Rendos
New member
History - I have been in the hobby for 14 years...started as a hobbyist, was part owner of a LFS in Jackson, TN for several years, and owned an online coral frag web site. I heard people on a regular basis asking me if there was an aquarium club in the area. My answer was of course....NO. I said for years that I wish there was one. I would join and be an active member in an instant...I just didn't want to be in charge. Well, with the encouragement of my mother, I started one.
June 2005. - I started the Jackson Area Marine and Reef Aquarium Club. At the first club meeting, I soon realized that even Memphis did not have a club in existence, and several people from Memphis drove up to my house for the first meeting. In the following months, more and more people joined....many of those from the Memphis area. We, as a club, decided to rename the club West Tennessee Marine and Reef Aquarium Club to make those in Memphis, and throughout West TN feel more like a poart of the club.
August 2005. - JAMRAC was officially changed to WTMRAC.
I recruited several pet shops as club sponsors. Most offered the club discounts on goods, and offered their stores for meeting places. In return most stores stated that the reason behind this was to encourage more people to become interested in the hobby, and in turn make the hobby grow, and create a more educated hobbyist.
Our club officially turned a year old in June 2006. We went from 17 members at the first meeting to over 100 in June 2006. While the club growth has been tremendous, the point to the club, in my opinion, has been skewed.
It seems that no longer do we have workshops, classes, and educational meetings.
We are turning into a discount club.
While receiving discounts is a great thing...I did not, and do not, want that to be the point to joining. I say this because we now stand to lose our most loyal sponsor, and I DO NOT want that to happen. I hope that we, as club members, can start to turn this around. I hope that I start seeing the club go back to it's original idea of educating hobbyists, and getting new people interested in this wonderful hobby.
You ask, how do we do that?
Well, I do not have all the answers, but here is one idea.
Ask if we, the club, can set up a tank in a school for a day. (I am sure some club members have children in school)
Something like star fish, snails, crabs, feather dusters, etc. that the kids can look at and give a short class on what each of these are...what they eat, etc. (Science teachers would probably love to have this in their classrooms for a day...they may even help)
If others have ideas, please share them, and please try to help me turn the direction of the club around. I want to see my baby grow into something we can be proud of...not just take advantage of.
Richard Rendos
Founder WTMRAC
June 2005. - I started the Jackson Area Marine and Reef Aquarium Club. At the first club meeting, I soon realized that even Memphis did not have a club in existence, and several people from Memphis drove up to my house for the first meeting. In the following months, more and more people joined....many of those from the Memphis area. We, as a club, decided to rename the club West Tennessee Marine and Reef Aquarium Club to make those in Memphis, and throughout West TN feel more like a poart of the club.
August 2005. - JAMRAC was officially changed to WTMRAC.
I recruited several pet shops as club sponsors. Most offered the club discounts on goods, and offered their stores for meeting places. In return most stores stated that the reason behind this was to encourage more people to become interested in the hobby, and in turn make the hobby grow, and create a more educated hobbyist.
Our club officially turned a year old in June 2006. We went from 17 members at the first meeting to over 100 in June 2006. While the club growth has been tremendous, the point to the club, in my opinion, has been skewed.
It seems that no longer do we have workshops, classes, and educational meetings.
We are turning into a discount club.
While receiving discounts is a great thing...I did not, and do not, want that to be the point to joining. I say this because we now stand to lose our most loyal sponsor, and I DO NOT want that to happen. I hope that we, as club members, can start to turn this around. I hope that I start seeing the club go back to it's original idea of educating hobbyists, and getting new people interested in this wonderful hobby.
You ask, how do we do that?
Well, I do not have all the answers, but here is one idea.
Ask if we, the club, can set up a tank in a school for a day. (I am sure some club members have children in school)
Something like star fish, snails, crabs, feather dusters, etc. that the kids can look at and give a short class on what each of these are...what they eat, etc. (Science teachers would probably love to have this in their classrooms for a day...they may even help)
If others have ideas, please share them, and please try to help me turn the direction of the club around. I want to see my baby grow into something we can be proud of...not just take advantage of.
Richard Rendos
Founder WTMRAC
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