# Microcosm 2011?



## BrainBug (Aug 25, 2010)

I was wondering if there have been any talks of doing a Microcosm this year. Microcosm 2010 was awesome and I would love to attend if it was held on an annual basis.


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## pnwpdf (Nov 9, 2010)

Yes, I would be very interested in attending too. Didn't get to last year, but this year may be different.


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## fleshfrombone (Jun 15, 2008)

I hope we have another but this time money needs to change hands to encourage vendors to come again.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

The discussion about the next microcosm was held in the following post in a different thread

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/ge...ing-truth-about-save-frogs-27.html#post570688

Ed


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## BrainBug (Aug 25, 2010)

Thanks Ed. I was really hoping that it was going to be an annual thing. I suppose every other year is the best I can hope for now. 

Microcosm was where I got my first frogs. I go to all the other reptile and exotic pet expos that go on around here but nothing compares to that. Next time I'll make a weekend out of it instead of driving 3 hours each way in a day.


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## Roadrunner (Mar 6, 2004)

It might be of value to split that info off and put it here?


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

fleshfrombone said:


> I hope we have another but this time money needs to change hands to encourage vendors to come again.


Yes indeed. I know I dropped about $200 there, but I really hoped more people would shell out the dough for some of the AMAZING frogs that were available.
Its a hard economic time indeed, and that makes it really hard to convince people to travel and spend even more on animals and supplies once they are actually IN the show. I have high hopes that things will get better slowly but surely. I know Ill be back to whatever NW shows pop up


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## dmartin72 (Oct 27, 2004)

I would love to see this happen this year, but it doesn't sound like it will. I live in Seattle and would love to help out for the next one (2012).

I didn't go to the last one, but were a lot of the vendors left with a lot of frogs from little to no sales?


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## JL-Exotics (Nov 10, 2005)

dmartin72 said:


> I would love to see this happen this year, but it doesn't sound like it will. I live in Seattle and would love to help out for the next one (2012).
> 
> I didn't go to the last one, but were a lot of the vendors left with a lot of frogs from little to no sales?


I spoke to a few vendors that said the show was fantastic, but the sales were almost nil...


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

yeah, sales were pretty depressing. Its really too bad too.There were arboreus, granuliferous, rare pumilio and thumbnails, all the standard tincs etc + lots of cool feeders and plants.


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## rcteem (Mar 24, 2009)

frogparty said:


> yeah, sales were pretty depressing. Its really too bad too.There were arboreus, granuliferous, rare pumilio and thumbnails, all the standard tincs etc + lots of cool feeders and plants.


Maybe if held in a more populated area of the hobby like Cali, New York, Texas, or Flordia it might have a larger turn out???


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## jkooiman (May 2, 2010)

frogparty said:


> yeah, sales were pretty depressing. Its really too bad too.There were arboreus, granuliferous, rare pumilio and thumbnails, all the standard tincs etc + lots of cool feeders and plants.


The availability was spectacular. I realized the turnout was subdued etc. right away. Hopefully the "every other year thing" works out. I had anticipated a great deal of other hobbies would be represented, i.e. orchids, planted tanks, even reptiles. After all, the concept was "Life Under Glass". Perhaps a bit more solicitation of the those communities is in order? I had a lot of fun nonetheless, and did spend a great deal of money JVK


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## skylsdale (Sep 16, 2007)

It's good to hear folks liked the show: we received a lot of positive feedback about what was there, who was represented, etc...but realize that yes, money-wise it could definitely do better.

While planning the event and trying to get other hobbies/interests involved, we heard from numerous parties that this was an event that had simply not been done or attempted before. Many folks were interested, but also hesitant to get involved because it was, in fact, the very first time to try such an event. Were we to do another one, I think they would be more likely to sign on (and, hindsight being 20/20, we're now aware of a few key marketing details that we weren't aware of the first time around which would DEFINITELY boost foot traffic).

One of the greatest difficulties was actually trying to connect and work with other hobbies--each hobby has its own community and relationships and culture, and a "frog group" inviting them to participate in an event often appears as a random cold call, so to speak. They have their annual and regional events as well, and so a new event with a hobby and group they are unfamiliar with can be a difficult sell. In the future (again, if we do it again) we would like to have folks on the planning committee who are more plugged in and involved with some of these other hobbies and interests who can help bring some of those hobbyists and groups/societies in.

Also, we aren't just looking for ANY "glass box" hobbies. One of the themes of Microcosm was appreciation for natural history and the organisms we keep in this glass microcosms...so there are some aspects of some hobbies that just don't mesh well. Many who would fit well with such a show are more the niche hobbies within hobbies (killifish hobbyists, species orchid hobbyists, obscure gecko and anole hobbyists, Nepenthes growers, etc.). And again, these communities are relatively small compared to the herp and/or orchid hobbies in general, and it would help to have previous relationships and ties with some of those communities.

We also need to keep in mind that another major theme for the event was conservation and responsible captive husbandry...and this was a theme that a lot of the participants (especially from outside the PDF hobby) said they had never seen have such a strong presence at a show. So although it consists of hobbyists, folks putting the event together would need to realize it's not just about "what can I get" but also how we can increase our awareness of the greater macrocosm that we use as inspiration in creating our microcosms. So we would need planners who understand the importance of the presence and weaving together of all these themes in order to create such a unique event.

I talked briefly with someone a couple weeks ago who might be interested in helping plan the event, and it would most likely be held in a location (if not in the PNW) where a lot of these hobbies/communities overlap and converge. If you would at all be interested in possibly helping make another Microcosm a reality (which I would love to see), please feel free to contact me and let's see where the conversation goes.


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

I would have signed up as a plant vendor for orchids last time, but you guys were hoping to get Andys orchids or Ecuagenera, and by the time I heard they werent comng I didnt have enough time to get a bunch of plants together. Maybe next time


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## fleshfrombone (Jun 15, 2008)

frogparty said:


> I would have signed up as a plant vendor for orchids last time, but you guys were hoping to get Andys orchids or Ecuagenera, and by the time I heard they werent comng I didnt have enough time to get a bunch of plants together. Maybe next time


Jason, if you end up vending please let me know in advance. Next year I plan to drop at least a few hundred. I didn't see any grannies or retics that I recall but the species that were represented were awesome. A few that really stuck out for me was what Darren, Eric, and Adam were offering.


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## Scott (Feb 17, 2004)

The last legitimate IAD had a rough time of it as well.

There were Quinqs there, when this was still a tough to find frog, at very reasonable prices - that didn't sell at all. It was quite frustrating.

Things are starting to look up - but they're not quite back to where they were a few years back, that much is certain.

s


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

A lot of people are species nuts, me included, but Im thinking of trying tooffer some hybrid Masdevallias and Bulbophyllums, because they bloom more readily for many people, and multiple times a year. Im hoping to be able to have abunch of Masd. "sunset jaguar" and other crazy looking hybrids,in addition to Restrepia and Bulbophyllum species.
It would be nice to know well in adance when the next one will be, so I can stock up accordingly and hold some froglets back as well


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## BrainBug (Aug 25, 2010)

I would be willing to help as well. I would also be interested in a booth to vend tillandsia if there where to be another one in the area. 

I found out about the last Microcosm about a month before it happened by stumbling upon this site because I found a frog on my doorknob. I had not heard or seen about it any other time. I'm not sure what kind of advertising you did because I live in Portland but I think an ad in a weekly paper from Seattle and Portland in combination with online ads on forums like this sites like Craigslist would help to bolster attendance and sales.


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## jkooiman (May 2, 2010)

Scott said:


> The last legitimate IAD had a rough time of it as well.
> 
> There were Quinqs there, when this was still a tough to find frog, at very reasonable prices - that didn't sell at all. It was quite frustrating.
> 
> ...


How weird. The quinqs were the ones I kept obsessing about, but I didn't know much about them. I was sure they would be snatched up. I also kept wandering by the blue truncs, they were gorgeous. And the bassleri! I love that genus.

There were also a lot of nice 5.00 orchids.

The whole event was real "classy" in my opinion. Wish I had taken more time there, but was a bit "jetlagged" from the all-nighter drive.

In hindsight I guess I could have expanded my "budget"  JVK


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## skylsdale (Sep 16, 2007)

BrainBug said:


> I found out about the last Microcosm about a month before it happened by stumbling upon this site because I found a frog on my doorknob. I had not heard or seen about it any other time. I'm not sure what kind of advertising you did because I live in Portland but I think an ad in a weekly paper from Seattle and Portland in combination with online ads on forums like this sites like Craigslist would help to bolster attendance and sales.


We did all of those: Kingsnake, Reptiles Mag, various aquarist magazines, the Portland Mercury, The Stranger, etc. Plus we hit various pet and fish stores in the Seattle and Portland areas...and numerous online forums.


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## BrainBug (Aug 25, 2010)

skylsdale said:


> We did all of those: Kingsnake, Reptiles Mag, various aquarist magazines, the Portland Mercury, The Stranger, etc. Plus we hit various pet and fish stores in the Seattle and Portland areas...and numerous online forums.


Wow, it's a bummer more people didn't show up then. I am still very interested in finding out about the next one if there will be one. The idea of moving the location up and down the west coast is not a bad one either. I would be willing to fly if it was in Cali next time.


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## randa4 (Jul 29, 2010)

Ron,
It was a little bad luck for me in 2010--I was in Seattle, but had my niece's wedding to go to in Oregon. I was a very green 'noob, and when I realized what I had missed felt pretty awful. I like the idea of highlighting the habitat conservation for PDF's and other rainforest creatures. Maybe having well known lead-off speakers like Mark and Elaine Pepper, not as UE the frog retailer, but to speak to how their conservation work is going in Peru. Perhaps linked with other organizations doing similar work with rainforest flora and fauna. Think you are right about each hobby having its own group and culture, but more and more I find people at reptile shows that like frogs, keep snakes, and have terrariums and vivariums full of their favorite rare plants. Perhaps stirring in other really well known breeders such as Phil Tan, Chris Miller and others. What might make a lot of difference is to treat this as a learning event--have break-off hour or so sessions about culturing frogs and other amphibians, rainforest flora and faunal taxonomy, building vivs (with some spectacular examples to make the folks ooooh and ahhhh), raising tadpoles, suitable plants for vivs, and so forth. So many folks love seeing how it all fits together, and most of us as hobbyist's have that OCD going on so that detail is wonderful.  I live in Texas, and would gladly come back to Washington, Oregon, California or elsewhere to see, and perhaps help plan.

Thanks,
Mike in Helotes





skylsdale said:


> It's good to hear folks liked the show: we received a lot of positive feedback about what was there, who was represented, etc...but realize that yes, money-wise it could definitely do better.
> 
> While planning the event and trying to get other hobbies/interests involved, we heard from numerous parties that this was an event that had simply not been done or attempted before. Many folks were interested, but also hesitant to get involved because it was, in fact, the very first time to try such an event. Were we to do another one, I think they would be more likely to sign on (and, hindsight being 20/20, we're now aware of a few key marketing details that we weren't aware of the first time around which would DEFINITELY boost foot traffic).
> 
> ...


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## skylsdale (Sep 16, 2007)

randa4 said:


> Ron,
> It was a little bad luck for me in 2010--I was in Seattle, but had my niece's wedding to go to in Oregon. I was a very green 'noob, and when I realized what I had missed felt pretty awful. I like the idea of highlighting the habitat conservation for PDF's and other rainforest creatures. Maybe having well known lead-off speakers like Mark and Elaine Pepper, not as UE the frog retailer, but to speak to how their conservation work is going in Peru. Perhaps linked with other organizations doing similar work with rainforest flora and fauna. Think you are right about each hobby having its own group and culture, but more and more I find people at reptile shows that like frogs, keep snakes, and have terrariums and vivariums full of their favorite rare plants. Perhaps stirring in other really well known breeders such as Phil Tan, Chris Miller and others. What might make a lot of difference is to treat this as a learning event--have break-off hour or so sessions about culturing frogs and other amphibians, rainforest flora and faunal taxonomy, building vivs (with some spectacular examples to make the folks ooooh and ahhhh), raising tadpoles, suitable plants for vivs, and so forth. So many folks love seeing how it all fits together, and most of us as hobbyist's have that OCD going on so that detail is wonderful.  I live in Texas, and would gladly come back to Washington, Oregon, California or elsewhere to see, and perhaps help plan.


Hi Mike, you just described what we actually did for the first event (including Mark Pepper as one of the keynote speakers). We had 4-5 breakout sessions and talks covering all sorts of topics and different hobbies, a field trip into the Cascades on the first day, people who worked specifically with various types of plants (from Lycopodiums to Nepenthes) at the show, custom terrarium builders, etc. Longtime frog breeders were there in plenty. We had a freshwater planted cube aquarium workshop right in the middle of the main venue hall (wildly popular) which was then donated and auctioned off at the end.


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## charlesg (Oct 18, 2010)

Somehow I live in Seattle and attend expos in Portland and Seattle, but somehow didn't know about Microcosm until after it was over


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## BrainBug (Aug 25, 2010)

Yeah, I didn't find out about it until a week before either. I stumbled upon this forum while researching live terrariums and made last minute plans to pull a 5 hour drive roundtrip that Saturday to pick up my first frogs.

If it comes around again I will definetly make a weekend stay out of it and go to the field trip and workshops. Even though I didn't attend any of the workshops the quality of the expo at Microcosm was ten fold what the quality of the local reptile and exotic pet expos offer. I crave another event like microcosm. The Portland Reptile Expo will be coming up in August but I always find myself leaving those slightly dissapointed. I blame you Microcosm. You were like high quality heroin and all the other reptile shows are like low quality mexi-weed. I need a fix of the good stuff man... just a little taste...


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