Starting a Reef Club

[Condiman]

I live in Central Wisconsin area and possibly thinking of starting a Reef Club if enough people want to join. PM me or email me at Birch2@tds.net

[grafxguy]

Why would you want to start another club? You can easily join WRS. We have a great thing going here so I wouldn't see many if any members leaving WRS to join another club. eric

[Condiman]

Do you have members that are in the Abbotsford , and Eau Clair area who are willing to drive all the way to your meetings down south. The only reason I have not joined WRS is because your meetings are usually a 4 to 5 hour drive away

[grafxguy]

If you look at the club web site you can see where people live. Yes, we do have people from all over. Rhinelander, Chicago, Madison. The meetings are planned well in advance so members have the day reserved for the meetings. It is once a month. And the meetings vary for location. Any and all members are welcomed to host a meeting. No matter where they live you will have people making the drive to attend. eric

[Condiman]

Have you or will you have any meetings up north around my area

[grafxguy]

We have the meetings at member's houses. The schedule is open for the upcoming year in November. So if there was a member who wanted to host a meeting in your area or if you joined and wanted to host a meeting then yes. But we don't just schedule them in certain places. That is dictated by what members step forward to host the meetings. eric

[Condiman]

so your tellin me that alot of members are willing to drive 4 hours or so to go to a meeting

[Condiman]

I looked at your member list and I dont see anyone from central wi and up. Where were you looking

[bjpembo]

I'm along way from either of you and woudlnt be able to come to any meetings but why dash condiman's desire to have a local club by saying there's already one and its great and you doubt anyone would want to leave yours for another? Who says they couldn't be a member of both? Afraid of the competiton? And if your's was so great I dont think you'd find the need to tell another reefer he shouldn't have his own club(not saying yours isn't great just wondering why you want to be the only game around) after all this is america and we're free to associate as we please and if someone wants to gather his fellow local reefers for for some tank oogling and info trading because your's is too far away, who are you to stand in his way?

[Condiman]

Thanks BJ you took the words right from my mouth

[grafxguy]

Easy killer.

No, I have no problem with someone starting a reef club. Go ahead. All I am saying is that there is a great club already established why not join something that is already going. As far as members driving 4 hour for a meeting, Yes, there are members that will drive that to attend a meeting. I average a 2 hour drive to most of the meetings as it is so the drive time is not the problem. You only get out of the club what you put into it. So if you are not willing to put the effort that is your loss. We have an excellent member base with lots of experience. If you feel a need to start your own club go ahead and do so. I wish you luck.

eric

[bjpembo]

I agree that you only get what you put in, however some people may not have the time or ability to drive 2-4 hrs to a meeting and would prefer to have something more localized just as there are people who have no problem driving 4 hours or even more. Perhaps a better respose to his ambition would be to simply make him aware that a club already exists in his state and invite him to join, leaving the part about you having a great thing going there and doubting anyone leaving your club to join his out because obviously condiman doesnt think you have a great thing going because its too far away from him to attend, and he's checked your member directory and doesnt see anyone listed from his area. How about offering a deal on the membership price if he can round up several reefers in his area and get them to all join your club together since there seems to be no members that far north. I believe it would benefit you both, WRS would pick up some new members and condiman and his locals could have a local chapter.

[grafxguy]

Thanks for you input bj but we would not offer anyone a cheaper membership because of their distance away. It is a considered a state club so we don't consider our club north, south, central or what not. You are either a member or not. Our membership fees are used to benefit the club and would only cause conflict to offer someone a discounted rate.

Like I said, go ahead and start yourself a club. I wish you luck. Don't take it as negative vibes because it is not. I am just trying to explain that there is a successful club already established so why try and reinvent the wheel.

If you have enough knowledgeable reefers in your area to have an established club then by all means pull together and start something.

eric

[grafxguy]

Another thinhg to look into is the club in the Twin Cities (TMAS). They have a great club up there in Minnesota. A few of us have made the trip up there to attend one of their functions. eric

[bjpembo]

I didnt mean to offer a discount because of distance. You offer an individual membership for 25.00 and a family for 35.00 so why not a group of say 10 for 200 or 225 instead of 250.00, regardless of where they're from so long as they pay as a group, simply a small incentive to recruit more members. Preferring to stay a state club instead of having regions is fine i was merely suggesting a way for condiman to become a member and not feel left out or that he wasted his money because he's unable to travel long distances, I'm sure there are others that feel the same as he does and would like to be a member of an existing club as its much easier, but there just isnt one locally available. Even though my distance is more exagerated it would be like me paying the dues and hoping one day i make the 800 mile trip. And for condiman, prowl your lfs for possible people interested in your idea, there has to be reefers in your area of the store wouldn't stay in business.

[lesd]

Also, if the new club for central/western WI gets a few members going, there is nothing to say we (WRS) can't cooperate to put together larger events in a central location (Madison?).

When I lived in Texas, there were clubs in Austin, Dallas, and Houston. Texas is pretty huge, but Austin is only a 3 hr. drive from Houston. We did occasionally cooperate on events and members from other clubs were invited to participate in the hosting club's event for a small fee.

I can attest to the fact that WRS is a great club with some very knowledgeable and experienced members. Many of them are also active here on Reef Central.

-- Leslie

[grafxguy]

See the thing is that you have not exerienced one of our meetings. In truth, $25 for attending even only one meeting would be worth it. Not every member makes all the meetings. Some do only attend 1 or 2 a year. But they still it is worth the $25 membership. The info that is passed at each meeting plus the club raffles that are done at each meeting make it worth it. Plus, being a member you can freely trade and accept frags, live stock and equipment from other members. People come to meetings with coolers and leave with lots of corals. Just that alone the $25 annual membership pays for itself. Our club is a very close knit group of people. There is not much selling in the club. Most items are just given away or traded at meetings. Plus, we have 2 excellent vendors in our club, 1 new vendor who just joined, the owner of Algea Free Magnets, who cut awesome deals for club members. We also are an exclusive with Anthony Calfo and club members can get his books at a better price than anywhere else out there.

eric

[The Locust]

i say join WRS just for the percs. i save easily $100 a year just by taking part in the deals i get through WRS. the livestock and drygoods discounts from gooch and darren, the book discounts through the club, ect. plus if you pay the 25.00 and only go see the speakers every year thats worth it IMHO or you could just come to the barbecue and christmas meeting and eat lots of food. all this is in addition to the great prizes i have won at the raffles. so i say join WRS just for the deals and the occasional meeting and start your own club for local meetings as well. there are quite a few people in the madison area that get together regularly in their own club and also make it out to WRS meetings.

[bjpembo]

the occasional meeting and start your own club for local meetings as well

this is exactly what im getting at, I see no reason condiman can't start his own AND be a member of wrs, eventually they could have group meetings, its just that erics first post came across imo as you dont need to start one because i already have, fortunatly he's clarified since that he didnt mean bad vibes. Also he's correct I haven't experienced one of the meetings and I'm sure if i lived in the area i would be a member, as i said i just think that his reply came across as being hostile towards someone starting a new club, however unintenional, and condiman has expressed to me outside the forum that he feels pretty much the same way.

[MiddletonMark]

I fail to see any problem with this ....

We have a Reef Club in Madison, a number of whom are both members of the MARS and WRS.

I am.

I'm happy to attend when I can, paid my membership dues.
They're both good clubs, I feel better off with both.

There's also people like a member of the Madison club that works Saturdays - thus while he'd like to join WRS and come to meetings every once in a while - he can't. It's Saturday.


Condiman guy lives up north, would like to get some people together up in his neck of the woods. I can understand that a four hour drive, each way, to a meeting makes it less possible to make many meetings. Seems totally reasonable.
[2-3 hours driving makes it less possible for me to go to all]

Should we be stopping him?

I'd be all for more clubs in Wisconsin. We seem to have a lot of reefers, and for frag trading, advice, and seeing each other's tanks I can understand why we'd want to meet other locals. I doubt any of these clubs could afford speakers or raffles, nor would have as large a membership base as the WRS.
And I doubt any reefer that can make it would miss Calfo's talk in September, WRS member or not.

Go ahead Condiman, start a club. Let me know when you're meeting and maybe I can then be a part of every Wisconsin reef club. The more good people met, the better.

[grafxguy]

Exactly as many people have posted. I see no problem in more clubs. We are all in the same hobby. Yes, the travel time is an issue for some so you have to make what works for you. So if that means starting your own club in your area that is what you have to do. You are always welcome to cross join the clubs. The group in Madison has started a great discussion group and WRS has many of those members in the club as well.
eric

ps. I'm not a hostile person so please don't read into the words since you can't see the feelings behind them. I am actually a pretty easy going guy. At least I think so.:D

[Amphibious]

To all who feel passionate about reefing and sharing,

I've read this post with great interest. I would incourage anyone with the interest in starting another club to do so. It's a LOT more work than most people figure.

Many years ago I was one or the founders of the "Madison Aquarium Club" (Before most of you were born :D ) and remained an officer of one sort or another for eleven years and then dropped out after another two years. Soon after that the club folded. SAD!

Anyone with the desire to start such an organization should do it. You will either succeed or fail but, you will learn a great deal along the way. You will learn about other people but, the most important thing you will learn is about yourself. :eek1:

[MiddletonMark]

Exactly, all such efforts should be applauded.

I'd think at worst Condiman will make more reefer friends, at best he gets a group going. Go for it!

I personally feel lucky to be not super far away from most WRS meetings.
Luckier yet to have a local club where I can make just about every meeting fairly easily.
And luckiest to have people like Amphibious in our local group, with years of experience and patience for fiery talkative members like me. [guess 1 meeting does not a member make, but it sure felt like it].

I bet with a small north-central Wisconsin Frag-trading network/club going in the future; Condiman is going to want more such clubs - especially [like was said above] ones he doesn't have to organize and do as much work at.

[DD]

[edited]

[Amphibious]

MiddletonMark
"And luckiest to have people like Amphibious in our local group, with years of experience and patience......" Why thank you Mark. Some day you'll be old and wise, too. ;) Probably wiser than me. By the way, that was a mighty pretty girl you had with ya. :) Seriously now, we're glad you felt welcome, hope you come back and bring the young lady, OK? :D The next meeting is at my house, August 4th. Watch for an e-mail from Jack Hart with directions.

DD

I'm confused, why did you put your shameless plug in this thread? We weren't discussing vendors. This thread is about clubs. :( Really DD, this is truely shameless. :(

[gooch]

We live in Green Bay and there are actually a bunch of reefers in the area. About 10 of us are in WRS. Since becomming a vendor I have realized that many reefers have no desire to join clubs like ours and the one you want to start up. Its unfortunate that so many have no interest in joining. The club is a lot of hard work. Eric,Gareth and Rick bust there butts for the love of the hobby. There are alot of percs. You get product demos,special group buys and alot of products donated by many different vendors.

Yes, some of the drives can get long. But honestly the best way to learn in this hobby is from one another and not someone thats trying to make a buck off you. It's not that they feed you false information its just some vendors try to persuade you to a product that might not be a good fit for you. The club meetings are a no pressure situation for the members to ask information about products away from the stores. To get other opinions from other reefers that have been there is priceless.

Your club will take a while to get started and it won't be much for at least a year. Do not give up on it. It can work. Keep good records and look into ways to improve the hobby. Don't just get together to slam down a few cold ones. The Reef Clubs are the ones that will take this hobby into the future and you to the next level.

My suggestion if you are serious about starting a club is to attend a meeting or two to see how thing operate. Talk to Eric,Gareth,Rick or some of the other guys that have been there from the start. I really look forward to the meetings every month and feel they are a benifit to the members. It goes way beyond the demo's,deals and frag trading. It's meeting new friends,helping others and touching base with reefers in other areas. Touring the pet shops in other towns,guest presenters,road trips. Did I mention learning,learning,learnig more about the hobby than people not involved in the clubs or boards.

gooch

[DD]

And the tag at the bottom at your post adveretising the www.theculturedreef.com
is what? Free advertising is free advertising. I am in business to make money. And if I can get the word out to some new customers than I will. Get over the fact that there is competition out there that try's to expand a business!Gotta love capitalism! Thats my last word and now you can have yours.

www.captivereefs.com

[Condiman]

I am sorry grafxguy if I completly misunderstood your first post and I hope that there are no hard feelings. I was wondering If you could give me some helpful hints on starting a club since I have never been to a real club meeting.

[Amphibious]

Hey DD

Don't get in an uproar.

I don't have any trouble with you doing a shameless plug for your business when it's done in a thread that is talking about vendors. This thread is not about vendors it's about starting another club. So your comment..........one of those excellent vedors....... wasn't pertinent to the conversation and therefore inappropriate at the time, that's all.

IMHO, of course.

Calm down, take a dep breath, loosen up and live a little. :D