suicideissleep
Active member
Thank you very much for the nomination jas and mike for second I will write up something for you guys and gals tomorrow I'm off to bed just checked in real quick. Either way I will help any way I can thank you again
2015 CTARS BOD Nominations
- Thread starter Munchie1976
- Start date
My husband and I were thinking abt joining but after reading this thread we r reconsidering. Do members act childish at the meetings also, I am sure not impressed. I was going to buy 2 CMAC tickets but after reading some of the comments I don't think we will attend. I feel sorry for the members that don't act childish and have to put up with some of the members tht act childish. What kind of club is this anyway
sassAwrasse
New member
I do apologize to you for the bad impression. This is a great club to be a part of. I have loved being a member, as has just about everyone posting on here. Come to CMAC, meet alot of members, and you'll see that this is a fantastic club. The members love the hobby and we love meeting new people who are reef nerds just like us. I'm sure I'm with everyone when I say : hope to see you two there!!
-Nichole
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sassAwrasse
New member
triggreef
New member
I wouldn't make that decision based on one thread that you read that had some drama. Being that it is a forum board here, that is bound to happen here and there like on any other forum.
There are many benefits to being a member, and I for one, probably would NOT be as involved in the hobby if it weren't for CTARS. Between the raffles, member discounts to local fish stores, etc, it more than pays for itself. For example at a certain meeting I remember well, I won 3 frags that would have cost me probably $40 each, for $10 worth of raffle tickets.
Aside from monetary value, there is a ton of reefing knowledge in this club. Don't write it off, that would be a mistake.
Vaiodude
New member
Munchie1976
New member
This is a club nomination thread. Every year it gets a little heated and politics will always be politics. Aside from a bit of bantering in the beginning, this thread has been moving along greatly. Let's keep it going that way too! 
In regards to CMAC...the Board as well as the PR and Bob have spent a year putting together some terrific speakers, vendors and raffle prizes for any reefer to enjoy. We hope to see EVERYONE there!
In regards to CMAC...the Board as well as the PR and Bob have spent a year putting together some terrific speakers, vendors and raffle prizes for any reefer to enjoy. We hope to see EVERYONE there!
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sassAwrasse
New member
+100
sassAwrasse
New member
Most of you know me, but for those who don't, my name is Nichole. :wavehand:
I was introduced to this hobby by my wonderful boyfriend Mike (Captc07). Early on in our relationship, he had taken me to a few fish stores here and there. He had told me stories about the tank he used to have years before when he lived in Florida. Tried teaching me about some of the characteristics of the fish. We talked about having a tank in the future. Fast forward a few more years and we're living together. Our housemate moved out, and we were now talking about getting a tank. In February 2012, around the time of Superbowl, Capt had an awful fall that broke 3 bones in his leg. When we discovered that he needed 2 surgeries and a 6 month recovery time, that sealed the deal for us buying a tank we had been looking at on Craigslist. He wanted something nice to look at and relax with while stuck at home all day every day. I agreed, and we got our first tank. While he had to stay off of his feet, I had to do all maintenance on the tanks, but also aquascaping and fish/coral shopping too. I think that put my love for the hobby into overdrive..LOL. A few months later we had another tank...then a few months later we had another tank...and eventually our clownfish room. It is true what they say; you will always want to go bigger.
We attended CMAC 2012. We had a lot of fun and made out like bandits with the raffle (Newbie Luck..LOL). Even though the weather prevented a lot of people from attending, we thought it was awesome. Made us want to join the club even more…Get to know everyone..Be a part of it all.
Capt and I had been lurking on the boards for a little while, and I introduced myself on the forum in November 2012, my first meeting was the Christmas party, and Capt and I signed up for the club at the Puppy Center After Hours Event shortly after that time.
Since joining, I have been very active on the forum as well as at meetings. I have been to almost every meeting since we joined (with the exception of a few this Spring/early Summer).
I’ve met tons of like-minded individuals, gained knowledge, and had fun participating in the various activities. I have wanted nothing other than to participate and help the club out in any way I can. When Eric asked me (around September/October 2013) to help out with public relations, I was honored and excited to help. I was welcomed by the previous board (Jeff, Mike, Dave, and Eric). I let them know my thoughts and we shared opinions. During the brief time I was helping the board out, I organized the Fragging Demo, a CTARS weekend sale with Exotic Fish & Corals, the Behind-the-Scenes Mystic Trip, and created a fun game for the December Holiday Party. I had done a bunch of research on bus prices for a possible trip to Long Island or Brooklyn Aquariums. Before the Fragging Demo & before Joe started there, I was working with Andrew (the manager at APC in Wallingford) to get a CTARS discounting program going. This was how the CTARS Fish/Coral ONLY $24.99 membership was born. I built a good rapport with local fish store owners. And as such, was asked to post Black Friday sales (and a few others) for Aquatic Wildlife by Derek, Exotic Fish & Corals by Bob, and APC by Joe.
I feel the club has had some great changes this past year. Regardless of the election outcome, I am excited for things to come. Having said that, I do feel that I can make a big impact..bringing my hard work, energy, and enthusiasm to the table.
Things that I would like to see and ideas that I have:
(1) Recruiting/Building Membership
The idea was to partner up with a store and set up a table for the day advertising CTARS and talking saltwater/reef with people. Meet some new faces and get the word about the club out there. It would’ve been perfect with APC, and I had discussed it briefly with Andrew (Manager at APC Wallingford), since they also have a membership. We could’ve partnered up gaining new members, held cross events for both clubs, helped advertise for one another.
We could ask for different volunteers each recruiting day. (Let’s say a 4 hour shift should suffice for the day?) They can either set up a table, near the door or fish area. Each time we could have a few different topics to talk about (flow, lighting, corals, fish, chemistry, photography, aquascaping, etc). The volunteers would need to be able to educate new comers on that day’s topic(s) as well as give a good overview of the club and what we’re all about. It would be ideal to sign up new members on the spot (maybe offer an incentive with sign up…free raffle ticket at your first meeting? $5 off membership..Or I’m open to any suggestions). (If done at APC I would ask APC to have a dedicated representative to sell their Aquatic Membership as an accompaniment to the CTARS membership.)
This doesn’t have to be limited to APC as I’m sure there are other stores that would be open to it. And recruiting wouldn’t need to be limited to this activity either.
(2) Club Member Involvement/Engagement
It has often been discussed that there are a lot of members that don’t come to meetings and/or don’t post on the forums. Let’s give them more reasons to. Let’s keep the Photo of the Month and Tank of the Month going consistently. Let’s utilize our private forum to the best of it’s abilities. Let’s get updated sales from the sponsors on our forum, and keep them engaged in the club as well. Let’s post more club sponsored discussions and contests. There need not always be a prize at the end of the tunnel. More activities like the grow-out competition, doing a March Madness Saltwater Fish bracket, Instead of a Pub Crawl…Organize a Tank Tour of sorts for the day with several member tanks along a designated route with refreshments and reef chat at each stop, Create fun games like a reef scavenger hunt/amazing race type game that involves the Local Fish Stores as well, carpool/roadtrips to out of state fish stores with a stop for some good grub along the way. These activities can be in addition to the meetings, and I feel would add another level of fun to the club.
(3) Local Fish Store Engagement
There are a lot of stores in our area that are a part of the club, and there are some that would like to be a more active part of our club. Maybe working with the store(s) on a punch card…something similar to those coffee cards where you buy 10 and get a free one. Get “X” amount of punches from a store (or maybe it’s a club card where you can get punches from multiple stores..who knows), and get a free frag at the meeting or a few free raffle tickets or maybe the store itself will offer something free after qualifying purchases have been met.
I don’t think we necessarily need to do more “events” at stores more often, but maybe partner up with a different store each month for a “sale item” or special sale percentage during a certain time.
We were doing things with Affordable Aquatics at one point, things like that would be great, but sharing the love around with all the stores.
(4) Group Buys
I think club sponsored group buys would be an awesome idea. This would be another great way to involve our LFS as well. Let’s partner up with our LFS to do bulk/group buys on dry goods , CUC , etc. Things like those mesh filter socks, SALT, frozen food, anything the club desires and we can make happen.
(5) Public Relations Committee
I had proposed to the previous board that a committee be created for this. One person to lead it and communicate with the B.O.D. and a few others to help with activities, outreach, and brainstorming ideas/events/etc.
The current board has put in a lot of time and effort, and it is greatly appreciated. Let’s get some others involved that can take some of the work off of the Board’s shoulders. The Board shouldn’t have to do it all.
(6) Lutz Tank and Committee
When I joined the club the Lutz tank was a disaster. Ron took it on and got the ball rolling. Donations were made, money was raised, and things were looking better. To my knowledge, Ron was just about the only person maintaining the tank. One man cannot do this on his own. I know that Ron was supposed to talk to a few members about the tank so that they could help out if need be…not sure if that ever happened, but it shouldn’t fall on just one person. . especially if there’s an emergency.
I am excited to see what the revamped Lutz tank will look like!! It will be pretty cool for sure!!!
Let’s create a committee of a few people to check on/maintain the tank. Have 3-5 people that can each commit to checking on the tank in person once a month and recording their findings/maintenance/etc to the board to be cataloged for record. That way the work is spread out amongst a few, and also there is always more than one person should an emergency arise. Either something along the lines of this or let’s hire a maintenance crew to take care of the tank.
I also feel like we should have a set budget from club funds for the Lutz tank. And then if that is exceeded, Asking for additional donations is fine, but this is a part of what we pay dues into.
We love the relationship we have with the Lutz and also want to have a nice tank for their Museum. Whatever the decision is, let’s treat this tank like it is in our own home and keep it beautiful. Let it be a shining representation of our club and what we do!
(7) Giving Back
Utilizing the vendors on the forum (“clayboa”…LOL). There is a ton of involvement on there. Let’s partner up with them for club sales or club meeting raffle items. We can partner up with them and ask them to donate a portion of our club sales to a charity in our hobby. Or we can ask them to donate raffle items and donate 100% of the proceeds from their items to an agreed upon charity in the hobby. Those are just a few ways we can do this.
(8) Videos
I know SaltySammy was talking about making some videos of the club meetings. He had some great ideas. I think it would be cool to do some how-to videos on our club page as well. Maybe we can turn tank of the month into something a little more interactive? Club product reviews when someone gets that new Reef Toy everyone else is drooling over? The possibilities are vast here.
(9) Relations with other Clubs
I know there are a few club members that are a part of multiple clubs. Maybe we have a cross-club meeting/event/social to meet other reefers and see what’s going on in other areas. Let’s broaden our horizons. Work together.
(10) Meeting ideas
I know some of these have been done in the past, but there are quite a few newer members over the past few years that haven’t seen some of these:
Fragging is always fun and a potluck social sounds awesome (great ideas Jason!! :thumbsup
,
Making Fish Food, Making our own salt, Make a meeting a “Equipment Swap” day, Reefing photography tricks and tips, Setting up and explaining a Refugium, Let’s do a REEF Bingo or Reef Game day, DIY days that are hands on..
(11) Other
I am in agreement that the meeting schedule should be done in advance as to allow for proper planning. Something that is a rather large event should be planned further in advance to make sure attendance is hit or to allow for a “Plan B” to fall in it’s place.
I also agree that we should continue to move the meetings around. In addition to this, I would look for places that are more centrally located for the group and/or something that is an easy find off of a major highway.
I am very excited about the upcoming year. Should I be elected, I will work my butt off for everyone to help bring the club to a whole new level.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Good luck to all! :spin1:
I was introduced to this hobby by my wonderful boyfriend Mike (Captc07). Early on in our relationship, he had taken me to a few fish stores here and there. He had told me stories about the tank he used to have years before when he lived in Florida. Tried teaching me about some of the characteristics of the fish. We talked about having a tank in the future. Fast forward a few more years and we're living together. Our housemate moved out, and we were now talking about getting a tank. In February 2012, around the time of Superbowl, Capt had an awful fall that broke 3 bones in his leg. When we discovered that he needed 2 surgeries and a 6 month recovery time, that sealed the deal for us buying a tank we had been looking at on Craigslist. He wanted something nice to look at and relax with while stuck at home all day every day. I agreed, and we got our first tank. While he had to stay off of his feet, I had to do all maintenance on the tanks, but also aquascaping and fish/coral shopping too. I think that put my love for the hobby into overdrive..LOL. A few months later we had another tank...then a few months later we had another tank...and eventually our clownfish room. It is true what they say; you will always want to go bigger.
We attended CMAC 2012. We had a lot of fun and made out like bandits with the raffle (Newbie Luck..LOL). Even though the weather prevented a lot of people from attending, we thought it was awesome. Made us want to join the club even more…Get to know everyone..Be a part of it all.
Capt and I had been lurking on the boards for a little while, and I introduced myself on the forum in November 2012, my first meeting was the Christmas party, and Capt and I signed up for the club at the Puppy Center After Hours Event shortly after that time.
Since joining, I have been very active on the forum as well as at meetings. I have been to almost every meeting since we joined (with the exception of a few this Spring/early Summer).
I’ve met tons of like-minded individuals, gained knowledge, and had fun participating in the various activities. I have wanted nothing other than to participate and help the club out in any way I can. When Eric asked me (around September/October 2013) to help out with public relations, I was honored and excited to help. I was welcomed by the previous board (Jeff, Mike, Dave, and Eric). I let them know my thoughts and we shared opinions. During the brief time I was helping the board out, I organized the Fragging Demo, a CTARS weekend sale with Exotic Fish & Corals, the Behind-the-Scenes Mystic Trip, and created a fun game for the December Holiday Party. I had done a bunch of research on bus prices for a possible trip to Long Island or Brooklyn Aquariums. Before the Fragging Demo & before Joe started there, I was working with Andrew (the manager at APC in Wallingford) to get a CTARS discounting program going. This was how the CTARS Fish/Coral ONLY $24.99 membership was born. I built a good rapport with local fish store owners. And as such, was asked to post Black Friday sales (and a few others) for Aquatic Wildlife by Derek, Exotic Fish & Corals by Bob, and APC by Joe.
I feel the club has had some great changes this past year. Regardless of the election outcome, I am excited for things to come. Having said that, I do feel that I can make a big impact..bringing my hard work, energy, and enthusiasm to the table.
Things that I would like to see and ideas that I have:
(1) Recruiting/Building Membership
The idea was to partner up with a store and set up a table for the day advertising CTARS and talking saltwater/reef with people. Meet some new faces and get the word about the club out there. It would’ve been perfect with APC, and I had discussed it briefly with Andrew (Manager at APC Wallingford), since they also have a membership. We could’ve partnered up gaining new members, held cross events for both clubs, helped advertise for one another.
We could ask for different volunteers each recruiting day. (Let’s say a 4 hour shift should suffice for the day?) They can either set up a table, near the door or fish area. Each time we could have a few different topics to talk about (flow, lighting, corals, fish, chemistry, photography, aquascaping, etc). The volunteers would need to be able to educate new comers on that day’s topic(s) as well as give a good overview of the club and what we’re all about. It would be ideal to sign up new members on the spot (maybe offer an incentive with sign up…free raffle ticket at your first meeting? $5 off membership..Or I’m open to any suggestions). (If done at APC I would ask APC to have a dedicated representative to sell their Aquatic Membership as an accompaniment to the CTARS membership.)
This doesn’t have to be limited to APC as I’m sure there are other stores that would be open to it. And recruiting wouldn’t need to be limited to this activity either.
(2) Club Member Involvement/Engagement
It has often been discussed that there are a lot of members that don’t come to meetings and/or don’t post on the forums. Let’s give them more reasons to. Let’s keep the Photo of the Month and Tank of the Month going consistently. Let’s utilize our private forum to the best of it’s abilities. Let’s get updated sales from the sponsors on our forum, and keep them engaged in the club as well. Let’s post more club sponsored discussions and contests. There need not always be a prize at the end of the tunnel. More activities like the grow-out competition, doing a March Madness Saltwater Fish bracket, Instead of a Pub Crawl…Organize a Tank Tour of sorts for the day with several member tanks along a designated route with refreshments and reef chat at each stop, Create fun games like a reef scavenger hunt/amazing race type game that involves the Local Fish Stores as well, carpool/roadtrips to out of state fish stores with a stop for some good grub along the way. These activities can be in addition to the meetings, and I feel would add another level of fun to the club.
(3) Local Fish Store Engagement
There are a lot of stores in our area that are a part of the club, and there are some that would like to be a more active part of our club. Maybe working with the store(s) on a punch card…something similar to those coffee cards where you buy 10 and get a free one. Get “X” amount of punches from a store (or maybe it’s a club card where you can get punches from multiple stores..who knows), and get a free frag at the meeting or a few free raffle tickets or maybe the store itself will offer something free after qualifying purchases have been met.
I don’t think we necessarily need to do more “events” at stores more often, but maybe partner up with a different store each month for a “sale item” or special sale percentage during a certain time.
We were doing things with Affordable Aquatics at one point, things like that would be great, but sharing the love around with all the stores.
(4) Group Buys
I think club sponsored group buys would be an awesome idea. This would be another great way to involve our LFS as well. Let’s partner up with our LFS to do bulk/group buys on dry goods , CUC , etc. Things like those mesh filter socks, SALT, frozen food, anything the club desires and we can make happen.
(5) Public Relations Committee
I had proposed to the previous board that a committee be created for this. One person to lead it and communicate with the B.O.D. and a few others to help with activities, outreach, and brainstorming ideas/events/etc.
The current board has put in a lot of time and effort, and it is greatly appreciated. Let’s get some others involved that can take some of the work off of the Board’s shoulders. The Board shouldn’t have to do it all.
(6) Lutz Tank and Committee
When I joined the club the Lutz tank was a disaster. Ron took it on and got the ball rolling. Donations were made, money was raised, and things were looking better. To my knowledge, Ron was just about the only person maintaining the tank. One man cannot do this on his own. I know that Ron was supposed to talk to a few members about the tank so that they could help out if need be…not sure if that ever happened, but it shouldn’t fall on just one person. . especially if there’s an emergency.
I am excited to see what the revamped Lutz tank will look like!! It will be pretty cool for sure!!!
Let’s create a committee of a few people to check on/maintain the tank. Have 3-5 people that can each commit to checking on the tank in person once a month and recording their findings/maintenance/etc to the board to be cataloged for record. That way the work is spread out amongst a few, and also there is always more than one person should an emergency arise. Either something along the lines of this or let’s hire a maintenance crew to take care of the tank.
I also feel like we should have a set budget from club funds for the Lutz tank. And then if that is exceeded, Asking for additional donations is fine, but this is a part of what we pay dues into.
We love the relationship we have with the Lutz and also want to have a nice tank for their Museum. Whatever the decision is, let’s treat this tank like it is in our own home and keep it beautiful. Let it be a shining representation of our club and what we do!
(7) Giving Back
Utilizing the vendors on the forum (“clayboa”…LOL). There is a ton of involvement on there. Let’s partner up with them for club sales or club meeting raffle items. We can partner up with them and ask them to donate a portion of our club sales to a charity in our hobby. Or we can ask them to donate raffle items and donate 100% of the proceeds from their items to an agreed upon charity in the hobby. Those are just a few ways we can do this.
(8) Videos
I know SaltySammy was talking about making some videos of the club meetings. He had some great ideas. I think it would be cool to do some how-to videos on our club page as well. Maybe we can turn tank of the month into something a little more interactive? Club product reviews when someone gets that new Reef Toy everyone else is drooling over? The possibilities are vast here.
(9) Relations with other Clubs
I know there are a few club members that are a part of multiple clubs. Maybe we have a cross-club meeting/event/social to meet other reefers and see what’s going on in other areas. Let’s broaden our horizons. Work together.
(10) Meeting ideas
I know some of these have been done in the past, but there are quite a few newer members over the past few years that haven’t seen some of these:
Fragging is always fun and a potluck social sounds awesome (great ideas Jason!! :thumbsup
, Making Fish Food, Making our own salt, Make a meeting a “Equipment Swap” day, Reefing photography tricks and tips, Setting up and explaining a Refugium, Let’s do a REEF Bingo or Reef Game day, DIY days that are hands on..
(11) Other
I am in agreement that the meeting schedule should be done in advance as to allow for proper planning. Something that is a rather large event should be planned further in advance to make sure attendance is hit or to allow for a “Plan B” to fall in it’s place.
I also agree that we should continue to move the meetings around. In addition to this, I would look for places that are more centrally located for the group and/or something that is an easy find off of a major highway.
I am very excited about the upcoming year. Should I be elected, I will work my butt off for everyone to help bring the club to a whole new level.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Good luck to all! :spin1:
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Munchie: Is it possible to get an updated list of the nominees for the various positions on the BOD? With all the other stuff being written on this thread, it's hard to come up with the accepted list of nominees. Is it possible the list is on another site? I didn't see it on the CTARS site.
acnmfelice
New member
chriskid for prez
triggreef
New member
Lol way to try to sell it
phillrodrigo
New member
I'm pretty good with simple math and counting money's but being that I kinda have a different life than most it's hard for me to say I can be at every meeting make every meeting with the rest of the bod. I work in the restaurant business as most know. I work weekends. I have made all but 2 meeting this year so far it's usually about what time they are since I work till 2 or 3.
firstlight10
New member
I'd like to nominate Phil for the treasurer position.
