Anyone attending ACA 2007?

[dheideman]

Hello, all! I'm new to the board (tjudy pointed me over this direction), but not the hobby or dwarfs. I was wondering who, if anyone, was attending the Sacramento ACA this year. It'll be my first fish convention (I'm extremely excited!) and I'd love to know if there are going to be other dwarf folks there.

 

[tjudy]

I will be there!

 

[Mike Wise]

I know David Soares will be there, but I don't know who else will. Unfortunately finances say I can't make it this year, sigh:frown:.

 

[Apistogramm-Sam]

I'll be there on the last two days.

 

[Eric C.]

When is it, and where at in Sac?

 

[tjudy]

Here is a link to the convention web site.

 

[Eric C.]

Do you have to be a registered member of ACA to attend?

 

[tjudy]

You do not need to register to walk through the show room, vendor room or go to the auction on Sunday. You will have to register to participate in the raffle drawings, any of the talks, or go to the Saturday evening auction (which has most of the rarer fish).

 

[Eric C.]

Talked my wife into it and looks like I'll be going too. :biggrin: This will be my first convention, what sort of things can I expect? See you there!

 

[tjudy]

The ACA convention is the largest aquarium hobbyist convention of its type. There is so much to do and see that one rarely experiences it all. The talks go late into the evening, followed by an even later hospitality suite with food and beer (and probably wine this year). The show room will have a few hundred entries, plus all of the tanks to hold fish for the various auctions (silent, Babe's Auction, and the big auction on Sunday). There will be a rental tank room where sellers will have fish for sale, plus a board on which people selling fish out of their rooms will post ads. I am looking forward to seeing what the west coast has to offer in the way of in-room sellers.

Friday evening there is a large auction that raises money for both the Guy Jordan Fund and Paul V. Loiselle Conservation Fund. This auction is usually a riotous good time. It is run by the Babes In The Cichlid Hobby, and is affectionately called the B. I. T. C. H. auction. A lot of the rare and truly threatened and endangered species will be donated to that auction.

Saturday night is the banquet. The chairman of the BOT will give a State of the ACA address, there will be a humorous dinner speaker and the show adn other ACA awards will be announced. After the banquet there is usually a themed party in the hospitality suite. Last year it was toga... hard to say what it will be this year.

Sunday is the BIG auction. There are usually a couple thousand bags of fish. Before the fish, however, Ray (Kingfish) Lucas will do a drygoods auction. The fish auction can be a marathon event. Last year, in Chicago, the last bag sold at 1:26 AM (the auction usually starts at 10:00 AM)... no breaks, we just rotate auctioneers in and out.

Bring money...:wink:

 

[apistodave]

We are going to miss you Mike!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Anybody need a room--I'll share!