Jessy
09-10-2008, 05:03 PM
MACNAXX Started out with a very early morning flight and no sleep the night before. The security lines at the airport were out the door and across the street at 6 am and I wouldn't have made my flight unless I was pulled out of line and rushed through security. Once on the plane, travel to Atlanta was fairly painless. The train (MARTA) was easy to find in the airport and I got a round trip ticket for about $5. The train ride was great except for the fact that I had to fight with bulky luggage falling over at every stop. Leaving the train I was met with what had to be the biggest escalator known to man. This thing had to run 5 stories up to street level. None the less it took me within 100yds of the door of my hotel.
As soon as I got to the room at about 2:30 in the afternoon on Thursday Sept 4th, I laid down for a nap. About 4:30 I woke up and went into the bathroom to wash my face and I hear Marc (melev) Levenson (my roomie for this trip) open the door. I ask, “Marc?”… He obviously arrived with a few others behind him because all of the sudden he proclaims, “This room comes with a GIRL! See you all later!” HAHA…and that was just a taste of how my weekend was going to be hanging with him and the Texas crew he came with.
I spent most of that evening sitting around getting my bearings and trying to see if I recognized anyone walking down through the lounge area near reception. I didn’t.
I got tired of that fast and called Marc to see what they were doing that night. It turns out they were going out to eat and invited me to join. After dinner we went to the Skylight at the top of the Westin hotel where we could relax and enjoy the view of Atlanta at night.
Friday was the first day of the show and the doors opened at noon. At first impression the show reminded me a lot of MAX (Marine Aquarium Expo) and Reef-a-Palooza in SoCali, but that was just because there are a lot of the same vendors, and come on, it IS another tradeshow in the same industry.
I made quick rounds to get the lay of the land. By this time, I was starving with no breakfast and a bit overwhelmed with where to start. I stumbled across Marc and found out, to my dismay, that my roomie has a distinct aversion to eating meals on a regular basis and he firmly declined my request to go grab a bite. Lucky for me, shortly after, my intestinal torture was relieved because the rest of the Texas group was heading to Hooters for lunch.
As a new addition to the group, I felt welcomed immediately and later enjoyed the small reassurance that comes from being able to see at least one familiar face across a room of strangers.
Friday night was the “Cocktail Party” for MACNA and about 7:30 everyone proceeded to the ballroom. I was quite surprised to find that the drinks weren’t complimentary (not even the soda) and even worse were outrageously priced ($4.25 for about 8oz of Diet Coke). The party had a presentation on Japanese Aquariums that I didn’t really pay attention to because Marc and Evan set up the recording equipment in the back of the room to record for ReefCast and I couldn’t really hear where I was seated. I had the impression that not many people were captivated by that particular presentation. Looking to make my own entertainment, I lured the first victim, Bob Fenner, to the makeshift recording studio. He kindly acquiesced us with a light-hearted interview and quite a few laughs.
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h114/JessyCat77/MACNAXX/DSC02361-1.jpg
After the interview we decided to pay homage to the tummy gods once again, and 8 of us headed down the street to a Mexican style restaurant. Upon entering Marc and Evan (Quicksilver) see the New Jersey Reef Club (future hosts for MACNA XXI) and decide to try to get on their good side by buying them all a round of drinks. I had created a simple ReefCast sticker for Marc a month earlier and he brought a grip of them with him. Accordingly, twelve bottles of Corona got wiped down and relabeled as “Reefcast Corona” and placed neatly on a waitress’s tray. Happy with my application skills, we head behind the waitress to the unexpecting MACNA hosts, and that’s when it all went south…literally. The entire dozen of bottles toppled over on the waitress’s tray. The cause of this blunder (EVAN) shall remain unnamed because there is no hard evidence, but with some quick thinking Marc and Aaron were able to stabilize most of the bunch and resituate them on the tray still in the arms of the bewildered waitress. How the SECOND aftershock happened, is beyond my comprehension. Because after the twelve, more-or-less, full bottles of Corona were stable again atop the tray, they all went crashing to the ground in a clash of glass, bubbles, and ReefCast stickers. The hilarity that followed is something that mere words could not describe. Needless to say, with quick thinking, I was able to capture the whole thing on my camera. Enjoy.
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h114/JessyCat77/MACNAXX/DSC023672.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h114/JessyCat77/MACNAXX/DSC023682.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h114/JessyCat77/MACNAXX/DSC02369.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h114/JessyCat77/MACNAXX/DSC02370.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h114/JessyCat77/MACNAXX/DSC02373.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h114/JessyCat77/MACNAXX/DSC02374.jpg
As soon as I got to the room at about 2:30 in the afternoon on Thursday Sept 4th, I laid down for a nap. About 4:30 I woke up and went into the bathroom to wash my face and I hear Marc (melev) Levenson (my roomie for this trip) open the door. I ask, “Marc?”… He obviously arrived with a few others behind him because all of the sudden he proclaims, “This room comes with a GIRL! See you all later!” HAHA…and that was just a taste of how my weekend was going to be hanging with him and the Texas crew he came with.
I spent most of that evening sitting around getting my bearings and trying to see if I recognized anyone walking down through the lounge area near reception. I didn’t.
I got tired of that fast and called Marc to see what they were doing that night. It turns out they were going out to eat and invited me to join. After dinner we went to the Skylight at the top of the Westin hotel where we could relax and enjoy the view of Atlanta at night.
Friday was the first day of the show and the doors opened at noon. At first impression the show reminded me a lot of MAX (Marine Aquarium Expo) and Reef-a-Palooza in SoCali, but that was just because there are a lot of the same vendors, and come on, it IS another tradeshow in the same industry.
I made quick rounds to get the lay of the land. By this time, I was starving with no breakfast and a bit overwhelmed with where to start. I stumbled across Marc and found out, to my dismay, that my roomie has a distinct aversion to eating meals on a regular basis and he firmly declined my request to go grab a bite. Lucky for me, shortly after, my intestinal torture was relieved because the rest of the Texas group was heading to Hooters for lunch.
As a new addition to the group, I felt welcomed immediately and later enjoyed the small reassurance that comes from being able to see at least one familiar face across a room of strangers.
Friday night was the “Cocktail Party” for MACNA and about 7:30 everyone proceeded to the ballroom. I was quite surprised to find that the drinks weren’t complimentary (not even the soda) and even worse were outrageously priced ($4.25 for about 8oz of Diet Coke). The party had a presentation on Japanese Aquariums that I didn’t really pay attention to because Marc and Evan set up the recording equipment in the back of the room to record for ReefCast and I couldn’t really hear where I was seated. I had the impression that not many people were captivated by that particular presentation. Looking to make my own entertainment, I lured the first victim, Bob Fenner, to the makeshift recording studio. He kindly acquiesced us with a light-hearted interview and quite a few laughs.
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h114/JessyCat77/MACNAXX/DSC02361-1.jpg
After the interview we decided to pay homage to the tummy gods once again, and 8 of us headed down the street to a Mexican style restaurant. Upon entering Marc and Evan (Quicksilver) see the New Jersey Reef Club (future hosts for MACNA XXI) and decide to try to get on their good side by buying them all a round of drinks. I had created a simple ReefCast sticker for Marc a month earlier and he brought a grip of them with him. Accordingly, twelve bottles of Corona got wiped down and relabeled as “Reefcast Corona” and placed neatly on a waitress’s tray. Happy with my application skills, we head behind the waitress to the unexpecting MACNA hosts, and that’s when it all went south…literally. The entire dozen of bottles toppled over on the waitress’s tray. The cause of this blunder (EVAN) shall remain unnamed because there is no hard evidence, but with some quick thinking Marc and Aaron were able to stabilize most of the bunch and resituate them on the tray still in the arms of the bewildered waitress. How the SECOND aftershock happened, is beyond my comprehension. Because after the twelve, more-or-less, full bottles of Corona were stable again atop the tray, they all went crashing to the ground in a clash of glass, bubbles, and ReefCast stickers. The hilarity that followed is something that mere words could not describe. Needless to say, with quick thinking, I was able to capture the whole thing on my camera. Enjoy.
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h114/JessyCat77/MACNAXX/DSC023672.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h114/JessyCat77/MACNAXX/DSC023682.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h114/JessyCat77/MACNAXX/DSC02369.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h114/JessyCat77/MACNAXX/DSC02370.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h114/JessyCat77/MACNAXX/DSC02373.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h114/JessyCat77/MACNAXX/DSC02374.jpg