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MACNA Sept. 4-6, 2015 - Washington DC

TanksNStuff

TanksNStuff

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Since next year's MACNA is going to be so close to home, I was considering going to it. I've never been to one and am really excited to have a chance to go. I literally joined NJRC right about the time we hosted MACNA in 2009, and since I was just getting into the hobby and didn't even have a tank set up yet, I didn't even think to go to it. Now that I've helped run a few of NJRC's frag swaps and realize how big a MACNA event must be... I wish I had gone to the one we hosted. :(

Anyway, I wanted to start a thread here to see who all plans to attend and to also ask some questions about the event from those who've gone before.

Questions:
1. Is it worth going a day early and/or staying a day late? I'm honestly not that interested in the local entertainment, but was wondering if avoiding the chaos on Friday by checking in Thursday night instead is worth it? Is traffic going to be a nightmare on Sunday and should we just do something that evening and drive home Monday instead?

1a. The current schedule has "TBD" for "Early Registration", and then "Hall Closes" for Thursday. Is that early entrance for attendees that register early, or is that just for vendors, etc. setting up?

2. Friday Reception and Saturday Banquet - These are both after the hall closes, so won't take away from shopping, etc. How good are these and what can you expect? Are they buffet type meals or sit-down dinners? Are they casual or more formal? Do they have speakers or anything going on during them?

3. Who is going to MACNA 2015 in DC? Dance
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

Pre Macna I was a hobbyist who had read a ton of books and had a lot of experience in FW and limited in saltwater.
Post Macna - i gained enough insight and confidence to breed rotifers, start a baby brine culture and stay up late at night catching clownfish fry. LOL. Rod Buehler of Rod's Reef at Macna was an incredible wealth of information about rotifers.

Monday is labor day so driving should not be an issue on sunday night.

I do believe the banquets have speaker and live music- at least that was the case in NJ.
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

we may go...haven't decided yet. $124 a night for the hotel. when i pre-registerd for the macna in orlando, they gave me a tour of the reef exhibit in sea world which was initially boring as hell but the walk thru was a lot of fun.
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

hmm i was going to link my orlando pics but i can't find the thread. I recall we lost a lot of threads during a switch...oh well. Guess i have to repost them....(the avatar i have is my daughter at Seaworld during that macna weekend).
 
M

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
1. Realize you are going to dc so always plan on traffic lol. We have only gone early if we wanted to really see what was outside the hall. If you are not into the sites, going down late Thursday or super early Friday is probably your best bet. There is plenty of time to get yourself registered and ready to go. Masan members get in one hour early so that is nice and membership is cheap.

2. The reception Friday big is generally laid back and fun, every venue has done something different, so really hard to say what it is going to be. Generally drinking and some sort of entertainment. The banquet has the keynote speaker and is sit down.

3. We are thinking about it, depends on a few things and being within driving allows us to procrastinate on the decision as we don't have to book flights and a hotel right away. We have a lot of friends in dc so we might go for that alone.
 
hans24hrs

hans24hrs

Jason verna and I are going. We are going Saturday only though, not sure if we are staying the night (before or after) still a ton of time to figure it out. But I did order tix already.
 
Mark...

Mark...

I'm really interested in going. The have a discounted $99 per person 3 day pass. Normally $179. They also ask for a discount code, anyone know of one?

It would be nice to get a group from NJRC to go and share part of a floor etc.

My wife loves all the DC landmarks, so I know she would have a great time.
 
Tommyboynj

Tommyboynj

Administrator
Officer Emeritus
Im going. I'll probably go for the whole thing. My wife went to George Washington and I lived I dc for a summer so it has a special place in my heart. It's a very family friendly city with tons to do. We took the kids there for a weekend this summer and weekend was not enought time to hit the major stuff. It's the perfect city for a "family MACNA"


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SeahorseKeeper

SeahorseKeeper

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Bumping this up!! Who still plans on going? I'm planning on going either Friday or Sunday. If anyone wants to carpool, let me know.
 
K

Karenvas2

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Krista, I cannot go so I have to sell my tickets. I have the full registration. Let me know it might be the price of the two day.
 
SeahorseKeeper

SeahorseKeeper

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Karenvas2 said:
Krista, I cannot go so I have to sell my tickets. I have the full registration. Let me know it might be the price of the two day.
Click to expand...

Karen, thank you, but I already have tickets. Bummer that you can't make it!!! :(


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M

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
Since we won tickets at RAP, we will be down the full weekend. Looking forward to it.
 
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