Macna 2011

[lordofthereef]

Hi my name is Bela from the Greater Iowa Reef Society. I will be your club liaison for this year's MACNA.

I will be checking in every week to answer any questions you may have about MACNA and to keep you up to date on speakers, vendors, hotels and other news that is MACNA related.

If you didn't know, MACNA is one of the largest & oldest saltwater aquarium shows in North America. This year it will be held in Des Moines, Iowa from Sept 9th to the 11th.

Here is a link to MACNA 2011, please let me know if I can answer any questions at all for you.

www.macna2011.com

 

[DIRK GRIFFIN]

Wahoo time to party :beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer:

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

I was wondering who would snag RC.

Bud

 

[lordofthereef]

Mods: if there is a better (or another) place here on RC that I can post this please get at me, or feel free to move the thread. I feel like I have seen MACNA threads from previous years but just don't remember what parts of the forum, specifically, they were located. I also don't want to overstep my boundaries and go on starting threads where they don't belong. I have tried shooting some of you PMs but have gotten limited responses. I am aware you all lead busy lives, which is why I am posting for your help in this form. I obviously cannot send each one of you a PM, but would love to hear your feedback and suggestions!

 

[jbrunken]

Can't wait!

 

[patmack]

Got your tickets?
Im pretty excited too.

 

[clowns101]

Ill be there!!!!

 

[carnut]

any hotel recommendations? Access via skywalk? How about parking?

We have our tickets come on draws:bounce1:

 

[kayaking2]

another fun year at MACNA. Better start saving now Not sure how I'm going to get all
my corals home.

 

[lordofthereef]

any hotel recommendations? Access via skywalk? How about parking?

We have our tickets come on draws:bounce1:

Right now we are recommending the Mariott and Quality Inn Suites in Des Moines. There is access to the skywalk from the Mariott and there will also be a shuttle, currently set to be going from both the Mariott and Quality Inn.
Here is a link for hotels: http://www.macna2011.com/Travel/EventHotelInformation.aspx

 

[Allmost]

Sooo .... can you guys tell me more about Iowa ? how do I convince my GF she NEEDS to goto Iowa ? any attractions ? malls ? lol haha

sorry never been there, and dont know anyone from Iowa to ask

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Des Moines has just about everything a big city has, except the horrible 30-45 minute commute whenever you want to go anywhere. There are a ton of great restaurants, the Jordan Creek Mall will fulfill her shopping needs and the West Glen area has tons of entertainment. There are also 3 more malls in DSM, Valley West, Merle Hay, and South Ridge. There's a lot of things to do downtown and in the East Village also, quite a large variety of places. If she's into furniture shopping, Homemaker's in Urbandale is one of the 10 (maybe top 5) largest furniture stores in the US.

It doesn't matter much when you don't live here and are just visiting, but it literally takes less than 30 minutes to get from the SW corner of the metro (West Des Moines) to the NE corner (Ankeny) on a busy day. But I digress...

 

[lordofthereef]

Sooo .... can you guys tell me more about Iowa ? how do I convince my GF she NEEDS to goto Iowa ? any attractions ? malls ? lol haha

sorry never been there, and dont know anyone from Iowa to ask

The sweet corn is amazing! :lol2:
Sadly it will be JUST out of season early September
Outside of that Floyd just about covered everything IMO.

 

[xroads]

Also the zoo is offering free admission to everyone in town for MACNA & there will be a free shuttle going back & forth on Saturday.

 

[WeMa]

do you all foresee the Marriott selling out of your rooms in your block? is that why there is a backup hotel? looking forward to it btw!

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

We sure hope so.

 

[xroads]

do you all foresee the Marriott selling out of your rooms in your block? is that why there is a backup hotel? looking forward to it btw!

I am sure we will sell it out. The other reason for the other hotel is choice. Each offers something different that suites different people.

There are over 2,000 rooms in the downtown area though, so lodging wont be a problem.

 

[lordofthereef]

Also the zoo is offering free admission to everyone in town for MACNA

That's a nice little bonus. I might actually get out to the zoo finally!:wildone:

 

[lordofthereef]

Just wanted to give this a friendly bump since it is on the bottom of the barrel!

 

[TRUKINGNY]

how will i get the corals home that i buy?