What do YOU want out of your membership??? Everyone should read this!!!

[Gluestick]

As discussed at the board meeting,




We NEED to come up with a list of things that will be included with the JARC membership. Please post here ANY ideas or things you would like YOUR membership to include. Let's brainstorm!!!


Dues will (prospectively) be $28 annually for 1 person, or $42 annually for a family membership. Dues will be used to cover club trip expenses, club equipment, maintenance for website, free participation in door prizes, frag swaps, etc....

BNARC has a great club. Here is their list. http://bnarc.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=35

CMAS is also awesome. Here's theirs: http://www.cmas.net./modules.php?name=membershipinfo


This is YOUR club, guys! JARC is whatever you want to make it. We need your ideas, dreams, talent, etc. We've got a lot of potential already, let's get this thing off the ground!!!

[broke1]

To be honest, charging is going to be hard for a new club. A minimal fee for site set up and maintenance is going to be hard enough alone. A few are probably going to eat this as an investment to try and get some form of "advertising" out there so others know this club even exists.

As far as trips go, just charge whoever attends. Many of us have occupations that aren't always the most understanding about outside of work activities. To try and charge everyone for trips that many may not be able to make is a good way to scare people off from joining in the first place.

I'm not opposed to joining, but you need to find a way to make people want to join.

What club equipment?

Frag swaps could be held in someones house. That's an easy one. Throw the home owner a frag or two for the use of there house and some electricity and I'm sure it would all go well.

Keep this extremely simple at first, just a place to talk to other people that have an interest in an obscure hobby and trade little pieces of polyp filled calcified skeletons.

[skearse]

Deleted

[Gluestick]

I'm not opposed to joining, but you need to find a way to make people want to join.
Broke1, this is what the post was for. We're asking for people to put their heads together to come up with reasons you should be a paid member of JARC.

Also, would charging for a membership to a new club be any different than charging membership fees for an established club?

To try and charge everyone for trips that many may not be able to make is a good way to scare people off from joining in the first place.
Trips for paid members will be at a discounted rate (possibly free-as an incentinve for becoming a paid member). We're not charging people for trips, we're charging people to be members. To network, etc. Part of being in a club like this is so that you can network and take part in club activities. Have you been involved in any club? Any other experiences that we could maybe draw from? At the board meeting we were all in agreement that honestly, a small club membership fee wouldn't be that much of an outlay for an expensive (currency intensive?) hobby such as reefkeeping.

What club equipment? Club equipment, such as PAR meters, drill bits, glass drilling equipment, and the like may be purchased with dues money for use by any paid club member. Equipment purchased by the club would be shared, because having one's own par meter would be outrageously expensive, and how often would an individual use it?

Frag swaps could be held in someones house. That's an easy one. Throw the home owner a frag or two for the use of there house and some electricity and I'm sure it would all go well.
That certainly may be true for the first coupleof times, but very soon all the members have everyone else's pieces, and it's time to move up. Check out the BNARC & SLASH events information (to nam ea few)-maybe we're not quite to that level yet, but it won't be long! Hosting LARGE frag trade events is an awesome way to network with neighboring clubs-sponsors, raffles, speakers...why not?

Keep this extremely simple at first, just a place to talk to other people that have an interest in an obscure hobby and trade little pieces of polyp filled calcified skeletons.
You are more than welcome to just chat here, but here's to hoping that JARC can be more than that to others.

[broke1]

I think alot of that was taken the wrong way, so I'll explain and we can see if the deleted post could be put back up.

Also, would charging for a membership to a new club be any different than charging membership fees for an established club?

You really want to try and get people involved, let them try it out, come to a few swaps, maybe even a meeting. If they like what they see, then they can choose to join. I chose to join this site purely for the search function, I can access all the site, but searching was something only a paying member could do.



Trips for paid members will be at a discounted rate (possibly free-as an incentinve for becoming a paid member).
We're not charging people for trips, we're charging people to be members. To network, etc. Part of being in a club like this is so that you can network and take part in club activities. Have you been involved in any club? Any other experiences that we could maybe draw from? At the board meeting we were all in agreement that honestly, a small club membership fee wouldn't be that much of an outlay for an expensive (currency intensive?) hobby such as reefkeeping.

That's fine and a good idea. The way it's worded here, "Dues will be used to cover club trip expenses", doesn't say anything about discounts. If that is the case I stand corrected.


Club equipment, such as PAR meters, drill bits, glass drilling equipment, and the like may be purchased with dues money for use by any paid club member. Equipment purchased by the club would be shared, because having one's own par meter would be outrageously expensive, and how often would an individual use it?

I would definately be interested in something like that, I actually have a set of glass drilling bits here that belong to another member, that have been loaned out a few times already. It works out well to have one buy and the rest borrow.



That certainly may be true for the first coupleof times, but very soon all the members have everyone else's pieces, and it's time to move up. Check out the BNARC & SLASH events information (to nam ea few)-maybe we're not quite to that level yet, but it won't be long! Hosting LARGE frag trade events is an awesome way to network with neighboring clubs-sponsors, raffles, speakers...why not?

That's true to a point, no arguement here. But I have to been to two frag swaps through the CMAS forum which has a pretty decent turn out. Both of those could have been held in a garage, so it's good to think about the future of this but in the meantime we could possibly park that and just use the room we have. It would take quite a while to aquire all the frags from all the other members. I have around 100 SPS in my tank, Slowcobra has probably close to 60 in his, yet we only have around 10 of each others.



You are more than welcome to just chat here, but here's to hoping that JARC can be more than that to others.

To be honest I always thought of clubs as a common interest that brought together people for more of a social engagement.

I think my first post was taken the wrong way, I'm glad to see a local club trying to establish itself.

[Gluestick]

You really want to try and get people involved, let them try it out, come to a few swaps, maybe even a meeting. If they like what they see, then they can choose to join. I chose to join this site purely for the search function, I can access all the site, but searching was something only a paying member could do.
People need not be paid members to attend meetings and post here. There will be additional benefits for paid members. You can choose to be part of it, or opt out.

think alot of that was taken the wrong way, so I'll explain and we can see if the deleted post could be put back up.
I don't think that's necessary.

That's fine and a good idea. The way it's worded here, "Dues will be used to cover club trip expenses", doesn't say anything about discounts. If that is the case I stand corrected.
CORRECTION TO THE ABOVE MENTIONED STATEMENT IN THE FIRST POST ON THIS THREAD. ---DUES MAY OR MAY NOT COVER TRIPS, ETC.

It works out well to have one buy and the rest borrow.
That's not exactly fair IMHO.

But I have to been to two frag swaps through the CMAS forum which has a pretty decent turn out. Both of those could have been held in a garage, so it's good to think about the future of this but in the meantime we could possibly park that and just use the room we have

We're trying to give people who are into this hobby something to expand on. In my opinion, which you may take or leave, it's fun to get involved, and get others involved, in activities and events like this. If you seriously don't want your hard earned money going towards stuff like this, broke1, then no one is forcing you to join the club as a paid member. CMAS has many people come to their events that aren't paid members- because Chicago is a HUGE area. You are more than welcome to do such. However, in a smaller locale like Joliet, which is sort of being modeled after the BNARC club, to which i am also a member, there's a cool sense of comraderie that keeps people motivated in the hobby.

On the same note, if you're worried about paying to come to an event, there is no admission unless there is a keynote speaker, like there will be at the January meeting. Frag swaps are open to the public, unless the host does not want the public invited (which would be understandable, i don't think I would want people I didn't know in my home.)

It would take quite a while to aquire all the frags from all the other members. I have around 100 SPS in my tank, Slowcobra has probably close to 60 in his, yet we only have around 10 of each others.
You and SlowCobra should trade more then.

Seriously, if you're not into this, then no one is making you pay to get involved. But why don't save your energy in combating this for something more productive? There have been a couple meetings so far, and those in attendance have been very enthusiastic and open to all the fun things planned. If you would like to vote in any of this, or voice your opinions in person to us, then please stop by the meeting on the 25th of this month.

[broke1]

I don't know how this has gotten out of hand, but this was never my intention. I may stop by Rob's house, that may be a good time to discuss this face to face. You seem to think I have turned to "combatting" this, which isn't so.

It may not look like it, but I was only trying to point out where things "might" not go right in the initial plan.


It works out well to have one buy and the rest borrow.

That's not exactly fair IMHO.

I will loan anything to almost anyone, hopefully if the membership turns out to be what you hope it will, collectively the members will have most if not all of the tools that will be needed.



CORRECTION TO THE ABOVE MENTIONED STATEMENT IN THE FIRST POST ON THIS THREAD. ---DUES MAY OR MAY NOT COVER TRIPS, ETC.

My fault, I did not know what was written was not what intended. Typos are typos.

I think you misunderstood me. I have not problem paying to go to an event.

I still do not want this to turn into an arguement, maybe a little bit of constrctive critisism doesn't come across quite right on the internet.

You and SlowCobra should trade more then.

We don't exactly trade, we store frags at each others houses in case on of our tanks crashes. We can re stock the tank with all the pieces we originally had.

[brad23]

I think I can give a better perspective on this as I am involved with starting and running a club for a year now.

Membership fees are a important part of starting a successful club. All the fees involved in running your own website can run almost $300 a year. And that's if you have someone who will do it for free.

On top of this we as a club were able to offer all our members a large cookout, raffle and door prize items at every meet, events that we have money to pay for and run.

Just a frag swap can end up costing $500 or more to host. A club that has members who can financially help support it can do more than a club that has no money to do anything with.

It all comes down to what you want, just a big get together to BS every month or something more.

[skearse]

***First, ignore the deleted post above-wrong thread, wrong everything-nothing to do with this thread. Apologies to any one who may have taken that the wrong way--I don't even remember using the thumbs down, either-not sure how that happened.***

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11021427#post11021427 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by brad23
[B]It all comes down to what you want, just a big get together to BS every month or something more.

Defiintely have to agree with English here. When we decided to start-up HVRK 5 years ago (I know you guys are probably all sick of hearing about HVReef by now, sorry!) we had a lot of back & forth on whether or not to charge dues, what to do with them, etc. And more than a few people were OK with the concept of the club being basically being a place to hang out once a month and drink beer, and occassionally swap frags. Nothing wrong with that, and at the end of the day, that's really what keeps people coming back.

At the same time, though, I think that in order for a club (of any kind, not just a 'reef' club persay) to really add value for the benefits of it's members, it has to offer something more. And there are no free lunches. At HVRK we ended up buying a set of bits, a tripod drilling machine, and some other equipment that is for group use. Sure, the one buys and the rest borrow works, but for how many people? We started off with that, and after one or two people borrowing the bits & not keeping them lubed while drilling they get destroyed, which isn't fair to the owner, IMO. The dues have also been used to pay for MASNA membership (a must for any reef club IMHO), hepled us defray costs for putting together frag swaps, bringing in speakers (Calfo), pay for the website, from which we generate sponsorships, who in turn help out with monthly raffles at the meetings, or discounts on group buys...it's almost seed money as opposed to dues. None of our members paid to attend any of those things aside from the annual dues.

JMO!

[broke1]

I agree with most if not all of that. I was merely pointing out the difficulties with jumping into something like this. I'm all for it and truely hope it all works out.

I was just trying to emphasize the point of starting small and let all the teething problems have a chance to get corrected or self correct on a much smaller scale. I know some think that I have taken the antagonist role here, which isn't the case. I was merely stating that this may work out better to start slowly and let it work up to what everyone hopes it would be.

Good luck, and just in case anyone is interested, paying to join is OK with me.

[brad23]

A lot of people were skeptical at first when we said there were going to be fees and I'm sure it turned some people off as they were use to a club with fees.

I would put some faith into the people who chose to start this club and get it up and running. The plans I've seen so far look really good and you should be glad you have a bod that wants to put a lot of effort into making this work.

[wilawalo]

I think the frag trade would be great for the people who have established systems. People like me who have new systems and have no idea (and frankly are terrified of cutting anything!) I think would benefit from like a demonstration of some sort. Also maybe "trips" to peoples favorite LFS to see where people buy thier things. I would be willing to pay for a membership provided that I got good information and learned things.