ATS Conference 2008

UglyKid2 · ATS Conference 2008

This was posted by Wade Harrell on the ATS forum. There may not be an Arachnocon this year but the ATS Conference looks like it's going to happen. Scabies is cooking up plans as several of their members are going and they are asking if there will be a signifigant SF Bats presence there. I would like to go myself and hope many of you can make it this summer. Time to start planning is now and I would like to know how many of you are interested in going. This is a great opportunity! Thanks,
John

ATS Conference 2008, Dates and Location

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi All-

The 2008 ATS Conference will take place July 24th-27th in the Tucson, Arizona area. The exact venue will be announced as soon as the details are finalized.

The location is a minor change, approximately 2 hrs south of Phoenix. The move was made because we wanted to cut down on the drive time from the hotel to the field trip locations. Also, Tucson offers many possible venues that are at a higher elevation, and are therefore significantly cooler in temperature!

The major change is the date. In the past, the ATS conference has taken place in mid-June. However, as anyone who attended in 2007 can attest, Southern Arizona in June is as hot as a kiln and twice as dry! In addition to being uncomfortable, this also means that few invertebrates will be active on the surface.

Late summer is a different story however. The rainy season begins in mid July, and this means higher humidity and results in an astounding variety of arthropod activity. There will be more to see on our field trips, and we'll be more comfortable to boot! The desert is in full bloom that time of year, with a beauty even your non-arthropod-loving family members can appreciate.

Another problem with a June conference is many school don't start summer vacation until the end of June. By having it in late July, more families with kids should be able to attend without missing their final exams.

Stay tuned for more details as they emerge!

Wade Harrell

northswan04

Since we all happen to be relatively close, how about a carpool? We could split the gas, etc... I'm down.

BayLee

Oh I am interested as well.

a7051

basically it's going to boil down to when i'm going to Vegas, and how much that trip is going to run me. hah

UglyKid2

Brian, you're just gonna have to quit school and gambling! :P :P :P

DavidRS

I don't think you guys want California represented ONLY by us SCABIES, do you? Because we are planning on being at the ATSC by the thousands. Would you believe hundreds? (in Maxwell Smart voice) Would believe about a dozen?

UglyKid2

a7051

thebugwife

Who wants to take the Ken the bug guy booth? We'll unfortunately be unable to go, we had planned to but we should be having a baby right about then.... :D

UglyKid2

If you're serious, I'll help with moving and setting up. I won't be the main spokesman/seller though because of..ah..you know... my shortcomings

northswan04

I could help out with the whole booth thing.

And congrads on the baby!!

KenTheBugGuy · I want

I would love to go and would but that is about when my wife is due so I do not think I can make it.

UglyKid2

Here is a brief rundown of the expenses we will encounter by attending the ATS conference. It will be held in Rio Rico about an hour south of Tucson. Thank you Lony for all your hard work on this info! :D

The below is based on a three day trip. July 24th - 27th, 2008
Traveling info Accommodations City Per Day Total cost
Airline I United OAK-TUC $- $400.00
Airline II Southwest OAK-TUC $- $350.00
3 Day Car Rental + Ins Budget Tucson $56.67 $170.00
Hotel Lux Espledor Rio Rico $132.18 $396.55
Hotel Med Best Western Nogales $73.77 $221.31
Hotel 4 Less Motel 6 Nogales $47.95 $143.84
Eating Lux Food a Day $40.00 $120.00
Food Med Food a Day $30.00 $90.00
Food 4 Less Food a Day $20.00 $60.00

Total Lux $1,110.39
Med $831.31
4 Less $723.84

Book flight, car and hotel at least 3 month in advance to get the best rate. Above is only an estimation, rates can change any time.
Some rates do not include Tax.
Websites
www.united.com
www.southwest.com
www.budget.com
http://hhandr.com/esplendor.php
http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwestern/advSearch.do
http://www.motel6.com/

a7051

screw it! let's go to vegas!
oak to vegas : southwest $69
circus circus hotel: $83/night
booze when gamblin' FREE!
all you can eat buffet at the Wynn: $50 (and worth every penny)

BayLee

northswan04

Does anyone else ride motorcycles? Alternative to flying/driving, gas is amazingly inexpensive that way. On top of that T's you buy can be shipped back anon. I am a for sure yes if anyone wants to do a "group" ride to the conference. And I second John, hotel reservations should be made ASAP.

Marlene

BayLee

I wish I did :( , however I can not take that much time off work to drive that distance. A motorcycle ride sounds really awesome though.

UglyKid2

There's a retirement home nearby that's planning a tour bus trip to Tucson around that time. Maybe we could hook up with them. They are making a lot of interesting stops along the way such as a tour of a Depends factory, bocce ball tournament and Bingo stops at tony nursing homes!

BayLee

And I thought you were going to wait another 5 years?
I am happy to hear you have joined the group of retired folks.

Happy Retirement!!!

10-20% off at most restaurants I heard! Have fun at the depends factory. I think they'll give a way free samples! Will you move into a retirement community or stay where you are?

Well, if you are moving, that G. pulchra is coming my way, because you can not take these critters with you….

UglyKid2

I'm not THAT old!
:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

BayLee

:lol: :twisted: :twisted: :lol:

BayLee · ATS Conference announcement

The Tenth Annual American Tarantula Society Conference
July 24th-27th Rio Rico, Arizona

Advance Registration
$40. per person
Children under 18 free

Conference Hotel:

They have arranged a special room rate of $87 a night at the official conference hotel, the beautiful Esplendor Resort in Rio Rico, AZ (approximately 45 minutes south of Tucson). The resort is smack dab in the middle of prime arthropod territory, and offers all the amenities of a true resort hotel! There are many interesting attractions for those family members who may not be as interested in arthropods:

http://atshq.org/conference.htm

Sparky

Awesome - I'll be at Comic-Con though, lol. ;)

KenTheBugGuy · Ok

I will have a one table booth at the ATS so really would like to know who is going and might want to run it for some time for me? Might be able to give you some tarantulas or something ;) Mainly will just have t-shirts and jewelry so that nobody has to sell the tarantulas for me but really thinking of using that booth as it came with my bronze sponsorship I paid for.

northswan04

Hey, I may beable to pull at day on it. I won't know for sure if I'm going until the middle of June, but I'll let you know as soon as I do.

KenTheBugGuy · Hey

I might have someone that will be there the whole time now. I will keep you updated.

wburke17

I'll be there :D I could lend a hand for a shift if needed...

northswan04

Cost of trip via carpool
Gas in car with 25mpg+ : $400 tops (divided by 5 seats $90/ea)
2 nights crashing at friend's place in Tucson: free
Food: no idea, but with a house there's the possibility of cooking/BBQ so it's much cheaper than eating out..

KenTheBugGuy · Thanks Burke

We have it covered now. Thanks for the volunteers!

northswan04

Any takers on a car pool?

UglyKid2

Will be at the ATS conference Thursday thru Sunday. Watch this thread for pics and news of the activities!

Thunderstorms and 95 degree weather predicted! :shock:

UglyKid2

I made it to Tucson finally, got my hot rental car and headed south. Got to the beautiful Esplendor resort around 8pm just as the meet 'n greet was over! Oh, well, it was a gorgeous night and I did talk to a few people and got my info packet on what to do. Today they had a tarantula sexing seminar and demos, and all the T dealers had their tables out. At 6 pm we're going out into the desert to do some Tarantula hunting. Later, some others are going nighttime scorp hunting with their black lights. This place is so cool, I'm glad I'm here! Here's some pics I took today

http://www.fototime.com/inv/D31E0941CDF2B84

UglyKid2

I spent most of the day in the hotels huge pool, attended a few seminars, spent hundreds on T's I don't need :lol: and even won a few slings in the raffle. Here is a pic of all the stuff on the raffle table that was given away tonight. This included a wii game system, P. metallica juvenile, G. pulchra sling, and many, many others. Very impressive!

northswan04

WOW! And thanks for these updates, even though I (among others) didn't get to go it's nice to know what's going on.

Speaking of, ATSHQ has been strangely quite and it took me a moment to realize everyone is at the big get together! :shock:

BayLee

What a awesome Conference this was. I took over 300 pictures. This will take me a few days to go through all of them. I will post the best ones on here in a few days, hopefully before our meeting on Saturday.

BayLee · News paper

Tuscon daily Star
Rio Rico conference a gathering place for tarantula enthusiasts

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.26.2008
Frida Monreal looks at tarantulas and other invertebrates during the 10th annual American Tarantula Society Conference at Esplendor Resort in Rio Rico. The conference includes workshops, field trips, and vendors with creatures to buy, sell and trade. The four-day conference continues through Sunday.

BayLee · Tucson Daily Star

Racing cockroaches and spiders aplenty

By Jill Torrance
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.31.2008
advertisementSpider lovers and other invertebrate enthusiasts gathered in a large circle around the square patch of Astroturf where the Madagascar hissing cockroaches were set to race at the 10th Annual American Tarantula Society conference at Esplendor Resort in Rio Rico last week.
Participants picked out a cockroach and, with a strip of duct tape, put a number on its back. Then each roach competed in several small races. The winners of those races moved up to the Grand Prix. The ones that did not move at all competed in the laziest roach race.
Kaylin Wilcoxen, 13, from Washington state, participated in the cockroach races. "Every year my mom and I travel out here to come to the conference. It's actually really fun," she said.
The conference was a four-day affair with field trips, workshops, guest speakers and vendors.
"Our conference is about getting people who have this odd interest together. It's a chance to meet other people who are interested in spiders and other invertebrates," said Wade Harrell, president of the American Tarantula Society.
For more information on the American Tarantula Society visit atshq.org.
● Contact photographer Jill Torrance at 573-4155 or jtorrance@azstarnet.com

KenTheBugGuy · Did

Did you take those pictures? Very nice looking pictures.

BayLee

NO actually the News paper photographer/reporter did. That is me in the middle.

KenTheBugGuy · yah

LOL..I ment the top 2 as I knew that one was you :)

BayLee

No the same person took those photos as well.
I am still working on my picutues. They are to large, so I have to ressize them all (300)

a7051

use something like this then, and resize them all at once..
description: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsx...hy/learnmore/tips/eschelman2.mspx
d/l link: http://download.microsoft.com/dow...-US/ImageResizerPowertoySetup.exe

sntcruzan

Lony,
Where are all of the pictures of the ATS conference?
Who all went from our area?

UglyKid2

Fred, look at my 2nd post on page 4. There is a link to some pics I took .

BayLee

I will post them soon. Thanks for the link, I will try this out.
If I have the energy I might upload them on a disc tonight and bring them to the show.

BayLee · ATS Conference Pictures from BayLee

Here are my pictures form the ATS conference.

THey did not turn out as good as I thought they would. I am still getting used to my new camera. Mike took much better pictures actually. He has a great eye.

Below is a link to a slide show:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebaylees/sets/72157606498144017/show/

ATS Conference 2008

I want

ATS Conference announcement

Ok

Hey

Thanks Burke

News paper

Tucson Daily Star

Did

yah

ATS Conference Pictures from BayLee