What A Great Weekend!

jonclark96

jonclark96

Past CCA President
Wow! Thanks everyone for coming out to AquaMania2 The Big Fish Deal. It sounds like everyone who attended had a great time.

There are a lot of thank yous that I need to throw out there, so I hope I don't miss anyone. If I do, I apologize ahead of time.

Thanks to all of our wonderful sponsors (too many to list). Without their generous support, the event wouldn't have been possible.

Thanks to Anton Lamboj. He is a joy to be around, full of information and good stories. Thanks to Rusty Wessel. He put on a great presentation and donated some really awesome stuff for the auction. Thanks to Pam Chin for her wonderful talks and for all she and the BABES have done for the hobby. And thanks to Shane Linder. Shane has got to be one of my favorite speakers. His talks are riveting for me, but even better, I got to spend some time with him and his family hearing some great stories of their adventures over the years.

Thanks to all of the vendors who came out to the Marketplace. There was a really wide selection of fish and supplies for all niches of the hobby.

Thanks to the Gaithersburg Hilton for letting us take over the hotel for the weekend. Without exception, everyone I interacted with on the hotel staff was a delight and great to work with.

Thanks to Kurt Johnston for auctioneering on Saturday night. He did a great job of keeping things moving, energizing the crowd, and being the MC for a blast of an auction.

Thanks to all of the CCA members who came out to lend a hand. There are way to many to list, but I know that we were never lacking of folks willing to pitch in and help out in any way they could.

And lastly, a special thanks to all of the people who really made the event work. Matt did a great job setting things up and generating sponsors, vendors, and public support. Andrew, Christine, and Jim did an awesome job with registration and administering the auction. Thanks to Michael for coordinating the Group Buys and the donations. Thanks to Samantha, Stephanie, and Frank for organizing the AB contest and the kids decorating table. Thanks to Rachel and Pat for being great hosts for our speakers. And thanks to Tony for everything and, well, for just being you.

Well done, my friends, well done.
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
Amen!

And thanks to Jon for keeping it all going. I don't know how many times he told me, "Got it covered..." and it, of course, was.

Holding an event like this is a lot of work...before, during and even after the dust settles.

If you've got the day off tomorrow, sleep in (or at least try to go back to sleep after one of your twins wakes you up at 6:03 AM).

A lot of folks drove (and flew) great distances to be part of AquaMania. Please get home safe and tell your friends and neighbors what a great time you had with CCA :)

Matt
 
cichlidaddicted

cichlidaddicted

Members
It was a pleasure to meet you guys and some of your families I can't wait for future events to get to know everyone better.

PS, matt as we walked away from you and your sons Bailey says "I sure do love him" I believe it was Taylor she was referencing. No clue where that came from! I got a kick out it.

Sent from my SCH-S960L using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
chriscoli

chriscoli

Administrator
Indeed! I was really struck today when I overheard many many folks commenting on how well it went, how much they liked it, and how they were looking forward to next year.
 
Localzoo

Localzoo

Board of Directors
cichlidaddicted said:
It was a pleasure to meet you guys and some of your families I can't wait for future events to get to know everyone better.

PS, matt as we walked away from you and your sons Bailey says "I sure do love him" I believe it was Taylor she was referencing. No clue where that came from! I got a kick out it.

Sent from my SCH-S960L using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Click to expand...

Lol was nice to meet you your wife and daughter.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
madcobra216

madcobra216

Members
Missed this year & im definitely looking fwd to next year

Sent from my SGH-M919 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
festaedan

festaedan

potamotrygon fan
I had lots of fun. Even when Zack accidentally sprayed me with the hose that he was using to fill my tank for the market place.:D
My favorite part of it all was defenitely the auction. It was super fun and I got some seriously awesome fish.
Near the end of the meeting I was talking to Jeff and looking at his fish and I heard in the backround Matt saying to his kids "Ok, raise your hand if your name is tatertot" and one of his kids would raise his hand.
The whole experience was great and I cant wait 'till next year.
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
Great to see you and your family, Dan! Taylor Tot's a charmer :lol:

As much fun as they are, monthly meetings don't really allow for as much time for just for just hanging out and getting to know folks and their families. We wanted to make "friends and fun" (not JUST fish) a part of AquaMania. The summer BBQ and holiday party are also great.

Matt

cichlidaddicted said:
It was a pleasure to meet you guys and some of your families I can't wait for future events to get to know everyone better.

PS, matt as we walked away from you and your sons Bailey says "I sure do love him" I believe it was Taylor she was referencing. No clue where that came from! I got a kick out it.

Sent from my SCH-S960L using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Click to expand...
 
R

RunCichlidRun

Members
I had a great time as well. Met a lot of great people. Learned a lot of from the experts' presentations. The bar has definitely been raised for future meetings.

After listening to Anton's presentation, I have decided that I would like to setup a CARES only tank. So, anyone who needs others to participate in a group buy, count me in.
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
Great to see you, Eric and thanks for all of your help!

There are lots of CARES fish already in the club...no need for a group buy...anything in particular that you'd like to work with?

There's also a CARES section of the forum... to share experiences and facilitate interaction...

Matt

RunCichlidRun said:
I had a great time as well. Met a lot of great people. Learned a lot of from the experts' presentations. The bar has definitely been raised for future meetings.

After listening to Anton's presentation, I have decided that I would like to setup a CARES only tank. So, anyone who needs others to participate in a group buy, count me in.
Click to expand...
 
R

RunCichlidRun

Members
dogofwar said:
Great to see you, Eric and thanks for all of your help!

There are lots of CARES fish already in the club...no need for a group buy...anything in particular that you'd like to work with?

There's also a CARES section of the forum... to share experiences and facilitate interaction...

Matt
Click to expand...

Thanks Matt for the information. I will definitely begin to spend more time in the CARES section of the website. As for what CARES fish I am looking to get - I really need to get up to speed on all that are available. However I decide, they will have to do well with other CARES fish that I am interested in and not get larger than 8". From there, my "requirements" are less strict.
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
Lots could work for you :)

You can't lose with a group of Victorian cichlids... or one of the Costa Rican Cryptoheros...

Matt

RunCichlidRun said:
Thanks Matt for the information. I will definitely begin to spend more time in the CARES section of the website. As for what CARES fish I am looking to get - I really need to get up to speed on all that are available. However I decide, they will have to do well with other CARES fish that I am interested in and not get larger than 8". From there, my "requirements" are less strict.
Click to expand...
 
blkmjk

blkmjk

Members
I had an amazing weekend! Even my daughter had a great time! It was nice to talk to the speakers face to face Anton is is a trip.! Very funny guy. I really enjoyed hanging out with our fellow members and their families. It was also very nice to hang out with the people from YFS who's names escape me, TUIC's Jeff and Kate, and it was truly and amazing opportunity to get to drive Rusty Wessel and Pam to the airport. I was thrilled. I picked up so super cool fish from fellow members as well as some awesome Plecos to add to my collection. Rusty commented that this was one of the best local club sponsored events he had ever been to. That is a testimate to our leadership and members who came together to make this a success. My hat is off to you all.

Drew
 
xny89

xny89

CCA Members
Got my first ever African's from Stith over the weekend - a set of yellow tail acei fry. Going to enjoy the challenge of setting up my first canister filter (won in the raffle) too. It was great seeing all the enthusiasm of everybody there - it was my first Aquamania.
 
mchambers

mchambers

Former CCA member
It was great. Thanks especially to the CCA board members, the speakers, and the vendors.

I really enjoyed listening to and later speaking with Anton Lamboj, although I think at least 40% of what he says goes over my head. (The first time he spoke at CCA, I think 75% went over my head, so I am improving.) I gave him a bag of Pelvicachromis Taeniatus "Lobe" juveniles to take home.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top