I have to start off with a brief disclaimer....that I attend 5-6 major trade shows annually for work and most are huge and higher end. So my overall view may be a bit slanted. And another disclaimer, this is NOT to take away for ALL the volunteers and literally countless hours it takes to pull something like this off. So my hat is off to all those that make RAP possible, and Greg is correct, you can only please half of the people half of the time -Bobby Dylan! Lastly, this is coming from an ole school 18+ year hobbyist that likes it "the way it used to be", so take all of this FWIW.
To that end, to me, it was a bit anti-climatic. This was my first ever reefing trade show and my expectations were a bit high in full transparency. This is not to say the show was not good per se, but I just thought it was going to be much larger.
Radom thoughts. I wanted to go for many reasons. My first reefing show, see Greg Carroll's talk, check out some manufacturers and rub some elbows with them, and see if I could grab a couple of SPS frags that I've been pining for. Greg's talk was awesome, and I found out through a show of hands, that I am the only one still running MH....lol. Found dry goods and equipment stuff to be up to what I thought. BUT I must say the biggest turnoff was the coral vendors. It just came off to me as one big flea market setup hawking frags, some new frags and others with these fancy names demanding high $$$. I'm so surprised at how many people sell frags and corals now. It just seems like every Tom, Dick and Henry are in the business to push high priced goods onto hobbyist. Long gone are the days of a typical "frag swap". I went around to many of these booth kinda laughing at all the "shaggy dog is the next red planet" type nonsense when referring to SPS's and all other corals. It just makes me even more go back to basics and enjoy keeping simple stuff like slimmers, millis, etc.
Also, the location is absolutely horrible IMHO. Traffic, lack of nice hotels, lack of decent restaurants. I mean I think RAP can find a better home then being buried in some of the most congested part of NJ. Maybe Mohegan Sun, Providence, White Plains, just a few random thoughts on location....AGAIN in my opinion.
My absolute favorite was stopping by the RAP both and spending an hour or so meeting Greg and Ben for the first time and talking ole school reefing. Two awesome guys and been on the hobby for decades and I simply could relate to them and their thoughts on the hobby. Even met Ryan from BRS there and we talked for a while and reminisced about the old days of Reef Chili being sold on eBay, his old 2-Part Solutions.com web site and his Maxijet MOD's. And even told him I missed the days we simply exchanged emails before he got famous....lol. And really wish I know ReefBum was going to be at the show. Would have liked to see Keith to say hello.....miss see the longtimer TOTM dudes.
Ok, ok, ok, a bit winded on my post I know. Did I like the show, yes. Will I go back again, yes. Do I like the RAP concept vs. MACA, yes but maybe things are getting a bit diluted and time for a merger of sorts????? My one suggestion is why can't they spread out the trade show floor so it's not as noisy and elbow crowded. That space is double the size and could have easily spread things out???
Anyway, hats off to ALL the RAP gents that pulled it off and their passion to keep people engage in the hobby!
