The first thread got way off base at some point and I think its extremely important that the main point of growing membership gets directed back to its original topic. So what im going to say, it is for the sake of the club and growing.
First off although I dont own a LFS, I own a business that is based in our hobby. I travel non stop mostly dealing with club shows and LFS around the states and I think I bring a lot of info to the table but its my thoughts so take them with a grain of salt. But to be clear SLASH and Seasl are my hometown clubs in my hometown. It is very important to me that SLASH is relevant as it is my club. I don't get to make every event but know that im disappointed when I don't. The question ask is how do we grow. The real question though needs to be do we want to grow and change? I deal with big clubs like D.C. and cant imagine having to deal with 3000 paying members but thats what is needed to pull off a MACNA. If MACNA was the goal than we have a lot of growing to do, but if its just to stay family/friends drinking than we have very little to do. I'm writing this so we can at least have a discussion about this. I'm LFS pro though as the benefits are important and I will make the points below. Some here aren't but hopefully everyone can see there benefits to the club afterwards.
One big factor is that the club is very tight knitted. This is a GREAT thing, I like the fact that I can show up at Nanooks house and after not seeing everyone for a few months I can just get reacquainted with everyone and talk about anything. Saying that though, if you are a new member walking into a place like that can be really intimidating. The stores work great as a common ground meeting place so I think they are extremely important and allow for growth of the stores and club. The stores always have something going on for pizza night for the club and its a great way for the new members to see a store they may have never stepped into before.
Its extremely important to keep the pizza nights going. Maybe work out group buys with the store for those nights? But we need to be courteous and respectful though in our efforts as these stores go out of their way from staying open late (labor is expensive) to literally handing out freebies and such. Showing up completely smashed and leaving beer bottles around a store makes me wince after hearing about that... The reason why I bring these up isnt to point out our flaws, its to create awareness that the LFS is where our club grows the most.
A new hobbyist for the most part isnt going to start at the Slash website or even RC. The local fish store employees are going to tell them about these places. If you see a tank on TV and decide you know what, its time I got one of those. They are going to walk into a store and look at one. This is where the seed for the hobby begins. From here you learn about the club and how one member has a mini ocean in his basement that throws a party twice a year and that a particular store give out 10% off live stock to members of Slash plus they promote the swap by telling everyone to make sure they come see their booth at the upcoming show. In all honesty we need them as much if not more than they need us to grow. Its all part of the experience of being in the club. I see this emoji of this fool beating this horse to death so its time to move on.
Saying all these positives about LFS we all know the negatives about people buying disease fish or being sold things they should never have in a million years and thats where the club comes in to help educate. They have profit margins they have to make to keep doors open and we have to hope the owners/employees have the customer best interest at all times.
We need to grow the Frag swap bigger and reduce it to once a year. Lets make it an event. Hell we can change the name while were at it. The St. Louis Marine Aquatic Experience brought to you by SLASH or something, but its time to make it more of a cant miss event instead of a 4 hour small swap. It can be done.
If we want to just stay the tight group we are and sit back and drink and not change thats fine and perfect in its own way, but if our true intentions are to grow we can with some hard work and great leadership. Even better if we could pull off both.
Sorry for the length of this but I wrote out 3 times the amount and cut it way down to hopefully allow others some thoughts on growing our club. Thoughts?
I did most of this from an Iphone stuck at a Dr. appointment for my wife so hopefully it all came together.
Abell
First off although I dont own a LFS, I own a business that is based in our hobby. I travel non stop mostly dealing with club shows and LFS around the states and I think I bring a lot of info to the table but its my thoughts so take them with a grain of salt. But to be clear SLASH and Seasl are my hometown clubs in my hometown. It is very important to me that SLASH is relevant as it is my club. I don't get to make every event but know that im disappointed when I don't. The question ask is how do we grow. The real question though needs to be do we want to grow and change? I deal with big clubs like D.C. and cant imagine having to deal with 3000 paying members but thats what is needed to pull off a MACNA. If MACNA was the goal than we have a lot of growing to do, but if its just to stay family/friends drinking than we have very little to do. I'm writing this so we can at least have a discussion about this. I'm LFS pro though as the benefits are important and I will make the points below. Some here aren't but hopefully everyone can see there benefits to the club afterwards.
One big factor is that the club is very tight knitted. This is a GREAT thing, I like the fact that I can show up at Nanooks house and after not seeing everyone for a few months I can just get reacquainted with everyone and talk about anything. Saying that though, if you are a new member walking into a place like that can be really intimidating. The stores work great as a common ground meeting place so I think they are extremely important and allow for growth of the stores and club. The stores always have something going on for pizza night for the club and its a great way for the new members to see a store they may have never stepped into before.
Its extremely important to keep the pizza nights going. Maybe work out group buys with the store for those nights? But we need to be courteous and respectful though in our efforts as these stores go out of their way from staying open late (labor is expensive) to literally handing out freebies and such. Showing up completely smashed and leaving beer bottles around a store makes me wince after hearing about that... The reason why I bring these up isnt to point out our flaws, its to create awareness that the LFS is where our club grows the most.
A new hobbyist for the most part isnt going to start at the Slash website or even RC. The local fish store employees are going to tell them about these places. If you see a tank on TV and decide you know what, its time I got one of those. They are going to walk into a store and look at one. This is where the seed for the hobby begins. From here you learn about the club and how one member has a mini ocean in his basement that throws a party twice a year and that a particular store give out 10% off live stock to members of Slash plus they promote the swap by telling everyone to make sure they come see their booth at the upcoming show. In all honesty we need them as much if not more than they need us to grow. Its all part of the experience of being in the club. I see this emoji of this fool beating this horse to death so its time to move on.
Saying all these positives about LFS we all know the negatives about people buying disease fish or being sold things they should never have in a million years and thats where the club comes in to help educate. They have profit margins they have to make to keep doors open and we have to hope the owners/employees have the customer best interest at all times.
We need to grow the Frag swap bigger and reduce it to once a year. Lets make it an event. Hell we can change the name while were at it. The St. Louis Marine Aquatic Experience brought to you by SLASH or something, but its time to make it more of a cant miss event instead of a 4 hour small swap. It can be done.
If we want to just stay the tight group we are and sit back and drink and not change thats fine and perfect in its own way, but if our true intentions are to grow we can with some hard work and great leadership. Even better if we could pull off both.
Sorry for the length of this but I wrote out 3 times the amount and cut it way down to hopefully allow others some thoughts on growing our club. Thoughts?
I did most of this from an Iphone stuck at a Dr. appointment for my wife so hopefully it all came together.
Abell
I don't have a desire to see a MACNA here in Saint Louis either, that's just too grandiose for a club of only 200 or so members. I think seeing a return to the basics is best, baby steps to the next pizza night.
