MACNA was absolutely awesome. Angie and I were able to talk with Julian Sprung and Tony Vargas. We spent almost an entire hour with Karen and Ret Talbot, plus Matt Pederson on several environmetal issues that were very informative and very shocking. The banquet was one of the largest we had ever been to, 1400+ people to see Jean Micheal Cousteau. Was able to talk with Mr. Whitby for a little while, he was soooo swamped. This was probably due to the fact that he had the best looking corals at the vendor area bar none. The speakers were very well thought out and presented. Those that spoke on aquarium subjects really were very educational and those that spoke on environmental issues made you want to take action. Very well balanced.
Plus for some reason we were very lucky on the raffles. We won some Marco rock with frag plugs and (2) complete sets of aquavitro reef chemicals "very expensive set"
I could go on and on, was one of the best conferences that we have been to.
Next year the MACNA will be in Miami and if you act now, you can get your full passes for $89 and the rooms for $129 a night.