Lol I meant it sarcastically. Knowing it's not something the club can pull off.
Another issue is also that venues are reluctant to give you a price on an event that's 2 years away without some sort of deposit to lock it in.
MACNA in Tampa Bay? Why not?
- Thread starter CuzzA
- Start date
Another issue is also that venues are reluctant to give you a price on an event that's 2 years away without some sort of deposit to lock it in.
Maybe not at this time, but like Reefpilot said, if little ole Denver can do it, certainly so can Tampa Bay. I think we could increase membership (I'll be inquiring tomorrow morning) and start the fundraising. Local officials should be contacted too. I'm sure there's a tourism slush fund somewhere. Shoot for the moon right. ;-)
Mrs Postal
New member
It's hard enough to get folks to attend 3 meetings in an entire year so they could run for board positions each Oct..it is great to think that the club could do it but as someone who has been in this club for over 6 years, we always get folks who want to do so much more but when it comes down to making it all happen, folks have lives and can't commit.
Reefpilot11
New member
So are you saying that the Denver reef club is what made MACNA '14 happen? Granted you are right it seems next to impossible for our tiny reef club to organize a MACNA. But something that large wouldn't the MACNA people coordinate with the city and venue? It seems kinda impossible for a group of reef enthusiasts to coordinate a huge event like this.
I don't know how big their club is, but I think you're on to something.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=478
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Denver-Area-Reef-Club/129753933068
Mrs Postal
New member
No, MACNA has the local club, who won the bid, do all the work. They do not coordinate the volunteers, venues, all expenses are dealt with by the group putting who wins MACNA, which is the event name, MASNA is the group sponsors MACNA. The grunt work is all done by the group who won the bid. As I have said, it's been discussed before and we(the small group of reef enthusiasts called the TBRC) just don't have the ability to do it. When we had our event at the FL Aquarium in 2010, it was the board, 4 other volunteers(with two of them being Lee and I) and then family members of the previous president volunteering. That was it for an all day event that was catered with speakers and raffle stuff. Lots of people had ideas when it came to having the conference but the work was done by a few dedicated folks.
That's what we are saying. However Colorado was smart and they formed CORAL which is basically a conglomerate of all the reef clubs in the Denver area to make macna happen. No macna doesn't corrodinate with the city or the venues. It's not impossible. It's completely possible. Just takes an insane amount of time and dedication. Granted they aren't huge events. Reefapalooza was done by a small club in Orlando and space coast reef conference while essential a bust was organized by pretty much one man. It can be done. I've had experience organizing events in the past. If you have the time and the budget it's completely doable to organize such am event.
Mrs Postal
New member
Just an idea of venues, the Postal Letter Carrier's Hall, on Cypress in Tampa, is $2000 for 4 hours, & a $600 deposit. Not including chairs, tables, the electricity, water(if we could get them to allow us to do it), etc. Now think of the cost of the Forum....
And I am guilty of this as well. Saturdays were my work days and sadly I've only been able to make it to one meeting. I would like to be more involved in the club. But as you stated people's lives get in the way. I encourage everyone who isn't yet to become members. It's more then worth it and the more people we get to join the more rewarding it will become.
Now multiply that by 3 days. I seriously doubt a place like the forum or the trop would be willing to shut down for 3 days for such a small scale event. Macna is huge in our eyes and the people in the hobby. But on the event scale it's fairly small.
ichthyman
Active member
LOL, sorry Cuzza but you're putting the cart a mile or two in front of the horse. MACNA is the result of a club with a sustained large engaged membership base over a protracted time frame. The Tampa Bay Area has never produced such a base for any of the various versions of this club. Even delusions of grandeur and tyrannical flair couldn't make a MACNA happen when tried. Focus on attracting members who are in love with the hobby, have a volunteering/giving spirit and most importantly play well with others than maybe the Tampa Bay Area could eventually host a MACNA.
janes_mw
Active member
I agree, but it has to start somewhere. I mean looking at the list of past events, Des Moines, Louisville, Kansas City... Geeze I've been to these cities and I'd rather not go back.
It is large In that it does take up a good bit of real estate and there are a lot of vendors. But on the grand scheme of things is a lot smaller then say. The auto show that comes to town. Aside from the space the venues usually like to try and charge for power to each booth. Etc etc. Then your talking providing water to all the livestock venues etc. There are a ton of little things that go into the whole deal that require a lot of resources. Check out frights and frags next month it will give you a general idea of what's going on.
Also an afterthought about the club being in charge of the event. Macna is an event sponsored by MASNA. Marine aquarium society of North America. Kinda think of this as like the mother ship of all reef clubs. The event is sort of like there show case not just to introduce the newest gadgets and gizmos but to let a local club flex their muscles so to speak
I'll add this, maybe my inexperience in the history of the hobby has a little to do with it. Perhaps, these cities actually have more active community reefers. I had no idea TBRC was 20 active members. I mean hell, I could call up 20 guys right now to go drink beer and talk about nothing.
Again, if you read my original post it appeared that TBRC was a large club and therefore I was perplexed why Tampa has never held the event. Now I know and if no one is taking part or coming up with creative ways to expand membership... I guess your right John, it ain't going to happen.
Again, if you read my original post it appeared that TBRC was a large club and therefore I was perplexed why Tampa has never held the event. Now I know and if no one is taking part or coming up with creative ways to expand membership... I guess your right John, it ain't going to happen.
MJNTWise
7 Year Newbie
++++1111
janes_mw
Active member
LOL - call me for the beer drinking! I am an expert at that and will debate anyone on the art of good beer drinking!. Always up to that challenge
anyway, just kidding, but not kidding on the beer drinking!
No hard feelings and we're not trying to bash you or anything. The Internet can just be deceiving on what reality is. I would love to see more members become more active. Just with meetings. You gotta crawl before you can walk. I could be wrong on the figures but just from the one meeting I've made it to. The posts I read about events and the same people who post a lot brought me to the figure of 20 active members. but the postals have the real figures.
I think the other thing too is all of those cities have a pretty large population and of course with a larger population you will also have more members. Even the difference between Orlando and tampa is mind blowing.
It's funny you mention your 20 friends. That's how the Orlando club started. Few guys in their garage drinking beer talking about fish tanks.
