We had a blast as usual, it's amazing to see how much changed in the couple years I have been out of the aquarium scene. Props to Jon and his crew of students (present and PAST student were working for him, they all put in a great day's work.) Raffle was out of control how much stuff was there, and though people were getting restless because it took pretty long to get through, the only other options are to make it smaller, or not do live raffle pulls, neither of which I'd prefer.
It was pretty crowded early, that's why we left for lunch and came back at 130 and did another lap. Much more manageable the second time around. I found both ends of the spectrum in price. I bought sick Kedds Red and Fruit Loops frags (10+ polyps each) for $10!!! Then, I had the experience listed a little bit below...
A tip to some of the retailers though...put prices on pieces, or make price sections or something, ANYTHING. 2 huge retailers there just had everything mixed together and you wasted 25 minutes there asking whats this worth, whats that worth, all the while there are people behind them trying to view and purchase items, and while some of us were trying to get our credit cards back from you while you ran it for things we already purchased. I watched a ton of people walk away from booths because of this. The couple guys who had priced sections did more business faster, and I was definitely more apt to go back to them later and see what was left. Also, if I ask what something is worth, don't give me a sob story about how it's your last frag and it's going to be tough to get from you, but if I buy something else you'll TELL me a price. Guess what, there's 4 other retailers there with the same piece, one of which will let it go for stupid cheap so it doesn't have to be packed up.
These aren't gripes with the event. I was super pleased with what I walked away with, got to see a BUNCH of old faces (I really can't believe how many people recognized me and made a point to say hi!), met with a ton of retailers, talked a bunch about the hobby of today, and may have had 1 too many Mai Tais across the street as is tradition. No matter what, I'll be back next year, purchasing more than I need as usual, having 1 too many Mai Tais...as usual