At sometime, we need a "How to" meeting

[Brad A.]

That is, how to setup and maintain a reef or fish only system.

Also, there maybe people who are thinking about acropora but just dont know how.

Please reply if you're interested in this type of a club meeting.

Brad

[SHOmuchFUN]

I'm always interested...

I could help out however. I don't have the acropora garden, but what acro's I do have, have been doing very well!

This is definitely something that we could do over at UVM campus. I have a donor 20gal that we can fill with some saltwater and I think that one of us in the club will have a pendant that we can put over it and show some frags and maybe talk about coral propagation at the same time?

[mogulski]

this is a great idea! I'm presently in the process of setting up an sps dominated reef and would love to hear what there is to be said at a local meeting.

[SHOmuchFUN]

Just found out that we can do Lafayette whenever, just need a time so I can sign up.

I was thinking of bringing in a small tank (we can use my 20H) and then make a little stand for a pendant to light some frags up. We could make some eggcrate shelves and display some SPS and do a powerpoint that show the different species, and how to keep them. The powerpoint could highlight some equipment that would benefit the growth and health of such species.

I think it would be better to make it a 2 or 3 part series which starts out with maybe a tank setup presentation that includes repsonsible reefkeeping and fish health, then on the 2nd part highlight on LPS and SPS coral health/propagation.

[mogulski]

this leeds to the next Q. when is good for everyone? I think that erik had a good idea with weekend noon meetings.

[SHOmuchFUN]

Originally posted by mogulski
this leeds to the next Q. when is good for everyone? I think that erik had a good idea with weekend noon meetings.

:thumbsup:

[Brad A.]

Originally posted by SHOmuchFUN

I was thinking of bringing in a small tank (we can use my 20H) and then make a little stand for a pendant to light some frags up. We could make some eggcrate shelves and display some SPS and do a powerpoint that show the different species, and how to keep them. The powerpoint could highlight some equipment that would benefit the growth and health of such species.

I think it would be better to make it a 2 or 3 part series which starts out with maybe a tank setup presentation that includes repsonsible reefkeeping and fish health, then on the 2nd part highlight on LPS and SPS coral health/propagation.

The small tank would be good when we do a coral propagation meeting. It would be fun to buy a BIG A$$ acro and chop it up for a meeting!

I love talking about acropora (too much) and I'd love to start out the first meeting with a powerpoint on growing acros.

Brad

[SHOmuchFUN]

Is there a wide-spread interest?

The reason I ask, is because I realize that SPS is our main interest (as I only have 2 blue chromis currently), but maybe we should feel out the crowd first by inviting some people over to talk about cycling a tank and equipment... Then advertise how to set up a successful SPS tank using the aforementioned equipment. A sort of prelude, if you will.

It takes a lot of dedication to run a marine tank... But it takes constant supervision and interaction along with a lot of money to run and maintain a successful SPS/reef tank. From what I've heard from -Brian?- from MMR is that there are people out there who are interested, but I think they need to have the stepping stones in place in order to create a successful reef-tank.

I think this is a multi-step process.

[tsalter]

Good idea brad!,

I think most of our normal members are kinda past the setting up a tank stage. I don't know if we are going to get the newbies that we would need for this without really canvasing the town.

I think a how to sps tank setup would be good for most and i am sure you will go into more advanced steps besides lots of flow and good lighting.

Gotta get lunch but will add more points later

T

[SHOmuchFUN]

I agree that most of us are past the initial setup stage, but why make an elaborate presentation for just "US" that we can have a dialogue between anyway? That sounds kind of silly.

I thought the main point of a presentation would be to talk to the "newbie" crowd... I thought "canvasing" the town is what we were shooting for? I could be wrong though I guess... I had a vision of getting some people STARTED with SPS so that there would be a bigger trading based community. Look at all the members of the Bay Area Reefers and the Boston Reefer Society. They all have hundreds of members involved in SPS and most of them have great tanks because there is such a large frag circulation.

Let's canvas the hell out of the town. Come up with an idea, research the idea and the interest base, create some flyers, have an incentive to coming (free frag, or refreshments, etc. etc.), and make it accessible. Let's talk to Bruce and Trudy, Drew, and even :cough: Gary. We can't descriminate, but if any of the stores don't show up, it's at their own fault. This is a business venture for them as well, but we can try to keep it less commercial if that's what we want.

[tsalter]

Silly? How many people made it to the last meeting? How many newbies have been to meetings in the last two years? Why not start by serving the needs of the current members who we know will show up?

Just trying to be realistic.

My next thought before I had to woof down a chicken pattie was the canvasing. It would be a good idea to get as many people as we could if we are doing a how to basic reeftank setup. But knowing Brad and reading between the lines He is probably not going to want to talk about setting up a 30 gal softy starter tank or maybe I am wrong. I thought that his expertise and time would be put to use better for us that already have sps tanks. You or I or anyone could do a basic starter tank setup lecture.

[SHOmuchFUN]

You're probably right.

My vision is probably beyond the scope of reality, but really wanted to make sure that if Brad was going to put in a lot of his time into his already abbreviated schedule, that we'd want the most plentiful and captive audience we could find.

[tsalter]

I don't think that your vision is out of the scope of reality nor your enthusiasm. But I just thought that we should play to everyones strengths as a lecturer.

If we are going to do a reef 101 lesson we should definately get the word out and have an RSVP. Because just putting up a sign doesn't guarentee any numbers. I really think it is a great idea. It would also be cool if we could have a lecture at a local store but then we have to do it at all of them and that would be a pain.
Lets definately give this more thought.


T

I dunno

[Waterbury Guy]

I'm not anticipating going SPS, but always willing to listen.

[Brad A.]

I wonder if we could put up signs at Milton Mini Reef and Pet Advant to advertise a reef 101 seminar?

I'd rather talk about keeping acros, but I'm willing to help out with reef 101 (maybe tag team with another club member).


Brad

[tsalter]

Yeah We could totaly put up signs. Where do you think would be a good location? At UVM parking becomes an issue but not undoable. I dunno maybe someone has more ideas?

[Brad A.]

Maybe someones house would be nice unless there are alot of people. I hate to pay money for renting a place out until the club gets much bigger and we have club dues etc..

[Brad A.]

Like my new occupation?

on my avatar

[tsalter]

Saw that,

T

[tsalter]

Oh just saw the top part make sense now

T

[tsalter]

How did you change the top? Did you have to donate to RC?

T

[Brad A.]

No, you just change it. Its part of the profile.

[mogulski]

i noticed that as well. cool.
about having it at a members house, how many are we talking here twenty tops? cant we do that at pretty much anyone's house.
lets wait and see how much interest is generated before we worry about where we are going to host this "grand" meeting

[SHOmuchFUN]

I have access to the lecture halls at UVM. We can go to Lafayette. The hold 100+ people. If we get more than that, than I'll PAY for the lecture hall myself :lol: These rooms have large projector screens that we can hook a laptop up to and give powerpoint presentations. They have many swivel chairs with tabletops, a front desk, the sky's the limit.

The "where" is not the hard part. It's the who, what, and when.

We could use my flyer design to advertise the class... Remember?
We'll just change the content to reflect the event. I think it's a good idea to put them at ALL the reef stores. I'd be reluctant to give them to Gary though, because I think he would have the tendency to critique each member's knowledge and come up with his own schema. But I haven't been in that store in forever... So I dunno, it may have changed?

[Tom Berry]

Keeping Acros 101

Step 1: Spend more money.

Step 2: see above :D

Tom:fish2:

[Brad A.]

[i]I'd be reluctant to give them to Gary though, because I think he would have the tendency to critique each member's knowledge and come up with his own schema. But I haven't been in that store in forever... So I dunno, it may have changed? [/B]

Forget green mountain Aquarium. That guy makes my blood pressure rise just seeing him. His reef keeping philosphy involves using lots of marc weiss products which is a horrible mistake.

[SHOmuchFUN]

Yeah, it was just a thought...
I don't know what kind of customer base he has anyway. He lost me the day he sold me a gonioporra and told me it would be PERFECT in my system. Regardless, I haven't made another uninformed decision about my livestock since. Gary taught me all I need to know about trusting folks at the LFS.

Sad isn't it?

[Brad A.]

Yup, I agree. How he stays in business is beyond my understanding.

One time I offered him less $$ for a coral he had in the store for several months. It wasnt that great, I was just interested in it. He literally yelled at me for offering. (raised his voice at me).

I've never been back since and have never recommended his store to anyone.

[SHOmuchFUN]

Well, let's do it then... I've got the flyer practically made.
Come up with a lesson plan and start making some powerpoint slides. Like I said, I've got the location and flyer taken care of. We can start spreading the word.

If you all want to drop by my place sometime during the day this weekend, or a Monday/Wed/Fri night, we can do that too. It just can't interrupt my Red Sox world series time ;)

[Brad A.]

I have an LCD projector (Although I'm stingy about loaning it out cuz its mega-expensive).

Anyhow, I'll be free in March. I have the whole month off!

Brad

[tsalter]

I believe I have access to a projector too and a laptop.

T

[SHOmuchFUN]

All of the conference rooms in lafayette come equipped with all necessary equipment. Everything is digital, LCD projectors, LCD overhead projectors, internet connections, and even the computer needed to run them. All you need is a disk with the powerpoint on them.

[tsalter]

Originally posted by mogulski
i noticed that as well. cool.
about having it at a members house, how many are we talking here twenty tops? cant we do that at pretty much anyone's house.
lets wait and see how much interest is generated before we worry about where we are going to host this "grand" meeting

[i]At UVM parking becomes an issue but not undoable

Erik,

I think we understand that layfette is set up for projection. That is great, but I am just looking at other options as well. It doesn't mean that we won't use layfette. It makes sense for a reef 101 meeting where we would have lots of people we don't know. But I think the gist of what people are saying is that they like to have meetings around peoples tanks and don't want to migrate yet towards a formal conference room meeting setup. Which is fine as well.

I really think we are talking about two meetings here one for brad to give a talk on SPS at a members house and one for the general public at UVM or some other public location (layfette being the best option).

Tom

[SHOmuchFUN]

Oh, sorry...

[tsalter]

So to move foward with this,

SPS talk from Brad, possibly march? or earlier? at a club members house.

Reef 101 from erik and/or ? at lafayette. When?

Need to put flyers at local stores and gather supplies etc

Does this make sense?

T

[SHOmuchFUN]

Yeah, that's fine with me...
I still think we should distribute flyers for Brad's presentation as well as the reef 101. I think we may get surprised at the interest when people at the LFS start dropping our names.

I'd rather not do anything by myself though, I think the majority of us could get together and give some info on a particular subject.

Here's the flyer again:

[fishfarmer]

SHOmuchFUN,

Could you add the link to nolo's webpage onto the flyer as well?

I talked with Malynda down at Green Mountain Tropical Fish in Rutland tonight. She said she would like to have flyers regarding our club and future meetings. She says she knows many people who would be interested in going to a meeting. My thoughs would be use the current flyer and update it when we know the specifics of meeting dates.

I would like to print off a copy of the current flyer just so she could post it down there. Does anyone object to that?

Al

PS. I dropped Brads name as the current acro guru, I hope trashman approves;) .

[Brad A.]

[i]


PS. I dropped Brads name as the current acro guru, I hope trashman approves;) . [/B]


Maybe someday when I grow up I can be a doctor and put aside collecting trash.

March would be great. I'll make a Power point presentation and a handout, with pictures etc.. (maybe color).

Like my new "I support RC logo" ?

If we have <10 people, we can meet at my place. That way I can use my reef as an example to help explain things.

[tsalter]

So do we go with the layfayette meeting on basic reef setup in early Dec? what day? Is this even a good time? Then we could plug brads speech? Later in March. if we get more than 15-20 sps keepers signed up then we have to move brads speech to layfayette?

We would also have to narrow down presenters for reef 101

Brad there are alot of very successful trash collectors out there! Don't give up hope, but they usually have italian last names and make offers that people cant refuse.

t

[mogulski]

not to go off topic, but Al the next time your in Rutland stop by. i'm like 5 mins from greem mountain tropical

sorry, back to our discussion.

[SHOmuchFUN]

Yeah, I think this is a great idea and will hopefully bring some new faces into our club.

I think Tom has the right idea. We can put signup sheets at the flyer locations so we can get an idea for how many people to expect. December works for me, wouldn't take long to throw something together. I'd be willing to do some presenting on REEF101.

Maybe we could get a fish store to donate some things as props, like a piece of live rock, a bag of live sand, a reef bone, some supplements, a skimmer, etc. and we could set something up temporarily. I've got my 20H and some stuff left in it. I think we should get together and make a gameplan sometime early Nov.

What's with all the avatar mutilation? :lol:

[Waterbury Guy]

Last time I spoke to Jason at AquaC (a few weeks ago), he mentioned donating a skimmer to our group. Perhaps we need an actual president though prior to soliciting vendors.

[SHOmuchFUN]

Originally posted by Waterbury Guy
Perhaps we need an actual president though prior to soliciting vendors.

This perhaps may be another thread altogether... Although I like Drew and everything he has done to help me out, I don't know that his participation or motivation has been that of a leading president. I could be wrong and maybe he just needs a fire lit under himself :furious:

[Brad A.]

Lets talk to Drew and ask him what he would like to do as far as being president etc..


Raffling products off at reef meetings is a great idea. Cutting up large corals is another favorite.

Brad

[SHOmuchFUN]

Okay... Let's set up an agenda.

1. Talk to drew about his presidency and let him know that he is facing impeachment if he doesn't want to lend anymore time to the club ;)

2. Set a time for REEF101 so that we can print out these flyers and distribute them ASAP.

3. Maybe we can get NOLO to post a dedicated informational web page that has a link which is included in our flyer. This page can be where we can write a synopsis about what REEF101 is going to cover, who the desired audience is, who's giving the talks, and what is included... The web-page doesn't have to be anything fancy, but just a plain ol' HTML page with a clean URL and a write-up of our class agenda.

4. Have a solid meeting soon, at a time where we can ALL meet... No compromises this time. We should all have input.

I'll be in the area tomorrow (Friday) to pick up my yellow tort from Tom B. (hopefully he hasn't fragged the heck out of it already) ;-) I'll stop by the disadvantage and talk to Drew if he's working. I say we shoot for a weekend in December.

[tsalter]

I am not so much for a president as a board of directors if that makes sense? I think that it is a lot to ask of one person with all of our schedules to lead up this group and I like working on consensus much better. We all get busy and each of us are committed to the club but making one person a president and having some sort of control over others or the club is destined to set up a pecking order and others thinking they are not pulling their weight. I think that this thread is an example of how we can all work together with input from everyone to get stuff done. I think we can all meet discuss what we want to do and then put the best or most willing people to whatever task that needs to be done.

Does this make sense?

[SHOmuchFUN]

Couldn't agree more... I was kinda hoping it would be this way from the beginning. I understand the whole president idea, but am more fond of the "board" approach. We all get a say in this instance.

[Brad A.]

board or "council" I like council. We should have a treasuer and maybe a secretary.

[tsalter]

bob is the "current" treasurer and i am the "current" secretary but I don't really understand what my tasks are except web stuff but nolo took care of that. I think teasurer is important when we start collecting dues and as for me I dunno I am pretty useless without a direction

T

[Brad A.]

I was talking to Bruce at Milton Mini-reef (MMR) about posting flyers for the club meetings. He seems excited to help out. He also offered to let us use his store as a meeting place. I told him I would bring it up with the club.

I think its a good idea to have a meeting at MMR as they have a lot of room. (we would need to bring our own chair tho).

If Tyler at Pet Advant offers to allow us to meet at his store, then, we could meet there as well. I want to be fair, but Tyler has to offer.

What do you guys think about Bruce's offer to meet at MMR?

[Brad A.]

Double post.

[SHOmuchFUN]

I dunno...
I think it'd be better if Bruce saw our tanks. I'm not exactly sure what MMR has to offer us as a club for a meeting other than a large space with no chairs? I think it'd be good for the local retailers to see the tanks that their customers have made from their "goods".

Sadly, I think that Bruce, Brian, Trudy, Drew, Jason, Gary, et al would all learn something from seeing our tanks.

[Brad A.]

Originally posted by SHOmuchFUN
I dunno...
I think it'd be better if Bruce saw our tanks. I'm not exactly sure what MMR has to offer us as a club for a meeting other than a large space with no chairs? I think it'd be good for the local retailers to see the tanks that their customers have made from their "goods".

Sadly, I think that Bruce, Brian, Trudy, Drew, Jason, Gary, et al would all learn something from seeing our tanks.

Large space and no chairs is what I was thinking about.

I dont care where we meet.