News

AALSO Oval Office Updates 2008

Hello Fellow Members of AALSO, once again I have the privilege of occupying the office of President of this fine organization. I thoroughly enjoyed my first year in office and I look forward to working with the magnificent staff of officers and board members who supports the mission of AALSO.

This year we experienced a changing of the guard at AALSO, a few long term and active board members left the board after many years of dedicated service. Steve File from Ripley’s Aquarium announced his desire to step down from the AALSO Board. Steve has been the key Symposium budget and agenda “Go To Person” for more years that I can remember. We are going to miss his experience and guidance during the planning and organizing phase of the Symposiums. I would like to welcome Roger Phillips from the Monterey Bay Aquarium to our Board. Roger was elected to the board in absentia, due to business reasons he was unable to attend the recent Symposium in Baltimore. Roger will be occupying the Board position vacated by Steve. We wish Steve all the best and I am sure he will offer his assistance to the organization when needed.

Joe Pontiatowski also left the board this year after accepting a position with Asahi America in their engineering division. Joe joins a long line of operators that move over to the vendor side to support aquatic animal life support. We hope to see Joe in the near future attending AALSO as a vendor member. Rick Davis from Walt Disney World has been elected to fill the vice presidency slot vacated by Joe. Rick’s efforts on the board have been greatly appreciated and I know he will be a great Vice President.

Henry Johnson was once again elected to the Treasurer’s position this year. This is a very important position that manages the financial well being of the organization. Robert Anderson of the Seattle Aquarium was re-elected to his position as Secretary. Robert was very active in the registration process at this year’s Symposium in preparation to our arrival in Seattle next year. Roger and Henry will have their hands busy next year as we expect a record turn out in Seattle.

Kent Semmen from Walt Disney World makes reappearance on the AALSO board. He has been elected to fill the vacancy left by Rick Davis’ promotion. Kent will be heading up our Certification program which continues to improve every year. We had more than 70 attendees take the certification exams this year. The certification program is a vital tool that we use to measure the abilities of the people who manage the systems that take care of our aquatic life. Look for bigger and better things from the certification program in the near future. Rounding out the AALSO Board is Gregg Case from SeaWorld Florida, his leadership and guidance to the organization is invaluable. I am not sure what AALSO would be without Gregg actively involved and I am in no hurry to find out.

The AALSO Vendor’s Board bids farewell to Bob Hawken from Neptune-Benson. I appreciate Neptune-Benson’s support of AALSO and Bob’s efforts as part of the Vendor Board. Replacing Bob this year is Jonathon Pierce from Miami Filter, welcome aboard Jonathon. Jonathon joins Stuart McDaniel of Waterlife Design Group, Jack Felts from Harrington Industrial Plastics, Gennaro “Jerry” D’Alterio from Met-Pro Corporation, Fybroc, Sethco and Dean Pumps and Leo Lester from Asahi America who currently reside on the Vendor Board. The AALSO organization appreciates the support of the Vendor Board and all of the vendors who are a part of AALSO. We know you are a vital to the success of AALSO and help make it a great organization.

Once again we have a Board that is loaded with talent, experience and energy and I expect great things as we work together as a team to improve the AASLO organization. I would like to offer my deepest thanks to all of the present and especially to the retiring board members. We could not accomplish all that we do without your time and efforts.

I believe we had one of our best years ever and it was made possible by the many people who donated their time and efforts to make the Symposium and all of the other activities a success. If you attended the recent Symposium in Baltimore then you experienced one of the best Symposium’s ever held. The presenters and round table discussions were top notch, The National Aquarium in Baltimore was a great host facility and the Hyatt Regency Inner Harbor was a great hotel. I would like to especially thank Katrina Bettis for her hours of tireless effort to organize the registration process and work on the membership effort. I know Robert and Rick were happy she was at the registration table to assist where needed.

AALSO would like to thank Love Ruddell, Andy Aiken and all of the Life Support Operators at the National Aquarium in Baltimore for being the host facility. The behind the scene tours were well received and I enjoyed seeing how they have overcome the many obstacles we all face on a daily basis. They should feel proud of their facility and I am proud to have them as part of the AALSO family. I appreciate all of their efforts in preparation of the Symposium as well as their time facilitating the event in Baltimore.

My theme for 2008 - 2009 is going to be “Show Time.” Our members, both Vendor and Operator, have accomplished so much over the years that I feel it is time to strut our stuff a little. I would like to see each facility and/or vendor send some snippet of information, or a full blown cover story, to the web site for publication. We can all learn from each other’s trials and successes and these features will be a great learning tool for everyone. I am going to challenge each vendor member to solicit their customers for these stories of success and send them to info@aalso.org for publication. I would also like to challenge each facility to get involved, (sound familiar?), and send in some interesting examples of their innovative solutions and exciting exhibits.

Aquatic Animal Life Support Operators is a great organization with fantastic members. We accomplish great things everyday and I know we will continue to lead this industry to bigger and better heights as we work to improve not only the quality of the water for our aquatic animals but also their quality of life.
Thanks for your support of AALSO and I look forward to a great year.

George Tenhagen
AALSO President 2008 - 2009