2013 USA conferences

Arizona Docent

Arizona Docent

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Some of the major zoo related conference dates for 2013. Feel free to list others you know of.

FCF (Feline Conservation Federation) - June 6-8 Nashville, Tenessee

AZA (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) - Sept 7-12 Kansas City, Missouri

AZAD (Association of Zoo and Aquarium Docents) - Sept 19-22 Seattle, Washington

ZAA (Zoological Association of America) - Nov 10-14 Phoenix, Arizona
 
Would any of these be worthwhile for a non-zoo professional to attend? I am curious about what I could learn and who I could meet, but I don't know how out of place I would be. Both AZA and ZAA allow "civillian" members to join and attend the conferences.

If I were going to do it, is there significant benefit of going to AZA instead of ZAA? ZAA is much cheaper.
 
Good question which I have wondered myself. I am not a professional either (but I am a volunteer at an AZA facility). My impression is that ZAA would be more welcoming to non professionals (again no personal experience, just kind of a gut instinct).

The FCF, of which I am a member, had an article on last year's ZAA conference. The person who wrote the article and who attended said it was very worthwhile. Phoenix Sky Harbor airport is one of the largest and busiest in the country, so it would certainly be easy to get to. If you have never been to Arizona, it might be worth attending just to add an extra couple days to visit the Grand Canyon.
 
AZH (Association of Zoological Horticulture) September 28–October 2, 2013. Riverbanks Zoo and Garden in Columbia, South Carolina.
 
TheOnlineZoo said:
Would any of these be worthwhile for a non-zoo professional to attend? I am curious about what I could learn and who I could meet, but I don't know how out of place I would be. Both AZA and ZAA allow "civillian" members to join and attend the conferences.

If I were going to do it, is there significant benefit of going to AZA instead of ZAA? ZAA is much cheaper.
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AZA is a large conference, often 2100 attendees.
Anyone will be willing to chat with you if you can get their attention.
Zoo directors, Curators and most zoo senior staff are bust in committee meetings, doing business, and catching up with old friends and colleagues so getting their attention may be difficult. Going there with the intention of speaking with a particular person is difficult because in that crowd you may never find them... so making an appointment to talk with them in advance is a better approach. I have often missed seeing old friends simply because I never ran into them in the crowd.

The annual meeting is intended as a gathering of zoo professionals so it is simply not geared for non-professionals to meet the zoo staffs.
 
Zooplantman said:
The annual meeting is intended as a gathering of zoo professionals so it is simply not geared for non-professionals to meet the zoo staffs.
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I have no desire to meet any specific person or even people in specific roles. I'd just enjoy being around people with a shared interest. I also wondered if I would benefit from any of the speakers, or if the content would be too targeted to be much use to me. I think I would also enjoy the organized tours of the zoos, but I would have to come back the next day with my camera to see the zoo "my way".

The atmosphere you described is one of the reasons I considered ZAA instead of AZA. Since it doesn't have as many high profile members, I thought I might be more welcome there.
 
You actually might get more out of an AZAD conference (Association of Zoo and Aquarium Docents). Not sure if you are required to be a zoo volunteer or not (but I do not think so).

I wish I could have attended the Feline Conservation Federation conference in Nashville. I just got their magazine with the report and EVERYONE who attended got to hold a baby clouded leopard at Nashville Zoo!
 
Does anyone know if non zoo professionals can attend the AZA mid year meeting/conference ?We were thinking of checking it out in Memphis this spring.

Team Tapir223
 
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