International Amphibian Days 2004

[edward]

Hi All,
It may be easier to meet for lunch on Sunday as opposed to Saturday as there will be workshops going on all day and Sat night there will be lectures until midnight. (Its possible to meet for dinner Saturday but people would need to be back for the lectures, and there was a pretty good irish pub not too far when I was there last time, with good beer and fish and chips).
IF my wife doesn't go down I can volunteer my shower.
Ed

 

[kaysie]

anyone in the Upper Midwest (aaron, rob, anyone else in chicago or toronto area), the car still has two open spots (if rob goes with us), so anyone wanting to carpool.

Ed, keep in mind that some of us arent old enough to go to the bars yet (like me), so lunch (or brunch) would have to be somewhere Minor Friendly.

 

[r]

Hi Kaysie,
Although I'm certainly old enough to do bars, I don't care to be in them. Like you, I hope that the caudata.org gathering (if one occurs) will be in some other venue. Rgds/Dick

 

[aaron]

I feel that a restaurant would be a much better place to meet and discus caudates and get to know each other.

Kaysie, I may take you up on the car pool offer, but I can't say for sure until the time comes.

~Aaron

 

[michael]

A breakfast meeting would work well for me. Of course if their is someone wanting to give an informal talk we could do it during the show Saturday. They have workshops and talks during the day. We could get scheduled for then. The big lectures are Saturday evening/night. Maybe somebody from Caudata.org will be giving a talk then. Ed gave a good one last time. The show is a long way off. Just pencil in the date and get time off work. We can work out the details later.

 

[edward]

Hi All,
The Irish place I had in mind is also a restaurant. There is a pretty good sized restaurant in the hotel. The reason I suggested a lunch time meeting is the talks are in the afternoon/evening and a early meeting may be too early for those who stay up all night with shop talk (some of the frog discussions went on until 5 AM last year).
There is also the foyer of the hotel where there is a bar (and underage people can get sodas or water that can easily accomedate a large group of people).
Thanks for the complement Mike. I am doing either a talk again this time and it will be on aquatic amphibian husbandry, so there will be discussion of aquatic salamanders like pseudobranchus, siren, Pleurodeles, ect. It may be a little basic as there is a lot of information to cover.
Ed

 

[keegan]

Hmm. A "shower with your newt" meet and greet... sounds interesting.

 

[kaysie]

lol@shower with your newt. i dont think any newt would get along well with my shampoo. maybe a bath with your newt...

i was thinking of a meet n greet at like, denny's or something. i love denny's.

since this is my first IAD, is there any little handout or anything stating what would be the major and minor lectures? or are we to just wander around and hope to find something good?

 

[erik]

I just realized the event is in April of '04. I just assumed it was fall/winter like in years past. I might try to make it after all.

Erik K.

 

[swan]

Kaysie, a list of lectures will be posted on their website at http://www.intlamphibday.org

If I remember correctly, the little workshops that are during show hours are not posted on the site, but there'll be a big poster at the event what's on when.

 

[michael]

The IAD web site is working again. They have the keynote speaker listed as A.Stanley Rand from the Smithsonian. On Friday their will be a tour at the Philly zoo. From what I remember the frogs are nice but the salamanders and caecilians are the most outstanding thing in the reptile house. My guess is Ed will give us more info on this.
Most of the speakers for Saturday night are lined up but not listed yet. The vendor packets have not gone out yet. If you are coming start thinking about if you have anything for sale or trade. Anyone is allowed to sell to vendors but you are not supposed to bring things to sell to people other than vendors unless you have a table or part of a table.

 

[henk]

Well I have indeed been contacted to speak at IAD . If all works out well (and from my side thingsl ook good) I would talk on Neurergus (major talk) and eventually do a little talk on my caecilian experiences... where I will focus mostly on Typhlonectes and Ichthyophis (also some feedback on Herpele and Geotrypetes.

I hope to see some of you out there and shake hands. I would defenitely joing the caudata.org gathering if I don't have a major jetlag...

Greetings

 

[john]

Hi Henk, good luck with the talk. Perhaps this is an interesting side note for your talk: Did you know I have neotenous or semi-neotenous adult kaiseri? They are completely aquatic and have gill remnants (see the photo beside this post). The largest is about 12 cm. They are showing differences in cloaca shape so I believe they are mature. They were laid as eggs in late July / early August of 2001 (I didn't breed them).

All the best,

John

 

[henk]

This is indeed strange... I have had neotenic/overwintering crocatus and strauchii larvae, but after 2 years they went on land...

 

[john]

Yes, but were they sexually mature?

 

[michael]

The schedule is pretty firmed up for IAD. From talking to some people that were vendors before it looks like their might not be a lot of salamanders offered for sale. The lectures Saturday night and workshops/talks Saturday during the day look pretty good. The Philly Zoo tour should be great. They are good salamander people especially Ed. I'll have mostly dart frogs at my table. I might have some axolotls, ribbed newts, and fire salamanders but not a lot. I'll be at the show Saturday and Sunday but will miss Friday,

 

[edward]

Just to warn the salamander people,
We are in the process of changing the collection around to accomedate some Taxon Advisory Recommendations so the caudate species will not be at the historic levels (making space for hellbenders), although there are some interesting species to see...
If you look closely.
Ed

 

[jessica]

The IAD site mentions that they're doing this in spring because it conflicts with other events in the fall, does anyone know of any events in the fall? I won't be able to make it to this event as my cousin is getting married in Ft. Lauderdale in mid April, can only afford one trip to the east a season. Too bad they're not the same weekend and I couldn't stop by on the way back.

 

[edward]

There are a large number of reptile shows that occur in the fall including Frog Day and local to that show the MARS show, Have de Grace (which is monthly) and Hamberg, and the newer show at King of Prussia. To get an idea of the bigger picture just look at an August Reptiles Magazine at the show listings.
Ed

 

[jessica]

ok will have to hunt one of those mags down, thanks Ed.