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View Full Version : Announcing SalwaterU!


ckhorne
03/20/2006, 07:24 PM
I've talked to Lunchbucket about SaltwaterU, and he has invited me to announce SaltwaterU here.

I realize that it may be a bit of a journey for most of you here, but we have gotten a lot of good responses because of the venue (the new Georgia Aquarium). So, without further delay-

SaltwaterU TWO

SaltwaterU (http://www.SaltwaterU.com) is our now annual conference hosted by the Atlanta Reef Club, but open to anyone and everyone. We especially invite other clubs with similar interests to join in. This year, we will be hosting a range of incredible speakers (and to be honest, we can't believe we got them, either!). The three-day conference will be hosted at the new Georgia Aquarium May 5-7, 2006, and we're trying to reach as many fellow enthusiasts as possible. We really believe that everybody that comes will enjoy and benefit from conference.

The conference will present a number of big name speakers, including:

* Eric Borneman, author of Aquarium Corals
* Dr. Bruce Carlson, Director of Life Sciences at the Georgia Aquarium
* Anthony Calfo, co-author of Reef Invertebrates
* Robert Fenner co-author of Reef Invertebrates
* Dr. Robert E. Hueter, Senior Scientist and Director of Mote Marine Laboratory’s Center for Shark Research
* Steven Pro, active and passionate aquarist
* Walt Smith, renowned aquaculturist based in the South Pacific
* Martin Moe, veteran marine biologist and author of The Marine Aquarium Notebook
* Dr. Rusty Brainard, scientist from Census of Marine Life

We have a number of people that are attending the conference from both local and national levels and expect a great turnout. The conference includes other key events, such as:

* Gray’s Reef excursion – a dive trip to the costal reefs in Savannah, GA, preceding the conference
* Friday night Gala – a special event speaker followed by a reception and party in the Cold Water gallery at the GA Aquarium
* Saturday and Sunday speaker events
* Kid's program to offer an educational experience for 5-12yr olds
* Teen program for both Gray’s Reef and the conference
* Behind the scenes tour of the GA Aquarium

We are encouraging people across the country to learn about this event. It has already attracted people all over the nation, both because of the caliber of the event and the newly opened GA Aquarium. We hope that some members of SFAAS will also be able to participate!

Discount for SFAAS members

The Atlanta Reef Club has offered a reciprocal agreement with SFAAS. This would allow any member of SFAAS to take advantage of the privileges of ARC membership (except holding office or voting). This includes discounts to any of our 25+ sponsors (http://www.atlantareefclub.org/index.php?option=content&task=section&id=7&Itemid=32), access to our monthly power buys, and other benefits. Because we have clubs of similar structure, we offer this for only $5.

This discount is also good for Saltwater U, where you can save $25 off the cost of registration.

Registration (http://www.saltwateru.com/registration/) has already begun at SaltwaterU.com. We encourage you to check out the site and ask any questions.

We hope to see you there!

-Chris Horne
2006 Atlanta Reef Club President

Lunchbucket
03/20/2006, 09:20 PM
ckhorne - thanks for posting the info!

Lunchbucket

kau_cinta_ku
03/21/2006, 06:24 AM
dang my wife and I planed on going to visit her siter in Chattanoga this summer and then go to the aquarium but wasn't till the summer dang it. well maybe i can con her into going sooner:D

Travis
03/22/2006, 12:20 AM
Thanks for posting this up. Unfortunately, it is bad timing for me. That is the same week I will just be getting back from IMAC. If it was in the summer I would probably be able to attend because my wife and I are going to fly down and see my sister and her family in Atlanta in either June or July.

tangdiver
04/15/2006, 08:52 AM
Anybody going??

ckhorne
04/16/2006, 11:45 PM
I just wanted to post an update about SaltwaterU. The event is three weeks away, and we have several big announcements that we'd like to make since I last posted about the conference:

Speakers We've added two new speakers: Dr. Rusty Brainard (http://www.saltwateru.com/speakers/brainard.php), from the Census for Marine Life and Michael Cottman (http://www.saltwateru.com/speakers/cottman.php), award-winning journalist and author of The Wreck of the Henrietta Marie.

Raffles and Sponsors The current list of raffles (http://www.saltwateru.com/sponsors/raffleitems.php) and sponsors (http://www.saltwateru.com/sponsors/#current) have been updated on the website.

Raffles are still being received daily and the website is updated frequently.

Special Raffles We are very excited to annouce two special raffles:
Win dinner with Drs. Bruce Carlson and Marj Awai from the Georgia Aquarium and Walt and Deb Smith from Walt Smith International! The dinner will be at Kyma (http://www.buckheadrestaurants.com/kyma.html) restaurant in Atlanta. The dinner is open to two couples. One couple will be announced from raffle tickets (any combination of $10 tickets will enter you to win), and the other couple will win based on auction. Check out the SaltwaterU web site for more information (http://www.saltwateru.com/sponsors/dinner.php).

Win a trip for two to Los Angeles, dinner with Walt Smith, a tour of Smith's facilities, and your choice of corals to take home from Walt Smith himself! The tickets are good from anywhere Airtran flies, and you don't have to be present to win. You can win by puchasing $10 raffle tickets exclusively for this trip. This is an incredible opportunity, and is available to anyone, even if you aren't joining us for the conference!

For more information and to keep track of the latest happenings with SaltwaterU, check out the website at http://www.saltwateru.com (http://www.saltwateru.com/).

We'll see you at the conference on May 5th!

Tat2demon
04/20/2006, 06:52 PM
Wow that really sounds like a dream trip. I wish I had the time and money to make it.