Good news for the NJ Reefers Club!

[Aquariust]

You guys are never gonna believe this:)

I have been speaking with Robert Fenner over the last few months. He's willing to speak for us!

It probaly won't be for a month or two, but I will be discussing it with him further, as he often visits the phila/NJ area.

If your not familar with him, he wrote:

The Concientious Marine Aquariust

I'm also speaking with Scott Michael and we'll see what he says. I'm also asking him if we can use his picture that Steve Bahrhoops made.

I'll keep ya's posted:)

[bahrhoops]

Woah !
that's double-y good news- I have that particular Fenner's book annd it's swell reading, and Micheal's pics and collumns are in the top hobbyists magazines and books available.
Good job John !

[jimroth]

That's great! He was one of my favorite speakers at MACNA. Very entertaining.:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[katspaw]

Hey John,

That is great. I would love to meet him in person. I have used his book for evertime I go in search of a fish list.:D It is the first book I tell a newbie to buy and read.

Tracey

[Rovert]

Cool! Given that we'd probably have a REAL good turnout, maybe we should think toward having it somewhere that is large enough to hold a lot of people, and also has a screen and other services? Maybe some sort of small conference room at a hotel, or something?

[katspaw]

That sounds like a good idea. Only one thing>>> Who is going to pay for a hall or hotel?? It isn't like the club has money to spend. It could be that we request a fee from anyone who wants to come, but then again, What if they don't show up or worse we can't get enough people to pay for the place. I do have a 7,000 sq ft shop. It not a hall or a nice hotel, but it is free and this could be done on a sunday when the business is closed. I would be able to fit more than enough people into it I am sure. Just thinking economically here. :) Now if anyone else has a better idea, Please let us know. And we have to think about promoting it as well. Let the word out as it what is going to happen and get people to want to come. It would be better for the club if we could do something like this in the spring time also. Traveling is difficult if there is a chance of snow, and therefore less people will show up. Just bringing some thoughts out in the open as it where.

Tracey

[ATLANTIS]

I would also like to add a word of caution to the concept of speakers.... As I stated in the "What do you want out of this club" thread...



Speakers are a great idea, but they cost money. Airline tickets and Hotels add up quick

When we tried to get NYCAS going, we had Craig Bingman speak. He lives in NY so it did not cost us anything. 5 people showed up We then had Bob Stark from ESV speak... 6 people showed


It was a bit embarrising to have these folks talking to a practically empty room (hell, I didn't even make it :) )

As Tracey points out, if we do proceed with this, advertisment will be very important. If we can get some of the LFS's to allow us to put up posters promoting the event (bahrhoops and I got some up for the meeting at his home) we may also expand the club membership.

I think we have a core group of at most 10 people. With a few extra folks who have attended a meeting or 2. But I think we need to concentrate on expanding the membership, and getting a regular attendance before getting speakers.

If Bob or Scott don't mind speaking to such a small group, in a private residence (or biz) for free.... then .....

[Rovert]

Well, I do have a few thoughts on how to ensure we could make the cost of a conference room work, but only if the members are open to contributing toward making that happen. If that concept doesn't fly, then there's no sense discussing it.

[Rovert]

Y'know... as I think about it, we really don't have enough people in our group to make renting a conference room work out financially. Does anyone work in an office building that has a conference room available?

Brian, years ago, the NJ OS/2 User's Group used to meet at Prudential. Any chance we could get an OK over at your place? Many companies gladly host social clubs as a courtesy to the community. Well, before 9/11, that is.

[katspaw]

Well,
As stated above, my shop is still available, be it on a Sunday only. The office isn't like your average repair shop, By the way.:) I realize that Rovert you have never been to my place, so don't think that it is like your local mechanics office. I am sure that the people that have been here can agree with me on that. That would be one way of cutting cost. And as in Reefsplendor, I got a number of people to come. Although the weather prevented many from showing up. I had at least fifteen emails from people when I got back home with declines do to weather. and we had over twenty people show, so it wasn't as great as I planned but it was better than 5 or 6 people. And Brian is right. We have had an increase in membership since the Reefsplendor meeting. Mainly because we have people with NJ reef Club in their signatures. I can show you guys the emails of three new members stating as such. One guy I met in Abolutely Fish and just told him about the club's web site. I didn't tell him who I was. He has since emailed me for membership. All can't wait to come to the next meeting. At this point I have a membership list over 40 people. And this is just thru word of mouth, no true avertizing except the signatures. Image if we could put flyers into some LFS's. If the club stays small , sooner or later trading will not be an option, because we will all have a piece of everyone else's corals.

Tracey

[Rovert]

Tracey, that sounds cool. Yeah, I pictured a machine shop, where we'd all have to sit on milling machines and lathes. :eek: Where I'm concerned, it seems that Sunday seems to work pretty well for most of us. Will we need any sort of support equipment like a coffee maker, slide projector, screen, or whatever?

[katspaw]

Well I have a kitchen at the shop that is right off the customer waiting room. :D so coffee/ tea and sodas are not a problem. I have a coke machine right out the front door, That I own and therefore have the keys to. :) Being a business, I can not allow beer and acoholic beverages. I hope ya'll understand that. If anyone got into an accident after leaving my place with acohol in their system then I could be sued. Also have three bathrooms :D so no one should have to wait.

Tracey

[richw]

The key to doing this right is "confirmed" attendees -- that is people who pay up front. In these cases it is better to underestimate so that the people who do show don't have to foot an unexpected bill. I would be willing to pay in advance to spend some time with Bob. Love his book and columns and have sought his advice before.

[johnny]

Just wanted to give some experience/insight into this....

I was looking into having Ron Shimek speak at the opening of the RPI Aquarium (which was supposed to happen a long time ago, but hasn't yet). It is expensive and you'd have to charge the members quite a bit to have a speaker. Btw this is just hotel/plane costs I'm speaking about. So without a financial backing it is VERY difficult.

As far as rooms go, I have a few ideas but they are all based in NY (oh darn, guess i'll be able to come after all ;) hehe j/k). Tracey, didn't reef splendor have an upstairs which was empty? Maybe they'd be willing to host it again? IF you want to go even further north, to Troy NY, the RPI Aquarium Club can help you (i'm the president). We can rent out large lecture halls or the union (very large social gathering building) for free. The rooms all have speaker systems, tv projectors from VCRs, DVDs and computers. The one room has a movie theater size screen and seats well over 500 people.

I know it's kinda far though, but if you ever decide you would like to have a joint conference between your club, the rpi aquarium club, maybe even the brooklyn and NYC clubs... get in touch with me.

Nick

[Rovert]

Johnny, sounds like a good idea on the surface, but if we'd go to that effort, wouldn't it probably make more sense to hold some sort of fundraising event to get us to the next MACNA on a group trip rate?

[johnny]

I'm not sure I understand .... but I do like your idea as well :)

Nick

[Anthony Calfo]

Fellow aquarists,

My name is Anthony Calfo... I am a current board member and co-founder of PMASI (Pittsburgh). I noticed your thread on Bob's possible visit and though that we may be able to help a little.

Our club is bringing Bob in for a presentation on June 29th. If it is convenient for your club (open dates/desired presentation night, and the like) within a few days of the engagement... perhaps you would like to share the cost of transportation. Bob is so very gracious and accomodating that he would be sure to do it if his schedule allows. Like many empathetic speakers <smile>, he does such accomodations frequently (just this week he is in Cleveland on Thursday and Detroit on the weekend, I believe).

He's a great guy and a very educational/entertaining speaker not to be missed as many of you know.

Please feel free to contact us if you'd like to discuss it any further. And best of luck to you all.

With kind regards,

Anthony Calfo

anthonycalfo@readingtrees.com

[zenya]

Hi Tracey,
My name is Gene and I live in Jersey(central).
My qustion to you-how I can join your club?
Please e-mail me with info.
Thanks,Gene.

[volk23]

Gene, you just need to show up.

Looks like we got another russian... ;)

[zenya]

Hi Volk.
Nice to hear from a fellow russian.Just tell me where and I will show up as you've said.
Best regards,Gene.
P.S.I love timeweisting!!

[Aquariust]

our web site is www.njreefersclub.com and there's info there on membership. I am going to add a membership page to make our lives easier.

Welcome aboard!

[katspaw]

Hi Gene,
There is a little more to do than just show up if you don't mind. First join topica.com ( I believe this may be something that you have already done, but would need to be sure) Second, Please email me so that I can add you to our manual list. Unfortunately, it this computer age, we can never tell when a server may go down or crash. I prefer to have a manual back up of our members. I am sure that everyone here can understand that. When you email me please include your full name, area of NJ you live (ie..North, Central, South, Shore) An email address you use for personal business. I also like to know the reefsite you mostly frequent and user name. I will then add you into my list.

Tracey

[Aquariust]

where ya been Tracey?

[BORECKI]

I can get a room near DREW university campus at no cost on Sunday afternoons with parking for forty + cars, seating for 50, TV/VCR, overhead projector and Kitchenete for a possable Fener speaking.
Boris.