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Aquatics live cancelled.

I also do not buy PFK, and not because I want stuff for free, after all I do subscribe (pay) to other online magazines. The reason I do not subscribe to PFK is that for me, the magazine is pretty lame..

Thank you Luis, I’m sure that Myself, George and any other contributors to PFK magazine that post here will find your comments very encouraging.

If you have any suggestions for ways in which we could make the magazine less lame please feel free to share them with us, as your opinion is very valuable.

I really appreciate your honesty and I will endeavor to employ a similar level of honesty and constructive criticism when passing comment on your work.

Thanks again,
James
 
Hmmm hint of sarcasm there. I think if people have an opinion on pfk magazine and want to share it then they should, I to do not buy the magazine because I feel the content does not warrant me paying out £4 odd each month

Sent from my U8510 using Tapatalk 2
 
The kind of sarcasm employed in James Starr-Marshall's comment above is really an indication of why a lot of people have stopped reading PFK. It seems the petulance of those who run it is matched by some of those who contribute to its content. And I feel sure there will be no moderator coming along and wielding their moderator stick at James since he is such good friends with the founders of UKAPS but his post is no better than some of the previous ones on this thread. Despite SteveUK telling everyone to drop the aggro on this thread, Mr Marshall has come along and stuck his oar in too. But then thats ok cos he's mates with those who count most on here.

James, if people think a magazine is lame (and trust me, Luis is by far not the only one, this opinion stretches into plenty of other fields of our hobby; I know marine guys, cichlid guys end plenty of general hobbyists and even Local Fish Retailers who are no longer interested in it) then they should have the right to say so. He has not slandered them, he has just expressed an opinion on it. You of course will feel differently since you have contributed articles to it, but surely, even with your obvious talent, you have not become so self obsessed that you believe you are beyond criticism ? Or has all the endless praise that your scapes get on here blinded you to the fact that no one is perfect ? Seriously, I would have expected you to set an example on this.
 
I thought the idea of forums was to offer contstructive criticism. If I were to post on someone's journal and say that "for me the aquascape is pretty lame" I would expect them to somewhat offended, as a comment of this nature offers little or no help. It might be worth mentioning that myself and Luis are friends and have got along well on the numerous ocassions that we have met, and i'm sure this is something we will continue to do.
However, seeing as I have obviously offended people by what I considered to be a bit of light hearted banter between friends, I will try my best accept unconstructive criticism without passing comment.

Cheers,
James
 
something definitely more central like birmingham like you mentioned would be much better I think if ever there was something. There are a lot of ukaps members who like myselfare much further up north and as much as aquatics live looked so good, thr thought of having to travel all that way and the cost etc is quite off putting.
Vivarium etc is slightly different as its kind of like a holiday to me so id be going.
Following on iains comment on a green machine meet I think that would be a great idea. Maybe this is something that could be started as a new thread to see what interest their is as I for one would like to finally get to meet people off here
Plus cup of teas will prevent iains mishaps ;)
 
I thought the idea of forums was to offer contstructive criticism. If I were to post on someone's journal and say that "for me the aquascape is pretty lame" I would expect them to somewhat offended, as a comment of this nature offers little or no help. It might be worth mentioning that myself and Luis are friends and have got along well on the numerous ocassions that we have met, and i'm sure this is something we will continue to do.
However, seeing as I have obviously offended people by what I considered to be a bit of light hearted banter between friends, I will try my best accept unconstructive criticism without passing comment.

Cheers,
James

Im sorry James but how are people expected to know you are friends with Luis ? In the absence of that knowledge you must admit how your post will have come across, obviously to me and no doubt to a lot of new members on here or those who are not aware of your acquaintances. You are right, the main purpose of a forum for support and constructive help where appropriate, but that does not deny the fact that people are entitled to their opinion and sadly PFK leave themselves open to that kind of comment. It may have been better if Luis had qualified his comment about the mag being lame. I happen to share that opinion on the whole BUT I do like your articles and the others on anything to do with planted aquaria. So perhaps everone is in the wrong here, me included for jumping in when I was not aware of your friendship with Luis. But hey, like I said I was not to know that and if it looked like sour grapes to me I can't have been the only one.

Anyway, like Iain has said, and SteveUK lets all drop the antagonism. The whole thing of AL being cancelled has obviously upset us all and I for one hope we can move forward and look for ways that UKAPS and other organisations can seek a way to keep it going. :) Hope you will accept my apology, I tend to say things as I see em ;) Sometimes Im wrong :)
 
come on people give it a rest, i feel bad for mentioning PFK to start with and think some of you have forgotten the real issue here.....some people still think cream goes on a scone before the jam :p

Where does the butter go ? I hope you dont just eat it with jam and cream ! (clotted of course) ;)
 
OK, if people want to discuss the good and bad about the contents of PFK magazine then please go discuss it with them on their own forum. I don't wish for UKAPS to get dragged into any slagging off of the publication. PFK has been a good friend to UKAPS, as can be seen by the number of our members who have had their aquascapes featured in the magazine (unpaid of course) and by the fact that some of our members sometimes write for the magazine. This does not mean we are in their pockets, or anything nefarious like that, of course.

I'm not saying that people aren't entitled to their opinions on the content of the publication, I have no problem with someone not buying it because they don't find it fulfills their ideal of a fish based magazine. I do however have issues with the way some of these views are being aired in a non-constructive, almost poisonous manner. The tone of these comments, to me, is not acceptable.

No more discussion about PFK content please. That's a completely different conversation to the fact that Aquatics Live has been cancelled this year, and everyone appears to have had their 2 pence worth now. People seem to be forgetting that the reasons stated by the AL organisers is lack of commitment by sponsors/vendors. They had had vendors say they'd be there, but not committing to it by actually coughing up for a stand. If you don't have the finances in place to organise the event then clearly you can't hold that event.

Again, keep the conversation civil. I'm in no mood to be dealing with bitchy comments and sniping at the moment. You have been warned.
 
Thank you Luis, I’m sure that Myself, George and any other contributors to PFK magazine that post here will find your comments very encouraging.

If you have any suggestions for ways in which we could make the magazine less lame please feel free to share them with us, as your opinion is very valuable.

I really appreciate your honesty and I will endeavor to employ a similar level of honesty and constructive criticism when passing comment on your work.

Thanks again,
James

James, had you, George and other Aquascapers contributed solely to PFK probably it would be worth me buying the magazine. After all I subscribe to other fish and planted tank related magazines.

Get a magazine, even if just online, where you, George, and other aquascapers write articles, test filters, lights, review new tools and techniques for the hobby and surely a lot of people would subscribe. I would.. :)
 
What are the legalities of selling fish?

There should be Aquarium Fairs, like there is Computer Fairs, that would be really cool.. :)

Hi Luis, Im not sure on the legalities but I know that fishkeeping clubs nationwide hold events and auctions where people bring their fish along and auction them off. If that can happen then it must be possible to sell them at something like an AL type event I would have thought.
 
Been off sick for the last week and did not have the chance to comment on this, its very well to start bashing people, but those that are bashing people/companies/publications and were not at AL then you are just as much to blame also for not making the effort to attend and support the event.

I have to agree the first event was better than last year overall and I did mention a couple of times that I would be surprised if it happened again has attendance was much lower in the second show, I do not know if it was about money or politics as I am not involved in organizing the event, I just enjoyed contributing towards it has an hobbyist that shares a passion for planted tanks and wanted to spread the word, I would have been there again this year if it was going ahead.

The ONE thing that let it down was the fact that no one in London or anywhere else in the country was aware that the event was taking place, other than the people that frequent UKAPS and (read) PFK, even on the day before the event and during the event you would hardly notice the event was even there unless you went past the back road where the entrance was. This was the major downfall of AL, it was just not well publicized and most people did not know about it.

Then there were not enough clubs attending the event, again not sure if it was due to organizers but this would be the best way to get people to attend, not being able to sell fish was a major down also as people expect to be able to do that as most local club meets/events, they could even have included an auction of some sort in there.

Then there was the issue of lack of entertainment for the kids, kids got in there was there wasn't much for them to do again they would get bored pretty quickly and their parents probably rushed a little. UKAPS did try and have a play area for kids and did encourage kids to try stuff with some tanks hardscaping and some plastic plants but its hard to do it all since most of our work was with the competition and promoting the actual planted tank scene.

Food was also expensive but this is London and food is expensive at all the events no matter where you attend them in London.

There was good things about it, the stands were great, companies made a real effort, there were great tanks in display, there were lots of dry good/equipment to buy, last year we had FWS with a great selection of shrimp and mosses, you could buy plenty of plants at the show too.

The talks were great, very informative and even I learned a thing or two from them, although more variety from year to year would be nice but it was a nice selection from very interesting speakers.

The public that attended were great also, asking lots of questions, really curious about the planted tanks, engaging with the competition scapers and asking them questions as they scaped away, really good fun.

Its a shame that it will not happen this year but hopefully it will happen again in the near future and some of these issues can be addressed to make it an even better and bigger event, maybe then it will draw in crowds from Europe too, but its just to small at the moment to do that, even the mighty Vivarium fell, for me the best show I have ever attended.

Not to go OT here, but I have been a subscriber to PFK since 2006, even before I knew about UKAPS, some of you think its "lame" sure for people in this forum it will be lame, the magazine tries to cover the needs of the fish keeping world which is a large area to cover, its not a planted tank magazine, in covering so much it will always be lame for most people since it doesn't cater 100% for any particular fish keeper, but if you like fish keeping in general and want to make sure there is a UK magazine on the shelves that supports the hobby then the only way to ensure it stays there is to subscribe to it, the recent planted tank articles are great and I love reading about other areas of fish keeping that I am not involved in also, I will not visit a reef forum, or a cichlids forum, a discus forum, so when articles come up in the magazine about it, its when I read something about those areas that I would not look into otherwise.

Look forward to more positive news in the future and maybe people will look at this thread and think, yes that is where we went wrong and now we need to correct all those issues and make it a great event, I can only hope :)

Peace and now to bed as my back is killing me!
 
Oh Blast!
I'd already booked the Friday off to come help with the ukaps stand.
I was looking forwards to putting more faces to names and catching up with those I met last year :(
 
Oh Blast!
I'd already booked the Friday off to come help with the ukaps stand.
I was looking forwards to putting more faces to names and catching up with those I met last year :(
Guess you won't be needing the sofa afterall!! :(
 
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