ACA News July 2017, Volume 3, #7

Volume 3, #7 July 2017

 Editor: Alan R. De Angelo Contact: ACANEWSLTR@gmail.com

đ&#x;˜žđ&#x;Žť The party's over my friends!

 The ACA Convention in Novi, MI was a great success. Man, I am still tired! What a busy time I had, meeting people, checking out fish, doing ACA business and everything else.

I arrived on Friday at 2 pm, leaving just enough time to check in and get prepared for the BOT meeting at 3 pm. The BOT meeting lasted three hours and if not for all of our other engagements, I'm sure it could've gone on longer. Having only an annual meeting, a lot has to be jammed into that time. We had a very productive meeting and got a lot done.

Instead of teasing you with what we decided, I will gather all of the facts, the meeting minutes, etc, and verify what I

remember so I do not mislead anyone by saying the wrong things.

There were also several donations and I will mention those in the next newsletter as well. There is a lot of info and it is still pouring in.

I will tell you that the ACA is going to be involved in two very exciting conservation projects. The first is in Madagascar and the second in Malawi. They are very worthwhile projects and a bit costly, too. But, I will be dastardly and leave you wondering what they are for a few more weeks.

As usual, the best part of any convention is the intermingling with so many like-minded people. The fish fast become secondary as one gets to be more entwined with the friendships you build at these events. I was especially happy to be able to spend time with Tim Hovanec, Phil and Jan Benes, Bill Merkley, Jay Wilson, Steve Edie, Shelby Bush, Art Parola and the list goes on. I also finally got to meet Lisa Boorman and had the chance to buy three of Heiko's DiscusBook editions from her. I have some prime reading to do. I did not even have a chance to attend any of the talks. So much was going on for me.

đ&#x;‘§Â đ&#x;‘Šđ&#x;‘¸ BABES Once again the BABES proved to be fantastic fundraisers for the ACA. Their efforts never go unnoticed. Thank you, from all of us, for your hard work and tireless dedication to fundraising for cichlid research and conservation. The BABES auction raised $2,700 while the 50/50 Raffle brought in $1,853. I want to recognize the winner of the 50/50 split,

Steve Edie, as he donated his winnings, $926.50, back to the BABES. Kudos to the BABES and Steve Edie, too.

đ&#x;““ đ&#x;“” đ&#x;“•Â đ&#x;“™ Buntbarsche Bulletin in PRINT We have five new BBs in print that are available to buy. They were present at the convention and a good number were sold. If you collect BBs like I do and want the hard copies, they can be bought at the ACA Back Issues site. A great big Thank You to Gary Bagnall of Zoo Med for printing these issues for us. I cannot express the gratitude the ACA has for Zoo Med as it continues to print our BBs.

đ&#x;’Ľ Publicity A warm welcome to Jay Wilson, who is taking over the role of Publicity Chair for the ACA. What can I tell you about Jay besides that he is a personable, energetic, enthusiastic guy who has great knowledge of digital marketing, takes great videos and makes them into wonderful presentations.

Many of you know Jay Wilson from some of his other endeavors. We should all be happy that Jay is turning his attention to the ACA.

đ&#x;‘€ Show Sanctioning Dan Martin has decided to hang up his medallion as our Show Sanctioning Chair. His many years of service and dedication to the ACA have been greatly appreciated. Dan, you will be missed. Best of luck with your future endeavors.

Needless to say, we are looking for another person to take on the role of Show Sanctioning Chair. If you would be interested in taking on this role, please contact me at: ACANEWSLTR@gmail.com.

Confessions of a Tropical Fish Addict There are still copies of Ross Socolof's classic book about growing up in the tropical fish industry. Ross spins his yarns very well and his stories will keep you entertained as you read this wonderful memoir. You can order it, too, from ACA Books.

đ&#x;‘ś đ&#x;‘ą đ&#x;‘´ Life Memberships/Donations Life Memberships are back.

Several months ago, I had the idea of bringing the ACA Life Membership back to life. I tossed the idea around with Tim Hovanec, our illustrious Treasurer and Keeper of the 501.c.3, and we came up with a way to do it and to raise more funds for the ACA to be involved with more research and conservation projects worldwide. I will be giving you more information on this after we get it all set up in the website.

Remember, as a 501.c.3 non-profit organization, your membership dues and donations are tax deductible.

Look for more about our conservation and research projects and how you can help get involved soon.

đ&#x;‘‘ Elections To those of you that approached me about running for the BOT at the convention, please send your bios to Daryl Hutchins my Co-Chair. Again, due to my being the BOT Chair, I am removing myself from the election process. So, please send your bios to Daryl at webslave@cichlids.org.au.

đ&#x;Ž? Trading Post The ACA is looking into having a self-operating Trading Post.

You will post the items you have for sale, price, etc. and whatever contact info you would like and it would erase itself after 30 days. This would eliminate the need for another person to be hands-on with the database but it would give our members a great way to list their fish for sale. Again, we are looking to have this in place in the near future.

đ&#x;“š BB Part II Send your submissions for publication in BB to Daryl at webslave@cichlids.org.au. The ACA is paying market rates for submissions of articles and photos. Contact Daryl for the particulars.

đ&#x;? MCA I must give a huge shout out to Josh Cunningham and the Michigan Cichlid Association crew that put on the convention

with the ACA. Their hard work and dedication made the event truly memorable. You were all awesome!

đ&#x;’“ Speaking of Conventions Behind the scenes of every convention is the guy who got the whole process started, from interviewing the prospective host clubs, to reviewing the hotel contracts and troubleshooting for the host club's convention committee throughout the entire event. I know that he doesn't want the recognition and I'll probably hear about this later, but I want to send a BIG Thank You to Phil Benes who has been the ACA Convention Chair for as long as I can remember. Phil, you have been seemingly tireless in your devotion to our convention successes. That is, until you collapse at the end of it all. Fantastic job, Phil.

đ&#x;‘˝ đ&#x;“Ą HOUSTON, WE HAVE LIFT OFF! The 2018 ACA Convention will be held in Houston, Texas on 7/4 through 7/8 at the Hilton NASA, Clear Lake.

There are numerous activities to see and many things to do near the hotel. One of them being a fireworks display held over the lake that the hotel is next to. And then there is this little place called NASA and the Moody Gardens and I want to tour the Battleship Texas, and ‌ plan to be there. By the way, I have seen some great restaurants nearby, too.

Food, fish, fun, friends, fireworks, sounds like a good time to me!

Look for more convention information in the next issue of the ACA NEWS. I should have all of the information for this year's convention and a little more to tell y'all about 2018 in Houston, TX. Take care, change that water, and get ready to eat some prime Texas beef and seafood next year!

Alan

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Elections Do you aspire to a BOT position? Send a short bio to Daryl Hutchins at webslave@cichlids.org.au. You have until Midnight CDT, on 10 August. But don't leave it until the last moment ... that would not be a good start.

B B   N E Wđ&#x;’˛đ&#x;’˛đ&#x;’˛đ&#x;’˛ BB submissions pay! Authors/photographers please contact the Editor at webslave@cichlids.org.au for details of the attractive rates.

NB: ACA does not assume copyright of images, neither are they added to a database without permission. In the event that we desire to re-use an image in other projects, permission would be sought and supplementary payment is guaranteed.

You do not need to be an ACA member to submit material for publication.

đ&#x;’°đ&#x;’ľđ&#x;’°đ&#x;’ľđ&#x;’° đ&#x;“ˇ

ACA BI-MONTHLY PHOTO CONTEST Goto: cichlid.org > Community > Photo contest.

đ&#x;‘ŚÂ đ&#x;‘§Â đ&#x;‘Š đ&#x;‘¨ LOCAL CLUB EVENTS

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EDIT YOUR MEMBERSHIP DETAILS Check/edit your Contact Details on CRC yourself when you move or change your e-mail address. It's so simple ... try it.

Go to cichlidae.com and click your username in the Welcome Panel Log-in Select the Edit Tab and make changes Click Save

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