MACNA 2015: Photos, Recap & Review

As many of you know, this past weekend was not just Labor Day weekend - it was also the weekend of the 2015 Marine Aquarium Conference of North America (MACNA, for short).

I had the good fortune of attending the Conference, along with several others from WMAS. What follows is a recap of the 3 - day event, for those of you who were not able to attend. I will also share my experiences and opinions on the event at large; from the perspective of a hobbyist, and not necessarily as a member of WMAS or the WMAS Presidency.

What is MACNA? 

MACNA is an annual Conference and trade show that takes place at a different location each year. It lasts for 3 days, and features many famous Guest Speakers, along with a large Exhibit Hall filled with display booths from many of the big name companies in the Marine & Reefkeeping Hobby industry. There are also Vendors selling corals and marine fish; a Friday night reception and a Saturday night Banquet; and a large raffle with dozens of prizes.

This year's MACNA took place at the Wardman Marriot Hotel & Convention Center in Washington, DC.

A 3-day full access pass (which included everything above) cost $119 per person.

Getting to MACNA

My MACNA adventure started the way everyone else's from around here would have started... flying to Washington DC.

I was lucky to have booked my flights at a time a few months back when Southwest Airlines was running a big sale. My flight from SLC to Reagan Airport in Washington DC was only $159; my flight home (from BWI Airport in Baltimore, this time) was $189. So, about $350 total. Not bad. And the flight home was a non-stop, to boot.

The first flight - SLC to Austin, TX

Second leg - Austin to Washington DC

I chose to rent a car and drive from the airports to MACNA. I got a nice little subcompact for $109 total. Other options would have been to take the train (DC Metro); take a taxicab; or even try out the "Uber" online car service.

The Hotel

Because I booked my room a little late in the game, I did not stay at the Wardman Marriott, as it was sold out. MACNA had secured rooms at a second hotel, the Omni Sheraton. It was right across the street from the Marriott, so no issues going back and forth to the Conference. I was able to get the MACNA - negotiated discount price of $125 / night. If you have ever been to Washington DC, you would know that price is about half of what a quality hotel room goes for. So a good deal.

The Omni was celebrating its 75th Anniversary. Apparently it is a hotel with a good deal of local history.

The Omni Sheraton, Washington DC

A luxurious place with a lot of history

My own room was clean, comfortable, spacious, and well-appointed:

Interestingly enough, both WMAS President Jeremy Wooten and I felt like the 'overflow' hotel was actually a little nicer than the actual MACNA Hotel...

Anyway, now that I was safely checked in to my hotel room in Washington, DC it was time to go check out the Show...

Marcoss - nothing to be sorry about; ask all the questions you want!

Jon - post your swag pics HERE on this thread! And tell us what you did to get your corals on the plane, and home from MACNA (since I did not buy any)...

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"The Show"

First off, MACNA is huge in size. It is one of the 2 or 3 largest shows of this kind in the entire world. The bulk of which is the Exhibition Hall, filled with close to 150 booths showcasing all the latest Marine & Reefkeeping hobby equipment, plus fish and corals for sale. Then you have the Speaker rooms, the Banquet Hall, and the lounge and reception areas.

Touring the Exhibition Hall is a pretty awesome experience. There are just booths everywhere. And it is a lot of fun walking the aisles, checking out all the cool new equipment and gadgets, and all the beautiful display tanks:

Entrance to the Exhibition Hall

MASNA Booth

MACNA 2016 Booth - next year it will be held in San Diego

Inside the Hall

Tons of booths. Tons of display tanks, filled with all kinds of cool fish & corals.

Which brings me to my first major MACNA criticism...

Almost NONE of it is For Sale.

Maybe I expect too much, but it sure would have been nice to take home one of the cool new LED lighting systems, or the latest Bubble King skimmer, or maybe one of those 100+ sweet Scolys in that Eye Catching Corals display. You know how many out of those 100+ Scolys were for sale? Exactly zero.

Too bad it was all only for show.

Now there were some things for sale - Karen Talbot had artwork for sale; I saw a booth with T-Shirts; one or 2 other booths. And this guy DID have a bunch of equipment  for sale - albeit nothing new from the show:

But 90+ % of all those cool display tanks you just looked at? Sorry, just for show.

Which brings me to my second big critique:

I was disappointed how FEW fish & coral vendors were at MACNA

I went around and counted, twice, just to be sure. 22 vendors. That's it.

Now, why do I say that 22 was only a "few"..?

Well, in my head, I am comparing MACNA to our own regional show, the Mountain West Reef Fest (MWRF).

And the MWRF generally averages between 12 - 15 fish & coral vendors. (This year I believe we have 13.)

So MACNA had fewer than double the fish & coral vendors that the MWRF gets. Despite having over 100 more total exhibit booths.

And most of the fish & coral vendors were no bigger - or better - than the MWRF vendors.

Although I did really like the booth for Pacific East Aquaculture. They had a tank full of cool Sponges and Gorgonians that I really wanted to take some home. And also a large tank filled with close to 100 clams. But they were the exception, rather than the rule.

Hogie wrote: Bob, was this your first MACNA? If not, how did it compare to years past? Would you go again?

This was my second MACNA... however, the last time I went was like MACNA # 3 or 4, it was in New Jersey, and it was early 1990's

This one was a lot bigger than what I remembered.

And yes, I will be going again - most likely to next years in San Diego

I don't want people to think I didn't have a great time - I did! - there were just a couple of things I guess didn't meet my personal expectations (which maybe I was just expecting too much based on all the hype).

But I absolutely recommend that everyone go at least once; it is like a "bucket list" thing for us fish geeks, LOL