Jan 2011 Meeting

Topics that were discussed at the meeting:

Advertising: Changes and new ideas were discussed for the new year. We will be implementing some new ideas concerning what we can do to advertise our club this year. These ideas will be discussed with the member community only.

Tank of the Month (TOTM): This addition was proposed at the meeting and, I believe everyone in attendance felt this would be a nice addition to our site. Details will follow.

Group Buys and Sponsor support: Discussion of this topic included what the club can do to organize and implement several group buys throughout the coming year based on member needs and wants for livestock, clean-up crews and dry goods. We will put up a thread occasionally to ask for suggestions concerning these purchases. Normally, all suggestions will be put to a vote in the member community and the buys will be officiated by one of the groups members.

Free for the taking thread: The group also discussed this topic as a means to help out those members in need of various pieces of equipment or random items that may be needed during new builds. This is not to say just give away your equipment that you would like to receive some type of monies for, rather to make available items that you know you will never use and that are just collecting dust in your closets and garages. Toss those unwanted items in a box and bring to the meetings so members can look.

Club Library: This benefit (offered by our club’s members) was also a good topic of discussion. We started a club library last year and many of the members listed books they have available on a loan out basis. This was offered originally on the TRUST system. It was designed to help make reading material available to all members especially new members in the hobby. Several books have been loaned out and have never been returned. So, we are making some changes to this benefit. Books will be on loan from the club library on a deposit basis. If you have books you wish to list and loan out it will be up to the loaning member to set the deposit price for their books. This should be collected and held solely by the loaning member. The club will not be responsible for books not returned. If you feel you know a person well enough to loan a book to, then by all means do so at your own risk. I will be looking into getting some donated books for our club in the near future from some of our sponsors.

Club equipment: Eric and I had discussed the need to add some equipment to the club such as a Par meter, Coral saw, and other random items that sometimes the average hobbyist cannot afford to purchase outright. We brought this topic to the table and have received favorable feedback from our members. We will be working on this and hope to get these and other items for the club.

Group trips: Another benefit our club offers is that we do several group trips throughout the year. Most notably is our trip to Reef Systems Coral Farm and Phishy Business in Columbus which we often do several times during the year. We normally do a carpool for those members interested in attending these excursions. The group also discussed several other outings this year to include a trip to the Columbus zoo and Newport aquarium for some behind the scenes tours. It was put to the group that any member wishing to head up any of the outings mentioned can do so. This we believe will help get our members more involved with the club. If any members wish to do some other type of outings please be sure to make this information available on the forums. We have several members that have attended the conferences such as MACNA, Seminars held by other clubs that involve speakers and demonstrations, and last but not least several Frag Swaps that are offered and are usually posted on the site.

Monthly meetings: Our club offers a monthly meeting that can be attended by anyone interested in the saltwater hobby. These meetings are always posted ahead of time on the site to ensure that everyone has ample time to make plans for attending. I passed around a signup sheet at this month’s meeting which will be made available on the site. As always, members have a choice to either hold the meeting at your house or to organize an outing for the group. We encourage all new members to hold a meeting so we can get to know each other better and share our experiences with each other. The meetings are held on a voluntary basis and are enjoyed by all who attend…as we all enjoyed this month’s meeting.

Emergency member phone list: This list will be available to all members and will be either e-mailed or pm’d to those that request it. These numbers will never be made public. You must be a member to receive this list. This is another way to help our members if someone needs help in an emergency or with a project. Please remember that if you sign up for this list and cannot be available should someone need help to try and help the person get in touch with someone that is available. Thank you.

Club Coral Bank: Last year, several members got together and decided to have a coral bank as part of our club’s benefits. This was once again proposed to the group and was discussed in depth as to how this program works. In a nutshell, it is a way to encourage coral frag swapping amongst the members here in order to help promote aquaculture practices and replacement coral frags should a member suffer a tank crash or other problem with any certain corals they keep. We strongly encourage aquaculture practices as a way of promoting our club’s statements and goals which can be viewed on the sites homepage. We will be discussing this further and hopefully get more members involved. This is purely for the enjoyment of our members and encourages traditional coral swapping practices. If you want to sell your frags for money to fund a project by all means do so. The coral bank is designed to help ensure that if a member losses a coral that it can be obtained from other members as a replacement.

Ghurlag’s member Tank and coral pics slide show and Jessica’s awesome taste treats: I would like to take this moment to highly commend Brian for the awesome slide show he put together of many of the member’s tanks, fish and corals that he presented on his home television. This was an awesome presentation that ran during the meeting for all to enjoy and possibly take inspiration from. Thanks again Brian!! You Rock!!