From 7 to 16 September, there were certain phrases you could count on hearing from me, such as “I’m a little busy, sorry!”, “Just chatting to a marine biologist, be right back” and “Career highlight, guys”. I was covering the 8th International Aquarium Congress (IAC), hosted at the Cape Town International Convention Centre by Flow client the Two Oceans Aquarium. This week-and-a-bit marked the culmination of more than two-and-a-half years’ worth of build-up and the pinnacle of a long and lovely relationship with the Two Oceans Aquarium … so far, of course.
Flow took over the web reigns for the Two Oceans Aquarium in May 2010 and it was around the same time that we started collaborating on the 8th IAC project – a separate event with global reach, but one that was intimately connected to the Aquarium’s own vision and mission. As with everything the Two Oceans Aquarium touches, the 8th IAC would be about fostering love and care for our oceans.
In the run-up to the congress, Flow built and maintained the 8th IAC website and updated programmes, registration information, abstracts and the exhibition floor plans as and when required. We also sent out regular e-newsletters to delegates from around the world: slick and short communications reached as far as China, Japan, France, England, Russia, Chile, the US and Durban (South Africa).
As with any event of this size, and in line with the IAC’s own theme – “sharing experiences and collectively inspiring change” – collaboration in organisation and communication was absolutely key to the success of an event that rolls around only once every four years. It was a great pleasure and privilege to marry Flow’s e-communication skills to the 8th IAC Local Organising Committee’s passion and dedication, to professional congress organiser Tribal Meetings’ attention to detail and Centeq’s high-tech database and registration savvy.
This would be the first time that the IAC would be hosted on African soil – indeed, its first time in the Southern Hemisphere – and it was with a great sense of pride that we here at Flow Cape Town prepared ourselves to jump into the deep end of what Two Oceans Aquarium Managing Director Dr Patrick Garratt called “the Aquarium Olympics”.
Anticipation and preparation
Flow Cape Town Manager Roy Barford and I visited the Aquarium during the week before the 8th IAC (which took place, officially, from 9 to 14 September) for a quick meeting to ensure that we had all our dorados in a row before things kicked off. We could feel the electricity in the air. All Aquarium staff – from visitor services and volunteers to curatorial, events, membership and marketing – had risen to the task of sprucing up the exhibits and hosting a world-class event at a world-class aquarium. The phenomenal teamwork, and genuine excitement, we witnessed are testament to the Aquarium’s commitment to quality, a commitment that I’ve seen in action countless times.
The first official 8th IAC event was another IAC first: the Voices for the Future of the Oceans youth videoconference, attended via live streaming video by the Institut Océanographique (Monaco), Monterey Bay Aquarium (Monterey, USA) and Nausicaá, Centre National de la Mer (France) and the Two Oceans Aquarium (Cape Town, South Africa).
To see eager Two Oceans Aquarium Environmental Education Centre Young Biologists engage with their peers from around the world was thrilling. That Friday night would mark the first of many galvanising experiences (and that’s not hyperbole). For head of education Russell Stevens, this event marked a dream come true. Russell’s PA, Katjah Rockstroh, and I took to the twitterverse that evening on behalf of the Two Oceans Aquarium and the 8th IAC to kick-start a social media-savvy congress like no other.
Click here to read more about the hugely successful evening, and here to see more pics. Then, click here to read about the youth resolution, formulated at the youth videoconference, that was presented on the opening day of the 8th IAC.
In-situ congress attendance
“In-situ” is an expression I now know, thanks to attending the 8th IAC. One of the plenary session categories was “In-situ conservation”, and it, along with two “husbandry advances” sessions, was particularly enlightening. Randy Hamilton, of Monterey Bay Aquarium, talked about the research value of keeping great white sharks in aquariums, albeit temporarily, and Two Oceans Aquarium Curator Michael Farquhar discussed the work done here in the Cape with ragged-tooth sharks.
From Randy’s presentation, I learnt that great white sharks that had been held in the Californian aquarium over the North American summer season returned to their natural habitats and took up wild behaviours upon release. From Michael, I learnt that the Two Oceans Aquarium was the first aquarium to tag and release ragged-tooth sharks for research. Michael and his team are now looking to the Cape’s equally mysterious and beautiful sevengill cowsharks for their next research project – these fishes’ migratory patterns have never been recorded!
These are just two interesting tidbits picked up while furiously tweeting, blogging and photographing the 8th IAC. I had Flow journalist Marin Gorrie by my side at all times to take notes, gather impressions, and help write daily round-ups.
“I really enjoyed working on the IAC as it took me out of my comfort zone,” says Marin. “I also had the opportunity to meet interesting people and learn more about marine life. Thanks to all I learnt at the IAC, I plan on spending more time at the Aquarium and in the ocean.”
Incidentally, Marin is probably a walking example of the important role that aquariums play in fostering a love for the oceans among members of the public. This concept was constantly reiterated throughout the 8th IAC, and the fact that aquariums are conservation vehicles emerged as top of mind for most delegates.
It was heartening to note how many hats an aquarium wears: education, research, aquaculture, conservation … oh, and entertainment.
Even Flowstars at large were part of the IAC action. Christine Marot, who manages the content for Sea World, Durban’s new Flow-produced website, and Joburg Flowstar Laura Maggs, who made sure that content on the Two Oceans Aquarium website was updated nearly twice daily, to give our aquarium fans a look at the bigger aquarium industry picture.
For Roy Barford, who has an entrepreneurial mind, the IAC offered different insights. He says: “I thoroughly enjoyed the IAC, particularly the business-related talks – it was very interesting hearing about how aquariums are built and managed in places like Saudi Arabia, where there isn’t a massive amount of water! I got to meet some very interesting people and learnt a fair amount during the few days I was at the conference.”
And then some
It’s no secret among my colleagues (or anyone who’ll listen) that working with the Two Oceans Aquarium is a beautiful balance of fun and work. So it makes sense that covering an aquarium congress would be about so much more than the few hours dedicated to presentations.
There are welcome functions (the one hosted by the Two Oceans Aquarium set a spectacular tone), field trips (great white sharks in Gansbaai? Yes please!) and gala dinners, all designed to give colleagues and friends (who belong to an amazingly tight-knit and warm community) an opportunity to reacquaint themselves and reach out to their peers from around the world. Yes, it was “networking”, but it sure didn’t feel like work.
Even us media types had the opportunity to meet aquarium thought leaders from around the world, and I had the honour of chaperoning Aquarium de Paris’ curator, Guillaume Eveillard, and life support system manager, Philip Jane, to Miller’s Point on Saturday 15 September for some scuba diving with sevengill cowsharks (wow!) and Cape fur seals (super-wow). These Frenchmen were, predictably, blown away by what South Africa and Cape Town have to offer; big thanks to Animal Ocean in Cape Town for the special experience. It was an appropriately watery end to a hugely inspiring week.
Going with the Flow
At Flow, we pride ourselves on being at the forefront of event coverage. Timely uploads, quick Twitter fingers and good photography make us a force to be reckoned with. It was therefore really great when Dr Pat told me towards the end of the week that his friends from around the world were experiencing the 8th IAC through the website. We also picked up a quite a few non-directly involved aquarium fans via Twitter and Facebook, ensuring that word about the amazing work done by aquariums reached far and wide.
Even at the welcome function and throughout the week, delegates had great things to say about Flow’s work with the Two Oceans Aquarium. Says Roy: “I was proud to hear so many positive comments about the Two Oceans Aquarium, and both the IAC and Aquarium websites.”
2016: Vancouver Aquarium
The 9th IAC will be hosted in Canada by the Vancouver Aquarium. They, too, have begun their preparations and I for one will be keeping a fishy eye on their media and communications actions. For our part, the 8th IAC website will remain under Flow supervision for another year, when we hand over the reigns to the Canadians. We’ll be uploading a document to the 8th IAC website containing all proceedings and outcomes (please do read Dr Pat’s wonderful end-of-congress outline here) towards October, and then send our last e-newsletter out into the world of aquariums.