MACNA 2018 HIT OR MISS

Blue Spot Octopus · Sep 11, 2018

The two things that I was surprised was that Red Sea and Waterbox were not there.

vetteguy53081 · Sep 11, 2018

Larry L said:
I'm a member of the MACNA 2018 staff and have worked 5 shows in a row so far (every show since 2014 in Denver). I am not an official spokesperson for MACNA or MASNA (the parent organization), just a hobbyist in Denver with no affiliations one way or the other, and wanted to address a few things based on my own personal opinions and stuff I saw behind the scenes:

Yes, the venue was huge, and the attendance was actually really good. We purposely set the show floor up with many of the aisles being 15 feet instead of the typical 10 feet, so that it would be easier for attendees to get around. Pre-sale tickets orders set a new record (previously held by the Denver show). I have not yet seen the final attendance tally which would include the on-site day and weekend pass sales but they were good - in particular most exhibitors were saying that Friday (normally the slowest day of the show) was the busiest Friday they can remember. Something like 4000 swag bags got stuffed before the show and we ran out during Sunday morning.

This MACNA was the first show where MASNA (the parent organization) ran the show instead of a local club running the show - the idea was to try to maintain and improve the show quality by providing more consistency and continuity from year to year, instead of each club having to reinvent the wheel every year. (Plus, the show is just getting too big to expect any local club to be able to manage running it on their own, or to find a venue big enough to hold everything.) But we had awesome support from the LVMAS folks, who provided dozens of volunteers and put in a whole lot of hours of work to help make it the success that it turned out to be, and we could not have done it without them. (PS, if you are not at MASNA member, you should be: https://masna.org/) (PPS, Thanks LVMAS folks! You rock! https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/las-vegas-marine-aquarium-society.672/)

I guess you have never been to a MACNA. It's definitely not just a big frag swap. Over 150 exhibitors, maybe 10% are coral sellers (including Jason Fox, Unique, World Wide Corals, Zoanthids.com, etc.), and the rest are all the industry names you are probably used to seeing, tons of cool stuff on the exhibit floor (https://macnaconference.org/2018/floor/). 31 speakers gave talks, including basically everybody you have ever heard of in the hobby (or people you should have heard of, if you haven't yet): Julian Sprung, Sanjay Joshi, Marc Levenson, Martin Moe, Bruce Carlson, Dana Riddle, Jean Jaubert, Richard Ross, Mark Callahan, Walt Smith, Charles Delbeek, Bob Fenner - the list goes on and on (https://macnaconference.org/2018/schedule/). Keynote speech by Charlie Veron, coral identification god.

If you haven't been to a MACNA, go. If you have been to a MACNA, go again. Hope to see everybody in Orlando next year: https://macnaconference.org/2019/

Larry

Larry-
So glad you stepped in you are correct..... I was not there but based my perception on comments from others as MACNA is IMO one of the largest in the industry.
I had to read your summary twice, but it clarified a lot if misconception and appears it was laid out well for anticipated traffic.
Havent heard yet but where is next years' venue location?

KStatefan · Sep 11, 2018

vetteguy53081 said:
Havent heard yet but where is next years' venue location?

64Ivy · Sep 11, 2018

xoomercom said:
I noticed you're from CT so I am assuming you've attended RAP New York in NJ. How does it compare?

Due to other commitments, I did not attend RAP this year.

Humblefish · Sep 11, 2018

Larry L said:
This MACNA was the first show where MASNA (the parent organization) ran the show instead of a local club running the show - the idea was to try to maintain and improve the show quality by providing more consistency and continuity from year to year, instead of each club having to reinvent the wheel every year. (Plus, the show is just getting too big to expect any local club to be able to manage running it on their own, or to find a venue big enough to hold everything.) But we had awesome support from the LVMAS folks, who provided dozens of volunteers and put in a whole lot of hours of work to help make it the success that it turned out to be, and we could not have done it without them. (PS, if you are not at MASNA member, you should be: https://masna.org/) (PPS, Thanks LVMAS folks! You rock! https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/las-vegas-marine-aquarium-society.672/)

Curious... What compensation did LVMAS receive for their support? I'm speaking of the local club itself. I understand volunteers got free tickets to the show, raffle tickets, etc.

Brew12 · Sep 11, 2018

Holding next years on Disney property improves my chances of attending greatly!

vetteguy53081 · Sep 11, 2018

Brew12 said:
Holding next years on Disney property improves my chances of attending greatly!

Im already thinking..... 2nd vacation for 2019

ReefTeacher · Sep 11, 2018

I loved MACNA this year, hadn't been since Miami (was that 2014?). Anyway, the talks were excellent and very informative. There were a few notable absences from vendors: Bulk Reef Supply included, but Ryan and his wife just had a baby, so maybe it was too much. I would agree there were no new products that made me go "wow" but I did get to talk to some vendors on how to tweak my current equipment.

Now as for the venue, I am a single guy and a foodie. Vegas is like the best venue ever! The hotels are the best in the world (I did not stay at the Westgate, life is too short!) I had great food, enjoyed the beautiful pool and even won a little at blackjack. People with families may feel differently.

andyg1960 · Sep 11, 2018

Brew12 said:
Holding next years on Disney property improves my chances of attending greatly!

Next year MACNA- still no update on Trident...

Ashish Patel · Sep 12, 2018

At the time, It was obvious to me apex introduced trident way to early too take away market share away from other vendors. It was a business strategy I personally can't stand which hopes to keep buyers away from using products such as KH guardian or KH director. Personally, I don't care to know my MG and CA on a bi-weekly basis let alone daily. I will need a alk monitor/doser once I start a aquaculture business.

davejep · Sep 12, 2018

64Ivy said:
Banquet was fair; went on too long, lots of technical whoopsies, waiters were straight out of a Carroll Burnett sketch.

Man did you ever hit it on the head on all points.
Or waiter was Tim Conway in disguise.
I give your comment a 10

Muttley000 · Sep 12, 2018

KStatefan said:

Finally someone heard the message to get this in before the Labor Day holiday. Now we will see if people are willing to give up the Labor Day weekend itself. A hard sell for some families I'm sure, but much easier than missing school!

Larry L · Sep 12, 2018

Muttley000 said:
Finally someone heard the message to get this in before the Labor Day holiday. Now we will see if people are willing to give up the Labor Day weekend itself.

Actually, 2017 was held before Labor Day, and 2014 and 2015 were held over Labor Day weekend.

Burrito · Sep 12, 2018

all i have seen are videos so far and it did look very empty (maybe due to size), i went to RAP in NY/NJ this year and it was annoyingly packed to the point you couldnt walk very easily, more a slow shuffle

Larry L · Sep 12, 2018

Burrito said:
i went to RAP in NY/NJ this year and it was annoyingly packed to the point you couldnt walk very easily, more a slow shuffle

That's why we made the aisles so big this year.

Larry L · Sep 12, 2018

ReefTeacher said:
There were a few notable absences from vendors: Bulk Reef Supply included, but Ryan and his wife just had a baby, so maybe it was too much.

Yeah, Ryan was there on his own, he told me they had too much going on with the new baby and all.

ReefTeacher said:
I would agree there were no new products that made me go "wow" but I did get to talk to some vendors on how to tweak my current equipment.

@Jake Adams just posted up his take on the best new stuff he saw at the show: https://reefbuilders.com/2018/09/11/window-shopping-the-best-new-gear-at-macna-2018-video/

jahnje · Sep 12, 2018

skimjim said:
MACNA + Vegas is not good timing when kids are in school

MACNA Marketing fail

agree, will continue skipping until kids are out of school or something.

Opus · Sep 12, 2018

jahnje said:
agree, will continue skipping until kids are out of school or something.

I'm in the same boat. They have never scheduled it at a family friendly time so you can make a vacation out of it. I've only been to it once and that was when it was local. Personally not really my thing. I could care less about the speakers and wasn't impressed with the banquet. So overall, I do better just going to the loca frag swaps. I would attend though if I could make a vacation out of it. Really would have liked to do that when it was in DC. By the time time the kids are out of school, there may be no need for a MACNA.