My son and I loved it. It was a great opportunity to put a face to the usernames, get some stuff I bought from members that are a bit too far or out the way for me, and look at/purchase some nice corals. I didnt quite understand the raffle system so I put all my tickets in the buckets by the ARC table. Didnt know each vendor had one. I know now to bring a cooler with either wheels or a shoulder strap. The only suggestion I have is it would've been nice to have more chairs available throughout the facility. Not just by the tables.
2019 expo survey
- Thread starter bhodges82
- Start date
Thanks to Bobby for posting this thread and thank you all who have posted comments. We welcome them all, good or bad, and we are committed to improving where we had short comings.
I completely understand to food aspect. The problem with the Forum, or any true convention site, is we are bound by their rules. No food or drink unless they are providing it. We opted to have the concession stand at the entrance open a few years ago and virtually nothing was sold because it's all "Stadium" pricing. All soda must be "Coke" products, Burger... $10. The cost is the same throughout the site. Arena, Forum & Theater. With Alcohol, we have always refrained from providing it given the family nature of the Expo. If we did, beer would be $10 and wine $12, a piece.
We are going to look at our options for alternate locations to hold the event next year.
I completely understand to food aspect. The problem with the Forum, or any true convention site, is we are bound by their rules. No food or drink unless they are providing it. We opted to have the concession stand at the entrance open a few years ago and virtually nothing was sold because it's all "Stadium" pricing. All soda must be "Coke" products, Burger... $10. The cost is the same throughout the site. Arena, Forum & Theater. With Alcohol, we have always refrained from providing it given the family nature of the Expo. If we did, beer would be $10 and wine $12, a piece.
We are going to look at our options for alternate locations to hold the event next year.
- Messages
- 182
- Reaction score
- 175
This was my first one and it was pretty interesting. I didn't have a large budget or a lot of time so I just grabbed a couple of simple euphyllias and headed home, didn't bother with a raffle. Honestly my main takeaway is that next year I'm going to go at the end of the expo and not get there at the beginning. Since I'm not looking for specific or rare pieces I'd rather get there when everybody is about to pack up so they're willing to cut you a deal to make a sale before they go back home. It was cool though.
I had a great time voluntering and meeting many of the ARC members.
Did you enjoy the expo?
-Yes
What could have been better?
-Food for sale at the venue, I thought about getting a booth next year to sell food
-Have the place open to members only an hour before so we can have first picks and not deal with crowded booths
-Signs or number-letter systems that are about 10 feet tall to help ID where each vendor is
-A centralized place for playing the raffle, with the ability to buy more tix in the same spot.
-A schedule of when the speaker is going to start/end & raffle tickets are being drawn.
-Venue in Atlanta
-Grab bags for first however many people come in (some with easter eggs like gift cards to the vendors there or something small but cool like a PolyLab lense or something
What did you like the most?
-Lots of vendors
-Good energy
-Overhead lighting was at a minimum
-Shuttle
-Great entrance to the event, first glance in I had a great first impression
Overall I had an enjoyable time and had to get out of there before I spent even more $$$. It was flying out of my wallet. Take my suggestions with a grain of salt, some are easy, some cost money, some are probably difficult, and some probably have been thought about before and got nixed because of either logistical nightmare or not worth the trouble of someone's feelings getting hurt because they didn't get the free item they wanted and already have the one they got.
-Yes
What could have been better?
-Food for sale at the venue, I thought about getting a booth next year to sell food
-Have the place open to members only an hour before so we can have first picks and not deal with crowded booths
-Signs or number-letter systems that are about 10 feet tall to help ID where each vendor is
-A centralized place for playing the raffle, with the ability to buy more tix in the same spot.
-A schedule of when the speaker is going to start/end & raffle tickets are being drawn.
-Venue in Atlanta
-Grab bags for first however many people come in (some with easter eggs like gift cards to the vendors there or something small but cool like a PolyLab lense or something
What did you like the most?
-Lots of vendors
-Good energy
-Overhead lighting was at a minimum
-Shuttle
-Great entrance to the event, first glance in I had a great first impression
Overall I had an enjoyable time and had to get out of there before I spent even more $$$. It was flying out of my wallet. Take my suggestions with a grain of salt, some are easy, some cost money, some are probably difficult, and some probably have been thought about before and got nixed because of either logistical nightmare or not worth the trouble of someone's feelings getting hurt because they didn't get the free item they wanted and already have the one they got.
This was my first expo, back in the hobby after a 2-3 year break. I brought my daughter with me, we both had a really good time. The vendors were excellent and I bought quite a few frags. Huge thanks to everyone that helped put it together. You could tell that a lot of work went into the entire thing.
+1 On the raffle comments, had I known that they were not going to be until 3 I would not have purchased tickets. That was my only complaint. It was tough waiting around for 2 hours, I will come a bit later next year. It would've been cool to have more activities there like a frag station or trade station for ARC members. The interaction with everyone was a bit lagging but maybe my expectations were too high. All in all I thought it was a fun thing to attend and would be happy to help support next time. Frags were top notch and the prices were very reasonable!
+1 On the raffle comments, had I known that they were not going to be until 3 I would not have purchased tickets. That was my only complaint. It was tough waiting around for 2 hours, I will come a bit later next year. It would've been cool to have more activities there like a frag station or trade station for ARC members. The interaction with everyone was a bit lagging but maybe my expectations were too high. All in all I thought it was a fun thing to attend and would be happy to help support next time. Frags were top notch and the prices were very reasonable!
Did you enjoy the expo?
Spent my budget and more, so yes
What could have been better?
Someone mentioned name tags for members and that would have been neat
Someone mentioned members getting in early and that is a interesting idea
There seems to be a lot of regional competition for these expo's so it seems like there has been a number of different vendors over years and this year "seemed" a tad lighter. Maybe not. Just wondering if the competition is cutting into our show?
Parking (LOL)
What did you like the most?
I enjoy seeing all the corals in person vs seeing them on time.
Always interesting talking to the Brightwell Folks
Nice to have Dana Riddle there as a guest speaker.
Spent my budget and more, so yes
What could have been better?
Someone mentioned name tags for members and that would have been neat
Someone mentioned members getting in early and that is a interesting idea
There seems to be a lot of regional competition for these expo's so it seems like there has been a number of different vendors over years and this year "seemed" a tad lighter. Maybe not. Just wondering if the competition is cutting into our show?
Parking (LOL)
What did you like the most?
I enjoy seeing all the corals in person vs seeing them on time.
Always interesting talking to the Brightwell Folks
Nice to have Dana Riddle there as a guest speaker.
Cilinia
New Member
I’m a new supporting member and this was my first event. First thanks to all who put this together, great job. I agree with a lot of the posts concerning having food and drink. The raffle was a little confusing, maybe more precise directions and maybe do them every hour. Maybe have the speaker on earlier.
