Published Dec 4, 2023.
We hope this post finds you well and feeling full of gratitude after a happy Thanksgiving celebration with family and friends. At MASNA, we are are feeling very grateful for many things this year, our fascinating and fun industry/hobby being one of them!
Last August, Dr. Tim Law and Lou Ekus embarked on the mission to rescue MASNA. After the poor showing of MACNA 2022 in Milwaukee, the previous Board of Directors were focused on MASNA filing Chapter 7 due to hotel attrition. With the necessary cancellation of MACNA 2023 in Pittsburg, more hotel attrition was accrued. Since there were no booths sold for 2023, there were no deposits that needed to be returned. Despite the many challenges, we were able to negotiate MASNA out of all those attrition issues and see the organization get a second chance.
MASNA has now been reinvigorated with a dynamic new Board of Directors. Under this new Board’s leadership, the organization has undergone a comprehensive rebuild, resulting in a revamped membership package, with discounts on many of the hobby’s leading resources, that has attracted a fresh wave of members.
Starting with contracts signed six years earlier, we renegotiated to help reduce the chances of failure and took bold steps to ensure changes in MACNA with an eye to future success.
- We feel that offering flexibility is critical to re-establishing partnerships with our exhibitors. To that end, should MACNA 2024 change dates or venues, deposits can be either rolled forward or returned, based on your needs.
- We have maintained booth pricing and introduced captivating additions to the show floor. A 10×10 in-line is still $1400, with current Early Bird savings of $100, making the cost $1300.
- The show floor is now 2 days, instead of 3. This translates to lower commitment in time and expense for sponsors and vendors.
- The new Education Day is on Friday. With only one general speaker session per show floor day, attendees stay on the show floor to talk to exhibitors instead of emptying out every hour to listen to the speakers.
- We will have a B2B session on one of the days when registered retailers and our exhibitors will have uninterrupted time with industry distributors and manufacturers to take advantage of show specials.
MACNA is the only conference that is run by a non-profit. MACNA brings our community and industry together under one roof and reaches beyond our aquarium hobby. We urge you to consider reserving a booth and exploring available sponsorships. Your support ensures MASNA and MACNA continue to be valuable contributors to our community like they have been for the past 35 years and into the future.
Thank you for being a crucial part of this journey.
If you have any concerns, suggestions, or questions, please feel free to email Lou Ekus at vp@masna.org.