World Aquaculture December 2018

34 DECEMBER 2018 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WA S.ORG So the next morning at 9:00 AM, all these people were lined up like magic, but I didn’t understand why they had deep frowns on their faces. CP Group’s Dr. Lin gave me a hint when he said, “I’m not sure how it is in America, but here it’s customary for the guest to visit the host.” I hadn’t realized that they didn’t have the option of declining an invitation from Dr. Plodprasop, so they felt compelled to drop everything and come to the Department of Fisheries in response his summons. Fortunately they seemed to forgive me because I was novice unfamiliar with local customs. Dr. Plodprasop sent me off with an interpreter and a driver. John Cooksey, who had just left his job with Seafood Leader magazine and the Seafare Convention Group, joined me. He was on contract with the Society to help plan meetings and was a huge help. We quickly discovered that to rent space in Bangkok or Pattaya would cost around $200,000, and that would mean that we would have to charge a higher registration fee than the Society normally does. I told Dr. Plodprasop that instead of charging a $300 registration fee, we were going to have to charge each participant $350 or $400. He said, “No, no, here in Thailand we have very poor farmers. I don’t think we should charge them any more than $40 each, and I think we should give them a free lunch.” To get the registration fee that low, we would have to make more revenue on the trade show, so we looked at our trade show options. We could count on groups like CP to take multiple booths, but most of the other vendors of aquaculture equipment and supplies in Thailand were very small shops in small towns. We concluded that they wouldn’t be interested in an international trade show. That’s just not the way the business operated in Thailand. Given that the convention cost was going to be high and that we couldn’t expect much revenue from registration fees or the trade show, I worried that the meeting was going to lose money and might even bankrupt the WAS. I had serious misgivings and was considering retreating back to the USA for a site. My time in Thailand was coming to an end. I couldn’t sleep and there was no solution in sight. Then it dawned on me that the companies that really made the money in this four billion a year export industry were the processors and that they would care about promoting their products at a trade show. At a last-minute emergency meeting at Dr. Plodprasop’s office just before I left Thailand, I proposed that we have the first ever seafood show at a WAS conference. Dr. Lin of the CP Group, who happened to be at this meeting, said that the government levied an export promotion tax on every ton of seafood that was exported from Thailand and that revenue must be accumulating somewhere. Dr. Plodprasop called the Thai Department of Commerce, had about a five-minute conversation and said, “We have access to twenty million baht ($800,000) in the promotion fund.” All of a sudden we went from a financial disaster to a well-funded event with a seafood show and a conference. From that point forward, all went well, the event was well attended, and it later ranked as the second-best show in the Asian Pacific that year—not just of aquaculture conventions but of all conventions. When I was President, I was also Director of the aquaculture program at Ralston Purina International. We established an incentive program for our feed customers around the world to provide them with a free trip to WAS conferences if they purchased enough feed. In my meeting with Dr. Plodprasop in Bangkok, ever the big thinker, he challenged me to bring 90 customers with the offer that he would arrange for a DOF vessel to give them a trip from Phuket to Phi Phi Island. He said “And if you bring 120, I’ll arrange two vessels with a band.” So, our Purina team worked hard and brought 120 customers and took them to Phi Phi island on two vessels with a band. In working with aquaculturists around the world, I was sensitive to the challenge of making WAS relevant from its single office in Baton Rouge, LA. At the Bangkok meeting, WAS not only had its maiden introduction to Asia, but also made a profit and launched the Asian Pacific Chapter of the Society at that meeting. We owe it all to Drs. Lin and Plodprasop for being such strong supporters. It was great to kick off the formation of the Asian Pacific Chapter, which has bloomed so nicely over the years. Meryl C. Broussard, 1996-1997 I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to have served on the WAS Board and as the President of the Society. This journey took me to some wonderful places and provided me an opportunity to work with some extraordinary and passionate individuals dedicated to aquaculture development across the globe. One of the tasks I took on during my tenure was development of the WAS Strategic Plan - “Aquaculture 2000: A Commitment to Excellence.” Today, as we celebrate our 50th anniversary, this commitment to excellence continues to drive this great organization. There are two images that stand out to me, both occurring at our meeting in Thailand. The first is Dr. Chamberlain’s presentation of the WAS gift to the Royal Princess of Thailand at the opening ceremony, where George had to walk on his knees as he approached the Princess. It was at this point I felt WAS had truly become an international society. The second image was the WAS Board of Directors performing their rendition of “Old Susanna” under the direction of Leroy Creswell on stage in front of thousands at the Royal Convention Center in Bangkok. It was at this point I realized that extremely dedicated professionals could look like a bunch of clowns without really trying. I really enjoyed my tenure as WAS president. It was indeed an honor and pleasure to serve with some of the most dedicated and committed professionals I have ever met. I will be forever be grateful for this opportunity. Michael B. New, 1997-1998 When I succeeded Meryl Broussard in 1997, I discovered that, as a long-time proponent of making WAS truly international, it was strange that I was assuming my presidency in Seattle and ending it in Las Vegas — both meetings that had been (as usual) planned many years before! However, I was really pleased that the Asia Pacific Chapter had already become very active because I had been a founder when this chapter was formed in Bangkok in 1996 while I was President-Elect. Entering my term as only the second European (and the first British) WAS President, I pledged to strengthen the close relationship between WAS and EAS. Patrick Lavens (then EAS President) and I talked in great detail about this during our joint EAS-WAS meeting in Martinique that year (1997). That dream became a reality. Patrick Lavens and I planned to establish joint WAS-EAS meetings every six years, starting with a millennial event in Nice in 2000. EAS-WAS has just held its fourth — and perhaps most successful — in that