0 |
7/22/89 |
Columbus Zoo
John Culbertson & Doug Warmolts |
Casual chat arranged by John, a vendor and aquarium fan, leads 4 attendees to support what would soon become RAW #1 |
1 |
11/3/89 |
Toledo Zoo
Jay Hemdal |
Single day. Name coined and guiding principles developed. Jay invites all aquariums within half-day drive. 20 attendees. |
2 |
3/9?/90 |
Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo
Warren Pryor |
Last meeting fit in a single-day or held around a conference table. 29 attendees? |
3 |
10/26-27/90 |
St. Louis Zoo
Joe Norton |
First auditorium and formal program for talks. 19 attendees. |
4 |
4/25-26/91 |
Milwaukee County Zoo
Rich Sajdak & Craig Berg |
Group brainstormed on planned exhibit renovations at zoo. |
5 |
10/4-6/91 |
Ohio DNR Hatchery. Put-In-Bay, South Bass Island, Lake Erie, Ohio
Doug Warmolts & Dave Ross, Ohio Division of Wildlife |
A small RAW group helped ODNR develop plans to convert the hatchery to an aquarium. Gales kept a drunken sailing regatta in port. |
6 |
6/12-13/92 |
Sea World of Ohio & Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
Pete Mohan & Dan Moreno |
Last semi-annual RAW. Tours of Rainforest (Zoo) and Shark Encounter (SWO), both under construction. Vote of support from attendees for Pete to relaunch Drum and Croaker. Last ice-breaker held in someone’s motel room. 21 attendees |
7 |
6/16-17/1993 |
Tennessee Aquarium
Chris Coco |
First RAW at a large stand-alone aquarium. Attendance jumps to 35-40 as East-Coast and Southern facilities attend for first time. |
8 |
7/29-30/94 |
John G. Shedd Aquarium
Roger Klocek & Mike Mulligan |
Amnesia? Nobody including the planners seems to recall much. We therefore assume a good time was had by all! |
9 |
7/21-23/95 |
National Aquarium in Baltimore
Perry Hampton, Bruce Hecker, & Chris Andrews |
First East-Coast meeting. Discussion groups on LSS and Conservation. AZA TAG meetings are first held in conjunction with RAW. 55 attendees. |
unofficial |
3/15/96 |
ReRAW at Frisch’s Big Boy, in Findlay, Ohio
Warren Pryor |
5 or 6 aquariums drove to a central point for a long lunch to attempt to recreate the original semi-annual RAW tradition. The joke: Form a new organization called LUNCH (Landlocked Underwater Naturalists and Curators Hanse). |
10 |
6/6-8/96 |
New England Aquarium
Steve Bailey |
RAW hosted a paper session and TAG meetings for AZA conservation efforts…and confusion of RAW with AZA begins. 72 attendees from 26 institutions (4 overseas). |
11 |
6/11-13/97 |
Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo
Kathy Vires |
Concurrent workshops held on several subjects. |
12 |
4/8-10/98 |
Texas State Aquarium
Charles Smith & Tom Schmidt |
Many attended a 3-day pre-RAW tour of Texas Aquariums. Bad judgment in San Antonio results in ‘discovery’ of what would become “The Chalice”. |
13 |
5/13-15/99 |
Underwater World, Mall of America
Craig Atkins & Jeff Krenner |
Chalice first awarded to aquarium professional with most challenging year. |
14 |
5/24-27/00 |
Aquarium of the Americas
Rich Toth & Toni Davi |
Last free RAW as attendance and costs skyrocket. AZA TAGs fixed as a pre-RAW event, instead of mixed with RAW sessions. 120 attendees. |
15 |
6/3-7/01 |
Atlantis Resorts
Michelle Liu-Ferguson & Steve Kaiser |
Modest registration fee of $25. Advisory Committee formed to deal with administrative issues on an “as-needed” basis. 163 attendees. |
16 |
3/24-27/02 |
Colorado’s Ocean Journey
Rich Lerner |
RAW meets as the closing of the facility seems imminent. RAW in the Rockies…almost to the continental divide. 138 attendees |
17 |
6/5-8/03 |
Riverbanks Zoo and Aquarium
Melissa Salmon |
Sea Turtle Symposium held in conjunction with RAW. First “Aquarist Olympics”. 198 attendees. |
18 |
5/18-23/04 |
Mote Marine Laboratory Aquarium
Kevin Curlee |
A series of talks and workshops were directed at improving communication among and within aquariums, and identified priority issues on many topics for further action by RAW attendees. ~170 attendees. |
19 |
6/20-24/05 |
Aquarium of the Pacific & Cabrillo Marine Aquarium
Perry Hampton & Jeff Landesman |
RAW finally crosses the continental divide and touches the Pacific. 200 attendees! |
20 |
5/14-19/06 (Sea Turtle Symposium on 5/20-21) |
Aquarium at Moody Gardens
Greg Whittaker |
Cephalopods, sea turtles and more with a combined attendance of about 225. A unique use was found for a ton of expired frozen capelin. |
21 |
6/18-21/07 |
Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium
Alan Marshall |
Back to the Homeland of RAW (Great Lakes and Ohio Valley). A cruise. Unfortunately, a pond was included at the Olympic site. |
22 |
6/16-19/08 |
Atlantis Marine World
Joe Yaiullo |
The second Atlantis to host a RAW, but this time the one on Long Island! 200 attendees. |
23 |
6/8-6/13/09 |
Newport Aquarium
Jeff Gibula |
Newport, Kentucky brings RAW back to its roots….kind of. It’s right across the river from Cincinnati, Ohio. |
24 |
6/7-6/11/10 |
Henry Doorly Zoo
Mitch Carl |
The Oracle of Omaha, Mitch Carl, predicted we would all attend RAW in 2010. 185 attendees. |
25 |
5/2-6/2011 |
Virginia Aquarium
Beth Firchau |
RAW heads to Virginia Beach! |
26 |
2012 |
John G. Shedd Aquarium
Mark Schick |
Back to the Windy City after 18 years! |