The end of the year is fast approaching and what a wild and fun filled year it has been!
We have launched many new products this year like the R7S fixture and the sharp looking light fixture hangers. We value the relationships that we have built throughout the year and as result, our research and development of new products is fueled from suggestions by our customers and friends. We look forward to getting more suggestions in 2011!
We’ve made a lot of friends and have met many great people this year. Aquatic Life has always valued the opportunity to chat with fellow enthusiasts. Sometimes at large scale events like Reef-A-Palooza, where thousands visited our booth every day. Sometimes at smaller more intimate events like the Mountain West Reef Fest where we could really get to know each other.
At the Mountain West Reef Fest, a 16 year old young man named Trenton continued to drag his mother Heidi over to our booth to sell her on our new R7S fixture. He really wanted to upgrade the lighting on his tank. The mother and son team had gotten into reefing two years earlier as a means to spend time together at home. It was obvious from interacting with them that Heidi loved her son very much and enjoyed the hobby as much as her son did. ( Although she left the tank cleaning and skimmer cup emptying to Trenton) I told them that we were in fact raffling off the R7S fixture since mom was insinuating to Trenton that money was a little tight. Trenton ended up getting some raffle tickets and placed them in the box with obvious high hopes and expectations. The rest of the day the Aquatic Life booth was sprinkled with visits from Trenton and his mom to see how many more people had added tickets to the container. As the hours passes hundreds upon hundreds of tickets were thrown in by other hopefuls and Trenton’s worry was clear. However I would not be writing about this if it did not end happily. At the end of the day close to 700 tickets had been collected for this fixture and when they called out Trenton’s winning number his excitement was very evident. He jumped up and exclaimed that he had won and when he shook my hand he nearly shook it off. He had a grin set on face that went from ear to ear!
If you didn’t get a chance to visit with us at an event this year don’t fret! We will be at many more shows in the coming months. If there are no big shows coming up in your area and you still need that reefing fix, then check and see if there are any hobbyist clubs in your area. This year Aquatic Life worked with many clubs by donating items to insure that these non-profit clubs could continue to be self supporting and help foster more interest in this hobby that we all love. Groups like SCRK (Southern California Reef Keepers) in Southern California (SCRK.org) continue to hold monthly meetings and educate their members about responsible reef keeping. Meetings like these are always fun to attend and if you get the chance you should check them out.
A couple of new additions to the Aquatic Life family this year have led to excitement in the office. A few months back, Co-owner Mike introduced us to his new dog—a Shiba Inu named Sweet Pea. Initially Sweet Pea timidly stayed in Mike’s office coming out occasionally to take care of doggy business. In recent weeks, she has been roaming around the office more and settling into office life. Not to be outdone, Co-owner Dave brought in a dog of his own. Lucy is an adorable Shepherd/Retriever mix that still hasn’t quite figured out that nature should call outside and not on the office floor. Whenever we need a quick distraction, Lucy is always there for a belly rub.
Speaking of additions, Aquatic Life continues to grow. In 2010, we were fortunate enough to bring on more exceptional team members and we could not continue to excel the way we have without them. Cruz and Luis keep the warehouse and production running smoothly while at the same time, helping to innovate new products. In the front office, Diane has been instrumental in continuing to insure our customers are happy and always well stocked. We are grateful to have them all with us.
Aside from personally lending a hand in the demise of some Red Planet frags or a turbo snail clogging the drain pipe and flooding Mike’s office with 40 gallons of salt water, 2010 has been a great year for us. We look forward to what 2011 has to bring and would like to thank each of you for supporting Aquatic Life!
