Colubridfest 2024

What made this so special...

Friday Night- The tone was set!

Friday was vendor set up and the mixer. It went better than the organizers could have asked for! While there were hiccups in terms of ease of load in for the vendors, that was figured out, tables were set, and the conversations began to flow. People from all over the country gathered and while it could have been a night of individuals afraid to engage or separate pockets of "cliques", NONE OF THAT HAPPENED! Instead, everyone talked with everyone, everyone was smiling, and stories were flying. It was a room full of people who love the same things. While Micky, Clint, and Zac were standing outside of the room, the volume coming out of the room was incredible... at this point, the three knew that the first night was a success!

Saturday- Would the presentations resonate??

The line up was set and it was incredible. Each presentation lasted about 20-30 minutes and was then followed by 30 minutes of questions from the CCR hosts and the audience. Would the audience participate? Would the talks keep everyone's interest? The day could have been a bomb and boring if either of those questions were answered no... but that was not the case. Every talk was engaging, eye opening, and the audience engagement was intense! The line up included:

Worms That Want To Die: Getting stubborn babies to eat with John Rice
Morph Magic: What makes a reptile morph with Sarah Mohr
Locality Snake Keeping with Chris Montross
Dystocia In Colubrids: How to prevent and treat egg binding with Dr. Zach Witman
Women in Herpetoculture: What it's like being a female in such a male heavy industry with Sarah Mohr and Kayla Martin
Starting a Project: How to establish a new species in the hobby with Matt Most
Evolution of Colubrid Keeping: A discussion of the hobby over time with the CCR Hosts, Micky Meyer, Rob and Amy Zerkle, and Joe DeStefano

Saturday Night Auction!

It was decided that all funds would go to a North American colubrid conservation effort. That effort was a research project on an endangered population of plains hognose snakes conducted by West Liberty University. There were lots of laughs, lots of really neat animals and items donated, and another great evening had by all. The goal was to raise 5K... over 11K was raised!

The Sunday Show...

The Sunday show was going to be the biggest test of all for Colubridfest. Would there be enough vendors? It's a niche market, would there be a large enough attendance? Would the vendors be successful? If any of these pieces failed, Colubridfest could be doomed... But as I'm sure you have guessed by now, the show was a hit! The vendors came and while nervous as to what the day would bring, they believed in the vision so rolled the dice.

The crowd came and boy did they know what they wanted! Every hand had deli-cups in it as they walked out the door. The vendors quickly came to the conclusion that they made the right call in vending and were already asking about 2025.

But what really made it special?

The biggest win for the weekend is the hardest thing to truly put into words. It was the FEELING in the air. The vibe. The sense of community. There are reptile shows that you may attend and spend time with your group, but the entire event was your group at Colubridfest. There were big personalities, but no egos. There were differences in keeping styles, but no judgement. There were conversations, but everyone was included. This is what made the event something so special it was still being talked about for months after it happened.

PJ Kohn may have described that feeling best while on the Colubrid Corruption Podcast shortly after Colubridfest. He stated "It was like summer camp. You got there on the first day and you are a little nervous with so many new people around you. By the end of it, you are sad to be going and knowing you just made life long friends."