L.I.R.A. Meetings at Dowling

[acropora]

The topic of moving back to the dance studio has come up and I would like to address it here for new and old members who are not familiar with the location. I am a newly elected board member and although I have been a club member from the start, I was not fully aware of the situarion as well.
Les ,owner of Fishy Inc, a LFS had provided a dance studio , for our meetings. The studio was a good sized location and Les was a gracious host. At our meetings ,as we do now, members auction Frags, trade and sell frags , and sell Aquarium supplies as well. Some are personal and some are business sales offered at discounts to our members.
This course of action had become a highlight for all at our meetings . Our monthly meetings provided a meeting place where members from far reaches of Suffolk, Nassau and N.Y.C. could meet to make these exchanges. It also provided an important revenue for our club. Currently the club receives much needed funds from the frag auctions and Dry good auctions. The frags are provided free of charge by Atlantis, local vendors and other members. Dry goods are donated by Aquarium businesses for auction with revenue going completely to our club. It is no surprise that these events would hamper the sales of any LFS that supplied a hall for us.
As a result the we decided to move to a location that had no restrictions on the format of our meetings. We had been offered a very large and prestigious venue at Dowling College which we had moved to and hold our current meetings. However this large hall has become less and less available to us and we were relegated to the smaller Lion's Den hall. Although this location is rent free for the club, we would like to locate a large hall for our ever increasing membership. We are looking for a suitable sized and reasonably priced location that would be equitable for travel by all and it ideally be in Suffolk County, closer to the Nassau border line. We plan to be able to hold meetings on Saturdays and Fridays as well, to make it easier for all to attend.This new location will require rental fees, but it will allow us to exist independently.
If you have a location that fits the above criteria, please let me know via E mail. Currently we have a tentative agreement with Dowling until the end of 2007, and our meetings will be held there until further notice.

[cb747]

Thanks for the explanation Tony. Now the move makes some sense.

[LCGoldman]

Originally posted by eboonaman
the private form is no more.. there was a problem with the hosting service and since no one ever posts on it It was not worth the effort to reconstruct the private form from scratch . So since everyone posts and read RC we are (for the moment ) using that for our forum. Being that , unfortunatly the only info you will find on the L.I.R.A home( and only) page will speakers and meeting times .. (we will also post this info on RC, which will be the most current info. you will find).
In order to change the website we would have to change our domain name which is owned by a former member (who we are trying to get in touch with) since no one actually posts on the LIRA forum, this is the next best thing until we can straighten out the domain name and find a better hosting service.
I posted this before but it was not made a "sticky" and got lost on RC...
sorry...............
chuck

There are other alternatives

[Corpus Callosum]

I also thought most people knew the reasons listed above for the change.. but I guess not.

Also I really don't understand people commenting that they made meetings at the dance studio but couldn't make the meetings at dowling, when it's only about 5-10 minutes away from the old spot. But I'm sure they have their 'reasons' as well.

[Justjoe]

Originally posted by Neurotech
What about AMW? I would imagine this has been explored before. We have the biggest reef tank in the America's within our club's area. How much would it cost for three hours a month? Volunteers could set up. I would be willing to meet on weeknights there if that made it affordable. I think we would get a good turnout, and I bet AMW would get more members as well.

Atlantis was offered to the club from day one, but it was deemed too far east for most. It has been offered all along, but again too far east for most. We do offer up family fun day at AMW, etc but for monthly meetings... just too far away.
Joe

[pyro383]

Just so everyone knows, the board has been exchanging emails on this subject back in early January due to our displeasure of the Den at Dowling. We had been assured of the larger hall for the majority of our mtg dates so the idea of moving was dropped after tossing it around during NERAC III planning. Since the latest event, the board has been emailing each other constantly (maybe more than NERAC) and we are having a board mtg tonight on this issue.

[diverrad]

Originally posted by Corpus Callosum
I also thought most people knew the reasons listed above for the change.. but I guess not.

Also I really don't understand people commenting that they made meetings at the dance studio but couldn't make the meetings at dowling, when it's only about 5-10 minutes away from the old spot. But I'm sure they have their 'reasons' as well.

Not sure about the rest but for me the problem was the change to fridays and not so much the place.

[dickenscd]

One of the major fun or draw to the club meeting is trade, sell and auction of fish, corals and supplies; club also needs to generate the revenue from the above activities to support other programs which are unlikely covered by membership fee only.

Tony, do you mean that Les did not allow the above activities in his meeting place? I will be surprised if the answer is “Yes”.

[acropora]

Initially our club did all of the above at the Dance studio. As time went by trades and sales became more popular with the members. There did come a time where Les , and I can understand, was dissatisfied with how the table sales and trades effected his business. A larger venue at Dowling became available with no outside guidelines, and the move was made. The split was amicable and we are thankful for the time we had spent there.
Tony

[DgenR8]

Originally posted by acropora
Initially our club did all of the above at the Dance studio. As time went by trades and sales became more popular with the members. There did come a time where Les , and I can understand, was dissatisfied with how the table sales and trades effected his business. A larger venue at Dowling became available with no outside guidelines, and the move was made. The split was amicable and we are thankful for the time we had spent there.
Tony

Understood, but that was then, and this is now. Let's go forward.

The club has accepted (at least it appears that way from this thread) that there will be a cost for a meeting place. If Les is compensated for the studio, rather than giving it to the club for free, then the sales at the meeting become much more a moot point. If not moot, at least easier to negotiate.

Can you tell that I'd really like to see meetings go back to Les' place?

Really, if the club is going to pay for a place to meet, why not give that to the guy that gave a place, on the arm, for such a long time when the club was starting out??

[onegreenray]

ditto
well put larry

[dickenscd]

We can pay Les a rent, but I don't think we should compromise for any restriction on the club's activities.

Club should have the freedom to decide what the best is to its members.

[fishome25]

rent for meetings.... It seems like the main focus of LIRA meeting is to get money into LIRAs account to pay expenses.... frag taxes, fundraisers, ect. Of course there are going to be expenses, but I think this one could be avoided.

Of course I'm not going to speek for Les. But I'd have to assume he was getting more sales from LIRA meeting by his shop whether there were sales at the meeting or not. Now that we don't meet there he has NO chance of after meeting sales.

I'm not saying we should try and grab the studio again, I do think all options should be evaluated. I think it goes with out saying the benefits of not paying rent.

As with Konrad, the day switch was when I found it harder to make.

[diverrad]

Originally posted by acropora
Initially our club did all of the above at the Dance studio. As time went by trades and sales became more popular with the members. There did come a time where Les , and I can understand, was dissatisfied with how the table sales and trades effected his business. A larger venue at Dowling became available with no outside guidelines, and the move was made. The split was amicable and we are thankful for the time we had spent there.
Tony

Perhaps then we can limit the sales to non commecial memebrs This will be a good compromise no?

[Neurotech]

Then we get into the whole issue of who is commercial and who is not, which can be a fine line in a developing hobby like this. I would think that the competition from non-commercial fraggers can only help to improve the prices from those involved more commercially, and benefit the club members overall. The more and better deals available to club members, the better the membership and meeting attendance. That may prove problematic to a commercial member, but that is the natural effect of having a club where people help each other out and have the purchasing power to obtain lower prices. I also believe that the more members in the club, the bigger the hobby gets and the more all vendors will ultimately benefit. As a club, do we turn away opportunities that will benefit members and the hobby? My purchases have been from fellow members as well as commercial members and LFS's. For different reasons, I value each of those avenues, and I think that each can respect the rights of the consumer to choose without setting trade limits. If they can't, I don't think we should let that affect our decisions as a club. Just my 2 cents.

[DgenR8]

Originally posted by DgenR8

If Les is compensated for the studio, rather than giving it to the club for free, then the sales at the meeting become much more a moot point. If not moot, at least easier to negotiate.

I didn't mean to put words in anyone's mouth there. Looking at it, it appears that I feel selling at the meetings is a problem to be negotiated. I think just the opposite. My feeling is that if the club pays rent for a hall to have meetings in, that's a business relationship. The Landlord (who ever that is) can expect us to respect his property, and neighbors, but what is sold, and by whom (presuming "reefer" in this case means person who reefs), is not something for him to question.

[4winds]

I think I can clear this up for everyone, once and for all. First of all the problem wasn't that members were selling frags and merchandise but that the club was not benefiting from these sales. It was just a flea market with no or minimal monetary return to the club. Before this could be discussed reasonably the club decided to move the meeting elsewhere.
The inference was left to club members that I was trying to dictate how the club ran it's meetings, not so. Thanks to those of you who know me and know that this was not the case. On the contrary I always felt that it was a conflict of interest for me to bring any of my merchandise to LIRA meetings since we were providing the venue for those meetings.
So to make it easy for everyone involved, , the studio is no longer available to LIRA.

[Neurotech]

That about says it.

[Corpus Callosum]

Thanks for clearing that up Les

[cb747]

Thats interesting. Thank you Les for all you did!
My thoughts on rent are along the lines of Toms. If were paying rent somewhere then that takes away from other things. I guess the best bet would be a place for free for non profit organizations or something along those lines. Someone mentioned Farmingdale i think. Is it posible to maybe be able to use Farmingdale Universitys campus and hopefully not end up in the situation Dowling has left us in? Just my thoughts.

[DgenR8]

Looks like I don't have a dog in this fight anymore.
Carry on.

[Neurotech]

On a related topic, I do feel that "the club" benefits from a "flea market" approach to sales, without taking a commission, in that that is one of the biggest draws for membership, the opportunity to exchange and increase your livestock. So while the club does not directly benefit monetarily, it does in that the members (which really are the club) do. Adding a selling fee artificially raises the price, and brings it closer to what is obtained outside the club, like a LFS's overhead. I still think (here's an old idea) that the club should raise money by its members all raising a certain kind of coral and selling it. Like a LIRA Green Toadstool (LGT) or something. I would do that if I had but a frag of it. And when I upgrade my lights, I could dedicate a tank to LGT propagation. Would the donations be tax deductible?

[billsreef]

Originally posted by Neurotech
Adding a selling fee artificially raises the price

I've never seen the mere $10 fee as a reason to raise prices from what I would have sold anything at without it. I just look at like a donation to the club, just like donating frags to the auction

[Spracklcat]

WRT the "table fee", or whatever you'd like to call it, I think it is important, and I'm glad that Bill, as someone who often has a lot of good things to sell, agrees. NERAC is our only fundraising event during the year. Everyone likes to see top notch speakers come in, but that costs $$, sometimes a lot.

Some speakers will come, be willing to stay at someone's home, don't get paid anything, and just get their transportation reimbursed. Other speakers may need to stay at hotels, ask for an honorarium or some other form of payment, get meals etc paid for...it can get pricey, esp if the person is coming from a great distance. Think about what it would cost you to go away for a weekend, and that's what it could cost per speaker. That $$ has to come from somewhere...and in the face of airline tickets and hotels $10 doesn't seem like even a drop in the bucket.

For me, I'd be happy to pony up the $10 or more to get a decent speaker that we haven't had before.

[dnsheavy]

Well said, Christine.

I have sold items before, and it is my pleasure to give $10.00 to our club.


--Dave--