The National Association of Pond Professionals (NAPP) held their first national event–*Water Feature Conference & Expo*–at the beautiful Stone Mountain Resort, Georgia recently, and report being happy with the results. Stone Mountain Resort sits on a beautiful large lake, surrounded by forest, and situated in a National Park. It could not be more beautiful.
But like most conventions, we all spent the majority of our time indoors at the various seminars, and prowling the corridors of the Trade Show. It snowed briefly one day, but nobody noticed. Conversation with friends, however, was in abundance. In selecting an out of the way hotel, the organizers created an environment that encouraged meet-ups in the lobby, the bar, and the restaurant that were both pleasurable and productive. Thus mission accomplished.
The breadth of the seminar topics was good, and attendees stuck around and participated in discussions during and after the close of the sessions.
I was delighted to be able to present the first *POND Trade Magazine* “Product of the Year Challenge” awards to those who were in attendance, including representatives from AquaFinn, Ecological Labs, and Atlantic Water Gardens.
I expect events of this caliber to continue to grow in years to come. Congratulations to the members and staff of NAPP for their superb first event.
To learn more about NAPP see their web site at www.nationalpondpro.com
