Charles Delbeek at Big Al's Coquitlam

[sumpfinfishe]

Well it's too bad that a lot of reefers in the lower mainland didn't make it out to Big Al's last night, as you missed a really great meeting :exclaim:
To say that this guy is one of the worlds leading marine biologist in marine science and aquarium keeping and also the co-author of two of the best books you will ever read regarding reef keeping, it was a poor turn out to say the least by the lower mainland hobbiest :frown:

Charles Delbeek put on a amazing behind the scenes video slide show of the progressive changes that have taken place at his home base at the Waikiki Aquarium in Hawaii. Charles also provided us with some wonderful video of Japan's two largest public aquariums. There was also a question and answer period where anyone could ask him anything regarding his video footage as well as any questions about the hobby in general.

Grant and the rest of the staff at Big Al's put on a wonderful event so I would like to thank them for not only bringing Charles to Vancouver for the the meeting, but also for providing us with a wonderful spread of food and refreshments not to mention 20% off anything in the store and also a chance to hang out and talk with Charles after the meeting :biggrin:

After the meeting a few of us lucky reefers were able to have some more time to chat with Charles and all I can say is what a great guy :mrgreen:

Thanks again to Grant, Suzie and the rest of the crew for putting on such a great event.
Also a big thanks to Charles Delbeek for taking out the time to drop into Vancouver.
Hang'n out with "Goby Whoren" and "I Got Noth'n" on the weekend was also a blast.

cheers, Rich

[Jack]

Well said Rich. It was a great presentation and I really enjoyed it. The food was also great! And there are some amazing tanks in Japan!

A big thanks to Big Al's and Charles for comming out and setting this up for us.

I wondered why more people didnt' come too..

[Samw]

Where are the photos? No one took photos? How small is a small turnout? Was the presentation in the store? How do you find room for that in the store? They'd have to move all the shelves.

[LostMind]

I dont shop at big als much. I think they have a decent selection of fish and some decent equipment, but their invert tanks are bad.

As such, I dont have a big als card, its not worth it for the $30 in total I have spent at big als.

I couldnt attend the meeting without the big als card. So I didnt go. Besides, I have been in big als, I couldnt see where they would host an event like this anyways.

However, I do feel that big als has gone up a notch in my opinion as it seems they are trying to promote the hobby by bringing in people like Mr Charles Delbeek (I have one of his books :biggrin: ) and stuff like that can only be good for us local reefers, right?

Oh and I also thought the event was the same night as a canucks game (17th?) I didnt realise it was last night or I may have tried to make it out.

just my thoughts.

[Veng68]

It was a pretty good presentation and it was nice to meet up with Emily B & Christy again :)

Also the food was pretty good.......... that's a one spicy meatball :eek:

Cheers,
Vic Veng68

[sumpfinfishe]

Sam,
Regarding the turnout, there were over 60 people signed up from both locations and only 25 actually made the effort to show up :exclaim:
It blows me away that here in the lower mainland we have a strong interest in marine keeping and there should have been at least 3-4 times the turnout! It's not everyday that someone with this kind of experience and knowledge drops into town period :exclaim:

As for short notice or other plans- well sometimes plans have to be broken in order to accomodate other unexpected events.

As for space, the meeting was held in-store at the Coqouitlam location which could have easily held a larger turnout. The staff moved displays to accomadate the sign-up list and I'm sure if the list grew larger, then Grant would have made more room, or for that matter if the event showed a large amount of interest then I'm sure Grant could have held the meeting someplace else like a meeting room at a nearby hotel or something.

The simply fact of the matter is there's too many people that want reef/fish meetings, but then when there is one held they don't make the effort to show up :exclaim: :sad:

[EmilyB]

Rich, well said. I am echoing the thanks to Charles for the awesome presentation, and to Big Al's for hosting such an incredible opportunity at no cost. :eek:

You guys really have it good out there you know......

It was great to meet some more people and put faces to names, and have an enormous amount of fun! :mrgreen: (And I found a spouse for mouse... :razz: :lol: )

Vic, yeah those meatballs.... :eek:

[Delphinus]

I am soooo extremely jealous that Mr. Delbeek came to your town, period! Wow, I wish I could have come to that. :frown:

Anyone get any pictures? Let's see them! :mrgreen:

[sumpfinfishe]

OK here's one of Charles with one of his groupie's :mrgreen:


http://www3.telus.net/sumpfinfishe/images/delbeek.jpg

[mnoll406]

Hey Tony,
I'm with you on that one. I find it unbelievable that more local people couldn't make it. I wish we had oppurtunities like that here. Although having more one on one contact would definately be a plus for the people who did go.

Mike

[christyf5]

A great night all around! The Waikiki Aquarium looks absolutely fantastic, I can't wait to go check it out for myself. :mrgreen:

Big thanks to Grant at Big Als for the great opportunity to see Charles and the fantastic spread they put on. Thanks to Charles as well for the terrific presentation and insight into some fantastic Japanese Aquarium Centers.

Jeez, after seeing that pic I'm glad the other ones later on didn't turn out :wink: I'm pretty sure someone spiked my beer. :razz:


Christy aka gobywhore :P

[TimT]

Yeh Christy, I thought someone might have spiked your beer when you started dancing on the table. :lol: I suppose you don't remember that though?

I enjoyed Charles talk very much. It was interesting to see how the Waikiki has progressed. Also interesting to see Charles lift a 167lb Gigas into a tank.

There was some very interesting video footage of the Fiji reefs. I even got to see my Fiji supplier in the video. It was sad though to see the devestation caused by the bleaching events.

The Japanese aquariums were impressive too. I have never seen a Whale Shark in captivity, let alone three in one tank. It was amazing!!!!!

The video of one of the Japanese reef stores was amazing too. I saw coral there that would blow your mind. It was at least 5 times as expensive as here. The old adage applies. "You get what you pay for". If your going to be a cheapskate and only want to pay 30$ for coral you will never see corals like the ones in Japan.

Yup those meatballs were spicy!!!!! and that was the best fruit juice I have had in a long time.

A most enjoyeable evening. Hats off to Grant and staff!!!!

Tim

[Buccaneer]

Does anyone have a link to any of those Japanese Aquariums other than the ones previously posted on here ?

[StirCrazy]

A great night all around! The Waikiki Aquarium looks absolutely fantastic, I can't wait to go check it out for myself. :mrgreen:



I am checking it out the first week in july :mrgreen: did anyone ask him how we can get back side tours in Waikiki, or were they reciptive to that?

Steve