Visit Animal Professional to access recorded RAW talks dating back to 2012
Visit Drum and Croaker for abstracts of past RAW talks
2024 Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium (Chris Spaulding)
TacomRAW! A Pycnopodia working group gathered before the conference
2023 National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium (Andy Allison)
RAW on the River!
2022 Moody Gardens (Greg Whittaker)
RAWdemic – Rising from the ashes!
2021 Sea World and Discovery Cove
Cancelled due to COVID-19
2020 Wonders of Wildlife (Mike Daniel)
Combined symposium with AALSO – Cancelled due to COVID-19
2019 The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium (Becky Ellsworth)
Retro RAW!
2018 The Florida Aquarium (Mike Terrell)
RAW in Florida
2017 New England Aquarium (Steve Bailey and Barb Bailey)
Wicked RAWsome!
2016 Audubon Aquarium of the Americas (Dee Murphy)
Mardi Raw!
2015 Monterey Bay Aquarium (Paul Clarkson)
West Coast! Jelly School was held before the conference
2014 North Carolina Aquarium (Hap Fatzinger)
East Coast!
2013 Georgia Aquarium (Chris Coco)
Time for some Southern hospitality.
2012 John G. Shedd Aquarium (Mark Schick)
Back to the Windy City after 18 years.
2011 Virginia Aquarium (Beth Firchau)
RAW heads to Virginia Beach.
2010 Henry Doorly Zoo (Mitch Carl)
A SECORE workshop was included.
2009 Newport Aquarium (Jeff Gibula)
Newport, Kentucky brings RAW back to its roots….kind of. It’s right across the river from Cincinnati, Ohio.
2008 Atlantis Marine World (Joe Yaiullo)
The second Atlantis to host a RAW, but this time the one on Long Island.
2007 Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium (Alan Marshall)
Back to the Homeland of RAW (Great Lakes and Ohio Valley ). A cruise. Unfortunately, a pond was included at the Olympic site.
2006 Aquarium at Moody Gardens (Greg Whittaker)
Cephalopods, a sea turtle symposium, and more. A unique use was found for a ton of expired frozen capelin.
2005 Aquarium of the Pacific & Cabrillo Marine Aquarium (Perry Hampton & Jeff Landesman)
RAW finally crosses the continental divide and touches the Pacific.
2004 Mote Marine Laboratory Aquarium (Kevin Curlee)
A series of talks and workshops were directed at improving communication among and within aquariums and identified priority issues on many topics for further action by RAW attendees.
2003 Riverbanks Zoo and Aquarium (Melissa Salmon)
Sea Turtle Symposium held in conjunction with RAW. First “Aquarist Olympics.”
2002 Colorado’s Ocean Journey (Rich Lerner)
RAW in the Rockies …almost to the continental divide. RAW meets as the closing of the facility seems imminent.
2001 Atlantis Resorts (Michelle Liu-Ferguson & Steve Kaiser)
Modest registration fee of $25. Advisory Committee formed to deal with administrative issues on an “as-needed” basis.
2000 Aquarium of the Americas (Rich Toth & Toni Davi)
Last free RAW as attendance and costs skyrocket. AZA TAGs fixed as a pre-RAW event, instead of mixed with RAW sessions.
1999 Underwater World, Mall of America (Craig Atkins & Jeff Krenner)
Chalice first awarded to aquarium professional with most challenging year.
1998 Texas State Aquarium (Charles Smith & Tom Schmidt)
Many attended a 3-day pre-RAW tour of Texas Aquariums. Bad judgment in San Antonio results in the ‘discovery’ of what would become “The Chalice”.
1997 Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo (Kathy Vires)
Concurrent workshops held on several subjects.
1996 New England Aquarium (Steve Bailey and Barb Bailey)
RAW hosted a paper session and TAG meetings for AZA conservation efforts…and confusion of RAW with AZA begins.
1996 (March) ReRAW at Frisch’s Big Boy, in Findlay, Ohio (Warren Pryor)
5 or 6 aquariums drove to a central point for a long lunch to attempt to recreate the original semi-annual RAW tradition. This is considered an “unofficial” RAW gathering.
1995 National Aquarium in Baltimore (Perry Hampton, Bruce Hecker, & Chris Andrews)
First East-Coast meeting. Discussion groups on LSS and Conservation. AZA TAG meetings are first held in conjunction with RAW.
1994 John G. Shedd Aquarium (Roger Klocek & Mike Mulligan)
41 folks from 17 facilities, including the first “overseas” attendee, an aquarist from Bermuda Aquarium. There were 12 scheduled talks including ones on poison arrow frogs, paddlefish, and Partula snails.
1993 Tennessee Aquarium (Chris Coco)
First RAW at a large stand-alone aquarium. Attendance jumps to 35-40 as East-Coast and Southern facilities attend for first time.
1992 Sea World of Ohio & Cleveland Metroparks Zoo (Pete Mohan & Dan Moreno)
Last semi-annual RAW. Tours of Rainforest (Zoo) and Shark Encounter (SWO), both under construction. Vote of support from attendees for Pete to relaunch Drum and Croaker. Last ice-breaker held in someone’s motel room. 21 attendees.
1991 (October) Ohio DNR Hatchery, Lake Erie, Ohio (Doug Warmolts & Dave Ross)
A small RAW group helped ODNR develop plans to convert the hatchery to an aquarium. Gales kept a drunken sailing regatta in port.
1991 (April) Milwaukee County Zoo (Rich Sajdak & Craig Berg)
Group brainstormed on planned exhibit renovations at zoo.
1990 (October) St. Louis Zoo (Joe Norton)
First auditorium and formal program for talks. 19 attendees.
1990 (March) Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo (Warren Pryor)
Last meeting fit in a single-day or held around a conference table. 29 attendees?
11/3/89 Toledo Zoo (Jay Hemdal)
First official RAW. Single day. Name coined and guiding principles developed. Jay invites all aquariums within half-day drive. 20 attendees.
7/22/89 Columbus Zoo (John Culbertson & Doug Warmolts)
“RAW #0” Casual chat arranged by John, a vendor and aquarium fan, leads 4 attendees to support what would soon become RAW #1.