Know someone in the hobby that is making a difference? Have an awesome person in your club going above and beyond to help fellow hobbyists succeed? Then Neptune Systems is looking for your help.
Neptune Systems is doing its part to recognize the great people that make this hobby so fun with the inaugural Marine Aquarium Hobbyist of the Year award to be presented at this year’s MACNA.
Although the MASNA has the “Aquarist of the Year” announced each year at MACNA, there is definitely room for more recognition at the hobbyist level.
According to the company press release, the MAHY (or better yet HOTY) is “…given to the person that really exemplifies the best in this hobby. These are often the unsung hobbyists that not only have amazing aquariums, but are the epitome of a great marine aquarium hobbyist. This person has the qualities we admire most in our best ‘fish-friends’: a love of the hobby, dedication, persistence, patience, helpful to others, humility, respect from their peers and much more.”
The award has no affiliation with MACNA or MASNA and is solely sponsored by Neptune. You do need to be a member of a club and have at least one marine aquarium of any size. The winner gets the title, a paid trip to MACNA and $500 in gear from Neptune. The timeline is pretty tight for this year as the deadline to nominate is next midnight Pacific Daylight Time on Friday, July 31. Read the requirements below and send your choice to [email protected].
Press release follows
Neptune Systems announces 1st Annual Marine Aquarium Hobbyist of the Year (MAHY)
July 23, 2015 – Morgan Hill, CA — Every year at the MACNA (Marine Aquarium Conference of North America) banquet it is exciting to see who is crowned a new “Aquarist of the Year” as selected by the MASNA committee. This is often a person in the industry or with a profession related to the marine aquarium hobby. We applaud MASNA for making this award.
Neptune Systems decided there was room for yet another, similar award – The Marine Aquarium Hobbyist of the Year. This award is given to the person that really exemplifies the best in this hobby. These are often the unsung hobbyists that not only have amazing aquariums, but are the epitome of a great marine aquarium hobbyist. This person has the qualities we admire most in our best “fish-friends”: a love of the hobby, dedication, persistence, patience, helpful to others, humility, respect from their peers and much more.
In addition to the honor of simply receiving such an award, Neptune Systems will be footing the bill for the travel expenses and the cost of their full ticket to MACNA. Additionally they will receive $500 in new aquarium gear of their choice from Neptune Systems.
The qualification, nomination and selection process for this award is as follows:
Qualification
• Must belong to a club, for at least one year, that is a current member of MASNA.
• Must currently own and maintain a marine aquarium of any size.
Nomination
• Nominations can only be made by a MASNA member marine aquarium club.
• Any one aquarium club can only nominate one member for this award – chosen in any manner they desire.
• Nominations must be sent to [email protected] by midnight on 7/31/2015 to be considered for this award.
• Nominations must be submitted by a club official with examples (links to online profiles, forum posts, photos, etc.) that would show how this person exemplifies the criteria outlined above along with a few paragraphs stating why this person is deserved of the award.
Selection
• Neptune Systems each year will select a 3-5 member committee of respected individuals in the marine aquarium industry
• These individuals will work with Neptune Systems to come to consensus on who they believe is most deserved of the award based on the criteria above.
• Selection will be made by 8/7/2015 and made public on the Neptune Systems web site, community forum, and FaceBook pages.
Due to the short notice this year, the submission and consideration timeframes had to be compressed. Neptune Systems plans on making this an annual award that will be announced approximately one month prior to MACNA.
