carb850
New member
There have been some threads of recent talking about things they would have liked to have seen differently with other clubs. That makes me wonder, what do you want in a club? We are a small group of people in a relatively sparse populated area. So we will never see swap meets with thousands of people in attendance, big time sponsors, or well known speakers. We just don't have the numbers to ever make this happen. Keeping our size in mind, what would you like to see in a club/assosiation/group?
BTW, please keep this positive. We are looking for what we would like to see in the future, not what has been done in the past. Also, feel free too talk big but it would be helpful to concentrate thoughts and ideas on current levels of participation.
My own vision.
ReefCentral
I want a 'club' to maintain an area on Reef Central. This will allow us to have a free place to call home and will keep us connected to the largest SW forum on the net.
Meetings
I only see a handful of people posting or browsing this forum currently. So, we could do meetings at any time any place. Very unformal. Dinner at a restraunt, cookout at someones house, etc. Not looking for giveaways, demos, speaches, etc. Just a time to get to know others better. Prearranged trades and such could be done at these events.
Group Buys
As a group, we can be eligible for discounts on goods and livestocks by purchasing together. This can be local or online. Any time we save money it will only allow us to purchase more with the savings
Road Trips
I think it would be fun to get together and car pool to larger surrounding events such as those in Columbus, TN, etc. I don't know if this would happen as a thread or just a result of getting to know people and going together but it could make trips not only more interesting but also cheaper.
If interest grows and we get a lot more active bunch WAY down the road
Officers
Annual elections held for officers. Some rules would be setup to whom can run (ie, official members for 'x' length of time, etc)
Non-Profit Org
I'd like to see an official non-profit organization setup. Any money collected will be put back toward the club or used as donations in the club name. All money spent would be 100% transparent.
Swaps
I think it would be fun to have swaps. Even if we grow, I think once a year would be all that could be justified to really generate interest in a 'event'. I think swaps should be considered a commercial event, think of it as a coral flea market.
Even Further down the road
Sponsored Aquarium in Public Place
I'm getting way too far down the road but a friend of mine talked about this vision of his own and I think it is a good one. I think we would have to have paid membership with a relatively stable annual income to sponsor this. This tank could be 30G or it could be 300G. However, have it in a high traffic area (ie public building, museum, school, etc) and maintained by the club both by time and money. It could be a nice public service and a way to attract more members but this would take a significant amount of money and I'm not sure our coverage area could ever support it. Just nice to dream sometime.
BTW, please keep this positive. We are looking for what we would like to see in the future, not what has been done in the past. Also, feel free too talk big but it would be helpful to concentrate thoughts and ideas on current levels of participation.
My own vision.
ReefCentral
I want a 'club' to maintain an area on Reef Central. This will allow us to have a free place to call home and will keep us connected to the largest SW forum on the net.
Meetings
I only see a handful of people posting or browsing this forum currently. So, we could do meetings at any time any place. Very unformal. Dinner at a restraunt, cookout at someones house, etc. Not looking for giveaways, demos, speaches, etc. Just a time to get to know others better. Prearranged trades and such could be done at these events.
Group Buys
As a group, we can be eligible for discounts on goods and livestocks by purchasing together. This can be local or online. Any time we save money it will only allow us to purchase more with the savings
Road Trips
I think it would be fun to get together and car pool to larger surrounding events such as those in Columbus, TN, etc. I don't know if this would happen as a thread or just a result of getting to know people and going together but it could make trips not only more interesting but also cheaper.
If interest grows and we get a lot more active bunch WAY down the road
Officers
Annual elections held for officers. Some rules would be setup to whom can run (ie, official members for 'x' length of time, etc)
Non-Profit Org
I'd like to see an official non-profit organization setup. Any money collected will be put back toward the club or used as donations in the club name. All money spent would be 100% transparent.
Swaps
I think it would be fun to have swaps. Even if we grow, I think once a year would be all that could be justified to really generate interest in a 'event'. I think swaps should be considered a commercial event, think of it as a coral flea market.
Even Further down the road
Sponsored Aquarium in Public Place
I'm getting way too far down the road but a friend of mine talked about this vision of his own and I think it is a good one. I think we would have to have paid membership with a relatively stable annual income to sponsor this. This tank could be 30G or it could be 300G. However, have it in a high traffic area (ie public building, museum, school, etc) and maintained by the club both by time and money. It could be a nice public service and a way to attract more members but this would take a significant amount of money and I'm not sure our coverage area could ever support it. Just nice to dream sometime.
