There is still time to nominate a deserving hobbyist for the Neptune Systems Marine Aquarium Hobbyist of the Year (MAHY) award. Now in its second year, the award recognizes a saltwater aquarium enthusiast exemplifying a passion for the hobby, dedication, persistence, patience, helpfulness, humility, and incredible respect from their peers. If you know of anyone deserving, you have until Friday, August 19 to send in your nominations.
What will you get if you win? Besides the title, the winner will receive travel expenses and the cost of their full ticket to MACNA, plus receive $500 of Neptune gear of their choosing. The winner will be announced at Neptune Systems MACNA MeetUp in San Diego. The inaugural award was presented to Bradley Syphus of Murray, Utah, last year in Washington D.C.
The qualification, nomination and selection process for this award are 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 8/19/2016 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. The person should be an “everyday” hobbyist (as opposed to a known personality in the industry).
Selection
- Neptune Systems 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 public on September 9, 2016 at the Neptune Systems MACNA MeetUp in San Diego, CA.