The 2010 Australian Herpetological Symposium, Cairns, Oct 1, 2, & 3

[bfg23]

So only the people with 1300dollars spare are allowed to learn from what was presented at the symposium?

 

[-Matt-]

That's a bit of a contradiction there CP.com.au, you say that only those that attended the symposium should be allowed to see the DVD would which would obviously be a great piece of educational material for the majority of the Australian herp community. So therefore you are withholding a lot of valuable knowledge purely because they did not have the priveledge of attending this event. But then you follow it up with a spiel on how sharing is paramount and it's ok to share your successes and knowledge with the rest of the community.

 

[CarpetPythons.com.au]

Sarcasm!!! In the first few lines. Sorry if it did not come accross that way.

 

[Waterrat]

Settle down!
I can see both sides of the argument. I have been to many conferences in the past and it's that simple - if you don't attend, you miss out. In some conferences you get the chance to BUY the proceedings, which usually consist only of abstracts ... and that is all. Perhaps the DVD should be available to the wide community but not for 10 bucks. The line has to be drawn somewhere.

 

[Slateman]

intellectual property have its price.Cost money to get it right and with out financial reward, nobody will go after proper research. Be realistic. Nothing is for free.
Person selling the product should always have right to dictate the price. This is the free world we live in.
Otherwise emigrate to North Korea and live in communist system. They all work for free there and I don't think they love it so much.

 

[bfg23]

A fee of one or two hundred dollars for the DVD seems OK to me. I would be happy to pay that kind of money if you guys are over the moon about what was presented.

 

[Waterrat]

Good on you Slateman, piece of raw truth.
Cuba is not bad either, you get to smoke cigars and dance rumba to unplugged music .... the electricity goes off now and then.

 

[Gecko :)]

I would have loved to make it, unfortunately I didnt know about it until not long before it was on which at that stage was way to hard to organise funds & flights etc, looking forward to hearing more details about the next one to be held in Sydney,.. hope there are some Gecko ppl at the next one

Any news on the DVD & when it is expected it will be released? will it be sold as 1 set or sold as a bunch of individual dvd's?
I for one am very interested in getting one and would like more details on ordering a copy.

 

[-Peter]

No, the world is not free. A small portion is.
The seller doesn't dictate the price, the market dictates the price to some degree but usually its regulated because free market laissez fair capitalism has been proven not to work.

 

[FAY]

I also found it fascinating that Allen does not employ reptile keepers as they have always ended up stealing from him? Funny that!

What a strange thing to say. People who are thieves will be thieves no matter what their interest. I think Allen should get out more

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Not really Fay - he made the point that those with a passion for reptiles are more likely to help themselves to desirable hatchies if they think they can get away with it. If you have no inherent interest, there is less temptation.

It's a bit like employing a morphine addict in a hospital pharmacy I guess...

Jamie.

 

[-Peter]

I tend to agree with Fay. There are honest people in every walk of life and I have the pleasure of knowing quite a few.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Ah well, Allen was speaking from experience, so I can reasonably expect he knows what he's talking about. He's been in the business for a while now... just as there are honest people in all walks of life, so it is that, sadly, there are dishonest people in all walks of life.

Allen's decision to employ non-herpers on his team was based solely on experiences he's had doing otherwise.

-Peter, do you think an 'honest' morphine addict would be suitably employed around the drug cabinets in a hospital pharmacy?

J.

 

[-Peter]

What does a morhine addict have to do with reptile keeping. I ignored the example as it truly is not relevant to the arguement. One is driven by greed and desire to steal while a morphine addict from bodily need and physical addiction. A very stupid parallel. Surprised that you would consider it.

 

[adderboy]

What does a morhine addict have to do with reptile keeping. I ignored the example as it truly is not relevant to the arguement. One is driven by greed and desire to steal while a morphine addict from bodily need and physical addiction. A very stupid parallel. Surprised that you would consider it.

I don't think the example was a bad one, actually. A herper with even slightly compromised ethics is far more likely to to do the wrong thing than someone who is relatively disinterested. Pythoninfinite was simply using an example. If you want to draw literal parallels I am sure we can all think of a few, but the point was well made.

Regardless, Allen has the right to employ whoever he wishes, and if experience has taught him this is the way to go, then fair enough.

 

[Waterrat]

If you burn you fingers not once but few times and still keep sticking them into a fire, you need a brain surgery, never mined the burned fingers.
Allen knows what he is doing, don't worry.

 

[viperst]

Reptile Symposium

I dont normally type on the forums, but I also attended the Symposium. All I can say to those people that missed out is what ever you do dont miss out on next years. The speakers were top class and to mix with herpers from all over australia was great. Michael and Ricos talks were fantastic and as usual Michaels photos blew everyone away.
And for the negative few I really dont know how they orgainised it for the price, with a large group of overseas speakers, dinners, and held at the Cairns Casino. Well you dont have to be a brain surgeon to realise the organisers didnt put this on to make money.
This weekend definately took our hobby to a new level and next year is looking even bigger again.
We have already booked our seats.
See ya there.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

-Peter, I'm sorry if your brain can't make the parallel... have you heard of 'putting Dracula in charge of the Bloodbank'? Maybe that's an example you can grasp. It's the very same sort of reasoning behind the fact that state conservation 'authorities' deliberately don't select wildlife officers with an interest in keeping animals - they get too close to those they are supposed to be supervising and it compromises their enforcement role. We may think they would be ideal employees, but they won't perform as they are supposed to.

Passions (of all sorts) lead to compromises, and even basically good people can be subject to temptation under some circumstances. I'm not justifying it for a minute, and I'm glad you know heaps of lovely people -Peter (as I do too)... but I'm not in a business which depends on exclusive, rare high-end morphs to retain a commercial edge. Even one or two animals slipping between the cracks, whether stolen for money or passion, could compromise a breeding program which has taken years to put in place...

Adderboy is, in the long run, quite correct... it's Allen's business who he employs and why he employs who he does. His rationale is based on experience, and I can't argue with that (even if I did use a 'stupid' example... sorry for that...)

Jamie.

 

[jeffspythons]

Jamie,
Never won an argument with a HR Manager so I gave up trying. You'll never win. It's a good thing for Allen that he's not bound by APS HR Doctrine.

To Allen I would say " It's good to be da King!" (Mel Brooks: History of the World Part 1)

Jeff

 

[FAY]

I agree, it is Allen's choice who he wants to employ BUT I don't think that things like that need to be said.
It makes us all look yuk (yes, even you Jamie lol) when that shouldn't be the case.
No different to a company not wanting to employ any asians, fat people etc....but would never (hopefully) admit to that!