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Thursday, November 17, 2005
FishScales mark marriages, babies and family
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rahul Bajaj armed himself with a FishScale when he got ready to take the plunge.
A doctor affiliated with Emory University, Bajaj had been carrying on a long-distance romance with Seema Sood, who lives in New York City. He wanted something permanent to mark his marriage proposal. So Bajaj — and apparently more than a dozen folks with the same idea — decided on a FishScale, the illuminated pieces of immortality at the Georgia Aquarium that patrons purchased for $55 each.
A 100-foot-long wall of the “scales” will greet visitors to the world’s largest fish tank when it opens its doors to annual pass-holders Monday morning.
Bajaj, however, got a head start.
John Spink/AJC
Rahul Bajaj’s proposal is one of 14 on the FishScales wall.On July 22 , the 31-year-old flew to New York, took 24-year-old Sood to the roof of her apartment building overlooking the Empire State Building and gave her two boxes. One contained a book he made of the e-mails the two have traded during their courtship. The last one she opened contained a framed copy of the FishScale that reads: “SS, Will You Marry Me? RB.”
The couple, both the children of Indian immigrants, plan to wed May 6 on Long Island, where they grew up. Bajaj plans to take his bride-to-be to see their real FishScale the next time she comes to Atlanta.
“This is something permanent, something we can come back and see on our 50th wedding anniversary,” he said.
Some 34,441 people purchased FishScales, including 14 that contain marriage proposals, 316 in memory of loved ones and 59 for yet unborn children. Money raised from the scales goes toward the aquarium’s education, conservation and research efforts.
Aquarium officials cut off sales after a few months when demand outstripped supply even though they had only advertised the scales on their Web site.
“We want that wall to be there forever,” said Jeff Swanagan, the aquarium’s executive director. “It was more about connections [with the community] than it was about fund-raising.”
Swanagan personally bought 11 FishScales, including panels for his five children, his parents, his ex-wife, her parents and even his daughter’s boyfriend “just because he’s a good kid.”
The FishScales are a high-tech version of the Olympic bricks that line Centennial Olympic Park. About 460,000 bricks were purchased for $35 each for the 1996 Olympics.
Aquarium benefactor and Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus has quipped that the FishScales are like the Olympic bricks “only you can find ‘em.”
Aquarium visitors who want to locate their scale first must type their name into a raised computer screen that faces the FishScale wall. A light moves across the Plexiglas wall until it gets to the area where your scale is located. It then forms a ring of light around your scale.
“It makes a circle around it like a bull’s-eye,” Swanagan said. “It narrows it down to an area of about 10 scales.”
One of the people who bought a scale will not be there to share it with his daughter. Jack R. Snook, a 24-year-old U.S. Marine who had returned from heavy combat in Iraq, bought a FishScale on March 10 for his 7-year-old daughter, Mallory.
A month later, Snook was shot dead in downtown Atlanta in what police described as a case of road rage.
“He loved fish and was very interested in carrying Mallory to the aquarium when it opened,” said his mother, Pat Snook, who lives in Cumming. “Now, we will do it for her. She needs to see it.”
An Atlanta nonprofit last month sued the aquarium over the FishScale program. The Center for Transportation and the Environment Inc. said it came up with the FishScale idea and has accused the aquarium of copyright infringement.
Aquarium spokeswoman Donna Fleishman said the lawsuit is “completely without merit” and will have no impact on the aquarium’s opening or visitor’s access to the FishScale wall.
Corporate sponsors ride in the front seat
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Some public fish tanks — like the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California — mute their corporate sponsorships.
But others shout out their affiliations. Baltimore’s National Aquarium next month unveils its “Animal Planet Australia: Wild Extremes” exhibit, sponsored by — you guessed it — the Animal Planet television network.
John Spink/AJC
SunTrust Banks and Georgia-Pacific are two Atlanta companies that ponied up sponsorship.The Georgia Aquarium, which opens its doors to annual pass-holders in three days, doesn’t name its exhibits after businesses. But it does display “presenting sponsors” names in bold, can’t-miss lettering next to the gallery names. Glance up at the Ocean Voyager Gallery entrance and you’ll see the words Home Depot just below. The words AirTran Airways peek prominently from beneath the Tropical Diver gallery logo.
The exhibit sponsors paid big bucks for the plugs — an estimated $7.5 million each for the five galleries and the theater, though none of the sponsors nor aquarium benefactor Bernie Marcus would confirm that figure. Sponsorship of the one-of-a-kind learning loop for schoolkids reportedly cost Turner Broadcasting System about $4 million.
Two things are certain, however. The world-class aquarium — the biggest on the planet — got millions beyond the $200 or so million Marcus is sinking into the project from his own bank account. The aquarium’s final price tag could reach $280 million once the corporate sponsorship is added.
The companies, for their part, get some priceless goodwill in the deal. Think of Georgia-Pacific in the future and you just might remember a very good time in the Cold Water Quest gallery watching the beluga whales and sea otters.
“It’s a combination of a business deal, a marketing deal, an advertising deal and something that will have a great effect on this city and state,” Marcus said when he announced the presenting sponsors. “These are great companies that represent the best in this state, and they will represent the best in this aquarium.”
Marcus noted that without the corporate sponsors, the aquarium likely would have to open with four instead of five galleries.
Sheila Weidman, Georgia-Pacific’s vice president of corporate communications and marketing, said her company believes its Cold Water Quest gallery is a way to connect with families “in a more unique and personal way.”
“What we have been focusing on for a couple of years is how to more effectively use our marketing dollars,” Weidman said. “As the 30-second advertising spot on television becomes less effective, we are really working on how do we use our marketing dollars to support venues like the aquarium where families share special experiences together.”
The aquarium’s mascot — a cartoonish version of a reddish-orange Garibaldi fish — is named “Deepo” in tribute to Marcus, who co-founded Home Depot in the late 1970s. The 76-year-old billionaire is spending a major chunk of his home improvement fortune to underwrite construction of the aquarium, which will open debt-free.
William Chipps, senior editor of IEG Sponsorship Report, said many companies see plenty of value in linking their names to attractions like zoos and aquariums.
The high-profile entertainment venues, he noted, draw massive numbers of visitors, making them prime vehicles for marketing.
A backlash is possible, he said, though it seems unlikely in the modern, ad-steeped world.
“Nowadays, I’d like to think that most consumers are aware of corporate sponsorships and aren’t as offended as they might have been five or 10 years ago,” said Chipps, whose publication is based in Chicago. “Without corporate support, some of these organizations may not be able to exist.”
Jane Ballentine, spokeswoman for the Maryland-based American Zoo and Aquarium Association, said corporate sponsorships no longer inspire charges of overt commercialism of public spaces.
“It’s become so commonplace that it really doesn’t even make a ripple anymore,” she said.
For most corporations, Ballentine said, aquarium sponsorship is a no-brainer.
“They have their name on something that is high profile and it also says, ‘We’re part of this community, and we want to show our appreciation and thank our customers.’ It’s very good community relations.”
There are, however, aquariums that shy away from connecting a public institution with corporate logos. The Monterey Bay Aquarium, which got most of its funding from the Packard family (as in Hewlett-Packard), downplays corporate affiliations at its fish tank, said Monterey spokesman Ken Peterson.
“From the very beginning, we’ve wanted this institution and the exhibits to stand on their own,” Peterson said. “For the businesses supporting us, we wanted them to be supporting the our mission instead of looking for specific recognition on the floor.”
The Monterey fish tank does recognize corporate sponsors in printed materials it distributes. Recently the aquarium hosted a weekend aimed at Hispanic visitors called “Fiesta Del Mar,” which was co-sponsored by Pacific Gas and Electric. The company got logo recognition on printed materials and in press materials, and the donation was recognized in comments from the podium, Peterson said.
However, inside the aquarium, it’s difficult to locate a donor’s name, he said.
“It’s a philosophical approach,” Peterson said. “We have chosen not to put that level of commercialization on the floor.”
Staff writer Scott Leith contributed to this article.
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