Rants.....(if you are prone to hurt feelings...dont read. You have been warned.)

[Salty Bginners]

Ok. It has come to my attention that you lazy moochers (yes moochers) are well....lazy!

Why am I saying this, well lets take a look.

1. Volunteer work. Every meet Ron has to beg, plea, twist arms, threaten to call off the meeting, etc. to get demo volunteers. COME ON PEOPLE, Its simple. Put some work into the club to make us stronger as a family and to better the experences and memories of the club.

2. DONATIONS!
Simple. The ONLY reason that we had the expensive RO unit and the bags of salt is because they were DONATED. More donations, be they money or items, equals better and more prizes. You dont donate you dont get prizes. Simple as that. You can beat around the idea of a multi-million dollar aquarium, yet you cant donate a few dollars.

3 COMPLAINING
You all do too much of it. "we want this, we want that. This would be cool to do at the next meet, etc etc."
but you dont DO ANYTHING TO MAKE IT HAPPEN other than complain. Its annoying, it looks bad on the club when others read/hear your arguments ESP new members.

4 General partisipation.
We dont hold contests for our health people. We WANT to give you stuff! You all asked for a photo contest, you even VOTED on the SUBJECT. But nobody has posted entrys! >_<

Can we please partisipate more? Im sorry that I have to raise Cain to get my point across, but if I must I must. All i ask is that you do something to better the club. Im going to leave you with this question. Why did you join the club if your not going to work to better it?

 

[DaCourtjester22]

Wow:jester: :jester: :jester:

 

[firefish2020]

Well, Bginners I believe your post is a little out of hand and a bit blunt. But that said I think you have touched upon some serious problems which do indeed need further addressing. You may run your mouth a lot and act a bit off the wall but your participation level in club events give you the right to speak your mind as much as others. So I will respond in kind;

<b>
First everyone who was at our last meeting heard the plan about how to handle donations. As many of you know we are not a true Nonprofit entity and there is a reason for that, it has been stated elsewhere and I will not go into it here. The basics are this, this institution runs more like a family and less like an official run government body. This gives each member more power to step up and help with matters without many official channels and red tape. In other words, if you wish to volunteer a demonstration then all you do is contact me so I can get it on the schedule.

The lack of certain positions (treasurer) in this case has afforded us freedom from the force which inevitably causes most clubs many problems, it has also hindered our ability to grow beyond that which we have so far. At the last meeting we discussed a way to fund our events and pay for door prizes but we have not discussed it here since.

I propose this, since we have no treasury and no needs to argue over what % to spend for what, we focus on one thing and devote 100% of the raised funds for that particular investment i.e food, decorations, prizes whatever is needed at the time. There is no money left over to worry about or track in the long run. Plus there is nothing wrong with a group of people giving money to one or two people out of a group to buy prizes or what ever for an event i.e "Buyers." This is a fare compromise and it will work to make our meetings bigger and more fun.

The CVRC is run as a family, in families everyone gets together for the benefit of the group to provide. We have some very valuable members and sponsors without them there would be no CVRC. The group is a manifestation of the love for this hobby, it was formed to help the community and was never meant to cost anyone at the door. Members pay no dues, or annual fees, I still do not like the idea of charging for attendance and we will not as long as there is another way to provide funding. This is 100% voluntary and we don't need $50 or even $20 from each member, it's shopping time so funds are low now anyway. So I submit this for you to think about.

For the past three years these meetings have been funded by my family and Barry, Jim has given gift certificates, and Brian has procured our audio/video which is a valuable part of the meetings. Roger has recently given us our new meeting place, all these things are member donations. Most just look at that equipment, prizes and space and think nothing more of it. We are fortunate to have that equipment and the place we meet and those who donate it, if we had to pay for it, we would not have any of it. If you think the CVRC has given you anything in the past, help, assistance, inspiration, anything of value that has helped you personally, then I ask you to give what you feel you can. Give either money, or physical prizes. Give your time to do something to promote the meetings anything beneficial. If we each put in a little bit the sum will add up and the CVRC will reach a level only dreamed of in this area.

This club has already made a huge impact in this area. We began by helping to spread healthy and diverse coral around our area, we did that. We managed to save thousands of coral from being taken from the world oceans. We recently managed to help save the white tip reef shark at Fuji's and now that animal will be on display for the world to see at Newport, we did that. This little club in the middle of nowhere did these things. We organized a massive coral drive to help replenish the NA aquarium, that project was only halted after contact was lost with the facility but there were coral on hold from all over the US, coordinated through this club to help make a difference by us. This is what we can do together, but we can only do it together so here is you chance to give back a little of what you have received.
</b>
Thank you,
Ron Lanham
President CVRC

 

[joyski58]

I know I’ve said this before, but unfortunately “clubs” of all types are experiencing declines in attendance, which means fewer volunteers, less input and little commitment for the benefit of the club. This is not a good sign for a club like ours who are trying to establish themselves. This will not stop me from volunteering and contributing whatever way I can to the CVRC cause and to the hobby to which I am so drawn.

I’ve watched our local ski club go from a club of over 800 members to barely 100, in the last few years. The (minimal) yearly dues haven’t changed, we still serve dinner food in a nice location once a month, and we even serve beer and wine; but the benefits of membership have changed. We used to take 40 people on weekend trips and 60 people on west trips. Now we have to join up with other clubs just to get the group discount rates which start at 25 people and go where they want. And that’s when we think, “What’s the point in remaining a member.” What has changed is that the Club membership is aging and today’s youth are not interested in joining “clubs”. [No offense intended. It is the way it is.] So as our old knees fail us and our arthritic backs hurt us, our ski club declines because of lack of youthful interest. We have tried to appeal to younger skiers and boarders, to no avail. If it’s not given to them they don’t want it. It’s a product of our world. [Again, no offense intended.] We have to work around it.

Each year we have a ski club membership to pay. This, along with a couple of other fund raisers, pays our meeting rent, and buys us food and beverages to share. If we do end up with excess funds, it’s put back into the club in the form of a summer membership party, etc. I can’t imagine not having a treasurer to handle the money for this. I fear that if you only ask for voluntarily donations for CVRC, rather than a small yearly membership fee, you have still only have your “core” people contributing. If we do ask for membership fees, what will the members get in return?

At the ski club we have speakers come in and donate their time and bring door prizes w/them. Other door prizes are solicited for by Board members and others members who donate a few minutes of their time to run into Sport Mart and hit them up for a free wax and tuning. Businesses have ways of “dealing with” donations that benefit them. Anyone can get door prizes. Just ask.

What we do have on our side is “our cause” in a hobby that is blossoming before our eyes. And we need to let people know we are out there to share our knowledge. Those new to the hobby need and want the input of those of you who are experienced. Not only will this benefit our club, but the animals as well. Get out there are put up our fliers ... everywhere. Grocery stores. Pet shops. Vet offices. They all have bulletin boards just for this.

What have I said here? I’ve said that in a changing world there is hope for our future, but we all must pitch in. We need to be led, and Ron is a great and knowledgeable leader. Let’s not burn him out so we are left to forage in the dark, or to rely only on the Internet for information because we need facts not the opinion of Joe Schmoe in Antarctica who never heard of a chiller. Let’s support Ron and our Club, so he can see his frag dreams become reality.

 

[Brock Fluharty]

I love skiing!

 

[firefish2020]

Thanks Joyski for the endorsement but really the CVRC and the purpose of it is not to fulfill a dream of mine but to combat bad advice and help those who want to get into this hobby to realize their dreams are possible with some good first had advice and that comes from all of us. I know the potential of this group they just require proper motivation.

Lets get to work guys January is not really that far off.

 

[joyski58]

I absolutely know the Club is not for fulfilling Ron's dream, but it appears to me that he is the driving force behind this Club effort and I'd hate to see burn out. I have learned so much just listening at the meetings and reading these pages. And the more we all hang out, the more knowledgeable we will all become. And we can all share this knowledge with others. But we gotta get "the others" to come around order to educate them. And in order to get other to come around, they need to know about the Club. Right now, posting of the fliers is very important. Get the news out there, so folks will know we are out there.

 

[jmccown]

One year ago next month I learned about the club via the flyer at Jomars. Been here ever since. I've learned a ton. The flyers work. Post them everywhere.

If you post it, they will come....

 

[Reef4Fun]

Hey Ron, whenever we want, I can have my neice do a peice on the channel 13 news about our club. That would seriously get the word out. Also, an advertisement on the radio would be good (but I don't know the cost on that, the news piece wouldn't cost us)

 

[firefish2020]

I would rather have the news crews there on a big meeting day but I guess we can't pick and choose LOL. I'll have to get the footage of the last story they did on the club it was HUGE.

 

[mcox33]

It also upset some people if I remember correctly so let's be careful what we plan for the new covered meeting.

That coverage was huge last time.

 

[firefish2020]

attitude not directed at mary (this time)


<b>
I could give rats rear as to who we upset this time. We are no longer in a situation that benefits one single LFS nor are we bound to uphold anything other than that which we believe and wish to spread. We no longer have auctions, we no longer have anything that could be used against us by anyone who may not wish to support the club and personally I really don't care what others think of us and neither should any of you. WE are here and WE are not going away, time to deal.
</b>


Of course I ask the council for their opinion on this matter, but I say full speed ahead on this project, the more who know of us , hey more we reach and the bigger we get.