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    Thread: MACNA 2016 San Diego Recap

    1. #1
      h20poloman's Avatar
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      MACNA 2016 San Diego Recap

      WOW is all I can say and definitely proud of what was accomplished to pull off an amazing MACNA in San Diego! While you will never please everyone and their own personal tastes the amount of positive feedback I received throughout the show was a confirmation on a job well done. Now that I had a night to get some rest I wanted to recap some of my thoughts and experiences. This process started over 5 years ago when SDMAS decided to bid for MACNA at the show in Dallas. We were not selected and bid again the following year in Hollywood FL, again unsuccessful in that attempt to win the show. The third year proved to be the charm with a 3rd bid at the Denver show. When you are selected you are about 1.5 years out till the actual show and have to keep the selection under wraps till about the prior year MACNA. I can't tell you how much time, planning, budgeting, conference calls, discussions with prior year club hosts, etc., that really Dave Morris(davemorris) and Jeff Saurwein (specvjeff) have done since this process began, nor would they likely want to know that number but bottom line it has required dedication and a passion to deliver an awesome show like none-other.

      I've personally attended the prior 4 MACNA's and while each had some aspects I liked there is no doubt this was the best MACNA I've attended. I may be biased but there are a few aspects that really stood out and those typically evolve around the Friday night reception and Saturday night banquet. Larry Blighton (bbandu) took point on organizing both a VIP exhibitor reception on Thursday evening at Birch Aquarium which I didn't attend but the kudos from the exhibitors that attended along with Julian Sprung who's company Two Little Fishies that sponsored the event was that is was top notch. The Friday night reception was held down at the Port Pavilion right next to the USS Midway. While I knew that we were providing bus transportation I didn't realize we would have a fleet of about 15-18 buses shuttling from the T&C hotel to the event and back. It was impressive and well received. The event itself is typically heavy appetizers and drinks - Larry had organized another battery of food trucks along with additional stations inside the pavilion. I personally had the Paella which was fantastic. A beautiful night on the pier along with a nightcap of fireworks shot off the Midway. Larry, awesome job!

      The Saturday banquet. We really need to give Dave Morris all the credit here. He pitched the idea early on to have an MC that was an entertainer versus the typical Keynote speaker that has traditionally been a Marine Scientist of sorts. Since Dave handles AV production for huge tradshows all over the world for a living he recommended a guy named Jason Hewlett that he had seen a few times in Las Vegas. While we are all reef hobbyists, MACNA brings in a ton of speakers to hear talks on your subjects of interest and I can say my own personal view has been the Keynote's in the past have been a snoozefest with many attendees leaving the banquet early once they wrapped up eating assuming they didn't have raffle tickets in the Walt Smith Fiji trip. Well, when I turned my head behind to look at the room after being in tears most of the night due to laughing so hard the banquet hall was still packed. We are talking about 1,200 people or so. The amount of compliments we received and Jason received were astonishing. I heard a guy that pretty much has been to every MACNA say the exact same thing I felt - Finally! Kudos again Dave, glad you stuck to your guns on that idea. Jessica Timko (jessycat or creativesoup) did an amazing job with all the marketing, signage, etc., and of course the bad ass MACNA San Diego logo.

      Last, I personally helped take point on the daily raffles. With a team of folks Chad (seareef), Brian Badillo (wholeagan), Mazzie (our dark haired Vanna White), Larry (bbandu), Jon (bbandu's son-in-law right?), Ron Luong (xopresents), Danny Fandango(jada1) & his son Angelo, Marlon (blanking on SN) and a host of others including some volunteers from MASNA. Sunday was insane with the number of last minute raffle items to be added. We had our hands full were still able to get through in a solid 90 minutes. I personally received feedback from one of the gals that helps run those for RAP and she said it was smooth and that we did a great job.

      I'm leaving out plenty and still felt like a wrote a novel. For those that attended all three days as your first MACNA I hope it lived up to your expectations. Hope to see in you in 2017 in New Orleans.

      Marlin



      Left to Right (Danny, his son Angelo, Ron, Brian, Chad, Mazzie, Jason Hewlett, me, Larry, Jon)
      Last edited by h20poloman; 09-12-2016 at 12:20 PM.
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    2. #2
      orangereefer is offline Registered User
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      Vent nice write up Marlin. This was my first MACNA and although I was only able to attend most of Saturday, I had a great time. Thanks for all who chipped in to make this happen.

      Mel

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    3. #3
      aquaculture is offline Registered User
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      It was an awesome show...kudos to all involved on pulling this show off!!! Saw alot of familiar faces in the industry as I have been in this hobby for 25+ years, so it was nice to catch up with some old friends, and make new ones. I even had a few people ask where Hodad's was (I was wearing my Hodad's shirt) and one gentleman asked to take a picture of the back of my shirt, lol. Just when you think you've seen it all (been to many shows throughout the country), SDMAS pulls off one of the best if not THE best shows I have ever attended....can't wait to attend another MACNA or whatever big show you guys pull off next time. Thanks for renewing my love of the hobby and connecting me with friends old and new!

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      naso tang is offline Registered User
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      Way to go marlin, larry and the rest! Glad it was a success, sorry i didn't get to participate...


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    5. #5
      h20poloman's Avatar
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      Quote Originally Posted by aquaculture View Post
      It was an awesome show...kudos to all involved on pulling this show off!!! Saw alot of familiar faces in the industry as I have been in this hobby for 25+ years, so it was nice to catch up with some old friends, and make new ones. I even had a few people ask where Hodad's was (I was wearing my Hodad's shirt) and one gentleman asked to take a picture of the back of my shirt, lol. Just when you think you've seen it all (been to many shows throughout the country), SDMAS pulls off one of the best if not THE best shows I have ever attended....can't wait to attend another MACNA or whatever big show you guys pull off next time. Thanks for renewing my love of the hobby and connecting me with friends old and new!
      Thank you for the nice words and you'll definitely need to come out to a meeting and introduce yourself.

      Quote Originally Posted by naso tang View Post
      Way to go marlin, larry and the rest! Glad it was a success, sorry i didn't get to participate...

      John, what happened? Was wondering why I didn't see you?

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    6. #6
      h20poloman's Avatar
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      Btw, found the only pic known of both Jeff and Dave smiling simultaneously probably during the entire 5 year process - when they were awarded a plaque on behalf of MASNA for being the MACNA host. Congrats fellas!

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      davocean is offline Registered User
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      Nice write up Marlin and a great job by all involved!

    8. #8
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      What a great show, awesome job even the GES team were great and that's saying a lot had a wonderful time Thank You SDR

    9. #9
      davocean is offline Registered User
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      Thanks for the reminder Vance, yes I have to agree the GES team was awesome, I was building the water container stands on Wednesday and those guys would not stop trying to help me at every opportunity, sure made my job easier, what a top notch staff!

      And BTW, I heard a number of positive comments towards you going above and beyond on getting your corals shipped for people!
      Last edited by davocean; 09-12-2016 at 05:50 PM.

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      Drama D is offline Registered User
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      I had an awesome time.

      Thank you!

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      gus6464 is offline Registered User
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      The problem with this of course is the locals did not have to stay at the T&C. I hung out with a lot of people that flew in and every single one said the hotel accommodations were horrible. I also sat at the banquet with a group from a very well known manufacturer in the hobby and they said the same thing. At least two equipment vendors I talked to that night said the same thing.

    12. #12
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      It was a great event and the idea of the MC worked out well ya i was getting alot of feedback from people that they loved it. So hilarious and i got most of it on video soon as i get a chance to edit will post it here. Jeff and Dave did great, Marlin handled the Raffles like a pro. We had no issues and it went smoothly. It was a great experience for sure. And Larry I heard the party on friday was awesome wish i could've been there. And some lady was getting numbers instead of raffle prizes lol. It was great meeting new friends and old friends for sure.
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      naso tang is offline Registered User
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      Quote Originally Posted by h20poloman View Post
      Thank you for the nice words and you'll definitely need to come out to a meeting and introduce yourself.
      Marlin, i've never been to a show. Ever. I've only been to one sdmas meeting, and a few north county meetings over the years. I don't know why this is. Probably my geography. I need to move down there i guess, but i've got no excuse other than job hunting full time these days. I've barely even bought coral since i got laid off 5 mos ago, can't believe i could shut it off but i did...


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    14. #14
      h20poloman's Avatar
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      Quote Originally Posted by gus6464 View Post
      The problem with this of course is the locals did not have to stay at the T&C. I hung out with a lot of people that flew in and every single one said the hotel accommodations were horrible. I also sat at the banquet with a group from a very well known manufacturer in the hobby and they said the same thing. At least two equipment vendors I talked to that night said the same thing.
      The hotel was behind in their remodeling, something like 275 rooms had already been remodeled but work was still in effect. There was no way to control this issue and while it's unfortunate, I can tell you as a guy that travels a lot for work and stay in hotels all the time the remodeled rooms are quite nice. Sounds like some of these guys were not as lucky. What the general public doesn't realize or know about it is that the pressure to keep the hotel cost to around $135/night. New Orleans is going to be $149/night for standard room with some higher priced options. San Diego with it's top occupancy rate in the country hotel's does not need to negotiate to the prices we were required to keep the range in. The other issue was with the size that MACNA has grown to and the preference to have the conference in the same hotel versus a convention center (this is changing with New Orleans and Denver was just across the street), the options were extremely limited in San Diego and limited it to the T&C. Again, with their remodeling it's actually going to be a premier property in the Hotel Circle area. Agree if there were going to be any complaints I'm not surprised this was the area it would come from. The hotel staff I dealt with though were on the ball and took good care of us. I was also pleasantly surprised with how good the food was onsite - especially their bbq joint Charlies. The bad reviews based on slow service I didn't receive and it was quite crowded the night I stopped in for a bite.
      Last edited by h20poloman; 09-12-2016 at 07:08 PM.
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      h20poloman's Avatar
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      [QUOTE=naso tang;1004167]Marlin, i've never been to a show. Ever. I've only been to one sdmas meeting, and a few north county meetings over the years. I don't know why this is. Probably my geography. I need to move down there i guess, but i've got no excuse other than job hunting full time these days. I've barely even bought coral since i got laid off 5 mos ago, can't believe i could shut it off but i did...


      Ugg, did know know about the lay off John. I'll shoot you a PM
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