Meeting Minutes: August 2018

​New York Aquarium: 8/24/2018 

National Zoo Keeper Week:
- Thank you to all who gave keeper chats throughout the week
- Several keepers also wrote Wild View Blogs, and zoo keeper
  related blogs for the WCS blog site
- We made $1300 from our silent auction, which helps to cover
  chapter expenses, and can be utilized for future travel grants 

Queens Bat Walk:
- Special thanks to Colleen McCann, Mike Wrubel and Craig Gibbs
  for taking us around the Queens Zoo for a bat survey
- 12 AAZK members attended the bat walk 
- There was a ton of great bat activity, and a special bat detector app
  allowed us to identity each species, see the sound waves for each
  call, and hear the calls as well
Bowling for Rhinos:
- We made over $3500 and had 85 people were in attendance!
- The variety of events was a big hit, especially laser tag
- Thank you to Lauren Del Grosso organizing the event!
- Next year we will strive to have optional timed events so that there are
  group laser tag, ping pong, bowling sessions, etc
- Any other suggestions on how we can improve the event for next year
  would be greatly appreciated. 
New York Aquarium Night:
- Special thanks to the New York Aquarium staff, especially our tour guide
  Cris Silva for providing us with a behind the scenes tour of Ocean Wonders!
- 15 AAZK members attended the event, including representatives from
  the Bronx, Central Park and Queens Zoos. 

Bee Garden;
- Lauren Del Grosso would like to propose setting up a bee garden near
  the dump at the Bronx Zoo to attract bees, and help them as they
  continue to suffer from continued colony collapses
Upcoming AAZK Events:

Prospect Park Zoo Presentation Night
  - Tuesday September 4, 2018
  - PPZ keepers will be presenting about training, enrichment and will 
    give us the latest updates from PPZ
  - Pizza will be served

Women's Leadership Group Meeting
  - Date TBD in September
  - The WCS Women's Leadership Group is partnering with NYC AAZK
     and would like to hear from WCS female keepers about their views of
     working for WCS

3rd Annual Croctoberfest
  - Date TBD in October
  - Come out to to Gunhill Brewery to support WCS's crocodilian
    conservation efforts!

3rd Annual Alamo Drafthouse Night
 - November, after the switch over to winter hours
 - We will be renting out a private 25 seat theater at the Alamo
   Drafthouse in Yonkers to watch a newly released film

As always, and thoughts, or suggestions for future events would be
greatly appreciated! Want to host a fundraiser, organize a volunteer outing
or simply get more involved in AAZK? We will help facilitate any events
and ideas that are brought forward!