What is the problem with a lot of you?

[thysrof]

I have spoken with the current president and the last president and we all feel the same way. There is a HUGE LACK OF PARTICIPATION from the members of this club.

People are not showing up to meetings. People are not volunteering to have their tank on tank tours.

What's the use of having a club if no one participates.

 

[treesmoker]

I agee with bob. It's understandable that many members have had personal matters that are priority, but if the lack of participation continues I'm affraid our club will go into RTN! on the same subject, where was our new vice prez at the last meeting?!?

 

[Reef Bass]

More participation from members would be wonderful. Remember it's our vast pool of knowledge and experience and the willingness to share that makes us great. To paraphrase a past officer of the club, "If we all do a little, no one has to do a lot".

 

[shaneh]

I'll be on the list for Petaluma tank stops...I'm guessing that is next month? I'd love some input and I still have my 175 bow front but it has been on the back burner with $ right now. I agree meetings with 5-6 ppl is not as productive as large groups. I'm still a newbie so I enjoy learning more each meeting. I thoguth of some possible future meetings I’m interesting in learning more about.

-reef photography- I would like to have a bring your camera night meeting some time…maybe a slide show of some sort….maybe meet at someone’s house for this one with a cool big tank like…Jason….to get some good shots.

-cuddle fish…very cool, but need to know more before I even think about setting up a tank.

-sea horse tank set up's (if any one has one)

-Story night or at the end of the meeting…..I like to hear what other ppl did wrong and how they fixed the problem so that I do it right the first time. Pictures and props help.

EX:I heard a story of how a reefer not in the club set up his tank put sand rock and water in and then noticed the tank was not level….he had to take everything back down and put a foam sheet under the tank to balance it out. I’ll never forget that so I do not make the same mistake!

Also any experiences you have had with certain companies in reef industry….I’ve told you guys my story with Oceanic and Precision Marine. Like Jake I know you told us about your sump from Tru-Vu.

-Also tips/ tricks and what do I do now situations for emergencies….like if your kalk clouds the tank because your float switch didn’t work and your PH shoots up…or if it’s over 100 and your chiller can’t keep up….I learned to freeze RO water in a gallon container and put the container in the sump to cool it down. I cycled three of them when it gets over 100 degrees. Just some ideas that are not main stream to help with your tank….like a powerhead in the sump that helped my tank to clear up some garbage in the water. Also some non-main stream tools ppl use for cleaning or reefing. I use an SOS metal stainless steel scrubber to get coralline off my glass and it works great. Better than a mag float.

I have done some reading on all of these topics but still want to know more...I know a lot of you on here are expert photographers and have a lot of reef knowledge.

-Also I am friends with the head aquatic director at “Aquarium by The Bay” on pier 39....the aquarium is more bay fish and only a few reef tanks but it was just redone and is an hour well spent. Let me know if you guys would be interested in a tour. I got a behind the scenes look at the filtration and it is amazing! They breed jellyfish too.

Well just my two cents as I look forward to the meetings each month. Sometimes it is hard to put more money into the hobby but I have found that my time is sometimes more valuable to the tank than money. If that time is spent cleaning the tank or going to meeting or just reading reef stuff for an hour a week, the more you learn the easier the hobby becomes. I feel like I struggled a lot in the beginning but now it is somewhat dialed in and takes care of it’s self except for feeding and water changes. But I’m always looking for some thing small to make a difference.

 

[justin_freebord]

I came to one meeting and it was cool but i didnt feel it was worth the drive back. No offense i came into it expecting more but i was kinda bitter due to the raffle being hyped online then wasnt that great and i lost 20$ thinking some items would be tehre and not finding out the raffle items till the raffle took place. I had no use for any item as most of it was sps. When i come back to school id love to come out to some meetings but they are competing with going out and partying so i dont wanna feel like time wasted if its going to be unorganized or anything like that. The meeting i went to the guest speaker didnt show due to being sick or something and all i did was sit and talk to people. Yeah it was fun and nice because i dont know anyone into the hobby but i can do that at home on the forums. This is my reason for not coming back to any other meeting coupled with bad timing for my schedule. Im willing to give it another shot but due to the small size of the club i feel like the things i enjoy in the hobby may not be the same as others ( i dont really have sps due to the stability of my tank which always moves due to school) i feel most club members are either completely new or really into sps. Again this is all what i think so id love to be corrected of that view. I would also be down to do the frag swaps but i have limited room so i wanna put something in and get something i actually want out of it or i might as well sell the frag and go shopping for what i actually want. Again the sps thing comes into play here because i dont need sps and i definitely dont want any softie besides mid to high end zoas which is what i would be contributing.

i hope this doesnt sound harsh or anything but i feel my personal thoughts and concerns may help guide you guys into ideas or other things. Im really interested in scientific information about corals and fish so presentions on those would get my attention but sitting around talking about each others tanks isnt going to bring me back more than once. Again correct me on anything here i was only at one meeting so this is a very narrow view i have (and i do plan to come again in august/september)

 

[shaneh]

Some of the meetings are more productive than others like when James gave his QT presentation or Jake did a frag demo...there have been a lot of very inforamative meetings. Some are not as informative but the ppl who want to learn more and make connections in this hobby keep coming. You never know when you will have that emergency night and need to call someone to save your whole tank. Even if you are not learning something towards reefing you are making connections with ppl. This whole world is more about who you know than what you know.

You can't judge a book by its cover and you can't judge a club by one meeting. Even if your first and only meeting was not what you expected. Also if you don't have the money to do the raffle you don't have to buy tickets. You can't expect to win something every time. I've bought 20$ in tickets most every meeting and don't win all the time. As for partying in college most parties don't really start till after ten and the meetings don't go that late. So you can easily do both.

I agree with Ken "If we all do a little, no one has to do a lot" then the club will be more enjoyable for everyone. Ask yourself what you can do for the club not what the club can do for you! =) The club is doing the tank tour this weekend and I am looking forward to getting more tank ideas. I’ll bring my camera to get some ideas for my next tank set up.

 

[MRDHJ1]

Shaneh very well said. I dont know how many times I have needed to call some one in the club to help me solve a problem! With out this club I know I would have given up on reefing for sure. I for one have been to most of the meetings in the last year except a few and most have been a meet and eat. As well as the normal raffel which I never win anything. Ha ha. The whole point is to network and have a good time. I have met some people from this club that I consider true friends that I never would have know without being a member and going to meetings. Bottom line is we do need to grow as a club. And if you are part of the club you need to participate or we have no hope of getting any better. On a side note does anyone know what I did to my reef central to make all the print super small. It is only on my work computer and only for reef central. It is driving me crazy. P.s all the photos come out normal size.

 

[Reef Bass]

Well put both of you. Thanks.

Dale, in your browser try the File / View / Zoom menu and the File / View / Text size menu for possible solutions.

 

[MRDHJ1]

Ken you are the man now I can go back to wasting countless hours on reef central while at work.

 

[FreshReefer]

Well I haven't been around for long but I think the first few meetings I came to were great. As stated above, the QT demo, fragging demo. Not to make light of the issue since I was at the last meeting so I understand where you are all coming from, but, it seems to me this may be something seasonal. Again I have not been in the club long enough to truly judge but I know that it is true for me.

A good way to start might be to come up with a list of things people can do to help with the club. Showing up will be number one for sure.

Anyway just some more thoughts from another newbie.

 

[kokaneejr]

O.K. Now that everyone is chimming in I guess its my turn.

I don't have to much to add other than I am agreeing with Shane Dale and Ken. There is no way to judge a meeting by just one or judge a club by its meeting.

I have had help from lots of guys in the club in one way or another with suggestions good deals(free in some cases) and just plain advice from members who have had tanks for long periods of time. My tank would be nothing without all of you guys and I appreciate all the help you have given me everytime I look at it.

The club is there more than just for meetings. That being said I would like to have a guest whether it be a member talking about a particular skill ( Ken photo ) or a specialist who would be willing to talk about a product (like Jason and his frag rack). I am still relatively new at the hobby so some things that might come easily for you guys still baffle me. I still don't understand the whole C02 tank thing and Vodkea dosing

The one thing I would like to see changed is that while our club doesn't have dues I like to support it by entering the raffle. I tell my wife it is like my dues and even if I don't win I still feel good about it.( although I really like winning). The problem I have is that where we go, while being a nice place that I feel I should support because they let us meet there, is that I end up spending $15-$20 for dinner and have to short change the club. I would rather give my $20 to the club and spend less for food. Maybe we should meet at Subway JK
$5 for food and therest for the raffle. I think you get my point though.

This may be a hard time to make any changes as a lot of folks are going on vacations and downsizing or moving but we could try and plan a few things.

That being said I am out for anything that happens on Saturdays as I work on almost every weekend especially in summer. Maybe I could work an early shift and be a late stop on the Petaluma tank tour.
Have a great tour and somebody please take a few photos.
Craig.

 

[thysrof]

A lot of good points, Bottom Line "You get out what you put in" My point for starting this thread is that the lack of attendance and lack of participation has been going on for quite some time.

if you don't like or want to see something different happen. Put a little time and effort in and I'm sure it will happen.

Here's what I'm thinking. We should consider going to meetings every other month. If that doesn't get attendance up, we go to quarterly meeting,If that doesn't work we can go to bi-annual.

For Pete's sake ask yourself when was the last time I went to a meeting.

 

[MRDHJ1]

Hey Bob I get what your saying but i dont think going to anything other then monthly meetings is a good idea. If we go more then a month then people will really lose intrest. That is just my oppion but I think that would be how it goes down. I remember the first meeting I went to. It was at Jeffs right after he got the 210. There was so many people there. Maybe we sholud go back to doing the meetings at members house's. I know I will be up to hosting a bbq as soon as I get my house together. And Bob to anwser your question I have not been able to come to the last couple of meetings. Not that I did not want to just had life to deal with.

 

[thysrof]

Dale,

The club only went to monthly meetings a couple of years ago.Prior to that it was every other month. Dale your attendance has been great. We have people that haven't been to a meeting for 6 months to over a year. That's the point I'm trying to make.

And again "If you want to see a change say and do something about it" I don't know any mind readers currently in the club.

 

[Reef Bass]

Yeah Dale if everyone participated to the extent you do this thread wouldn't exist.

Bob, you're right, I put on my fortune teller hat, rubbed on my crystal ball and I still can't read any minds.

I agree that one solution to the reduced attendance issue might be to hold meetings less frequently. However, imho, we would run a significant risk of more members losing interest.

I am open to suggestions as to how to improve our club, be it meeting location, frequency, agenda, whatever. I know I am more likely to show up if food and beverages are available but if people want to meet at members' houses, we can. This is our club and we can mold it as we see fit. Please let me know how we can make things better.

 

[northbay-reefer]

This club started out small, we used to meet at other people's house and then the interest got larger and we moved to a specific location, now that the club is small again, maybe we can move it to peep's houses again? My interest grew stronger and stronger once I see other people's successful/awesome looking reef tank, it motivated me to have a similar tank and I show up to more meetings to learn.

I think there are several reason why the attendant have been lacking

1, Many of the old members and even some new members had personal/finacial issues to deal with. Myself included so it is understandable that Reefing falls to the bottom of the priority.

2, The economy is very bad, people are having to make ends meet so reefing again falls further to the bottom of the list. This hobby is very expensive to start with.

3, The old group has been replaced with a new group so the old members don't see many of their friends at meetings anymore so they don't have the motivation to start over.

4, Many folks are tearing out their tank, either down sizing or taking a break altogether and changed interest, so their is no need to go to meetings.

5, The club meetings has been boring and stagnant, no new information, no vendor supports, so what does the member gain from going to meetings? For me I like to go to meetings to hang out with people with similar interests and making friends. Helping each others during moves or reef tank problems ect.

Every club will go through this and it is up to the club BOD to make changes to increase attendants. My suggestion is go back to how it was in the beginning and start meeting at people's houses again. I think a great place to start is at Steve's ... He always has an awesome reef tank and people will get supper motivated once they see what he has and the products that he sells. The tank tour is a great idea, or even wine tasting events/reefing, or organized a group to go the the bar frag swap ect ....

Another idea it to have our own large scale frag swap where everyone bring at least 5 frags of "good quality coral" we can do a list here and verify it so no one will bring common corals that no one wants.

Anyway just my two cents ...

 

[boviac]

Its summer time and in general the interest in this hobby is displaced by SUMMER TIME i.e. other family, buisness, outdoor activities. No offense... all aspects of this hobby seem to lag a bit this time of year.

In Chico we see it come and go... What really tends to keep our meeting participation and attendance up is a frag etc door prize/raffle at the end of meetings.

 

[TikiDan]

I do apologize for not being a part of the club as much as before, but in my defense, (other than Mary) I do believe I have the farthest to travel of all the members (I live in Mill Valley) But... even though I don't have a salty tank going I still cruise the forum, and am still working on a new logo.
Eventually I will get some salt in my nano, and get a light hung above it so I can support my future raffle winnings, but till then, unfortunately, I will probably be a web only member.
Right now, the only thing holding me back from attending the meetings is the hour drive. I do truly miss every one of you fellow reefers who helped me through thick and thin and wish to be back in the midst of all you coral collecting freaks.

We all need to stick together and remember what brought us into the club in the first place. It will work out

 

[Reef Bass]

Tom your outlined reasons are right on. boviac you've hit on a core issue too.

We did have an uptick in attendance at this last meeting. And we did have an above average number of raffle frags. Coincidence? Hmmm. Of course the tank tour I think helped too. I know I very much enjoyed seeing others tanks and I am impressed with number of very nice tanks we have as a club.

Also, just as an fyi, I have plans for "special" happenings for the next five meetings. Thanks to those who have spoken to me about arranging these. It's great to feel as though members are beginning to participate again and that the club is on a revitalized upswing!

Dan, you're welcome to cyberstalk us as long as you'd like.

 

[GreshamH]

I'm more then willing to help you get guest speakers and some industry support

I saw mention of Cuttle fish. Rich Ross in Alameda does an excellent presentation on cuttlefish and other cephs. http://www.stickycricket.com/cuttle/article_bandensis1/index.html

Randy Reed would be more then willing to give a talk on feeding your reef. www.ReefNutrition.com

Plenty more as well, just ask