Congrats to those involved, was bigger and better than I expected for it's first year.

Jordan

Hahaha
That is fantastic!

I know, I'm stoked!!! When I say "choose"....we bought 3 :/

Was the expo a success?  The numbers that turned up are only measure of interest and do not indicate the success of an inaugural event. What determines whether or not the event was successful is how patrons feel about the experience. To date I have only heard positive comments and not a single negative. In fact, individuals when questioned by myself, used nothing but superlatives to describe their experiences. Based on the feedback I received, the Expo was clearly a triumph!

So why so successful?  From my perspective, it was due to catering for all patrons.  There were lots of live animals, many for sale, which are the basic stimulus for our hobby.  Also lots of excellent display enclosures that provided people with examples of what can be done with their own animals.  Plus a good variety of other reptile and amphibian related activities or goods, such as local field guides, conservation groups, private zoos, overseas herp adventures, landscaping goods, plus all the various heating and lighting equipment etc.  Given that many reptiles and particularly frogs eat insects, there was also an excellent display by the insect study group. Add to this the series of live venomous snake handling demonstrations, Foodand drink catering, the herp photo competition, and for kids the camel rides, face painting, snakes and ladders, huge rubber Leggo blocks and paper puzzles and colouring in - pretty much every conceivable interest was catered for. To my mind, this is what made the expo a success - that the planning provided great variety for all possible patrons. That we got so many through the turnstiles was a very unexpected bonus. That we catered for all of them was no accident.

The bulk of the hard work involved in planning and procuring exhibitors and activities was done by the Expo Coordinator, Alysia.  Her individual efforts cannot be overstated. She was ably assisted by various committee members on various things. There were also member outside the committee that made a more than significant contribution. I am aware of the efforts of Kate in establishing the sponsorship contracts and Chris in organising the Photographic Competition and I thank you both on behalf of the society for your invaluable contribution. I apologise if I have omitted anyone.

Activities cannot be run without people power.  Those individuals that gave up their time to help out on the day are worth their weight in gold. Thank you one and all. A special mention is worthy of Adderboy, who came to look and ended up working all day. 

Lastly, I believe it important to realise that the success of this event does not end with the day.  For every individual who attended and enjoyed themselves, they will want to tell others about that experience. If we had 3,000 bodies on the day, it is not unreasonable to expect that 10,000 will hear about it in good light. What this does is what the WAHS committee hoped to achieve – to promote our hobby and give it a greater profile in WA and also to promote the society that is representing and promoting that hobby.

Personally, I am over the moon as to how it all went. As for a young lady who has done an amazing job and put in a herculean effort, I could not be happier that her intentions plus were realised. She has my unqualified respect!

Light hearted write up about the expo from our friends at Camera Electronic.

Link:  http://cameraelectronic.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/a-day-with-my-scaley-mates.html?spref=fb