And if there is anymore bickering I can bring a bouncer to the frag auctions
Can you get Doc Holiday? I bet we have the largest turnout ever.
This is ironic. It seems that interest shown thus far expresses what we have been doing for the past year: People's homes, frag swap, auction format, food, etc.
The only new pieces are presentations, raffles sponsored by LFS donated goods, club member discounts at LFS and group buys. I like the group buy idea. The Phoenix group does it with regularity. That includes livestock and drygoods. Because the Phoenix forums are hobbyist dominated, they do not feel pressures from LFS's when buying fish and coral from the wholesalers.
Mike, these are great ideas. The next step is to find someone, or a small group of people who are willing to organize the events. I do not think it is necessary to form a "club" As long as there is a leader to stay on top of the organized activities, people will follow and attend.
Hey Matt! Didn't you tell me last night that you were bored out of your mind? Pony up brotha, get in on the organizing tasks.
IDEAS FOR DISCUSSION:
In order for this to take off, we need leaders to do the organizing and we must set a regular interval for the event to take place. I think to start; we should try for every third month. If it takes off and becomes organized than bimonthly would be perfect.
The other concern I have is the location. While someone's home is a popular choice, it may not be practical. If we select every third Sunday at 1300, then what if we have no one available to open their house for the event. Cancellations should be avoided in order for the events to be successful. Plus, as the event grows it will be hard to fit 30 people into homes. I think it is best to find a predictable meeting place. If someone volunteers a home, then we go there, if no volunteers than we go to the usual spot.
This works very well in Phoenix. People drive from all over Phoenix to Gar and Brill in Scottsdale. Once you go to the location once, it is easy to find it each and every time after that, which is not the case if we rotate homes. They have a separate event called parade of the reefs, which is popular but has no where near the turnout as the auction events.
One other discussion should be resolved before organizing takes place. Who attends these events? Do we want it to be open attendance, club members only, or hobbyists only with special invitation to professionals? Most of you know my feelings on this issue. I am an advocate for this group to be controlled and ran by hobbyists. I am not opposed to professionals in attendance, but there attendance should be defined and by invitation.
Case in point, Rob has been coming to the last several functions. Sometimes he buys, sometimes buys and sells, sometimes he donates items, and other times he just hangs out. His role is undefined. Frank's visit in January was defined and regulated. He was there to run a raffle and give a presentation. Everyone welcomed and appreciated his attendance. I see the same thing happen in Phoenix where Frank is a very welcome member to the event. I think we should treat all the professionals with the same due regard. Have them at the events with defined roles. Therefore, everyone leaves the event feeling satisfied with its structure. That will bring them back to the next event.
From my understanding, the Phoenix FRAG event is for hobbyists only and has over 40 people in attendance at each event. I have had discussions with Skip from ATR before about his presence not being appreciated at these events. True, even at an event where he was invited to do a fragging demo. In our discussion he brought up a valid point. He is not welcome to sell frags or buy at these events, because the events are reserved for hobbyists. Yet, Frank from LA is invited to attend monthly and does just that. He hosts a raffle and he sells corals by private list to anyone that wishes him to bring stock from his LA store and he also participates in the auctions by buying coral. This is a concern. Frank from CA is welcome but not LFS's. I do not intend for this to be bashing in any sense. And if I am wrong about my recounts of the above statements, I invite the offended parties to puleeze correct me. I bring this up because it is a small glitch to the many successes in the Phoenix group. However, I have had discussions with hobbyists about these concerns, so they are genuine. I wish to avoid them in our group.
The point is that we should discuss the vital roles of professionals at our events. Boundaries and roles should be defined and exact. If we permit special invitations by professionals, than we should do it equally. As a suggestion, we should rotate the attendance of pros. Allow SW one month, OTF the next, and Frank after that, and so on. If any other LFS or outside group wishes to participate than they should request so from the leaders to organize a future meeting. I understand Skip's perspective and it is valid. Why Frank is invited regularly and local venues are not. Likewise, we asked Frank to come to our January event. It was a success. He held a raffle, provided a slide show presentation and bought and sold some corals. We should extend these same opportunities to the LFS's, especially if we would like them to offer discounts, provide items for raffle and support future events.
