MARS Meeting Speakers or Topics

[MrMikeB]

Ha Paul! Always the pragmatic one... It is indeed a unique world in the wholesale industry, and you have to be cognizant of their customers and what they do to keep them. That being said, an arranged tour of some of the more direct commercial locations that deal in retail would probably be responsive to such a request since WE would be the customer. I have a couple contacts at ORA that have extended an invitation for me to tour their aqua farms - great folks. Although they are in Florida, I do know of a couple folks here in Sac who also have contacts with like facilities that may not be so far away. It might take some digging and a bit to set up, but I really think it would be a great trip with loads of information.

 

[pbetito]

Mike, They said importer/wholesaler... not to one of you tree hugging ORA based save the reef hippee nonsense

 

[KMP]

I wonder if there is any faster way to get their wholesaler access pulled than to show up with a club full of hobbyists who want to buy at an extreme discount.

I would just like a "behind the scenes" look. Would be interesting to see how they are set up and what type of stuff they have available. I wouldn't expect to purchase anything; nor would I expect our local fish stores to adjust prices based on my awareness of their cost.

 

[pbetito]

This is just my opinion but I think it would be a major dissappointment. All there really is, is a LFS where instead of 1 blue tang for instance there are 50. It is not set up to be pretty either but instead efficient. The more I think about it, one of Mike's tree hugging propogation centers would be a lot more fun and interesting. The BAR swap was held at a wholesaler and the tours lasted 20 minutes and very few stayed beyond that long. Thats a long way to drive for a short presentation. I actually really want to plan a trip to Florida again so I can visit ORA.

 

[CaliforniaDreamer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11020756#post11020756 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mike1962
Don't mean to hijack the thread, but I agree with Tim, I think that a Small PA would be good to have. It was difficult at times to hear the speaker from the back of the room. Just my 2 cents.

Michael

Sorry, this was my fault. We have a PA system but when Brian was unable to come to the meeting, I didn't have time to get it. It is the one we usually use and Brian has gotten a new microphone cable for it and it worked great at the previous meeting.

 

[pbetito]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11025727#post11025727 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CaliforniaDreamer
Sorry, this was my fault. We have a PA system but when Brian was unable to come to the meeting, I didn't have time to get it. It is the one we usually use and Brian has gotten a new microphone cable for it and it worked great at the previous meeting.

No reason to apologize, I am just glad to see that we have one so we can spend our money on other cool things like RAFFLES

 

[MrMikeB]

Paul, its not trees we hug - its fish! There was a guy I met at our equipment swap (don't know if he would like me to divulge his name) that was a member of an aquaculuture based organization (mostly freshwater) where they grow these fish for food. I am sure that would be a great place to start.

 

[pbetito]

Funny you should mention him. I just ran into him at work on Sunday and was going to call you today so that the three of us could have a "sit down"( I have watched way too many episodes of the Sopranos) and talk over some things as it pertains to propagation! As the ladies never told you in High School.... CALL ME

 

[Fragmented]

I'm sure ASAP would be glad to give a tour. They have a wonderful facility, and it is interesting to see. Maybe we could schedule it on the same day as the BAR meeting and join in on their fun.

 

[MandM]

Back on topic you kelp huggers.

Anthony Calfo is a great speaker. The time we got him here for the meeting and then the next day at the frag swap for a demo was great.

If Bob Fenner is ever in the area, he is also a great speaker.

 

[Fragmented]

I'd like to see Mike Paletta again. I learned a lot from him last time.

I'd also like to hear Dr. Ron speak about inverts.

 

[casalt]

For us noobs it's all good, everyone in MARS has something to offer, thats why I'm always asking questions. First noob question.. whats ORA and why does he need a hug? I wouldnt want to see a wholesaler anyway as I don't have a retail business, just money to spend at one. Ummm donated protien skimmers would make me buy even more tickets. I'm still learning the difference between sps and lps and how to identify them. Any speaker with knowledge is useful and apreciated.

 

[tfp]

some guest speakers that i'd like to see...matt wandell, gresham, paletta, tyree, sanjay, borneman, calfo, fenner and rhodes. but i know getting some of them to come out ain't gonna be cheap.

 

[Justin74]

tfp: Thats a five star list and I second the vote for any and/or all of 'em!

casalt: ORA= Oceans, Reefs and Aquariums


-Justin

 

[MandM]

I think it would be reasonable to get 2 or three big hitters like that during the year.
casalt: ORA does some great work along with others to promote responsible reefkeeping and captive breeding programs to lessen the impact our hobby has on the wild reefs. I just poke fun at hippies.

 

[kdblove_99]

Could we get names like these tyree, sanjay, borneman, calfo, fenner?

Sanjay would be awesome. This would be my #1 vote. There are always so many lighting questions

 

[airinhere]

If people are interested in seeing a demo on making the aragocrete rock like I have, I could easily set up a small presentation.

And I second the heavy hitters list. I Would love to hear Calfo's new presentation. (I am thinking he must have a new presentation to coincide with his new book being released.)

Also, I have a halfway decent camcorder and a Dazzle card with some cool video editing software. I am very interested in recording the presentations that we host every month. I do not know how any of the people we would be asking to speak to us would react, but I would like to put the offer out. Maybe we could host monthly presentation videos on our MARS website kinda like reefvideos.com does.

 

[bobbyblank]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11031439#post11031439 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by airinhere
If people are interested in seeing a demo on making the aragocrete rock like I have, I could easily set up a small presentation.

And I second the heavy hitters list. I Would love to hear Calfo's new presentation. (I am thinking he must have a new presentation to coincide with his new book being released.)

Also, I have a halfway decent camcorder and a Dazzle card with some cool video editing software. I am very interested in recording the presentations that we host every month. I do not know how any of the people we would be asking to speak to us would react, but I would like to put the offer out. Maybe we could host monthly presentation videos on our MARS website kinda like reefvideos.com does.

I think this is a great idea aaron! It would be great to be able to reference back to the speakers presentations in video form off the MARS website, or for the people who cannot attend the meet for the month.

 

[Wee-Reef Master]

I concur with Tim's list and observation ($).

 

[CaptiveReefSystems]

I can report that Sanjay is scheduled for Feb 2008. Bob Fenner is on a world tour right now, but I have a request in for him next year as well.