what was the highlight of CatCon for you?

[bekateen]

Okay, all you folks who went to CatCon, please help those of us who couldn't go live vicariously through your experiences. How was it? What was the most interesting thing you learned? What was the most amazing fish you saw? What made it worth your while? What was the sale you just couldn't pass up?

[Shane]

Too many to list, but how about the fact that I am sitting in my living room right now drinking beer with Jools as I bounce his new daughter on my lap
-Shane

[msjinkzd]

I didn't get to look around the room sales much, as I was trapped in my own. The highlight for me was hanging out with so many people that I rarely get to see- those from other countries, or even just opposite coasts. I get so much joy out of socializing and drinking beer with people I spend so much time geeking out about fish with online (i.e.- Hans, Jools, Shane, Birger, Barbie, Shane, Ingo, Ian, Andy, Biggs, Spencer Jack, etc etc etc etc). I especially enjoyed getting to meet families that came with some of those people, and trading and sharing fish. I didn't get to buy anything, but Barbie shared some nice fish, but I was SUPER excited to share some Centromochlus with a fish friend (especially because when I pulled them to bag, they had fry in the tank). These things are so much fun, if you haven't been, I really encourage you to give it a try.

[Shane]

Getting to hug Rachel (msjinkzd) several times per day

I think what we are both saying is that the best part is the people. Fish are great, but sitting up at midnight talking fish, sipping beers with Jools, Hans Evers, Ingo Seidel, Birger, Twotank Amin, pseuedasmart, Barbie, Dave Rinaldo, Mark Soberman, Ian Fueller, and so many more awesome people is priceless.
-Shane

[jp11biod]

This was my fourth CatCon and most of what I do is to eavesdrop on any conversation I can to listen to all these experts talk about what they do and how they do it. They are always very generous with their time to answer questions. The speakers, as expected were excellent. These folks are THE subject experts on catfish and the fishkeeping hobby.

My guess is that there were over 200 species of fish available from vendors and breeders over the weekend.

PVAS is an excellent club to pull this thing off every two years.

[Andrew]

Hanging out with the fantastic people that come to the convention is the absolute best.

[ClearSky57]

Major Dittos to all the names dropped by everyone here so far....
For me a couple of the major highlights were putting faces to names I have corresponded with but had not met personally before this wknd..... In fact, I probably have seen some of these folks before and being pretty new (to catfish) didn't realize I was speaking with greatness so many times before...

The amount of knowledge that resinated on the third floor friday night was exceptional and one of those "one of a kind" times that no one should miss.

having the likes of Hans, Ingo, Shane, Ian, Jim sharing stories while in my room .....
i was in awe!!!

All in all, I probably only got about 6 hours of sleep the whole weekend, but you can't sleep man when you are trying to gleem every bit of knowledge from some of these people you only get to meet once a year or possibly once in a lifetime.

Got Ian and Han's cory books to add to my already growing list of must need reading material, (oh yeah and Rachels book wich is a must have for anyone in the nano world)

Cannot wait till the next one and I am definately going to look into the catfish study group or "L" days......

David (aka Clearsky57)

[gossei]

I enjoy simply being able to nerd out with like-minded people for a weekend.

Hat tip to you, Andrew, and to all the PVAS people who put on the convention.

Blaise

[steveh28]

As with the others, the highlight of this (and most any) convention was the people. Out of all the conventions I have been to, I think I enjoyed myself the most at this one. Meeting new people that I have talked with in forums and chat rooms (like Gossei and TwoTankAmin), sharing a room with 3 other breeders, and getting to see again and share a beverage or two (or more) with Ian Fuller, Hans-Georg Evers, Shane, Jools, Barbie and anyone else that wandered into room 301.

Seeing the fish available in all the rooms. Between 4 of us in one room, we had over 40 species! There were neat things all over the sales floor, and great people to go along with them.

The talks were top notch again this year. It is always a treat to hear the likes of Ian, Hans, and Ingo, all of whom I have seen before. It was nice to hear Jools give a talk for the first time and Melanie was outstanding! I can't wait to hear her again in November at the OCA.

If you have never been to a convention, make it a point to find one and go! The amount of info being passed around, both in the talks and just normal conversations, is not found anywhere else.

[TwoTankAmin]

I concur on the meeting people part. I had too little time for that. I will never be a room seller there again. That part was a disaster. I was lucky I was not killed on the return trip as to get things bagged/packed to bring home I did not sleep at all Saturday night (started at 10:30 and loaded the car 12+ hours later). At one point in stop and go traffic on the way home I was awakened by a lady tapping on my window asking if I was OK. I had fallen asleep in the center lane of the NJ Tpke in the stop and go traffic. Fortunately, I did so with my foot on the brake. So perhaps the best part was arriving home alive

While it was great to meet people and have a few minutes to chat with them, there was too little of that for me due to trying to do room sales and all the work involved. Thanks to all the folks Thursday night who helped me set up- Julie, Barb, Dale etc. you know who your were, I could not have done it without you all.

Another highlight of the event was learning what it takes to be a fish pro who collects in the wild- and that is you must have big butt. You had to have been there for Jool's first talk to get that.

I will say this, I was very surprised to have so many folks who seemed to know the TTA name and and seemed gald to meet me. I never expected that since I am a nobody in the world of fish. For my part getting to talk to people like the one's mentioned above may be the best part. If I am able to attend the next one in 2016, I will not be selling and will be spending all my time with other attendees and at the talks. Room sales are too much work and not worth it, imo.

As Rachel said, folks who come from a great distance are people who would likely never get to meet in person were it not for such an event.

And Jools, thanks again for that amazing book. I cannot wait to really dig into it. And thanks to Dale for helping sex the P. comptas.


ps- Forgot to mention- having Hans stop into my room, look at my zebra plecos and ask for how much I sold them. When I told him having him say. "I should live in America." was neat.

[MChambers]

There were a lot of great moments, but I think I enjoyed Melanie Stiassny's presentation the most. I say that even though, or perhaps because, I am unlikely to ever have any fish from the lower Congo in my tanks.

The other speakers were great, too, as were the vendors, the Spree on Three, and the auction.

Thanks to everyone at PVAS who worked on this.

Matt

[Nabobmob1]

TTA, I'm glad you got home safe, I was a bit worried when I left your room Saturday night around 5 am. I'm glad you enjoyed a bit of things. this was my second time selling and third convention, in the future I'll focus on bringing less and preselling more. after several conversations too may people traveled too far to want to worry about trying to get fish home and the locals are assuming the fish brought will be in the auction if not sold. IT is a lot of work especially by yourself, I was sharing with three.

Our seller room right side



And then the left



we had over 40 species but your setup was far prettier with all the tanks.

Some of the highlights:

Myself, like you, was given a bit of an ego boost with the number of people who knew who I was prior to introduction. I've also been given a strong push to get off my duff and put some presentations together. In the 4 years I've been traveling the fish scene I've accomplished quite a bit and have made some wonderful friends that are; at times, far more supportive than my mind usually is. Year after year I spend time with the same great people and many times it's as if we never parted. Some I keep in regular contact with and others not as well, but we seem to not miss a beat. Being encouraged by Shane Jools to continue filling out breeding reports, as well as Hans and Ian to start working on articles for CSG and Amazonas.

All the talks I was able to witness and the conversations thereafter.

But the biggest highlight was giving Ian a whoopin in billards at the Bodrock residence Sunday night 1/4 the way home, and the hospitality him and Regina gave me while there. (Ian gave me a few whoopin's too)

[Barbie]

Every time the convention ends, I think I can't possibly wait to see all of these fantastic friends with so much in common! I never get to spend anywhere near enough time with any one person. I never remember all of the things I want to ask. I also learn all sorts of nifty tricks and tips to things I hadn't thought to ask. It recharges my enthusiasm, gives me ideas for fish I haven't kept yet, and sometimes lets me pick up things I haven't found anywhere else.

David, go to the CSG convention. You won't regret it. They are fantastic, and you do eventually realize you can understand them ;). OK, maybe most of them!

I made the choice to not take as many fish to sell this time so I would have more time to visit. I think I will probably try to do more preorders and work that way from now on. It did at least make it more relaxing!

Barbie

[Andrew]

It recharges my enthusiasm,

This might be the most important thing, actually...

[Barbie]

It is definitely why I keep coming, time after time. Working retail tends to suck a lot of the enjoyment out of it all. I do think we need to find a way to have a larger room available for some kind of pleco discussion forum again, one of these times. More of a true roundtable sort of affair. I have so many people ask me questions in the rooms that repeat what I just answered a few hours before. I know that happens a lot in the friday spree. That hotel it could even be easy to organize out where they set up the pizza on Sunday. Something casual, with beverages and comfy chairs. Just a thought ;). You know me, all about pressing for more pleco stuff!

Barbie

[Andrew]

That's the point, isn't it? It's great to have fun at a convention, but what's really important is the knowledge and enthusiasm you take home to your own fishroom. The new fish you want try, the new tips for the fish you already have, these are the things are really valuable long term.

[TwoTankAmin]

I think one reason I got carried away with how much I brought was partly due to my desires to insure i would not sacrifice my typical method of getting a donation to PlanetCatfish where I sent some zebras to Barbie who then sold them and the proceeds went to the site. That way the weekend itself did not cost me and I could do my small part in helping to insure PC kept on truckin. This trip I was paying for the trip, the hotel etc., so I wanted to sell more and donate a % to the site. So it was important to me to sell a bunch. What I did not realize, having never done room sales before, was how much work was involved, especially doing things as I did.

The result was I missed most of the best reason for attending this event- more time with other attendees, more time for the talks and all the potential learning.

I hope to make it back in 2016 so I can enjoy this great event as most attendees do.

I really like Barbies idea. While I am not a professional breeder or seller, there are plenty of us hobby breeders who could share things with others as well as learn a lot from them. I am a firm believer that the dynamics in an aquarium are far different from those in the wild in many respects.

[jp11biod]

I think Barbie and TTA have a good idea. The speaker lineup is incredible and I hope it stays that way, but I think the Convention could be improved by adding a series of other talks, and/or round-table discussions. I went to the National Aquarium on Thursday and spent most of the day Friday looking for something to do.

Andrew -- consider a bunch of one hour sessions with local breeders or hobbyists that can answer detailed questions on the hobby. Titles to consider, "Everything You Wanted to Know about Breeding Loricaridae" or Cories, or Live Food, or Filtration, Shipping Fish, AquaScaping, etc. Most of these talks would not even need a PowerPoint. Just get a facilitator, an expert, and a group of interested hobbyists in a room together and it would work.

I enjoyed the Convention immensely but something like this, would make it even better.

JS

[Birger]

Is that not what the impromptu meetings were in the meeting place they had set out...the one that also supplied beers on a regular basis in the middle of the hotel...there is a lot of talk done in this way.

Mind you, if you are sitting in your room waiting to make sales, yes you miss these round table talks.

The chatting that goes on in the various rooms is much the same...I spent what seemed like a good hour or two at around midnightish on Saturday or maybe it was Sunday night, chatting about the

Anchariidae

catfish of Africa with Jools and someone who does occasionally frequent this site and spends time regularly in Madagascar and had unseen by us photos of these catfish...awesome...there are not many places in the world we could have had this conversation. This was one conversation that stands out for myself.

Birger

[MChambers]

Is that not what the impromptu meetings were in the meeting place they had set out...the one that also supplied beers on a regular basis in the middle of the hotel...there is a lot of talk done in this way.

Yes, but if it were done as a part of a regular session, more attendees would get to hear it. I think it's a great idea.

[Jools]

It is indeed the people for me, meeting new people especially Rachel, Chris, Matt and Jim was great - this is the convention I feel most at home at, amongst family, so it was a fantastic weekend.

Jools

[corybreed]

The informal talks with my old friends as well meeting new friends. It really is one big catfish family and all are welcome. I always return from the convention highly motivated to start new projects in the fish room. Looking forward to returning in 2016 with a stop in Wigan for the CSG 2015 convention.

Mark

[Nabobmob1]

Is that not what the impromptu meetings were in the meeting place they had set out...the one that also supplied beers on a regular basis in the middle of the hotel...there is a lot of talk done in this way.

Yes, but if it were done as a part of a regular session, more attendees would get to hear it. I think it's a great idea.

Rob and I discussed this a little on the way home.

All the talks were great and the information was everywhere. I thought it would be neat to brake up sitting in a dark room all afternoon with some sort of panel discussion with not necessarily just the speakers, but some of the other popular faces in attendance. or even having this during the banquet in lieu of a keynote talk.

[Andrew]

Suggestions noted

[Birger]

At the UK Catfish Convention they began having a question and answer session with all the speakers on the panel,the year I was there, 2012 they also added Jools with us to cover some tech questions if asked. What they did is ask all the attendees for a question at the beginning of the convention and then went through these questions with the panel as the time allowed.

Was quite good actually.

Birger

[corybreed]

The first US convention had a Cory breeding forum and I believe the second had a pleco forum. They took place in the evening, very informal, beer and good information.

Mark

[rmc]

That sounds like a great idea! Open discussions can be just as valuable as talks in my experience as long as they stay on topic.

I had a great time at my first Catcon! Thanks to everyone who put together the event, the incredible speakers, and to everyone who attended. What an incredible group of people - so much knowledge and talent! It was so cool to put faces and personalities with all the people on here, and on other "whiskery" places on the web. For me the entire experience was a highlight- any one who has never been to one should definitely go!

Rob

[Allen Repashy]

I had an absolute blast!

The talks were great and the conversation was just as interesting. I enjoyed finally meeting so many people face to face that I have met through this site. I even got to meet some of my dealers in person for the first time. I went early and joined the trip to the National Aquarium which was awesome too. Lots of fun!

Allen

[bekateen]

I even got to meet some of my dealers in person for the first time.

Allen, I know what you meant by this, but it just sounds wrong... AND really interesting and funny! From this comment, I now understand why CatCon is so popular!
Eric

[nvcichlids]

Dont worry... the FBI Drug Task Force is watching.. lol

I wish I was able to attend. The next one I will be at.