Aquatic Gardeners Association Convention

[mewickham]

From an AGA e-mail:
"The Aquatic Gardeners Association will host its 2012 Convention November 2 - 4 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel St. Louis Airport in St. Louis, Missouri. More info coming soon!"

Cool! Close enough to attend.

[BigMOCats]

The Missouri Aquarium Society, Inc. is proud to announce that we will be hosting the Aquatic Gardeners Association 2012 Convention right here in St. Louis on November 1 - 4, 2012.

The convention will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel St. Louis Airport. There is a free 24-hour shuttle from the airport to the hotel.

We'll have a great lineup of speakers--Prof. Niels Jacobsen of the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, eminent authority on Cryptocoryne species, will be the keynote speaker. Also featured will be Kris Weinhold, Brandon McLane of Florida Aquatic Nurseries, Tom Barr, and MORE! Speaker talks and bios coming soon!

This year we're going to have a Live Aquascaping Workshop. Under the guidance of a mentor, you can create your own nano aquascape to take home with you. The tank is the Fluval Flora (7.5 gal). It retails for about $100, and includes the light, filter, CO2 system, glass cover, and substrate. You also get rocks, driftwood, and plants. If you are flying in, you can have your tank shipped home for about $15. There are only 18 slots for this workshop, so register EARLY if you are interested.
Also new this year will be a Photo Contest - "Planted Tanks, Plants and Blooms". Winner announced and prize awarded at the Saturday Banquet.

For the first time ever, we've got two days of Field Trips. Come a day early and join us for the Thursday Field Trip to the St. Louis Zoo and nearby St. Louis Art Museum. At the zoo, we are trying to make arrangements for a free "behind the scenes" tour with a zoo employee who is a member of MASI. The Art Museum tour will be led by a docent who will focus on aquatic plant themes and fish/wildlife.

Thursday night, everyone is invited to a locally-sourced wine-and-cheese reception down the street from the hotel at Jerry Jost's business, Jost Chemical, including a tour of his spectacular fish room/laboratory with twin 90-gallon tanks that alone are worth the trip.

Friday's Field Trip will be to the fabulous Missouri Botanical Garden. Transportation and basic entry fees are included for both Field Trips. Lunch is on your own, but there are plenty of places to choose from.

Friday, November 2th, the presentations will begin in the evening and continue through Saturday afternoon. Saturday night's banquet will feature Niels Jacobsen speaking on his "Wanderings in the Great Forests of SE Asia," and of course the 2012 AGA Aquascaping Contest Winners!

And finally on Sunday November 4th, there is a huge all-day plant auction. This is certainly the biggest and best plant auction in the US, with plenty of options for the beginner and advanced hobbyist.

There will also be vendors, raffles, t-shirts, etc.

For more info: http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter @AGA2012STL.

[BigMOCats]

It’s October and time to make your hotel reservations if you haven’t already made them. It’s likely our room block will be gone soon since the rooms are filling up quickly, so don’t wait too long! There are rooms still available at this time so if you are told they are sold out, it is a computer glitch. Make sure you get the AGA rate!


Workshop and zoo trip have already sold out!