Reef-A-Palooza a big disappointment

[wednesday13]

I worked 2 reefapaloozas (orlando/newyork a.k.a. seacacus nj) and macna in d.c. lastyear. Macna is def better than palooza but not by much, just bigger. I had more fun at the d.c. zoo amazonia exhibit than working macna haha... Only deals youll find are on frags/tanks in the last hr/hrs of the show. Noone brings anything big because its not fun hauling it all back home. Its not easy or cheap to setup a booth with tanks running. Most all the big vendors just sell off their displays at the end or give em to other vendors willing to take them. Not sure what u were expecting o.p. lol... The shows are just as much if not more so for the vendors 2 get contacts with eachother or store/buisness owners to find suppliers...not really for the general public/hobbyist past frags for sale or a raffle. For example i worked for a coral importer... we do not sell to the public so our purpose was to get vendor contacts for future buisness or contact companies to buy equipment from. All the big names and other vendors fly in so they cant really do anything but hand out pamphlets/samples or whatever they shipped over. The goal is to come home empty handed. More so just a group of friends who like to keep tabs on eachother than sell stuff u cant get elsewhere or for a better deal. Its a very small community. 3 shows was enough for me for a lifetime and i was paid to be there haha... macna is worth seeing once in person, prob not for what it cost tho. RP nyc lastyear was a bore, prob y noone showed up this year. Were the "tanked" guys there this year? They made more money selling autographs at both shows than any other vendor selling livestock. funny...

 

[Frank Castle]

For example-- Fluval was there showing 3 nano tanks. I think it is pretty ridiculous that they did not bring there latest canister filter. They could have demonstrated the FX6 and offered a discount even if they weren't selling it. How do you not show your latest filter ? At least have catalogs,fliers,brochures to show to the public. You and I might know what these products are but maybe not the new person getting in to the hobby. I feel you don't attract a new hobbies by giving then a sample pack of food. Maybe there are other reasons why they did not have K3. However, if the dealers and manufactures don't show up neither will the public. Some people traveled far to attend. They will not just show up for the Taco Truck.

Traditionally speaking, I am/was a vendor at the Hamburg reptile Expos and whenever they tried to sponsor a new show at a new venue, many failed because the community is self-supporting - meaning the vendors will not show up without the clientele and the clientele will not show up without the vendors. it's a vicious cycle, so a lot of favors need to be done for new shows/expos to become solidified

 

[Tropical Joe]

I can understand that. Its a shame that a show that is only once a year can not become great. A few vendors I spoke to said they will not do the show again. Maybe a different location will help and more advertising. The pet shops did not even advertise this event. I had to search it out to find out about it. The East cost really needs something big to stimulate the hobby.