54 day old hermit crab, bred, hatched and raised in captivity by Mary Akers, sitting on a rose petal.We are pleased to announce our first ever hermit crab conference!
Where: Lockport NY Best Western
When: July 12-14, 2019
Anyone with interest in land hermit crabs is invited to attend. This is a chance for hermit crab hobbyists to come together and get to know each other, learn and shop. You do not have to be a member of our organization to attend. Open to all!
The main event at this conference will be the adoption of Mary Akers’ 204 captive bred and raised Coenobita clypeatus and Coenobita compressus. You must be pre-approved to adopt prior to the event. The adoption application form is here: Apply to adopt baby hermit crabs
You are not required to be a LHCOS member to adopt but you must meet the minimum standards of care observed by our organization.
Where: Lockport NY Best Western PLEASE NOTE WE’VE CHANGED VENUES on 5/16/2019
When: July 12-14, 2019
Who: Hosted by Mary Akers
You are not required to book a room at the Best Western, but that is where all of the events will be taking place. If you do want to stay there, here is a link for a group rate room: Land Hermit Crab Group Rate Link New room group rate link at new venue, $50 cheaper!
We are currently booking speakers and vendors for the event. If you are interested in speaking or vending at the event please contact us.
We are currently full up on speaking time slots but still accepting applications for vendors:
Topics:
- Hermit Crab Breeding – Presenter: Mary Akers
- Building a Vertical Crabitat – Presenter: Stacy Griffith
- Involving Kids in the Proper Care of Hermit Crabs – Presenter: Kaitlyn Peplowski
- Coenobia species identification – Presenter: Stacy Griffith
- Bioactive Crabitat – Presenter: Courtney Karr
Vendors:
- Hermit crab shells including baby sizes will be available for purchase from Ken Lipe
- Food, Hermit Crab Common Species poster, Pop Socket, event t-shirt from The Crab Street Journal store will be available for purchase
- Hermit Crab-related pottery, baby crab food packs, adult crab mixes from Mary Akers Earth Fire Studios
- Hermit Crab food, bowls, decorative items – Tricia Landers Two Old Crabs
- Hermit Crab decorative items – Katrina
- Hermit Crab food – Courtney Karr Cholla Queen
Vendors: The venue will provide 6 foot tables, no tablecloths. Outlets are available but bring your own cords and power strips.
Speakers: The venue will provide a projector and a screen. You will need a laptop if you are doing a PowerPoint or Slideshow presentation.
SCHEDULE (as of 6/8/2019)
FRIDAY, July 12th
Afternoon Check-in / early registration at the Conference Hotel, Best Western Lockport (515 S. Transit Road): Vendors will be in the South Ballroom for most of the day setting up. Official conference registration time will be from 4-6pm. You can pick up your adoption packets then, get your conference info, badge, swag, etc.
6-8 pm Open House. Personal crab selection will be available for approved, pre-paid adopters during the Open House at my home (72 Woodbury Drive), immediately following early registration. My house is across the street from the hotel, off of Lincolnshire Drive. Selected babies will be placed into your personal, labeled travel tat, which can be held for retrieval by you either Saturday immediately following the conference or Sunday morning, as desired.
**************************
SATURDAY July 13th
Ballroom Activities:
9am to 5pm:
Crab Con Marketplace. Seller tables will be open for sales of crab-related items during regular business hours.We have 11 vendors selling a variety of items and snacks.
9am:
Official Opening of the First Annual International Crab Con. Coffee and Donuts available. Announcements and late registration will be outside the room for those who still need to pick up their packets or those just coming for the day. $5 per person at the door gives entrance to the talks and marketplace all day. Kids under 12 free admission.
9:15 – 11am:
Free time / marketplace shopping time.
11 – 11:45am:
Coenobita Species Identification. A slide presentation and talk by Stacy Griffith.
Noon – 12:45pm:
Breeding Land Hermit Crabs. A slide show and discussion led by Mary Akers. (Lunch can be eaten during the talk. If someone wants to coordinate an order of Panera sandwiches, this could be a communal thing.)
1 – 1:30pm:
Involving Kids in the Proper Care of Hermit Crabs. A talk and slide show by Kaitlyn Peplowski.
2 -2:45pm:
Building a vertical crabitat. A slideshow tutorial by Stacy Griffith.
3 – 3:45pm.
Establishing a Bioactive Crabitat by Courtney Karr.
5pm:
Marketplace closes. Swap out auditorium seating for banquet seating if we want to all eat dinner together.
7pm- till:
Optional Dinner / Social Time in the Conference Room: Coordinate $$ and delivery of local pizza with (authentic) Buffalo wings (or individuals can bring their own take-out items). Social Time can go as late as desired, we would just need to lock the door and secure the room for overnight when done.
*********************
Sunday, July 14th:
9am-Noon: Marketplace sales continue—as desired by sellers and attendees.
9am-Noon: Adopters pick up their travel tats and baby crabs and make any follow-up payments for additional available crab babies (as needed).
Noon:
Official close of conference.
Seeking sponsors: For a donation of cash or product your logo will be printed on the canvas gift bag going home with all adopters. Please use the form below to contact us about sponsorship.
Sponsorship window is now closed.
Some frequently asked questions:
1) Yes, there is an adoption fee. My goal has always been to see hermit crabs valued as exotic, long-lived pets. And if I–who painstakingly raised them from birth–can’t value these special little creatures in that way, then who will? It feels like it’s up to me, from Day One, to expect the world to place a value on captive-bred hermits. All adoption fees will go toward funding future breeding attempts.
2) Yes, you can *request* a species as we get closer to the date, but I absolutely cannot guarantee I will be able to honor anyone’s special species requests. There are still too many unknowns in terms of survival and species count. Also, it is my firm conviction that ALL of these babies are special, no matter their species.
3) If adopters want to swap with each other to get the species/crab they most want, I have no problems with that.
4) The babies will come with official, signed adoption papers, a travel bin, and some basic supplies to help get you back home safely. (Adopters should plan to bring their own digital gauge for monitoring conditions on the trip home.)
5) Additional babies will *likely* be available at the end of the adoption weekend. If so, approved adopters may get more than two, as desired. I just can’t predict how many I will have until much closer to the date, so I’m being conservative now.
6) I can keep the babies at my home until Sunday morning if people don’t want to keep them in their air-conditioned hotel rooms. That way you can pick up on your way out of town.
7) I will provide a sheet to each adopter with dates and information slots for the quarterly growth and behavior check-ins.
8) The first 50 (fifty) approved adoption applications will be guaranteed (as much as one can–barring any tragic, unforeseen losses). All applications after #50 will be added to a waiting list and filled in the order they were approved as the number of available crabs becomes more concrete.
Corporate Sponsors!
1 Comment
Comments are closed.