Fall Fest [Nov 14, 2015] GIRS Fall Fest 2015!! (Pleasant Hill, IA)

Hey you! RSVP to the Event! ^^^​

It's Coming!!
Block off Saturday November 14th, 2015 on your calendar for
Greater Iowa Reef Society
Fall Fest 2015!!
***IMPORTANT NOTICE***
***VENUE CHANGED AS OF 10/12/15***

Same date, time and schedule for Fall Fest, but the location has changed!

Fall Fest 2015 will now be held at
The Assembly Hall
1250 NE 56th St
Pleasant Hill, IA 50327

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this change may have caused

Come early for our nationally recognized speakers!
Plus a special raffle* for speaker attendees!
*more details coming soon

Vendor Show Floor opens at 12:30!
There will be a fantastic selection of coral, livestock, and dry goods!

Huge Raffle starting at 3pm!
We'll cap off the day with a huge raffle and give away thousands of dollars in prizes.
There will also be a few prizes raffled off throughout the show!

Speaking from 10am - 11am:
Mark Callahan
"Mr Saltwater Tank TV"

TOPIC:
Strategy of Saltwater Fish Selection

Instead of thinking of fish selection as inches per gallon, I show people how proper fish stocking is really a strategy. Between fish behavior, color choices, feeding habits, schooling tendencies and taking risk with fish on the fringe, there’s numerous decision points that need to come together. I also go through my stocking strategy for my 450g tank as well as work 1:1 with audience members during the talk to develop their strategy

About Mark:

​

There is a central theme in Mark’s life: WATER. WATER. WATER.

Growing up in Tennessee meant trips to the local lakes and rivers on the family ski boat. Spring break was always spent in Hawaii cruising the reefs and forever ingraining memories of the beauty of the ocean on his mind.

Mark’s first tank was the typical goldfish bowl. 1 gallon of water, some multicolored gravel in the bottom, a plastic plant and 1 fish. Seeing his keen interest in fish, his parents quickly upgraded him to a 10 gallon freshwater aquarium. When he turned 9, his father announced it was time to upgrade to “the real thing” – a 75 gallon saltwater tank.

Jump ahead 25 years, and Mark maintains a 450 gallon aquarium and mrsaltwatertank.com, a website dedicated to taking the confusion out of setting up and maintaining a saltwater tank.

Mark also is the creator and star of Mr. Saltwater Tank TV a web-based TV show that not only entertains audiences, but educates them as well.

Since starting Mr. Saltwater Tank TV in 2010, Mark has created over 320 Mr. Saltwater Tank TV episodes resulting in over 10,000,000 views worldwide. The show has attracted 45,000+ YouTube subscribers and 36,000 + fans on Facebook.

In addition to Mr. Saltwater Tank TV, Mark has authored and co-authored 6 books on including The No-Nonsense Guide to Setting Up A Saltwater Tank Volume One and Volume Two, The Ultimate Guide to Saltwater Tank Cruise Control, The No-Nonsense Guide to Preventing and Curing Nuisance Algae Outbreaks, The No-Nonsense Guide to Marine Fish Diseases, Treatments and Quarantine, and Pre-Travel Planning and Preparation: A Pocket Guide for Saltwater Tank Owners His writing also includes 5 authored or co-authored articles for international magazines such as Tropical Fish Hobbyist and Marine Habitat Magazine.

Public appearances include speaking at major fish trade shows – The Marine Aquarium Conference Of North America (2012 and 2013), Marine Aquarium Expo (2011-2013) and the Seattle Marine Aquarium Expo and ReefStock.

Mark also takes Mr. Saltwater Tank TV on the road as he’s covered major saltwater aquarium trade shows including Marine Aquarium Expo (MAX), Seattle Marine Aquarium Expo (SEAMAX), Marine Aquarium Conference of North America (MACNA), and Reefstock

When he isn’t traveling or working, Mark maintains a 450 gallon mixed reef tank and spends time with his wife, 5 yr old son, 1 year daughter and his pug named Bart.

Speaking from 11:15am-12:15pm:
Todd Gardner

TOPIC:
Multiple Topics (Hybrid Presentation)

Todd will start out with his most popular current topic:

Drifters: a guide to the stray tropical fishes of New York. It's been updated most recently and it has a lot of cool video footage. It's about collecting tropical marine species far outside of the tropics (in a temperate climate). He addresses techniques for collecting and keeping them, provides a run-down of species found in New York waters, and discusses some potential environmental implications.

Then he will touch on a few other topics, if there is time:

Seahorse Aquaculture: It's a quick seahorse overview, followed by reporting on some of the findings on juvenile seahorse nutrition from his Master's thesis and work at the Long Island Aquarium.

Advanced aquaculture: This talk is about rearing basslets and other difficult marine species he's tackled over the past 20 years.

About Todd:

​

Todd Gardner is a professor of biology and marine biology at Suffolk County Community College in Riverhead, NY. His life and his career have both been shaped by his passion for marine life and he has written numerous scientific and popular articles about his research and experiences collecting, keeping, and culturing marine organisms. Todd’s professional background includes work on a National Geographic documentary, commercial aquaculture at C-quest Hatchery in Puerto Rico, and an 11-year term at the Long Island Aquarium where he spent much of his time developing techniques for rearing marine fish larvae. To date he has raised more than 50 species. In 2013 Todd received the prestigious Aquarist of the Year Award from the Marine Aquarium Society of North America (MASNA). In his spare time, Todd dives, photographs marine life, runs marathons, and plays in a blues band.

This list will be updated as more vendors, hobbyists, and raffle prizes are added:

Coral Vendors
Insane Coral
Beef's Reef
T Ball Inc
AZN Nutty
Mind Blowing Corals
Reef Deep Aquatics
Frag Creations
Reefs Aquatics
The Coral Reef
Eye Candy Corals

Fish & Dry Goods Vendors
Dirks
Booyah's Reef
The Alternative Reef
Specialized Reef Creations
Printed Reefing Solutions
Aquarium Addictions

GIRS Premium Members
Jeremy Dirks (jeremy)
Dave Stevenson (bestimusmucho)
Donny Graves (Armydog)
Bill Schlarbaum (Fishbrain)
Jeanette Becker (beckerj3)

GIRS Hobbyists
Andrew Kolb (Andrew)
Casey Christner (CaseyChristnerkc22)

Raffle Items! FINAL LIST!
Provided by the Greater Iowa Reef Society:

Bulk Reef Supply Dual Reactor
1 Gallon BRS ROX 0.8 Carbon
1/2 Gallon High Capacity GFO

Maxspec Gyre XF130

the NEW EcoTech Vectra M1 Return Pump

...and the GRAND PRIZE:

Neptune Apex Aquarium Controller!!
Complete with
Standard Grade pH Probe
Temp Probe
Display Module
Energy Bar 8

Generous donations provided by these Premium Sponsors

Reef Nutrition / Reed Mariculture

(3) sets of Reef Nutrition packs ($165+ ea!)
(3) sets of TDO Chroma Boost (sm, med, lg)

Air, Water & Ice

Typhoon III Extreme 150
Plus (2) $25 Gift Cards

Rod's Food

(5) Food Multi-Packs, each with
(1) Large Original Blend
(1) Large Pacific Plankton
(1) Large Seaweed
& (1) Small Fish Eggs

Prodibio

(6) Biokit Reef Nano

Seachem

Set of Aquavitro Reef products:
alpha, balance, calcification, eight.four, fuel, ions, vibrance
Reef Fusion 1 & 2
Reef Dip
Reef Glue
Reef Phytoplankton
Reef Zooplankton

Live Aquaria

$250 Gift Certificate

Turbo's Aquatics

Bud's Super Awesome-O Test Kit Package*
Milwaukee Digital Seawater Refractometer
Hanna Phosphate Checker (HI713)
Hanna Alkalinity Checker (HI755)
Salifert Calcium
Salifert Magnesium
Salifert Nitrate
*may be split into multiple raffle items

Premium Aquatics

Goodie Bags for the first 300 attendees!!
Note: Paid attendees only, or GIRS Members
Stuffed with a Premium Aquatics Discount Card good for anything on the site!
Plus: Pens, Algae Scrapers, Magazines, and SURPRISE for one lucky GIRS Member!!!

Additional raffle donations provided by these generous donors

From Bulk Reef Supply
2 Part Total Package with Dosers

From LRS Foods
(5) packs of LRS Reef Frenzy

From Frag Creations
$300 in Corals

From My Reef To Yours
$250 in Gift Certificates

From 4Paws Unleashed
$200 in Aquacraft Supplements

From The Coral Reef (Burlington LFS)
2 buckets of Instant Ocean Reef Crystals
2 buckets of Instant Ocean Sea Salt
1 box of Instant Ocean Reef Crystals

From the Shedd Aquarium
$144 Gift Certificate redeemable for (5) Shedd Pass tickets

From Ocean's Wonders
Ultimate DIY Coral Propagation Kit
N52v3 MAG Rack
Frag Hub 10.0

From Mind Blowing Corals
$100 Gift Certificate
$100 in Corals

From Specialized Reef Creations
(1) pair of C Quest Onyx Clownfish

From Booyah's Clowns
(1) pair of Black & White Clownfish

From AZN Nutty
$100 in Corals

From Dirk's
$100 in Merchandise

From CORAL Magazine
(2) Digital Subscriptions to CORAL Magazine
+ Goodie Bag Stuffers

RSVP in the thread below if you're coming!
It's not required, but it's great to know who's coming!!!

Like the Greater Iowa Reef Society Facebook Page!
Share this thread and/or the pinned Facebook post about GIRS Fall Fest 2015 on your timeline!
Help us get the word out!

HOTEL INFORMATION

There are probably 100 hotels in the Des Moines area that you can choose from, and generally, none of them are going to be more than a 30 minute drive (with the farthest being in the Jordan Creek Mall area of WDM)

These hotels are pretty nice, and just a few miles from the venue:

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Altoona
165 Adventureland Dr
Altoona IA 50009
(515) 967-1855
8 mi (10 min) away
From $135 /night

Prairie Meadows Hotel (connected to casino)
1 Prairie Meadows Dr
Altoona, IA 50009
(515) 957-3000
4.5 mi (9 min) away.
From $128/night

This one is downtown for anyone wanting to stay near the action on Friday/Saturday night:

Renaissance Des Moines Savery Hotel (Marriott)
401 Locust St
Des Moines, IA 50309
(515) 244-2151
7.3 mi (14 min) away
From $179/night

If you're bringing the kids and want to keep them entertained and/or wear them out, this hotel has an indoor waterpark, and the room comes with 4 waterpark passes:

Ramada Tropics Resort
5000 Merle Hay Rd
Des Moines, IA 50322
14.7 mi (16 min) away
(515) 278-0271 (about 20 min away)

And if you are just looking for a close room to crash in...

Sleep Inn & Suites, Pleasant Hill, IA
5850 Morning Star Ct
Pleasant Hill, IA 50327
(515)299-9922
1 mi away
$105.40/night***
***You must book directly with the hotel and tell them you are coming for an event and need the "local corporate rate"​

 

I installed a re-vamped Calendar/Event addon which was a replacement, not an upgrade, so the previous events are all gone.

These people RSVPd to the previous event, tagging you so that you can RSVP again

@adampottebaum
@Andrew
@AndrewAcropora
@evan03
@FFrost
@FishBrain
@Fragcreations
@gettaReef
@GoodGreef
@mrelaz
@nstigator
@scuba crazy
@wouldtick
@ricowind67
@xeniaforever

 

Posted on R2R (Dirk's Thread)

2015 shows and swap dates

Post the link please! Thanks!!!

 

Not yet, but soon

 

Please be patient. There is a reason, which should be clear very soon.

 

Sign up for Hobbyists Spaces and Premium Member Tables!

Fall Fest 2015: - Hobbyist Spaces & Premium Member Tables Sign-up!

 

Event description update to include Raffle Prizes and additional vendors!

 

***IMPORTANT NOTICE***
***VENUE CHANGED AS OF 10/12/15***

Same date, time and schedule for Fall Fest, but the location has changed!

Fall Fest 2015 will now be held at
The Assembly Hall
1250 NE 56th St
Pleasant Hill, IA 50327

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this change may have caused

 

As the last line of the post above says, we really hope this doesn't cause an inconvenience for anyone

After trying to lay out the vendor floor at the building that had been selected at Camp Dodge, it became clear that we didn't have enough space. There wasn't another building at the camp that was available, and the State Fairgrounds will be a mess that weekend (no parking will be available, at all) so I went on a hunt late last week and managed to find a new location that will do very nicely.

If anyone has already made hotel reservations that you can't get out of (i.e. priceline, hotels.com, travelocity, etc) please send me a PM.

 

If anyone wants to share the image at the top of this thread, or the entire thread link, here are the links to use

This thread ->> Fall Fest 2015: - [Nov 14, 2015] GIRS Fall Fest 2015!! (Pleasant Hill, IA)

Code:

https://www.greateriowareefsociety.org/threads/nov-14-2015-girs-fall-fest-2015-pleasant-hill-ia.24223/

^^ The HTML link looks like this ^^

When you post this on Facebook, it will auto-resolve to a thread link with my avatar which is kind of weird, that's a FB thing though.

What you will want to do is type in something like "GIRS Fall Fest 2015 is coming!", then paste the link, and then it should auto-resolve with the box and the thread title. There will be an "x" in the corner, click that and delete the box, then attach the Flyer as a picture on the post.

You can download the flyer using this link (this is the updated flyer):

https://www.greateriowareefsociety.org/GIRS_images/fest_media/FF2015-Flyer.jpg

Code:

https://www.greateriowareefsociety.org/GIRS_images/fest_media/FF2015-Flyer.jpg

 

Or, you can just to Greater Iowa Reef Society on Facebook and LIKE and SHARE the pinned post! Do this to your personal pages as well as all the groups you are a part of!