jarrett shark
Active member
Tony Vargas
NERAC Update
- Thread starter qy7400
- Start date
Tony Vargas
George_G
New member
Nooooooo! Boring. Sorry... I know he's a very popular speaker, and wrote a book and all that muckety-muck, but having sat through one of his presentations that's my personal opinion.
George
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purebullet417
Rimless Reef Club
only 2 vendors? that kind of sucks.
suzig
Member
ok well jason fox' contact link on his website does not work so i did not get a chance to email him...
but I did email cherry corals and i just got off the phone with someone there who was kind enough to personally call me to explain the situation.:thumbsup:
in order to get more vendors to attend nerac, the best thing we as a group can do is to promote NERAC on a larger scale. i'm unsure if long island being a dead end has something to do with it, but apparently we don't draw in enough attendees. vendors are a business and in order to make a profit their needs to be people there to make purchases. if there is no incentive for vendors to show up, they would rightfully so rather just stay home and not spend the money and risk traveling with their perishable merchandise.
now the way i see it is that this is just going to keep going round and round.. vendors don't want to show up because theres no customers/hobbyists showing up. now the hobbyists/ customers don't want to show up because no vendors are showing up. so last year nerac was cancelled, this year it seems like the event is not going to be booming (correct me if im wrong) and i think it would be logical to think that next years nerac will either not take place or eventually lead to its demise unless something is done to to turn this event around.
so we basically have about 7 or 8 weeks until nerac. im not sure if that is enough time to positively influence the attendance at the event but its something to think about in the future. I am a long time hobbyist, if we put it in terms of percentage of your life that you've been in the hobby, im more than likely close to being in the lead. for me an event like this is something that i really look forward too and i would like to see this event grow and prosper in the years to come. i know theres more of you out there that would like to see this event really be a hit.
i mean think about it, how many times have you placed an online order for corals, unsure of exactly what the specimen is going to look like? this is a once a year chance to have all these online retailers who you normally purchase corals from either way set up their displays right in front of you and you can pick what you want. it really can't get any better than this. on top of that we have the perfect venue for our hobby. we arent setting up this event at a church or high school like a lot of the other coral conferences do... we set up right in an aquarium which is really beyond better than our hobby could ask for..
im not trying to point fingers at anybody for not doing their job, in fact im not even sure who is responsible/in charge of promoting/setting up for this event.. i feel that with all the givens, the opportunity for an awesome event is right in front of us, we are just not doing everything in our power in order to make it happen.. this comes down on all of us as hobbyists. i understand it is just a hobby and everybody still has real life to tend to and they cant make nerac a priority. at the end of the day though if everyone works together to reach out to vendors and express interest maybe we can get somewhere with this. i mean there was the chance to sign up for nerac early and save $5 on admission. how many of you actually took advantage of it? i know i did. by doing so you are expressing interest and if you express interest it snowballs and people get hyped up for an event like this. we can send an email to vendors and tell them we have 500 ppl pre-registered and before you know it you have 25-50 vendors set up for you to shop around at.
or we can all just show up, look at our watches and wonder how long until you can go home.. this may have come a little late this year but the reality is the choice to host a great event or a mediocre one is in our hands.:fish1:
but I did email cherry corals and i just got off the phone with someone there who was kind enough to personally call me to explain the situation.:thumbsup:
in order to get more vendors to attend nerac, the best thing we as a group can do is to promote NERAC on a larger scale. i'm unsure if long island being a dead end has something to do with it, but apparently we don't draw in enough attendees. vendors are a business and in order to make a profit their needs to be people there to make purchases. if there is no incentive for vendors to show up, they would rightfully so rather just stay home and not spend the money and risk traveling with their perishable merchandise.
now the way i see it is that this is just going to keep going round and round.. vendors don't want to show up because theres no customers/hobbyists showing up. now the hobbyists/ customers don't want to show up because no vendors are showing up. so last year nerac was cancelled, this year it seems like the event is not going to be booming (correct me if im wrong) and i think it would be logical to think that next years nerac will either not take place or eventually lead to its demise unless something is done to to turn this event around.
so we basically have about 7 or 8 weeks until nerac. im not sure if that is enough time to positively influence the attendance at the event but its something to think about in the future. I am a long time hobbyist, if we put it in terms of percentage of your life that you've been in the hobby, im more than likely close to being in the lead. for me an event like this is something that i really look forward too and i would like to see this event grow and prosper in the years to come. i know theres more of you out there that would like to see this event really be a hit.
i mean think about it, how many times have you placed an online order for corals, unsure of exactly what the specimen is going to look like? this is a once a year chance to have all these online retailers who you normally purchase corals from either way set up their displays right in front of you and you can pick what you want. it really can't get any better than this. on top of that we have the perfect venue for our hobby. we arent setting up this event at a church or high school like a lot of the other coral conferences do... we set up right in an aquarium which is really beyond better than our hobby could ask for..
im not trying to point fingers at anybody for not doing their job, in fact im not even sure who is responsible/in charge of promoting/setting up for this event.. i feel that with all the givens, the opportunity for an awesome event is right in front of us, we are just not doing everything in our power in order to make it happen.. this comes down on all of us as hobbyists. i understand it is just a hobby and everybody still has real life to tend to and they cant make nerac a priority. at the end of the day though if everyone works together to reach out to vendors and express interest maybe we can get somewhere with this. i mean there was the chance to sign up for nerac early and save $5 on admission. how many of you actually took advantage of it? i know i did. by doing so you are expressing interest and if you express interest it snowballs and people get hyped up for an event like this. we can send an email to vendors and tell them we have 500 ppl pre-registered and before you know it you have 25-50 vendors set up for you to shop around at.
or we can all just show up, look at our watches and wonder how long until you can go home.. this may have come a little late this year but the reality is the choice to host a great event or a mediocre one is in our hands.:fish1:
diverrad
Active member
I shout not say anything but even though the above post is correct in many points it is missing the real reason for lack of vendor participation. Manhattan reefs frag swap is your largest competition and it's held in manhattan not the end of LI. You also have the boston refers event and now New England frag farmers market. All of them have really good participation and attendees so what does nerac want to be a place for vendors or what it was in its early days. The first few neracs I went to had tons of great speakers and really fun events and only a few vendors yet they where a blast.
suzig
Member
i addressed that by saying long island is a dead end. to be fair though, the connecticut frag swap posts a link here and the advice is to drive to orient and take the ferry over.. well guess what? that ferry runs both ways. connecticut peoples can get on the ferry and make the short drive from orient to riverhead.. tons of scenery.
and sure theres a lot of ppl who attend the manhattan frag swap. im sure ppl come from all over staten brooklyn queens nassau suffolk and manhattan plus wherever else to attend that. well once again, the east end is NOT out of reach for those ppl. after you sit in an hours worth of traffic its probably not that much more time consuming of a drive to hop on the LIE and make your way out to riverhead for the day. im sure all those ppl can use a break from the crazy city lives they live..
i see what youre saying, riverhead isn't the most exciting place in the world. but the event is still held at an aquarium and they have a bigger reef tank than you have in your living room, so why not come and see it and attend an event? have kids? bring them too. they have penguins, sharks, all kinds of cool stuff.
im not following when you say these events are in competition? theres no winner announced at the end of the year as to who had the biggest frag swap/ coral conference. its about promoting the hobby and everybody learning some new stuff, picking up the newest advances in equipment, grabbing some new frags for your tank. plenty of ppl attend MHR frag swap, NERAC and New England frag swap. if LIers can make it to manhattan, connecticut, rhode island, then all those ppl can make it to long island.. am i wrong? apparently were not giving them a good enough reason to come.
and sure theres a lot of ppl who attend the manhattan frag swap. im sure ppl come from all over staten brooklyn queens nassau suffolk and manhattan plus wherever else to attend that. well once again, the east end is NOT out of reach for those ppl. after you sit in an hours worth of traffic its probably not that much more time consuming of a drive to hop on the LIE and make your way out to riverhead for the day. im sure all those ppl can use a break from the crazy city lives they live..
i see what youre saying, riverhead isn't the most exciting place in the world. but the event is still held at an aquarium and they have a bigger reef tank than you have in your living room, so why not come and see it and attend an event? have kids? bring them too. they have penguins, sharks, all kinds of cool stuff.
im not following when you say these events are in competition? theres no winner announced at the end of the year as to who had the biggest frag swap/ coral conference. its about promoting the hobby and everybody learning some new stuff, picking up the newest advances in equipment, grabbing some new frags for your tank. plenty of ppl attend MHR frag swap, NERAC and New England frag swap. if LIers can make it to manhattan, connecticut, rhode island, then all those ppl can make it to long island.. am i wrong? apparently were not giving them a good enough reason to come.
suzig
Member
i still have more to say on this subject so im going to keep writing.
i visit our LFstores about once every other weekend, if not every weekend. if im not at aquahut or country critters, im probably heading down dpa stopping at tropical island, going to pets warehouse in copiague, BTJs, that expensive place on sunrise. I frequent our LFS.
now i also attend LIRA meetings and rarely do i see a familiar face when im at the LFS. what i do see is these places full of customers. buying fish and corals, yet i never see them at meetings. maybe they dont know about LIRA or maybe they do and it just doesnt interest them to join. whatever the case, there are still ppl interested in the hobby. now when i go to these lfs, i dont see flyers or a poster board or anything announcing NERAC. that poster should be up before christmas. we all know NERAC is in march yet nobody is really concerned with the vendors until a month and a half before? thats not the right way to do it. if all these customers frequenting the lfs arent aware of the event, how are they going to attend? if we only talk about NERAC at the LIRA meeting, then why would we expect anybody else to show up? its like having a birthday party and you discuss it with your immediate family but dont send out invitations? now you expect ppl to show up? its not gunna happen. and if you dont send out the invitations you best not be expecting any birthday presents..
what im getting at is that there is a good size fish and coral market on long island. we have about 10 stores on the island that sell fish and corals and seem to do well.. we shouldnt need attendance from ppl from manhattan, new england wherever to have a good size event. it would be nice to see ppl from all over, but definitely shouldnt be necessary. the population density on long island is ridiculous and it should reflect in OUR conference and be more than enough to support it.
i visit our LFstores about once every other weekend, if not every weekend. if im not at aquahut or country critters, im probably heading down dpa stopping at tropical island, going to pets warehouse in copiague, BTJs, that expensive place on sunrise. I frequent our LFS.
now i also attend LIRA meetings and rarely do i see a familiar face when im at the LFS. what i do see is these places full of customers. buying fish and corals, yet i never see them at meetings. maybe they dont know about LIRA or maybe they do and it just doesnt interest them to join. whatever the case, there are still ppl interested in the hobby. now when i go to these lfs, i dont see flyers or a poster board or anything announcing NERAC. that poster should be up before christmas. we all know NERAC is in march yet nobody is really concerned with the vendors until a month and a half before? thats not the right way to do it. if all these customers frequenting the lfs arent aware of the event, how are they going to attend? if we only talk about NERAC at the LIRA meeting, then why would we expect anybody else to show up? its like having a birthday party and you discuss it with your immediate family but dont send out invitations? now you expect ppl to show up? its not gunna happen. and if you dont send out the invitations you best not be expecting any birthday presents..
what im getting at is that there is a good size fish and coral market on long island. we have about 10 stores on the island that sell fish and corals and seem to do well.. we shouldnt need attendance from ppl from manhattan, new england wherever to have a good size event. it would be nice to see ppl from all over, but definitely shouldnt be necessary. the population density on long island is ridiculous and it should reflect in OUR conference and be more than enough to support it.
suzig
Member
to get people to present we need to raise money to get them here. most ppl want vendors to buy stuff to put in their tanks. if we dont get ppl to attend by offering a good selection of vendors, we cant get the money to fly out these speakers. it all goes hand in hand. nobodys going to go to an event just to hear ppl speak, although it is a big plus.
suzig
Member
haha thanks:wildone:
there isnt enough that changes in a year so if thats the case, the event should be held every other year or 3 to 5 years so there is a good amount to catch up on and speak about. you have to keep ppl interested.
especially with all the information being presented to us on message boards. theres no reason to see someone speak about what they started a thread on last year.
people want corals. they dont want to be put to sleep by 5 consecutive ppl rambling on about the 3 inches of mud they studied for the last 2 years. no offense to the speakers or those who enjoy speakers but lets be honest. i go to the lfs to buy coral, not ask the guy working there a few questions and then bounce empty handed.
