Last month seven of the Turpin team headed to Chicago to attend Pondemonium 2016. What, you ask is Pondemonium 2016? It’s the premier educational and networking event for the Water Garden industry. Basically, it’s a large group of Certified Aquascape Contractors (CAC) and their teams who love the Pond Lifestyle and they get together for workshops and to share information, insight and motivation. This year’s theme was Leading the Change! Aquascape the leading manufacture of water garden products globally, hosts the convention. New products are introduced and many tried and true products are discussed as well. Greg Wittstock, whom some of you might know from the show Pond Stars, is the CEO of Aquascape and is a very enthusiastic, high energy motivator, to say the very least. This annual convention has had an enormous impact on the Turpin Landscaping team providing training to help make us one of the top installers in the country.

During the convention there is a pond building 101 Class for the “Newbies” and marketing info for those interested in getting the word out about the Pond Lifestyle. Ever year there is a large pond build and this year was no different. If you ever get a chance to stay at the Q Center in Chicago check out the huge pondless waterfall that our group of CAC installed in just one day. This beautiful waterfall is outside the main dining room. If you are staying at the Q Center, you won’t be able to miss it. We had a wonderful motivational speaker named Jim O’Connor who captivated all of us with his insightful messages on business, and life as well. Doctor Erik Johnson DVM, recognized as one of the world’s leading expert on fish health and author of the book, Koi Health and Disease, led a wet lab session. This session was a hands-on opportunity for anyone working with fish to use a microscope to help determine the health of a fish. There were many opportunities to meet new friends and connect with old ones. We visited the picturesque town of Geneva, where we happily supported some of the local businesses. We would like to personally thank The All Chocolate Kitchen for putting us into a chocolate coma that we many never recover from. Top Golf was a favorite activity for some of our attendees; especially John who somehow managed to scored 416 in one game; we even have a photo to prove it. Others in the group were busy injecting donut holes with various fillings and somehow missed the golf. To each his own!
Under the tutelage of Greg and his team, Aquascape has grown from a young boy’s love of turtles into a multimillion dollar company. This company also has a very large heart. Since Aquascape’s passion is all things water, they are committed to bringing safe drinking water to some of the most impoverish countries in the world. This January, once again, Jason and Joe Turpin will be joining the Aquascape Foundation team in Uganda. There they will install a system to bring clean drinking water to the village of Butiki. Although there is a stable government in Uganda, due to Aids and war it is considered to be one of the worst humanitarian emergencies in the world. Kudos the Aquascape Foundation for undertaking this extremely worthy cause!
All in all, Pondemonium 2016 was an informative, fun, exhausting five days but we came back revitalized and happy to share our passion for living the Pond Lifestyle. Read more on what the Turpins are up to, and if you have any questions or would like to schedule an appointment contact us here or at 610-380-1119.