not to have to leave for lunch, the provided lunch was a good idea and appreciated! (could have used some cookies after my sub though ;)!)
--Did I say the staff?! I just continue to be amazed by that, it's not often that you find that level of service :thumbsup:
--Raffles/prizes. There was a lot of nice stuff given away!

I'm sure I will think of more little things over time, it was put together quite well for a first-time event and I'm sure will only improve next year! Maybe next year we'll win one of the cool prizes. We had a spot all picked out for that 90g tank... :lol:

~michelle

[fahz]

Steve and Marm64 are two of our club members who was running everywhere. Could not have done it without there help. We need the Wisconsin clubs to step up to the plate next year and give a hand. Many of the people from F&S were volenteers. They were very nervous that someone would come in and do harm to there aquaculture system. One bad act would have set them back months, all it takes in one person to do harm. Opening the facility to the public was a big risk but they wanted to share.

We do value your input and will carry the message to our next meeting with F&S.

Jim

[raven567]

Originally posted by fahz
Many of the people from F&S were volenteers.

We do value your input and will carry the message to our next meeting with F&S.

Jim


The fact that alot of the employees voluntered still blows me away. They showed up and worked on their weekend off because they wanted to be there and it showed.

Some really good comments and ideas. Thanks


Steve

[z28cam]

Originally posted by fahz
We need the Wisconsin clubs to step up to the plate next year and give a hand.
Jim

I think FVRC will be there in greater numbers next time. Now that the rest of us hear what we missed :)

[nellie54914]

I had been in contact with Denise for a while when she was talking about the clubs selling raffle tickets and getting the word out locally, but wasn't aware that additional help was needed as well. If I had known I would have been more than happy to have helped! :) Next year hopefully we can be of more assistance!

[raven567]

Originally posted by CrazyLionfish
I didn't see ANYONEs RC name because it was kind of awkward staring at someones stomach while your talking to them to see their name haha,


It's even more awkward when it's a woman :eek2: .


nellie, the clean up crew is a good idea. So is the cookies :D .



Steve

[DFSLiveAquaria]

I just wanted to post an official “Thank you!� to the exhibitors, speakers, and attendees that made Drs. Foster & Smith’s First Annual Coral Conference and Frag Swap a success. We would also like to thank the dozens of customers who encouraged us to coordinate the largest coral conference and frag swap in the Midwest. We appreciate all of the positive comments and suggestions that we have received since the event and encourage you to please continue to pass these along so that we may make next year’s event even bigger and better!

Denise Pickering
Assistant Director of LiveAquaria.com
Drs. Foster & Smith
715-369-3305 ext. 400
www.LiveAquaria.com
www.eTropicals.com
www.DrsFosterSmith.com

[nellie54914]

Steve--were you the one standing behind the raffle table helping fahz on Sunday?

[raven567]

Originally posted by nellie54914
Steve--were you the one standing behind the raffle table helping fahz on Sunday?

I was there part of the time. I had the Foster and Smith t-shirt on. Mark was also back there part of the time.

[CrazyLionfish]

Denise were you the one who gave the last tour of the aquaculture facility?

[DFSLiveAquaria]

CrazyLionfish,

Yes, I was the one that gave the very last tour of our new Aquaculture Coral Facility. I apologize about the length of the tour. I know everyone felt rushed, but I hope you enjoyed it. Next year, we will plan on longer tours of the Aquaculture Coral Facility. Thanks for attending and I hope to see you there again next year!

Denise Pickering
Assistant Director of LiveAquaria.com
Drs. Foster & Smith
715-369-3305 ext. 400
www.LiveAquaria.com
www.eTropicals.com
www.DrsFosterSmith.com

[CrazyLionfish]

I thoguht the time of the tour was excellent. But it may have been because I was in the last group and Julian Sprung was with us so maybe thats why you gave us a longer amount of time. OR maybe because we had more people. Anyways, I thought the time of the tour I had was perfect and we had lots of time to look around and ask questions.

Thanks again for an awesome conference!

[kass03]

I was really overwhelmed by all of it.
For the minimal fee if you can even call it that it was outstanding.

The only part I was disappointed with was the frag swap.
I thought it was full with vendors months ago.
I know you have to organize ahead of time but did'nt realize you did'nt have all the booths full.
Next year maybe you can get the word out more somehow.

One thing I found trying to go at the last minute was it was kinda hard to find the info about it. I found it through Nellies thread here mostly.

It would have been nice to have a sign on River road to turn.
We drove around town for over an hour trying to find it and they said theres 12 river roads there and we were sent to several before we found it lol.
I think it was River rd. on one side of the street and something else on the other and we were looking on the wrong side.
Finally we asked at the Holiday Inn and found it.

Everything else was great though. The staff was outstanding and all seemed happy to be there and to please us.

My favorite part was the tour and yes I wish I could have looked longer it was amazing. A little more of the aquaculture facility and a little less of the warehouse lol but it was all interesting to see.

The free goody bag and the prizes were unreal along with lunch and donuts the next day.
I never expected so much.

I will definately go next year now that I know what it is and join the frag swap.

You guys all did a great job to make us all happy and it showed.

kass