Summary of the July WTMRAC meeting

[neuroslicer]

WTMRAC met last night at the home of Michelle and Tim Bennett. There was minimal attendance of club members. We decided that the Frag Swap planned for September 28 at the AgriCenter is to be either canceled (at worst) or postponed (at best). There was considerable discussion about lack of member support in terms of willingness to attend meetings and events, and willingness to host meetings. A recent plea for show of such active support (online at WTMRAC Reef Central and via direct email to club members) generated a great deal of positive feedback about interest in the club but produced insufficient support to warrant the continuation of club activities. However, because the plea for support was only recently sent out, and because some club members may be on vacation, members of last night's meeting unanimously decided to postpone club cancelation for a month. Instead, we will hold a our next meeting at club president Jay Blundon's home on August 24. If there has not been sufficient renewal of club support by that time, WTMRAC will disband and club resources will be donated to a non-profit charity. If, on the other hand, we are able to generate renewed interest in WTMRAC by the August meeting, we will then schedule further club meetings and discuss the possibility of holding the frag swap at a later date (possibly October or November). Those present at last night's meeting all felt that WTMRAC serves a vital purpose to the local community in promoting interest and knowledge about the marine and reef aquarium hobby, but as with any club, we need active member support to be able to carry out this purpose. We hope present club members will reconsider the value and importance of continuing WTMRAC and reassess their own willingness to contribute to the club's future success.

 

[Blindside]

Sad to see the club take this turn of events, so many people complaining but not doing much to restore the club? Bad club model? Thanks to jay B for his efforts. Didn't know the club was so broken.. (just a hobby club not a charity or anything else getting a little silly)

 

[Rendos]

I thought the club was contractually bound to the September 28th date at the agricenter? How are you going to postpone it now?

 

[OneReef]

I thought the club was contractually bound to the September 28th date at the agricenter? How are you going to postpone it now?

That's what I wondered. I offered to merge the two together on another date, but was told the 28th was set in stone.

 

[insanityink2]

As I posted in another thread of yours I would be willing to host another club meeting at my home. But as always there was no responce to me from anyone in the club.
Because of my job I can't just say I will be at every meeting all the time but I did say I would do what I can do.

 

[insanityink2]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2316648

 

[neuroslicer]

Hi Bryan, you were only one of two people willing to host a meeting in your home, and you wrote that on RC yesterday. Thank you for that, your willingness to host is greatly appreciated. At 5 pm we met yesterday to determine the future status of the club. Sorry you were unable to come to the meeting. My response about the club status, to the you and the club as a whole was sent to all club members by email this morning at 8:04 am, and was also posted here at the top of this thread. I have been out of town today since 11 am this morning and have not done any club business until now. And all official club business is done via email; RC is a secondary contact point.

As for your comment about "as always, there was no response to me from the club", I can only say that I have archived all club correspondence since May 2008, and I have received 3 emails from you during that time. Two of them were automatic Paypal notifications of your membership fee and frag swap table fee being paid, and the third email was from you to all club officers, sent on April 4, 2012, of your notification that you could not continue your duties as club officer because of work related issues. I found no other correspondence from you that I might have neglected to answer. My apologies.

Richard and Jay, as for being contractually bound to the AgriCenter, we provided them with a $300 deposit for Sep 28 but if we cancel that date, we can still keep our deposit with them until mid next year. We cannot, however, get the deposit back. I received word on that yesterday. So either we reschedule the frag swap to a later date, or we lose the deposit entirely.

 

[neuroslicer]

I'd also like to note that if we do not receive sufficient notice from club members of their willingness to participate in all club activities by the next club meeting on August 24, the frag swap will be canceled, not postponed. As many of you have already stated, although the frag swap is our biggest event of the year, sponsoring the frag swap is not our primary purpose. It is a very important vehicle to spread interest and knowledge about our hobby to the general public, but I would consider regular meetings a much more important function of the club. As I've said, if we see renewed interest and support over the next month, I'd be happy to work with MARS or anyone else in putting the frag swap on. I really hope this happens!

 

[neuroslicer]

Carlos, I didn't know the club was as broken as a few people seem to think, although attendance at club events has been very low and we've had difficulty scheduling meeting due to time conflicts and because so few people volunteer to host. Judging from a lot of supportive words from several club members that I've received over the last couple of days, a lot of people had your reaction as well. And you know, before this whole mess hit the fan, no one came to me and said "I really think we need to do things differently for the betterment of the club" or "here's how I'd like to help make the club better". That is what I would have preferred. We could have avoided a lot of drama.

 

[OneReef]

If only a couple of people are unhappy with the way the club is functioning, I think it would be silly to shut the doors.

 

[neuroslicer]

For any more concerns, suggestions or comments regarding club business, please send them to me directly at wtmrac@gmail.com. Thanks all. JB

 

[OneReef]

There is one other thing to consider. If WTMRAC closes down, and there is no support in the future for MARS (which would be starting from the ground floor with zero money), closing WTMRAC will have left the Memphis area with no reef organization whatsoever. Just one more thing to think about.