2007 Coral Conference and Frag Swap

[specsirl]

I too have to agree that Drs Foster and Smith, Kevin, Steve, Jamie, Jodi, Terri, Patti, Chris, and all of the staff have really outdone themselves for this event. It was great to meet alot of new people and put faces to names. All of the vendors did an excellent job and all of the traders had awesome specimens this year! We too are already planning on next year!

Hats off to everyone for putting in all of the hard work and long hours to make this happen for us! It is much appreciated.

 

[SPStoner]

I am still travelling home to Cleveland, OH from the swap this weekend, and figured I'd use my long layover in Chicago to say a few things about the event. First off, I echo everyone else's sentiments about the staff. An outstanding job by all involved, far too many people to list them all. Every employee was extremely friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. The expanded coral farm just left me speechless. So many rare and unusual fish and corals, more than I have ever seen in one place, it's just hard to convey in words. The facility was well stocked with healthy animals, and was immaculately clean and organized. I was particularly impressed with the quarantine and treatment protocols for all animals at the coral farm. I would venture to say that the level of care these animals are given prior to sale is unequaled anywhere in our industry. I don't know of any other places that hold their animals so long for observation prior to sale.

The speakers were world class, the auctions were a neat new twist to the usual "frag swap" format, and the banquet dinner and keynote speech from Scott Michael were outstanding. I even bought one of the T-shirts at the retail store and I swear I saw some of the corals on the back while touring the corals farm!!

Well done to all involved in putting together this event. Hopefully you all get some well deserved time off after all of your had work this past week! Can't wait to see how you can possibly top this next year!

 

[DFS/LA1]

Thank you to everyone for your photos, comments and compliments. It means so much to us to hear that you all enjoyed our 3rd Annual Coral Conference and Frag Swap as much as we did. It is always an exciting weekend for everyone involved. Every year we learn more and discover new ideas for the next year. Making the swap an educational, memorable and enjoyable experience is our objective. Your support of the event is most welcomed and appreciated. We hope to see you all again next year!

Donna
Supervisors
LiveAquaria
Drs. Foster & Smith

 

[aznepydna]

Dr. Foster,

The number one asset that your company has is not your state of the art coral and fish facility or that large warehouse. Both are magnificent by the way. It is the 700 plus people that work for you. Everyone was extremely friendly and helpful. The thing that impressed me the most was that I did not see a single frown or a long face on any of your people the two days I was there. My wife who is not a fish person spent lots of time just talking to the people in the orange shirts. Thankyou to all your employees for a most wonderful weekend.

Andy and Vicky Penza

 

[shred5]

Yep it was an awsum event. Thanks for putting this on... I got to hang out with some old freinds plus meet a few new ones. I have to say the aquaculture facility is awsum....
Dave

 

[johnanddawn]

OK time for the eye candy!
i just can't believe how great this year turned out to be for us
we had so much fun - the auction was a blast
i sold all my frags and scored about 10 new corals and WOW are they awesome!
THANKS again to you and all your wonderful staff!
here is a sample:
this is a hoek - a coral i have been seeking for over a year - it was an auction item and to show you how well cared for your corals are - IT WAS POLYPED OUT in the bag when i got it home!

this is the acan that broke the budget this spectacular piece is the kind that normal, everyday hobbiest like myself would never be able to own and enjoy in our tanks if it weren't for you

the deep water is a LE ORA that dawn insisted i buy (she was right - it is really cool!) and the rest i got from other hobbiest - i really love the purp polyp nasuta, the baby blue stag is very unique and the blurry one is a crayola plana, all top end corals. there were so many fraggers there with awesome corals it was very difficult to choose the pieces i wanted. people with limited budgets could have easily filled their tanks with high quality, hobbiest raised corals

 

[shred5]

johnanddawn Wow that is a huge acan....

Also that acro with the purple polyps is spectacular.

Also I have to say one thing to Dr f&S.. you guys either need a new camera or someone who can take better pics because the pics of your livestock on your website do not even come close to how spectacular some of these corals are in person.

Dave

 

[Ryan009]

My family and I were at the 2007 Coral Conference at F&S this past weekend. It was the first Frag Swap I had ever been to.

I was so impressed with the Foster & Smith facility that I HAD to post on this thread to let everyone who wasn't able to attend know how OUTSTANDING this place is. The coral farm and detail on how they care for the animals is fantastic. I'm even more inclined to buy from F&S than I was before. I just can't say enough about healthy everthing looked.

With all of that said, the facilities pale in comparison to their real Gem - their people! For those of you who aren't from the area, Rhinelander WI is a town of about 8000 people in the north woods of Wisconsin. I don't have first hand knowledge, but if they get a coupl of dozen customers on any given day I'd be impressed. Then WHAM hundreds from frenzied reefers descend on this place and stand it on its head. I don't think I ran into one single employee with an attitude. Everyone was exceptionally helpful, organized, and cheerful (all traits that we as consumer appreciate - yet is disappointingly rare).

Kudos to Foster & Smith for putting on a top notch event.

Ryan

PS: My only suggestion would be to allow people to purchase corals that they see on the Coral Farm tour. I was much more motivated to buy these items after seeing them in person vs. the website or catalog and would have spent significantly more $$$$ if I could have started buying what I was seeing in person.

 

[SaraB]

I ditto all the sentiments above regarding the great event and the wonderful staff on hand to assist in making this a fantastic event. This is my 3rd year attending and it gets better and better every year! I can't wait until next years event to see old friends and make some new ones alike.

Thanks to all!

Sara

 

[aquaticvet1]

Andy, Vicky and all,

Thank you for the wonderful comments. In my 24 years with the company it is my employees that have made me the most proud. They have never let me down and no matter how tough things become, they have always been there. Thank you for recognizing their efforts.

Race Foster

 

[sidd129]

I had a great time at the swap. I must say that there were some great deals in the auctions on some awesome stuff. I bid on an orange green acanthrastrea echinata on Friday and it is outstanding and I got a great deal on it. The staff were always there to help and there was even a lady going around at the traders tables asking if they needed anything. The store was stocked with fish and corals. I will definitely try to attend next year. There was even a fund raiser for the humane society.

 

[gooch]

I had a lot of fun. Unfortunately I was only able to go for one day. But I got in to see the farm and was very impressed with how clean and organized everything was. TOP NOTCH even for an old reefer like me. My 400 will be getting wet real soon and I know a lot of my corals will be coming from Live Aquaria. I just need to get my wife up there to see the place some time. She has the final say over the checkbook.............and I need to stay married.

gooch

 

[horkn]

Do you happen to have a list of the raffle winners?

One of the Drs F &S staff members told my girlfriend and I that as long as your raffle tickets were filled out with name address and phone # that you need not be present to win them, and that items can either be shipped, or picked up at the retail store.

Hopefully that is true, since we stayed only until 4pm on Saturday on the advice of your staff.

Tom

 

[Meisen]

Yeah, fun time! Good to see everyone again and as always, F&S took great care of us. Thanks again for making it a great weekend for coral enthusiasts! Kudos especially to Kevin for his sucessful attempts at WOWing us with the corals he got in for the event. I missed getting to look at his office tank(s) though, that always floors me to see what he cherrypicks!

I did have a couple of minor suggestions for next year. Who is the new coordinator of the event so I can send my thoughts along to him or her?

 

[horkn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10258140#post10258140 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ryan009

Ryan

PS: My only suggestion would be to allow people to purchase corals that they see on the Coral Farm tour. I was much more motivated to buy these items after seeing them in person vs. the website or catalog and would have spent significantly more $$$$ if I could have started buying what I was seeing in person.

A laptop with a wireless broadband card could have easily remedied that.


heck, we had our laptop there and could have let you use it to purchase the ones you just saw.

maybe next year

Tom

 

[mntropical]

I thought I'd post some pics of the frags I picked up at the swap.
I set up a temporary tank to hold them for a quarantine period.
There are more mushrooms, but they detached in transit and are under the egg crate.

Green zoas


Maroon zoas


This was the most expensive one I bought at the ($20) but I can't remember what it is, so if anyone knows, feel free to comment.


Silver tip Xenia


Yellow polyps


Pipe organ (I think)


Mushroom rock. The pink thing on top just popped up this morning and I don't know what that one is either.


Button polyp


This one was in a "free" tank and I'm not sure what it is. The bag had leaked all of the water out by the time I got home, so I'm surprised it's alive.


I'm looking forward to seeing more pics from everyone else.

 

[dfs/la2]

Tom,

Thank you for attending our 3rd Annual Coral Conference and Frag Swap. You are correct; you did not need to be present to win. All raffle winners of the items from the event have been notified. If you have not been notified your ticket was not drawn. You will have another chance to win other items next year at our 4th Annual Coral Conference and Frag Swap. Hope to see you there. Good Luck!

Joyce F.
LiveAquaria
Drs. Foster & Smith

 

[dfs/la2]

Meisen,

We are happy to hear you had such a good time at the 3rd Annual Coral Conference and Frag Swap. There is a team of coordinators who work very hard to make the event successful every year. You are able to email any suggestions for next year’s event to:

jaimie.anderson@drsfostersmith.com

Joyce F.
LiveAquaria
Drs. Foster & Smith

 

[horkn]

mn, the one you think is pipe organ is. the next un ID'd one is a nice frogspawn, and the one on top of the shroom rock is a kenya tree.

 

[mntropical]

Thanks horkn.