Where were Christel Kasselmann; Vin Kutty; Dennis Wong, Cara Wade & Cory be in May? (Pics Added)

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi All,

Do you know where the giants of our hobby (Christel Kasselmann; Vin Kutty; Dennis Wong, Cara Wade & Cory McElroy) will all be next spring? They will be gathering in Seattle the first week of May for the Aquatic Gardeners Association 2019 International Convention. Not only will there be inspiring presentations by the subject speakers there will be aquascaping demos, wabi-kusa workshops, and a vendor room with manufacturers and vendor tables. To top it all off is an all day plant auction featuring hundreds of exciting plants many of which we don't often see!

Have you always wanted to visit an AGA Convention - this is your chance! Space is limited, registration is open now! Don't be left on the outside looking in! I hope to see you there! -Roy

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi All,

Registration for the Aquatic Gardeners Association (AGA) International Convention is open, you can sign up here!

The workshops are booked however you can still observe and learn as well as attend all of the talks. There are still a limited number of tickets left for the Saturday night banquet where Christel Kasselmann will do her second talk.

According to the AGA folks this is on track to be one of the largest conventions they have ever had....very likely it will be 'sold out' if folks wait until the last minute.

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi All,

It is hard to believe that just over five (5) weeks from now the Aquatic Gardeners Association 2019 International Convention starts - right here in Seattle!!

If you haven't booked your registration for the convention there are only 35 spots left; and for the Saturday Banquet with Christel Kasselmann's second talk there are only ten (10) open spots. Don't hesitate or you will likely lose out on what should be the best AGA Convention ever! Register here!

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi All,

It is now one month until the AGA Convention in Seattle, so here is an update with news and information for you!

The convention is now sold out!! There was record interest, and we are now expecting an attendence of around 240 people! If you are unable to attend, please reply and let us know immediately, so we can refund your registration and offer the spot to the many people on our waiting list.

Please book your flights and hotel rooms! Register for the Red Lion from the sidebar of the convention registration page at https://aga2019.com/register.

See you in Seattle!

 

[Tim Harrison]

Looks like this is going to be awesome, anyone thinking of attending?

 

[sciencefiction]

I wish.

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi All,

The dust has settled, the rooms are empty, the last of the vendor pallets have been shipped home, and exhaustion has set in.....how about a short recap.

It was a great convention! There were approximately 207 registrations plus another 40 registrations for AGA folks, speakers, volunteers - the previous high number was about 150 registrations. There were approximately 20 vendors, both national and 5 local vendors in two vendor rooms. On Sunday, there were 1200 items (mostly plants) sold - the auction took over 7 hours (that's almost 3 items per minute). This was by far the largest, best attended, AGA Convention has ever had.....I hope you didn't miss it.

However, if you did miss it here are a few pictures I was able to grab as I ran by...

Aquascaping and Wabi Kusa Workshop results

Dennis Wong Aquascape Demo tank

Fluval 12 gal Aquascape by Jeff Miotke (serpentine stone from Tom Barr)

A couple of shots when the vendor rooms were 'quiet'

Banquet Room prior to dinner and Christel Kasselmann talk

Christel Kasselmann presentation

 

[Tim Harrison]

Thanks for the pics Roy. Great to hear that is was the biggest and most attended AGA Convention ever. I'm sure the next one will be even bigger

 

[Ed Wiser]

Where is the next one? I go to MACNA each year. I have attended 25 of them. Hope to go to the next AGA. The attendance for an AGA is like when we held MACNA's back 30 years ago. Now this year we will have over 6000 people from around the world and 1000 vendors and Aquarium store owners at Disney world this year. At last years banquet sat with hobbyist from Japan, England and Spain. Always a fun time catching up with old friends and new ones each year. Great job on your convention. I know it is hard work I have organized way too many of them.

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi @Tim Harrison Harrison and @Ed Wiser

Thank you for the kind words and comments. AGA has not announced the next location for their convention, they usually start accepting bids from organizations about 18 months prior to the next convention (in other words about 6 months from now). There are rumors that Chicago is interested but who knows.......

@Ed Wiser - although I have attended many business related conventions over the years this one was the first one I was involved with on the 'working' side of a convention....it is a learning experience! I agree, it is a great way to see old friends and make new ones.

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi All,

Opps! I missed one......more eye candy done by Bailin of CAPS and Jen of AGA!

 

[Ed Wiser]

Macna's are scheduled 5 years out now. It and due to the size the National society hire someone to run the convention full time and it is out of clubs hands. I have ran 4 of them the smallest was 2500 people back in 1990's Paid for the speakers out of my back pocket Had speakers from around the world come a speak. Luckily I was able to get paid back.