Hi All

I'm sure I will miss a bunch of names of those who helped out, either because I've missed them or wasn't there to see it, but I have a long list of people I would like to thank for their help at pulling off this convention. Several of these people are not members of CCAC. There are a few of these people who I'm not really sure if I've spelled their names right, but I don't have the registration records handy to check. If I have missed you or if I have misspelled your name, please PM me and I will fix it.

The core committee:
-Julie Matthews
-Hedy Padgett (She was everywhere)
-Bill Flowers (Fish Show/Vendors)
-Dennis Bradshaw
-Jim and Brooke Sizelove (Speaker Gifts, Sound System)
-Joe Fleckenstein
-Jen Dillon

Special Thanks:
-Dave Smith (LTFF) and Jim Black (I put them together because they manned the back tables ALL DAY. They are truly the unsung heros of the auction.)
-Laura Wagner (MASI) – VPF Wine Pimpette and auction recorder (ALL DAY)
-Jen and Dexter Dillon – So Jen picks up some T-shirts for me and has her baby the next day, coincidence? I think Dexter was excited about the ALA convention!
-Andy Bosegard – Andy led a group for a behind the scenes zoo tour. He did all of this in a time where his family is under a lot of stress with medical worries and came in on his day off. WOW!

Our Convention Staff:
-Gordon Reed (CAFÉ – Champaign)
-Dustin Stonebraker
-Karen and Kelli Mitchell
-Joe, Genny, and Georgia Pietro
-Nicole Harter
-Erwin Gundrum
-Monte Francis
-Charley Grimes
-Jim Herman
-Robert Staton
-Stan “Door Prize” Domanowski
-Pat Sabourne (CAFÉ – Columbus)
-Shawn Flowers
-Earl Blewett
-Jim Black's wife (her first name escapes me for the moment)

The Auctioneers:
-Mike and Robin Schadel
-Joe Fleckenstein
-Phil Nixon
-Kevin “Lightspeed” Plazak

The Speakers:
-Joe and Paige Fleckenstein
-Pat Hartman
-Phil Nixon
-Molly Morris
-Rusty Wessel
-Mike Hellweg
-Michael Tobler
-Rich Serva
-Mike Schadle

You all have my heartfelt thanks!
Mike Matthews
CCAC President

While I wasn't there, I applaud all who made it happen. Teamwork and organization provide the key link, and I'm glad you all had a hand in making it happen.

Thanks guys.

Does anyone have a listing of the species that went to auction so that we can see what was missed?

Quote:
I will be anxious to see if you get a response to this request. I actually brought my laptop to the auction with the intention of keeping just such a list, but I didn't even make it through the initial donation items before I gave up.

I think I heard that some organizations actually record buyers and sellers along with the species so that they have a contact list when someone asks about the availability of a fish at a later date.

My guess is that the ALA doesn't keep such records. If not, would it be worth while to start a thread where people can list the species that they remember from the auction? I can probably come up with 90% of the goodeids that were offered, but probably less than 20% of the non-goodeids.

we can match up buyer with seller for a while at least, but i don't think hedy keeps the forms beyond a couple months. if anyone needs that sort of information in the short term, we can try to look it up. that's why we ask everyone to put contact information on the labels.

as to a complete list, that would be a significant undertaking. the electronic records kept are pretty much limited to bag numbers and prices. typing in the seller sheets to compile a list would be a lot of work and i'm not sure the benefit would be realized.

I was thinking, because it was probably done on a computer all that would need to be done would be to export the file and resort the data within a database. The information is a useful tool, and I've encouraged the ALA to track the stuff without success. Soon, we won't really know who has what until someone shows up with...

yeah it would be nice, but since the sellers hand us paper lists that adds a lot of work to it. i would like to have that sort of data too, but i would hate to be the one typing it in. the only way to enforce that sort of system would be to find a way to compell people to enter their own data. you almost have to require them to use a specific system and make it print out their labels and everything in order to capture the data.

We might be able to make something here, tho it'd require connectivity at the convention to actually use it there.

I would have thought it was done by computer at the Convention. Everyone else seems to do it, and the ALA in the past used software...it kept keeping track of what was owed to the seller pretty easy. Maybe it was just the seller # and item # that they were entering. Sad if that was all.

I just wanted to add my congratulations and thanks to all the people who made the ALA 2009 Convention such a great success. Thanks a bunch everyone!