Meeting feedback

kevin95695

kevin95695

Member of the Registry
I liked the 'split' format. I don't know what happened on the 'how to start a tank' side other than what I gleaned by popping across the room divider twice for 20-30 seconds. What I did pick up was Bruce ("CaptiveReefSystems") providing some very good information on equipment components.

On the other side of the divide was a good discussion on 'intermediate/advanced' topics. Sort of a freestyle realtime RC thread in meatscape. I liked that too. I was in the back so noise/sound was an issue at times.

Raffle was smokin'! To the people that were tired of me walking up to the table: I bought a fat honkin' wad o' tickets. To the donors, sponsors, and procurors: Thanks. A bunch. To the people that bought tickets like me: Totally got the moneys worth.

I understand the logistics of handling a potentially large group such as ours has limited our meeting venues, but again: Is there any way to have the meeting in a less remote location, closer to downtown, So. Sac, Natomas, etc.? The haul all the way to the far East edge is a deterrent to attendance for many...

My favorite part of the meetings is the swappin', BSin', freebies and general camaraderie. All-in-all it is totally cool to have this available. It is great to be able to 'geek on the reef' with others. Thanks to those who VOLUNTEER their time to make all this happen for the rest of us!!!
 
to the club officers and club members that make this such a great time - take a bow!
 
Kevin, I still have nightmares of pulling your tickets AGAIN and AGAIN as the room groans. I hope you got a lot of good stuff and had a good time. (It helps to win a lot!) I thought the meeting was great as well and I had a hell of a time. There were so many cool people there which I hadn't seen in a long time that I actually was very saddened that there wasm't enough time to see and talk to them all :( I look forward to seeing you all next month.
 
Great meeting with very informative topics and information. Great raffle. The club coffers should be swelling up nicely! I think the split format was a good idea. Thanks to the Panel who shares their diverse experiences!

I'm with Kevin about the location. It's way...Way....out there in the boonies. It also seems that the room cannot comfortably handle anymore members. Kids have very little room now and are understandably getting stir crazy. If the club is dead set about this location then I'll deal with it once a month. But something a little bigger and closer to Sac would be the bee's Knees.

I'm, thinking Dixon area:D
 
I can speak to the 'noob' side a little. Bruce did a great job. It is very tough to give an overview without pushing your opinions on people. You could tell he was trying hard not to do that. Problem was that us noobs have so many questions that go in so many different directions that it is hard to stay focused. Bruce is too nice of a guy to basically say, "People, stay on topic." People also want info on their specific tank instead of asking the a general question. You could tell Bruce had an idea of where he wanted to go with the discussion, but he kept getting pulled somewhere else by a random topics. We didn't get to fuges, much less lighting, but somehow we were talking about calcium testing and the benefits of a and b. Maybe I was just more newb than most in there.

Don't take this as a negative...I thought it was a great idea and would like to do it again. However, more as a lecture format with specific questions at the end of each topic. "So that is an overview on protien skimmers, does anyone have any questions?" "How do I get rid of this red alge?" "We'll touch on that when we get to water testing and/or lighting. Anything else?"

All that being said...I did learn some new stuff. I came right home and ordered that Koralis powerhead/water mover (whatever the correct term is). I didn't know there was a digital salinity tester. (how much is one of those?)

I thought the raffle was great. I got a ticket pulled, so I was pretty happy. Giving away a custom sump (do we have his link somewhere?) and a stocked pico tank was damn impressive.

And thanks for the chaeto Kevin.
 
JJ4417 - left Your Reef right at 7pm. He has the milwalkee refractometers for $99. He let us see how it worked and I was amazed. Simple little product, yes, but if you've never touched one it seems way cool. Kevin bought one and I will as well before to much longer. Bye bye swing arms!
 
I have a cheap one of ebay, i think has works great. but i have always calibrated it with ro/di water. SO i will take it to shop or buy that liquid stuff.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10823755#post10823755 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kdblove_99
I have a cheap one of ebay, i think has works great. but i have always calibrated it with ro/di water. SO i will take it to shop or buy that liquid stuff.
Click to expand...

It you decide to buy the liquid stuff do some research on Reef Central in Randy's Forum. Some of them are for electronic meters and don't register correctly on refractometers. Randy also has a formula for making your own.
 
I actually bought a refractometer when I bought the tank. Just seems like a digital would be a little easier.
 
I was happy to buy my refractometer from Jon at Your Reef. Came with unlimited professional advice on any reef topic any time I stop in. Next time you're there ask about digital salinity meters vs. refractometers vs. swing arms.
 
I really enjoyed the meeting as it was my first. I did learn something very important.... I've got alot to learn. My favorite thought of night was.... what are they talking about. On the good side I didn't break anything and nobody yelled at me woooohooo!
 
there is a place in the pocket area called giovanni's. They have a separate side area that is enclosed by glass.they main eating area is open and big enough to have a meeting there also. If you guys want i can get some pictures

Its of land park drive 15 minutes from the 80 interchange with 99.
 
If I got paid every time the subject of moving the meeting came up, I'd have my dream tank by now.

We have members coming from so many directions. There are many that come from Davis (now Vacaville too) in one direction. From the other direction members are as far as Lake Tahoe and Nevada City.

There has been much effort in the past to move closer to 80, but a large enough room could not be found. The room at Round Table has been so packed at times that you could only get a seat if you arrived 20-30 minutes early. (Last Friday's meeting still had quite a few benches left empty.) It doesn't last very long though. Sadly, there is such a high rate of people leaving the hobby that it always thins out.
 
I live about 45 minutes away from the Round Table. Since I only make the drive once a month for MARS, I personally don't mind the drive. (Actually, two other organizations I belong to also have their meeting out there as well.) The Roundtable staff are are very helpful and wonderful to deal with. (People - don't forget to tip the roundtable staff.)

BTW - I don't know if Giovanni would be the ideal place for the meeting. The glass enclosed room seems to be their Sports room (because of the TV). I doubt they are willing to give up that room on a Friday night. In addition, the room isn't separated from the mail dining area enough, so we would get a lot of noise from the main room. The main room is not ideal place to have speakers and presentation. Last - while they have decent pizzas, I don't think it would be to everyone's liking. It gets old after awhile. We used to meet there every week while planning the WMC.

Minh
 
If people keep bringing it up, then dont you think it may be a valid point. Yes a few, like you may live further away. But most of our members are located in the Sacramento area. So a centralized Sac location may make better sense.

Minh,

Its a friday night at round table and we have the room. So being a friday for Gio's shouldnt make a difference. The day and time we have our meeting, there really isnt any sporting events going on.

The only thing, That may present a issue would be the arcade games for other guests. But Ive seen places reserve the room off and close it to the public.

People bring up the idea, but never give an example.



<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10832377#post10832377 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Fragmented
If I got paid every time the subject of moving the meeting came up, I'd have my dream tank by now.

We have members coming from so many directions. There are many that come from Davis (now Vacaville too) in one direction. From the other direction members are as far as Lake Tahoe and Nevada City.

There has been much effort in the past to move closer to 80, but a large enough room could not be found. The room at Round Table has been so packed at times that you could only get a seat if you arrived 20-30 minutes early. (Last Friday's meeting still had quite a few benches left empty.) It doesn't last very long though. Sadly, there is such a high rate of people leaving the hobby that it always thins out.
Click to expand...
 
Imagine if there was someone driving from Phoenix. We'd have an argument for relocating the meeting to Las Vegas. The point is that it's a Sacramento club. Locating it more central to SAC would be a big plus. If the club leadership was open to the idea, people could then go out and search for a venue. Otherwise, it would be a waste of time and effort. Like I said before. I dread the drive and usually consider whether or not to attend depending on the type of day I had and how early I need to get up on Saturday.... but still usually end up going. The expert advise and information is worth the extra effort on my end.
 
Bladerunner - There are quite a few of us in Davis who makes the commute to the current location. Some of us carpool together. It's a nice way to get to know other local (Davis) reefers. PM me next time, and we can see if we have space in our car. It's possible you can carpool with Kevin or someone else from Woodland as well.

Edwin - I wasn't saying that we shouldn't research into other locations. I was simply giving my assessment of Giovanni's. IMO - it's not the idea place to have a meeting since it's noisy and we would not be separated from other patrons. The main dining area would not be an idea location since it would be noisy from other patron. The best thing is to find a location has a separated room that we can use.
 
Alsio consider the fact that when BB season starts there are often KINGS games on Friday nights. If a room is not COMPLETELY sealed off like the one we have now it would be a zoo. Roundtable has been very accomodating to us thus far and we ALWAYS have a place that is easy to use and allows us to meet and do things such as frag swaps, raffles, euipment trades ect ect. It would have to be pretty spectacular IMO to give up the security of the place we have for now.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10833525#post10833525 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Reefugee
Bladerunner - There are quite a few of us in Davis who makes the commute to the current location. Some of us carpool together. It's a nice way to get to know other local (Davis) reefers. PM me next time, and we can see if we have space in our car. It's possible you can carpool with Kevin or someone else from Woodland as well.
Click to expand...

Before too long we will have a Davis caravan. We have enough people. :D
 
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