Let`s hear your thoughts about the show...

Fast thoughts:

Awesome! I liked the new place way better than the one last year.

I was stunned at how few people came to listen to the speakers...I thought both of them were fantastic! We need to give Calfo a bigger time block; he seems to get really rolling about when we need to chase him off. My wife actually put her book down and listened during the photography one....extreme praise!

Liked the vendor selection a ton but I sure would like to see somebody there selling refrigerated food.

I managed to space buying green water at the end of the show *grumble*

Of course, I want to see GIRS t-shirts in Real Man Sizes.

The raffle seemed smaller this time around, but I don't think *anyone* can complain about how they did at the raffle!

And the frags.....OMG the frags.....

Smoking awesome yet again IMHO. I'm already building a list of frags I want at spring fest...

 

I was pissed no walking tacos/DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/cry.gif J/K I  wasnt pissed but alittle bummed. the pizza and candy bars was a good addition but not a replacement lol. i think the walking tacos are a trademark at the fests. i think everything eles was great. Loved the venders there all great to talk to,as were the local sellers and the speakers were great also. AWESOME job to everyone involved in setting  up and working this event and a big thanks to the venders.

 

It was awesome!!!! Best one yet! The larger space was great. It was also very cool that everyone got something from the raffle. I only bought one frag a nice teal colored paly from jennett. But I got a awesome ATI bubble master 200 from my new best friend William! And yes I came home and hooked it up already lol. I couldn't wait! Anyway IMO it was the best show yet.

 

Loved it. it was like x-mas shopping but just for me /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/smile.gif  I left around 2pm wishing I could have gone back. First time at a salt fest. met some nice people and helpful also
AJ I don't know what the rental is but I am a teamster member and should get it cheaper. just let me know if I can help

 

I agree with Bluefool.  I couldn't believe how few people showed up to the speakers.  They were both incredible. 

 

I had a blast. Wish I had brought more money. Missed the walking tacos. Won a pair of calcium dosing kits, got a few nice frags. Best of all I got to hang out and talk with people in the club that I had never met before. Great Fest, Looking forward to springfest, Shaun

 

Was a great time. although i wasnt lucky enough to win anything in the raffle, but that is my fault it put them all in on the biocub. The vendors were super and their frags were fantastic. I think my favorite part is that i got to meet many of you and can now put a face to the name on here.

 

I had a great time at the show!!  If I have to say one thing that bothered me though, Even though I did walk away winning a RO/DI unit on the raffle, I didn't like the fact that there were two colors of tickets.  I thought it put a choice into the hands of the person picking the raffle and didn't give a sense of randomness in the drawing. Maybe I was really hoping my one ticket I dropped into the BioCube was going to be picked. Ha. 

 

I thought for the most part it was a damn good show. I missed Steph more than the walking tacos. I thought the pizza was a pretty good idea and made it easy and convenient for the VOLUNTEERS who had to serve it. Personally, I preferred the venue we had last year, sure it was smaller but that made it seem more intimate and more active but the lighting was better and most of all had a complete separate area for the speakers. Sure, we had a PA but the outside showroom floor noise was just overwhelming. We had to have the PA up about as high as it could go and would cause feedback, which was embarrassing for myself and as well as Anthony I am sure. Another consideration that should have been made was when we have a speaker doing a presentation on photography we need to make sure we can adequately dim the lights so his slides can be seen properly.

Overall I thought it went over pretty well and was a success, especially considering just a few years ago we had these events in someones garage.


A big thanks to everyone who helped make it all happen, especially those who stick around and tear it all down.

 

I agree with Jeremy about the venue, well said.

There was a nice selection of coral and reef stuff in all price ranges; fun shopping /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default//emoticons/smile.gif The speakers were excellent (but as Jeremy stated, not the best space for them). I liked the pizza idea, seemed to work well. Nice to see many old faces and many new, but missed a few of the "regulars" in the club. Just a thought, but maybe in the future, if speaker turn-out isn't going to be better, we could bring in one speaker and then have a demo or hand-on type of thing from some experienced member in the club. There is a wealth of knowledge right here in the club too......overall, great event!

 

thats a great idea phicrazee about the demo thing. I once saw a video of a past macna event where they did this rock scaping demo using macro rocks.

 

Just my personal thoughts,
The consessions could have been better! cold pizza isn't at the top of my list, the Pop price was graet! I really think (kwow) this can be improved.
Graet place for the show, very roomy, I would have liked to see more venders (sellers) and I was VERY bummed out that Rods Foods wasn't there, I really wanted to make a purchase, I have no luck at raffles, so to win some was out!

John

 

This was my first GIRS Festival. I paid twice since I paid on line and again at the door, I was on the list and didn't even think about it until I was on the way home. I am looking at it as if it were a donation to the club! I didn't win anything at the raffle so the items given to the people who had not won anything was greatly appreciated. It was a lot of fun. I bought several corals and a couple of clowns. Everything is doing great and I can't wait to go again in the spring. I listened to both speakers although I missed the beginning of both of them, were they announced? That might help get people in to listen to them. They were both very interesting and good speakers, they were part of the reason I attended! The facility was nice, a good space, easy to find, nice area. The pop and pizza were a good price and easy to walk around and enjoy with out making a mess. All in all a job well done!

Maureen

 

This was my first girs event or frag fest of any kind and i had a blast. I got some cool frags and even a skimmer I had no clue I would find there.( which was up and running sat evening) I didnt get to stay for the speakers or the raffle. I am not a social person but I really felt comfortable around the fish nerds. I also really appreciate all the thankless work you club officers and volunteers did so slackers like me could enjoy this event. My only regret was not bringing more cash. Thanks again guys, I cant wait till spring fest!

 

My 3rd time. I really liked the extra space we had this time. The sellers were all awesome and a lot of the prices were reasonable. I'll have to remember to bring more fives $ in case anyone needs change. I spend more at these events than throughout the year in other places.

 

Great show, I liked the extra space. Did we have name tags this year? I didn't have one. As usual ran out of money. It would be nice if you could darken the speakers area, the slides were hard to see. The speakers were great, didn't think the photography one would be interesting but the speaker had some very good hints for taking pictures with point and shoot cameras which was nice. Thanks to all the volunteers who put the show together it was a great event and looking forward to springfest.

 

I really enjoyed the swap, felt like plenty of space compared to some past swaps. I sold some stuff, bought some stuff and even snuck away from my table for some of the speaker's talks . From what I heard, they were excellent though a little hard to hear due to the acoustics. Would having the speakers outside of the swap time allow more folks to participate or no? Maybe do like 1.swap 2.speakers 3.raffle, I dunno....or does that make it too long a day? I guess for you guys lots of folks drive from a long ways off to get to the swaps so perhaps thats something to factor in too.

Well anyway thanks again for having me!