Origami February 10, 2021 Share February 10, 2021 >> ANNUAL MEETING NOTICE<< Sunday, 21 March 2021 Time: 2:00 P.M. - 5:00 P.M. (Speaker starts at 2:15 PM) Where: Virtual - Zoom + Facebook Live (to the WAMAS Group page) With our first virtual meeting under our belt, it's time to announce and to schedule our annual meeting, required by WAMAS bylaws. It's also an opportunity to get together and spend time to be both educated and entertained about topics on which we share mutual interest. . Like the last meeting, this meeting will be streamed to Facebook Live with limited participation available on our Zoom platform. We will post details of how to participate in this thread, so please check back as we update the thread with details. Since our last meeting went rather smoothly, we'll probably increase the number of Zoom slots available to the WAMAS Members, but (again) this will be by request only and first-come-first-served. (Please wait to make your request until AFTER registration has been announced.) This meeting will be free to WAMAS members and members of the WAMAS Facebook group. To view the meeting on the Facebook Livestream, you MUST be have an account on Facebook and must be a member of the WAMAS group. Only WAMAS members are eligible to vote in WAMAS elections and to participate in the raffle give-away (details below). Because we are unable to gather physically, we will establish and publicize election rules and the process to be used this year. ==> WAMAS ELECTIONS <== This meeting is also our annual meeting. The offices of Vice President and Secretary will be filled at this meeting (two year terms). Nominations will open soon for these position and will be announced here and in a separate thread. Agenda: 2:00 PM Announcements 2:10 PM Election Results 2:15 PM Speaker 3:30 PM Discussion / Q&A 4:00 PM Raffle/Doorprize Speaker: Stephen Hartter, Georgia Aquarium Topic: A Mega-Reef in Atlanta - The Past, Present and Future of a 164,000 gallon Live Reef Aquarium The Georgia Aquarium, located in downtown Atlanta, was the largest aquarium in the world when it opened in 2005. While the aquarium is known for some of its megafauna (Whale Sharks, Manta Rays, and Beluga Whales), it also contains one of the largest live coral reef aquariums in the world. In his talk, Steve will take a deep dive into the reef’s construction, modifications, maintenance, and challenges associated with such a large coral aquarium. Speaker Biography Since 1994, Steve has been an aquarium hobbyist and has filled his fish room with everything from aquatic turtles to planted and reef aquariums. To help pay his way through college and support his aquarium addiction, he worked at two large family owned fish stores in Michigan. Steve earned a degree in Zoology with a concentration in Marine Biology from Lyman Briggs College at Michigan State University. Once graduated, Steve entered the public aquarium field. As a Senior Aquarist at the Florida Aquarium he managed a variety of exhibits from a few gallons to 500,000 gallons. Currently, Steve is a Senior Aquarist at the Georgia Aquarium, where he maintains the fourth largest live reef exhibit in the world. He is also heavily involved in the coral conservation field work that the Georgia Aquarium performs. Agenda: 3:00 PM Announcements 3:10 PM Introduction 3:15 PM Speaker 4:15 PM Discussion / Q&A 4:45 PM Raffle/Doorprize 5:00 PM End Raffle Prize(s) Grand Prize is The Plank Automatic Feeder from Avast Marine and some Reef Jerky! Avast Marine has deep roots in the WAMAS community, having been started and run by two long time members, Dan Lichens and Justin Casp. Many clubmembers have Avast equipment on our systems, or even other equipment that Dan originally designed, built and sold under the Grey Seas Aquatics name before founding Avast. The Plank automatic feeder represents another step forward by our favored sons (Captains) - attesting to a spirit of innovation that is grounded in a deeply rooted love of the hobby. The Plank is designed to feed your most delicate and selective tank inhabitants by delivering food the way many of them have evolved to eat - continuously, in microfeedings spread throughout the day. Safe and reliable, the Plank is designed to interface easily to an aquarium controller, automated light timers, or even smart-outlets controllable by your smart phone. Learn more about the Plank from Avast Marine, and all their innovations, at their website. And attend the meeting to get your chance to win one! As a bonus, the winner will also get some Reef Jerky! Other Raffle Items: $50 gift certificate to Puddle Aquatics, our newest sponsor! (Five chances to win!) $50 gift certificate to Dr. Mac's Pacific East Aquaculture (Two chances to win!) More to be added as we secure additional sponsor donations. We're hoping to have many chances for members to win, so don't miss this meeting! Raffle Process and Rules No purchase is necessary. The raffle is open to WAMAS members only. (You must be a member at the time of the drawing.) The WAMAS President is ineligible. The drawing will be held during the WAMAS meeting The winner must be "present" at the meeting (either through Zoom or Facebook) to claim the prize. If not present, we'll draw for the next winner. Members that sign up have an equal chance at winning. A week or so before the meeting, we'll start a sign-up thread in the forum. We'll post a link in this thread. Members participate in the raffle by posting once and once only to this thread. Duplicate sign ups will be deleted. If this rule is abused, a member may be removed as a partricipant. This thread will be closed the night before the drawing. No warning will be given to the thread closure. The WAMAS President will use an online random number generator to generate a number from 2 to the max post# in the thread and will announce the winning number. The drawn number identifies the winner by their post number (i.e., sequence number in the thread). If the winner is present, we'll mail or transfer the award to them. If not, we'll draw again until we have a winner. Thank You, WAMAS Sponsors Special thanks to these sponsors. WAMAS has deliberately avoided collecting sponsorship fees from them during these tumultuous times, but they need your support now more than ever. Please support them & say thanks next time you shop with them. You can find their website address by visiting their forum or the sponsor page on the WAMAS website. WAMAS Platinum Sponsors - Aquarium Depot - Avast Marine - Blue Ribbon Koi - Capital Aquarium - Chemipure - Dr. Mac's Pacific East Aquaculture - FishnReef.com - LRS Reef Frenzy - Pimped Out Aquarium - Piscine Energetics - Premium Aquatics - Reed Mariculture (Reef Nutrition) - Reef eScape - Reef2Rainforest Media (Coral Magazine) - SaltwaterAquarium.com - Supreme Reefs WAMAS Banner-Only Sponsors - Cobalt Aquatics - Coralvue - Jellyfish Art - Live Aquaria - MASNA - Two Little Fishies Special Thanks Special thanks to Eureka Strategic Consulting of Columbia, MD, who (through a donation) are sponsoring our virtual meetings in 2021. Watch this space for more information to be made available as it arrives! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami March 6, 2021 Author Share March 6, 2021 Raffle sign up thread just posted. You'll find it here. Please read the rules and sign up once (and only once) to participate. Adding five $50 gift certificates from our newest sponsor, Puddle Aquatics, to the list of prizes! Thank you, Puddle Aquatics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami March 6, 2021 Author Share March 6, 2021 How to Attend: Zoom or Facebook Livestream? This meeting will be available to a very limited number of members through our Zoom account. I'll increase the number of Zoom attendees over the last meeting since it went rather smoothly, but it will still be limited. (I've not yet set up the meeting link, but if you're interested in attending the meeting on Zoom, please send me a PM.) You will also be able to participate through a livestream to the WAMAS Facebook group. If you're not already a member of this group or are not on Facebook, you may want to sign up now because we may not be able to approve your request if things get too busy during the meeting. When sending me a PM, please use the subject "Zoom Request". Note also that I will not respond to requests until I have a full accounting of the situation which will probably be until just a few days before the meeting. Rest assured, though, that your request has not fallen into a black hole. The default means of attending should be the Facebook livestream if at all possible to ensure that we have adequate resources available to all of us. Questions for the speaker are taken from both Facebook and Zoom attendees, so neither way of attending will offer an advantage in that sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami March 7, 2021 Author Share March 7, 2021 Announcing the Grand Raffle Prize is The Plank Automatic Feeder from Avast Marine! Avast Marine has deep roots in the WAMAS community, having been started and run by two long time members, Dan Lichens and Justin Casp. Many clubmembers have Avast equipment on our systems, or even other equipment that Dan originally designed, built and sold under the Grey Seas Aquatics name before founding Avast. The Plank automatic feeder represents another step forward by our favored sons (Captains) - attesting to a spirit of innovation that is grounded in a deeply rooted love of the hobby. The Plank is designed to feed your most delicate and selective tank inhabitants by delivering food the way many of them have evolved to eat - continuously, in microfeedings spread throughout the day. Safe and reliable, the Plank is designed to interface easily to an aquarium controller, automated light timers, or even smart-outlets controllable by your smart phone. Learn more about the Plank from Avast Marine, and all their innovations, at their website. And attend the meeting to get your chance to win one! As a bonus, the winner will also get some Reef Jerky! Thank you Avast for supporting your home club! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilary March 17, 2021 Share March 17, 2021 Just added two $50 gift certificates from our friends at Dr. Mac's Pacific East Aquaculture, who are LOADED with stock right now. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami March 20, 2021 Author Share March 20, 2021 Meeting is this Sunday starting at 2 PM! We hope to see you there. Don't forget the raffle. You must be present at the meeting and the raffle to win. Top prize is a new automatic feeder: The Plank from Avast Marine. Link to their page and description is in the first post above. To sign up for the raffle, follow the instructions above and put your name in the raffle entry post here on the forum. We've also got seven $50 gift certificates to give away - five from Puddle Aquatics and two from Dr. Mac. Come join us Sunday afternoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami March 20, 2021 Author Share March 20, 2021 Another reminder, if you're not able to join us on our Facebook Livestream, please request one of our limited number of Zoom slots by sending me a PM with "Zoom Request" as the subject. I'll be taking requests until noon on Sunday or until the slots are filled. Again, Zoom participation is by request only because we have limited slots. I will not be publishing links publicly, but only providing it on request and with a distribution restriction so we don't exceed our capacity on Zoom. I'll probably start responding to requests sometime on Saturday, so if you've made a request, rest assured that I have it and am not ignoring you. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami March 21, 2021 Author Share March 21, 2021 I still have Zoom slots available if any others want to attend on that platform vice Facebook Live. Just send me a PM with the title "Zoom Request" before noon tomorrow (3/21) and I'll send you information. After 12 PM, I'll be preparing for the meeting and may miss your request if you're unable to make the deadline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami March 21, 2021 Author Share March 21, 2021 One hour to go until the meeting starts. If you're participating via the Facebook livestream, make sure that you've joined the WAMAS group. I'll approve incoming memberships for the next 45 minutes to an hour. After that, I'll likely be occupied by the meeting and may not be able to handle as quickly incoming requests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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