MACNAXX started out with a very early morning flight and no sleep the night before. The security lines at the airport were out the door and across the street at 6 am and I wouldn’t have made my flight unless I was pulled out of line and rushed through security. Once on the plane, travel to Atlanta was fairly painless. The train (MARTA) was easy to find in the airport and I got a round trip ticket for about $5. The train ride was great except for the fact that I had to fight with bulky luggage falling over at every stop. Leaving the train I was met with what had to be the biggest escalator known to man. This thing had to run 5 stories up to street level. None the less it took me within 100yds of the door of my hotel.
I spent most of that evening sitting around getting my bearings and trying to see if I recognized anyone walking down through the lounge area near reception. I didn’t.
I got tired of that fast and called Marc (melev) Levenson to see what him and his group of misfits from Texas were doing that night. It turns out they were going out to eat and invited me to join. After dinner we went to the spinning lounge at the top of the Westin hotel where we could relax and enjoy the view of Atlanta at night.
Friday was the first day of the show and the doors opened at noon. At first impression the show reminded me a lot of MAX (Marine Aquarium Expo) and Reef-a-Palooza in SoCali, but that was just because there are a lot of the same vendors, and come on, it IS another trade show in the same industry.
I made quick rounds to get the lay of the land. By this time, I was starving with no breakfast and a bit overwhelmed with where to start. I stumbled across Marc and found out, to my dismay, that my friend has a distinct aversion to eating meals on a regular basis and he firmly declined my request to go grab a bite. Lucky for me, shortly after, my intestinal torture was relieved because the rest of the Texas group was heading to Hooters for lunch.
As a new addition to the group, I felt welcomed immediately and later enjoyed the small reassurance that comes from being able to see at least one familiar face across a room of strangers.
Friday night was the “Cocktail Party†for MACNA and about 7:30 everyone proceeded to the ballroom. I was quite surprised to find that the drinks weren’t complimentary (not even the soda) and even worse were outrageously priced ($4.25 for about 8oz of Diet Coke). The party had a presentation on Japanese Aquariums that I didn’t really pay attention to because Marc and Evan (Quicksilver) set up the recording equipment in the back of the room to record for ReefCast and I couldn’t really hear where I was seated. I had the impression that not many people were captivated by that particular presentation. Looking to make my own entertainment, I lured the first victim, Bob Fenner, to the makeshift recording studio. He kindly acquiesced us with a light-hearted interview and quite a few laughs.
Marc Levenson, Bob Fenner, Jessy at MACNA XX Reception
After the interview we decided to pay homage to the tummy gods once again, and 8 of us headed down the street to a Mexican style restaurant. Upon entering Marc and Evan (Quicksilver) see the New Jersey Reef Club (future hosts for MACNA XXI) and decide to try to get on their good side by buying them all a round of drinks. I had created a simple ReefCast sticker for Marc a month earlier and he brought a grip of them with him. Accordingly, twelve bottles of Corona got wiped down and relabeled as “Reefcast Corona†and placed neatly on a waitress’s tray.
Reefcast Coronas
Happy with my application skills, we head behind the waitress to the unexpecting MACNA hosts, and that’s when it all went south…literally. The entire dozen of bottles toppled over on the waitress’s tray. The cause of this blunder (EVAN) shall remain unnamed because there is no hard evidence, but with some quick thinking Marc and Aaron were able to stabilize most of the bunch and resituate them on the tray still in the arms of the bewildered waitress.
Spilling the goods
How the SECOND aftershock happened, is beyond my comprehension. Because after the twelve, more-or-less, full bottles of Corona were stable again atop the tray, they all went crashing to the ground in a clash of glass, bubbles, and ReefCast stickers.
Broken Hopes
The hilarity that followed is something that mere words could not describe. Needless to say, with quick thinking, I was able to capture the whole thing on my camera.
Saturday, I got a late start, only rolling out of bed at 11am. I made rounds to a variety of booths, stopping to talk to the exhibitors there. A few of my personal favorites were: Habib from Salifert (yes he’s alive and no the company isn’t going out of business), Randy Reed, Gresham, and Richard Ross from Reef Nutrition, Jon Warner from Warner Marine, and Larry from Reef Results Marine (a brand new company selling aquarium additives utilizing a very bold marketing approach). Earlier, I had heard Evan exclaiming his intent to have Walt Smith on the podcast, and seeing him at his booth, I found the nerve to ask him for the interview myself. I spent the next few hours as an onlooker to a string of great interviews by the ReefCast guys and enjoyed myself immensely.
Marc, Habib from Salifert, and Evan
Marc, Walt Smith, Evan, and Aaron recording Reefcast
Marc, Richard Ross from ReefNutrition, and Evan
I hurriedly got spruced up for the Georgia Aquarium Tour and the Gala that evening in my room and jumped on one of the buses that were provided to transport the attendees to the aquarium.
Attendees to the Gala were able to browse the aquarium free of charge between 5pm and 7pm. Being my first time there, the sheer scale of the exhibits there awed me. The Whale Shark/Manta Ray tank was by far my favorite. Enjoy some of the pics from that night.
At 7, my feet were very happy to rest at a table very near to the front of the gala ballroom. Dinner started with a mixed green salad and bread. Shocking to me, drinks were NOT included at this event either. To purchase a ticket outright to this dinner was $86 and there weren’t even sodas served free of charge. Hrmph.
MACNAXX Gala with a few of the Whale Shark tank
MACNAXX Gala
The gala was okay…the food was catered by Wolfgang Puck’s Chef, but didn’t really meet my personal tastes, so I didn’t eat much. The speakers during dinner were entertaining enough and the evening was wrapped up with the naming of the winner of the trip for 2 to Figi. Before leaving, we were treated to a surprise presentation from a diver INSIDE the whale shark tank, which was viewable from the inside of the ballroom. She was kind enough to answer any question we could throw at her while dodging the various inhabitants of the 6.2 million gallon tank, including the resident hammerhead shark.
Back at the hotel, we lucked out to be 2 doors down from a party room sponsored by Saltwatercritters. They bought a plasma TV and had the family room decked out with the full set-up of RockBand and free drinks galore (my first diet coke of the weekend that I didn’t have to shell out $3 or $4+ dollars for, THANKS SALTWATERCRITTERS). The atmosphere was lively and fun, helped along by the donning of coconut bras, and mullet wigs while rocking out full-tilt to any songs the partygoers wanted to try their hands at.
Saturday night concluded dangerously close to where Sunday morning began and I pulled myself from the confines of a very comfortable bed before I rightfully should have. Sleep deprived and bleary-eyed, I made my way to the show floor again at about 9am, stopped at a few booths I didn’t get to see yet, like Aquarium Specialties, Red Sea, and Teco. While at Red Sea I noticed a stunningly large acan frag in their tank for sale. Being the addict that I am, I inquire within. I was told it was already sold for about $1,000. 
FOR A FRAG! Whew, too rich for my blood.
I ventured for the first time to the Raffle area and took a peek at which items I might try my luck at. Tickets were sold in $1, $5, and $10 denominations. One pass through showed me that ANYTHING at all deemed desirable required a $10 ticket. Most mediocre items such as a hardback Conscientious Marine Aquarist book and a matted saltwater animal photograph were $5. The $1 raffles were limited to mostly fish food, additives, lesser-known books and a random bulb or two. More than a bit miffed at the raffle structure and prices, I purchased twelve $1 tickets for $10 and dropped them all into the raffle for a soft cover of Conscientious Marine Aquarist (which I won, w00t!).
I finished my trip by exercising mercy on a few vendors by assisting them with clean up, all-too-familiar with the hassle of wrapping up a trade show booth myself.
All in all, I enjoyed MACNA XX, and will attend the next one in Atlantic City. Each year is different and run by a completely different club, so I have hopes that some of the shortcomings I noted in Atlanta, will be resolved in Atlantic City, NJ in 2009. As always, these trips are made memorable by the people you meet, and for that I’d like to thank all of those wonderful people that made my weekend enjoyable and fun. I won’t soon forget you and hope to continue the friendships I made this weekend.
