Frag Auction this Month. 31st

Easttuth, I look forward to hearing what the board has to say if you bring this up. I really have no idea. I respect Rogers choice because he made it clear in the beginning this is a money issue for him. He has zero ties to our club and no interest in where it goes, this was more about making some money. For the people who are part of the club that have decided to not sell because of the split, it is a shame they haven't brought it up in a meeting. It would be nice to clear all the hurdles to get as many participants as possible. My guess though is that these are probably the same people bidding $5 on a frag, eating and drinking as much as they want at the meetings and taking advantage of the raffle. Heck, I bet they probably showed up to listen to the speakers also. The good thing is that all the money to pay for that stuff comes from your $20 fee and the money tree out back. :-)
 
The auction proceeds to go into funding the club, We have world renowned speakers attend throughout the year, quality raffle items at the monthly meetings and we provide snacks and beverages at each meeting. The Xmas party is also heavily subsided.
 
rogergolf66 said:
Im sure u would make just as much money as a club and have a beter mix of corals. I can still bring corals but i cant bring the high end stuff and loss 50%. I sold about $400 worth of coral last month at r meeting. At 25% im sure i would have done the same at your meeting if the lercentage made more sense but for me i dont see it beingbworth it at a split. Just my feelings. And u loss my $20 cause i dont feel its worth joining if its not worth selling. Currently i am a member of 3 reef clubs so i do get around. I dont know of another one thats 50%. The highest im a part of is 30%
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Sorry, I have been to many meetings over 8yrs and I would agree with Roger. Everyone is really nice and I have enjoyed my time there. Submitting frags that can go for $5 or $100 is a gamble for the person submitting and not ORCA's. 50% is going to turn many away from a frag auction. There is little risk to ORCA. The photos are even submitted by the seller. Might as well say thanks for the frag money for a holiday party that someone potentially won't be attending. Sorry to add to that, but it is the truth for many. I myself only attend maybe once a year because they are always on the west side of town.
 
The split was increased by a vote of paid members. After reading these few posts it has become a concern of mine. I will bring this up to other Board Members.

Also, the money is used for a lot of different things. Frag auctions are really the only income that contributes to the club. We spend well over $1000 a month when speakers come, don't forget the raffle's every month that we spend several hundred on. Non speakers events still have several hundered spent on them. So if you add this all up over a year you have well over $10k, and thats not including our christmas event we throw to show appreciation to our Contributing members.

*Please not this information was given for responses to questions and concerns, and in no way is it bashing, or yelling, or being negative*



P.S- I drive from Daytona :)
 
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Philip, thanks for the post. I know you guys follow the ORCA site more closely than here. It will be interesting to see what the boards thinks.

Jeff, I agree all risk is on the seller. Years ago I saw people make really good money in the frag auctions but those people have since left the club. This seems to be a much different club now, good/bad/indifferent. We still have a good time though. :) Because of the split I don't bring the frags that have the highest profit potential but I always bring some frags. I didn't understand your point about the pictures though. In what situation can you describe where the seller is not always the one providing the pictures? The club gets the frag in a bag or cup which certainly is never conducive to a worthwhile picture to show buyers.

Roger, given TBRC does have a more seller friendly split, I would be interested in possibly making over to one of your clubs frag events. I have never been to any of the TBRC meetings so I am interested in knowing if the club is much different than ORCA. What does TBRC offer its members?
 
Ed, I realize that question wasn't directed at me but I'm never shy to give my opinion. I've been to two meetings for each club now and my experience was as follows.

Orca, I went to a speaking type meeting once and only 1 member spoke a word to me. This includes the whole meeting, I was there from start to finish. I've since been to that members house and they were very nice. But how in the world can you hope to grow the group and bring in new members when the club leaders didn't point out the fact that a new person was at the meeting and they themselves didn't speak to me.

The Tampa group which I obviously don't live anywhere near is the group I talk with the most because of relationships made both on their board, through group buys, visiting houses to see tanks, and speaking with members at meetings. At my first Tampa meeting I was approached by no less than 20 members.

I'm new to the group and I'm sure my opinion doesn't hold any weight, but I've been disappointed with ORCA to this point and I know we have a lot of quality reefers in the area that don't frequent this board and don't participate and I contribute some of that to the reasons I've discussed.

I'm more than willing to participate to any level needed to help, but it seems very "clicky".
 
Easttuth said:
Ed, I realize that question wasn't directed at me but I'm never shy to give my opinion. I've been to two meetings for each club now and my experience was as follows.

Orca, I went to a speaking type meeting once and only 1 member spoke a word to me. This includes the whole meeting, I was there from start to finish. I've since been to that members house and they were very nice. But how in the world can you hope to grow the group and bring in new members when the club leaders didn't point out the fact that a new person was at the meeting and they themselves didn't speak to me.

The Tampa group which I obviously don't live anywhere near is the group I talk with the most because of relationships made both on their board, through group buys, visiting houses to see tanks, and speaking with members at meetings. At my first Tampa meeting I was approached by no less than 20 members.

I'm new to the group and I'm sure my opinion doesn't hold any weight, but I've been disappointed with ORCA to this point and I know we have a lot of quality reefers in the area that don't frequent this board and don't participate and I contribute some of that to the reasons I've discussed.

I'm more than willing to participate to any level needed to help, but it seems very "clicky".
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Great points and I have always felt ORCA to be a tough nut to crack. I used to laugh at my brother for going to meetings, thought it was insane. Then I started my tank and decided to hypocritically give it a try. :) Very few people, if any would walk up and talk with me. I met people through my brother and those people in turn introduced me to more people. I have met more people by selling frags at the house than I ever did at an ORCA meeting. Back a few years ago prior to the Orlando MACNA the club was pretty large. It is a much smaller club now though and I can definitely understand the frustration you had at the meeting.

Hopefully you will continue to come (to both clubs) and give a second or third try. This thread is getting good visibility and hopefully the board will recognize this shortcoming and continue to work harder making the club better.
 
philip_r5 said:
The split was increased by a vote of paid members. After reading these few posts it has become a concern of mine. I will bring this up to other Board Members.

Also, the money is used for a lot of different things. Frag auctions are really the only income that contributes to the club. We spend well over $1000 a month when speakers come, don't forget the raffle's every month that we spend several hundred on. Non speakers events still have several hundered spent on them. So if you add this all up over a year you have well over $10k, and thats not including our christmas event we throw to show appreciation to our Contributing members.

*Please not this information was given for responses to questions and concerns, and in no way is it bashing, or yelling, or being negative*



P.S- I drive from Daytona :)
Click to expand...


Ok so based on this info it feels like the people who sell there frags at auctions fund the club. Do u have sponsors from your lfs? I would bet that the frag sellers are a smaller grouo and always sell. Why should they only support the club financially. I didnt mean to cause any problems but i hope your board can work things out. I would love to be part of a frag auction. I generally sell alot at frag auctions.
 
rogergolf66 said:
Ok so based on this info it feels like the people who sell there frags at auctions fund the club. Do u have sponsors from your lfs? I would bet that the frag sellers are a smaller grouo and always sell. Why should they only support the club financially. I didnt mean to cause any problems but i hope your board can work things out. I would love to be part of a frag auction. I generally sell alot at frag auctions.
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Looks like Philip is going to check on this. Either way, I will certainly be at the meeting because Richard's tank is gorgeous and worth the trip. :)
 
eg8r210 said:
Looks like Philip is going to check on this. Either way, I will certainly be at the meeting because Richard's tank is gorgeous and worth the trip. :)
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I may still go to the meeting and bring some tbrc people with me if they want to come. We will keep looking at what frags are in the auction. That may bring a few of us out.
 
I was the President of ORCA last year and am again this year. For the 2 years before that I was the Secretary. I have never had anyone discuss this topic with me. I do believe that I am approachable and would be willing to share your thoughts to the Board of Directors.

As Roger has already said "this is text", so I also do not want to come across as rude. Therefore, I will not discuss this in a forum. Our BOD meetings are open and they are announced on the ORCA website. Feel free to come and share your thoughts; although, I do feel as though it is more effective when the topic has been discussed previously. We have limited time and need to cover everything on the agenda.

Hopefully this helps.
 
A note for most people that haven't attended our frag auctions. People usually wait till last minute to submit their frags, so if you are wondering why there aren't many that is most likely the case. I would recommend people post them sooner so people can eyeball them but that's just my opinion.

Also, as side note: I am the Secretary for ORCA this year, and have held public relations, merchandise coordinator positions as well. So if any of you have questions please feel free to ask.
 
Here are some rules:
Only ORCA members can submit frags for the auction.
They need to be submitted online on the ORCA forum site and usually you can submit the frags before the meeting.
A maximum of 3 frags of the same coral per member.
The frag needs to have a picture, it could be the frag itself, the mother colony or a picture of the same coral from another tank.
Once you submit the frag the frag coordinator will reject or approve it, it if it is approved that's when everybody else can see it, not before.
ORCA club keeps 50% of the $$$ paid for the frag.
Buyer pays Florida taxes on the frag.
If you're not an ORCA member you can still buy corals, but there's a $5 fee, no matter how many frags you bought.

Here's a link with more details:
http://www.o-r-c-a.org/forum/showthread.php?t=17371

a max of 50 frags per member has never been imposed, it depends on the frag coordinator, that rule is there because back in 2008 and 2009 there were people bringing lots of corals and at the end there were too many frags, and those meetings were finishing after midnight, people were also running out of money and then the last frags were selling by pennies, it was also to avoid commercial farming or commercial aqua culturing of corals by anyone without proper licensing.


I'll bring about 5 frags this month, I'll submit them during the week when I had time to take pictures.

I also remember we discussed years ago changing the split from 50/50 to 60/40, 70/30 or even 80/20, I can't remember why it was not approved, but it surely makes sense.

See you Saturday, I can't wait to see Richard's tank.
 
Thx for posting the info.

Ok well waiting on the pics to see if I want to make the drive. But why is there no meeting thread with a pic of host tank. If nice it may also make me/ other TBRC members want to make the drive. Just a thought.

Roger
 
rogergolf66 said:
Thx for posting the info.

Ok well waiting on the pics to see if I want to make the drive. But why is there no meeting thread with a pic of host tank. If nice it may also make me/ other TBRC members want to make the drive. Just a thought.

Roger
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Two different worlds buddy. Great meeting last month, we enjoyed it. Your planning, pictures, and info ahead of time is why some of us made the drive to Tampa to see your impressive setup.
 
Easttuth said:
Two different worlds buddy. Great meeting last month, we enjoyed it. Your planning, pictures, and info ahead of time is why some of us made the drive to Tampa to see your impressive setup.
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Thx for complements. Well that's so disappointing. I always had the impression that ORCA was a great club but it seems to me slacking hard on the basics. :(

What's the user name on RC for the guy that's hosting the meeting? Maybe I can search him on RC and find a build thread for his tank or something.
 
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