Marine Aquarium Expo 2011

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Expand your scope fellas this isnt max for washington state and washington state only you have to think about eastern washington, oregon, idaho, montana, and parts of canada as well. Yeah you guys are right in saying there are only a few saltwater shops in our local area but the surrounding areas have stores too.

Well Said. That is why I voted for MAXNW, as this expo will not only be for Seattle it will be for the Northwest Region.

The only big benefit for the Seattle area will be a boost in the local economy for that weekend. Just like the boost in the economy when the cruise ships are in port during the summer months.
 
If it is really up to a local club to make this happen then why would we need MAX? MAX is the main sponsor and production company (Sunset Promotional Services, Inc.) of MAX and I would like top see some help from them in getting the LFS support. Because I know if I go into any one of thses LFS and ask them for their support and a check for XXX $$$ they'd probably laugh and show me the door.

The things that we can do as hobbyists to help make this a reality is to get the word out to local clubs/hobbyists, to local fish stores, and to any other marine based business. Be that a brick-n-mortar store or online vendor. We have to pass the word because the MAX people probably do not know all of the local vendors in this region. They are trying to increase their territory and bring this to a new region, if it is only for a one-time thing or for the long term. They are in a sence "out of their comfort zone". Remember they are bringing their national contacts to our area and in return ask us to let our "locals" know about this event. I do not see how one club could pull this size of show off. That is why all of us need to do what we can.
 
The things that we can do as hobbyists to help make this a reality is to get the word out to local clubs/hobbyists, to local fish stores, and to any other marine based business. Be that a brick-n-mortar store or online vendor. We have to pass the word because the MAX people probably do not know all of the local vendors in this region. They are trying to increase their territory and bring this to a new region, if it is only for a one-time thing or for the long term. They are in a sence "out of their comfort zone". Remember they are bringing their national contacts to our area and in return ask us to let our "locals" know about this event. I do not see how one club could pull this size of show off. That is why all of us need to do what we can.

Agreed. But the way I look at this is that MAX is feeling things out here in the NW. Marine Aquarium Expo (aka Sunset Promotional Services, inc.) is not a non profit organization and is putting this together for hobbyists in the Northwest so that vendors and LFS can come together and show off there stuff and inturn make money. Hands on demos, lectures, etc etc. And all these vendors will have to pay to attnd and receive a booth or even any recognition.

So in a nutshell this is a promotional services company in the business of putting on the MAX and APEX shows and also making a few $$ in the process too. We should help in getting the word out, agreed. But to go to the LFS and say please sponsor this and fork out XXX $$$, that should be the promotional companies business.

Sorry for the lengthy reply. Back to the subject at hand. Getting an Aquarium Expo to the Northwest area so that people don't have to travel to California for MAX or to MACNA back east.
 
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Just to clafify, sunset promotional service IS madmax, the person participating in this discussion as well. I have had a few lengthy conversations with Kevin asking about ways that I can help.

At this point the best thing to do in aquiring lfs support is nothing.

We need to give Kevin some time to get a things a little more locked down as opposed to tenative.

He has alot on his plate at the moment with an upcoming show that he has to focus on right now.

And so we wait...
 
There is a possibility that we may have to bump this show to 2012 to give local stores more time to get involved. Not sure at this point
 
would giving it another year ensure a specific date and venue so that LFS could plan on participating? if not, I agree with Tom's statement about LFS participation.

my .02
 
Yes, I agree with both of you, actually. Either we pull the trigger this year or risk losing the momentum. Waiting on the venue's response/hopefully this week
 
We confirmed with Kevin through email. We are in. Kevin...something that may help the LFS's get excited is to provide some sort of information regarding potential sales. Until I dug and found this thread and read the whole thing I had no idea you expect 1000 attendees. We also had no idea how big a MAX is. Most of us LFS owners in this area haven't done trade shows because there haven't been any in the area. A couple small frags shows in Oregon but nothing like this. Just sell us a little without us having to dig around the boards and you should get a great response:) I know many of the owners are too busy trying to scrape by to spend time finding the information. Just include it in your emails:) I think once you set a date, venue, and spread the info about size/scope you will see the momentum snowball! Keep us posted and we will spread promotional materials from our shop and to our mailing list once it becomes appropriate. We have collaborated on a few ideas with another vendor to boost attendance and our sales. This should be a great event. We definately need OR, ID, and B.C. to support this as well.
 
We confirmed with Kevin through email. We are in. Kevin...something that may help the LFS's get excited is to provide some sort of information regarding potential sales. Until I dug and found this thread and read the whole thing I had no idea you expect 1000 attendees. We also had no idea how big a MAX is. Most of us LFS owners in this area haven't done trade shows because there haven't been any in the area. A couple small frags shows in Oregon but nothing like this. Just sell us a little without us having to dig around the boards and you should get a great response:) I know many of the owners are too busy trying to scrape by to spend time finding the information. Just include it in your emails:) I think once you set a date, venue, and spread the info about size/scope you will see the momentum snowball! Keep us posted and we will spread promotional materials from our shop and to our mailing list once it becomes appropriate. We have collaborated on a few ideas with another vendor to boost attendance and our sales. This should be a great event. We definately need OR, ID, and B.C. to support this as well.

I saw this coming...and for Max to work BRA had to be a player. Thanks for stepping up guys!
 
We confirmed with Kevin through email. We are in. Kevin...something that may help the LFS's get excited is to provide some sort of information regarding potential sales. Until I dug and found this thread and read the whole thing I had no idea you expect 1000 attendees. We also had no idea how big a MAX is. Most of us LFS owners in this area haven't done trade shows because there haven't been any in the area. A couple small frags shows in Oregon but nothing like this. Just sell us a little without us having to dig around the boards and you should get a great response:) I know many of the owners are too busy trying to scrape by to spend time finding the information. Just include it in your emails:) I think once you set a date, venue, and spread the info about size/scope you will see the momentum snowball! Keep us posted and we will spread promotional materials from our shop and to our mailing list once it becomes appropriate. We have collaborated on a few ideas with another vendor to boost attendance and our sales. This should be a great event. We definately need OR, ID, and B.C. to support this as well.

Thought I'd add...the website is very informative and helpful for potential vendors and attendees. Just needed a push there and all my questions and concerns were addressed;)
 
Canada:
http://www.aquariumpros.ca/
http://aquariacanada.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?forumid=32

BC Reef Network at 3reef
http://www.3reef.com/forums/bc-reef-network/

Idaho Marine Aquarium Society (IMAS)I posted there about this.
http://www.idahoreefs.org/

Central Oregon Marine Aquarists (COMA)
http://www.comaonline.us/Not a big club- Most use www.pnwmas.org my local site

Greater Portland Aquarium Society
http://www.gpas.org/news.phpFreshwater club? unknown interest in it

Greater Seattle Aquarium Society
http://www.gsas.org/#meet

Mid-Columbia Saltwater Aquarium ClubI contacted Ed Hahn about this
http://mcsac.org/


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
Does anyone know how to reach out to any of these clubs? Including the ones I have reached out to?

Just do it if you know of a member in one of them!!
 
Thought I'd add...the website is very informative and helpful for potential vendors and attendees. Just needed a push there and all my questions and concerns were addressed;)

Hi Cy,
some very good points brought up here. You are absolutely correct that we need to communicate this event to retailers more accurately and effectively; unfortunately though, we are stuck in limbo until we hash out some key details such as the venue, date, cost, etc. I too wouldn't want to commit without first knowing these basic details.
The flip side of this is we already have a dozen loyal clients who HAVE committed to this event without even knowing the basic facts yet. They believe in what we do and will follow us knowing that we wouldn't put on an event unless it was spectacular. That is a burden that we take very seriously and is cause for anxiety at the very least. I know that we can pull this off (especially given the enormous support and feedback we have received thus far) but it is certainly far from guaranteed.

That being said, you are now among this special group that we will call our "Launch Customers." Those familiar with The Boeing Company (me included) know that this manufacturer never introduces a brandnew model aircraft without first securing a minimum order of aircraft from their most loyal customers (Delta, American Airlines, etc.) We too are simply seeking a minimum committment from our business customers before introducing a brandnew show.

I think we should have much more concrete information in a few days and hope to provide an official announcement by the end of this week. That is my goal. Until then, thank you again to everyone who has helped spread the word.
By all means though, please don't forget we have a show coming up this April here in SoCal. The better our April show is, the better our July event can/will be, I'll put it that way ;)
 
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Well I think this would be a great opportunity for local businesses to reach new customers, improve their relationships with vendors/manufacturers, generate additional revenue, and get their feet wet in the trade show world without having to deal with the logistics of shipping all their materials and display units. Makes perfect sense for us to begin this new component of our business marketing, locally. Let us know what we can do to help, if anything:)
 

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