Greetings Reef Futures 2018 Attendees-

A very Happy New Year to all of you! We built some great momentum and made excellent connections last December, so let’s keep the ball rolling in 2019! Below you will find some follow up information on Reef Futures 2018 as well as information on the Coral Restoration Consortium moving forward. Please read carefully, and contact coral.restoration@noaa.gov with questions or concerns.

REEF FUTURES 2018 FOLLOW UP

• Networking: the Reef Futures website will remain active through May 22, 2019. You can use this software to request contact information (vCard), view speakers, abstracts, and conference content. Please ensure that you have “Enabled Public Profile” and “Display Abstracts Publicly” if you want others to be able to access your information.
• Presentations: Plenary Session videos can be found on the CRC Facebook page. If you would like a specific presentation, please contact speakers directly (see above).
• Refunds: Refunds (partial/full) have been given to water-based Site Visits and some case-specific inquiries. If you have not received a refund you believe is due, please contact coral.restoration@noaa.gov.
• Don’t forget to apply for the  Wave of Change 5-night hotel getaway! Thanks so much again to the Iberostar Group for their generous contribution.
• Check out the RF2018 Retrospective Press Release and share!
• SHARE: Please include #CoralConsortium and #ReefFutures2018 in your tags and photos to promote the CRC on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (@CoralConsortium)! 

CALL TO ACTION

The closing remarks included a call to action to ask what each participant could commit to do to improve coral reef restoration and the state of our coral reef ecosystem moving forward.

• Will you commit to any actions or behavioral changes as a result of experiences had or lessons learned from Reef Futures 2018? 
• Have you implemented these changes? How?
• Write them down, track your progress, and share at the next Reef Futures to see how we are doing as individuals and as a group. 

Nature Seychelles, Mote Marine Lab (Reef Ecologic video), Reef Ecologic, and The Nature Conservancy Caribbean are leading the charge. What will YOU do?  

POST CONFERENCE SURVEY

Let us know how we did...but first a cheesy joke (courtesy of Mark, your conference bouncer extraordinaire) to break the ice before we ask a favor... “What did the number zero ask the number eight? Answer: Where did you get that cool belt?” Think you can do better… start working on your jokes for our next conference - the best one gets a drink ticket! Please find the link to the post conference survey. It’s a doozie, so please take some time to let us know what went well and what we could do better next time by February 11, 2019.  

CORAL RESTORATION CONSORTIUM FOLLOW UP

• If you didn’t have a chance or didn’t know where to look, you can Sign up for the CRC Newsletter for correspondence about meetings, research, news,  and projects.
• Sign up for the CRC Working Groups if you have a specific interest after hearing about all the great work being done. You can find more information about the Working Groups and their projects on the CRC website.
• The CRC is looking for help! Our network is expanding rapidly, and we are asking for volunteers to assist the CRC Working Group Chairs with calls, notes, and coordination. This is a great opportunity to learn about restoration work being done as well as network with the restoration community. Check out the CRC website for information on Working Group projects and email coral.restoration@noaa.gov if you are interested. BIG THANKS to our current volunteers for all you do!!!
• The CRC Field-based Propagation and Monitoring Working Groups are developing Best Management Guidelines, Global Databases for nurseries and outplant sites, and an Evaluation Tool to determine restoration success. Please help them!
• If you would like to view the current draft of the Best Management Guidelines or if you have comments and suggestions, please contact Liz Goergen (elizabeth.goergen@noaa.gov).
• We have a Caribbean Global Database prototype for nurseries and outplanting, but we need assistance to fill in data gaps. Excel spreadsheets for nursery information and outplant information are available to populate and you can send your completed spreadsheet to alison.moulding@noaa.gov to be added to the database.
• If you are interested in viewing the Evaluation Tool or have suggestions for restoration metrics, please contact Stephanie Schopmeyer (stephanie.schopmeyer@myfwc.com).

It was truly a pleasure having you at this groundbreaking event. The CRC is looking forward to working with you in the future!

Cheers and Best,

The Coral Restoration Consortium