If for some reason you were on the fence about going to this year’s Marine Aquarium Conference of North America (MACNA) in Dallas and just couldn’t convince yourself to make the trip, we think we may have found the inspiration to push you over the edge. We already knew the show’s raffle was going to be massive, but the guys at Pacific East Aquaculture have really stepped up their game. They recently announced that their raffle donation to the conference is going to be an all expense paid trip to Tahiti. That’s right, a single raffle ticket will win some lucky event goer a free trip to tropical paradise with air fare, lodging, and tours of Pacific East Aquaculture facilities all being covered. All the winner would have to do is pay for any food, souvenirs, and all of the likely diving trips…which isn’t a big chunk considering the majority of the trip is totally free.
The trip to Tahiti is certainly enough to get us motivated, and it’s even more exciting to aquarium nerds because tours of aquaculture facilities are included in the itinerary. Visiting these stores, and any part of the region for that matter, could yield a whole new perspective on the aquarium trade and the visiting hobbyist could learn a whole lot about the collection and shipping process that gets aquarium livestock to our doors.
While MACNA always has a big, healthy raffle each year, the new prize from Pacific East certainly steals the show. The trip is likely worth several thousands of dollars and it will be the hottest item at the table. Unfortunately, this also means that competition for the trip will be quite high, and your handful of raffle tickets will be competing against thousands of other random tickets. If the trip isn’t up your alley, you could take advantage of all the excitement at one raffle item and spread your tickets into some aquarium equipment, where your odds will likely improve.
