How to start a reef club

[Rob Top]

The purpose of this thread is two fold. First is to solicit advice on starting a club, bounce my current ideas off everyone, and get more ideas. Secondly is to generate some local interest. While the Rockford IL area is quite large, it is lacking in several ways IMO. Like quality LFS, and an organized group of reefers.
So my ideas on organizing.
First is posts like this, to get more ideas and interest. Once I have a date set for the first meeting, posting that as well. Speaking to the 2 chain stores that sell salt stuff and seeing if they are willing to help me get the word out. I know a manager of one, personally and the other is a franchise and I the owner seems pretty good. There are also several shops 45min to an hour away that have several customers from the area. Getting them involved as well. How else can I get the word out? Once I have a group of people together collectivly decideing things like, do we charge dues, if so how much and what are the dues used for. Voting on who is in charge of the money, a group vision and goal. I was thinking that we should address this at the first meeting, but not make a decision until after a few meetings, once we have a chance to get to know one another better.
I see this group being able to achive a few things. First is sharing of ideas and experinces. Second is the formation of a co-op. I have spoken with a couple stores and larger suppliers that are more than willing to do group buy deals. Things like a 15% discount and no shipping on 2 pallets of salt, our choice of manufacture. Or OM gives group buy deals as a standard practice, you just need the people to do it. Then moving on to a selling co-op of proped corals. (topic of another thread for sure, but from the presentation Calfo gave at IMAC and the conversation I had with him this is a very exciting idea)

So who has ideas on how to get this off the ground? What do you love/hate about the club you belong to so that can be included/excluded from this one.

 

[SnowManSnow]

gonna tag along on this one... id love to start one in the area of alabama I'm in.

B

 

[Rob Top]

gonna tag along on this one... id love to start one in the area of alabama I'm in.

No free rides on this one SnowManSnow. Give me something. If you even had a fleeting idea of what a club would consist, of what would that be?

 

[Anonymous]

Check out other clubs and see what they do.

I am president of www.bareefers.org . It is a lot of work. I don't think clubs exist without people willing to do the work, and IME people willing to do the work are scarce, but that shouldn't scare you.

We can set you up with a club forum here on RDO if you like.

 

[liquid]

There's also an article about this in our Library:

http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog/c_hannon_and_d_gallagher_031801.html

And yep, we can definitely set you up w/ a club forum if you like.

Shane

 

[Rob Top]

BAR says some guy named Lefty is the pres, not Righty. Is this a case of split personalities?

Thanks for the link. You guys seems to have a 1st class act going there. I use to belong to a Chicago land club that seemed pretty big and did a lot of cool stuff. It's just hard to get out there now that I am an hour and a half away. They had lots of guest speakers, frag work shops, swap meets, field trips to behind the tanks tours of the Shed Aquarium and a lot more. It would be great to get that far, but like Bob says...Baby steps.

A forum would be outstanding! Do you think it is something to look at before we actually start up? I think it might help get people connected, but at the same time if this never takes off I would hate for you to go through the work for nothing. Of course I have no clue how hard it is to set up. Could just be a couple clicks awayfor all I know.

So you know since you have thrown your self out there once I get some people together I will be asking you a 1001 questions 8O

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah location is a big concern, heck BAR is covers quite a large area whole of SF bay area, there are other clubs that exist in the area as well SeaBAY which is mostly the south bay, MARS which is sacramento area (no where near the SF Bay though), CVR Central Valley Reefers, NVR Northern Valley Reefers. And I'm sure there are some other clubs but those are the closest. Obviously if you live 200 miles away you don't want to drive to a club meeting very often (especially with cost of gas!)

It is a lot of work, how much work depends upon what you want your club to do, if it starts small (handful of people) then there isn't as much work since you can have them at peoples houses etc, when you start getting larger numbers then logistics start to come into play you need some place to hold meetings for larger numbers (assuming they show up), if you start getting donations from others you typically need to have special status as a non-profit org. Etc.

 

[Anonymous]

Contact other clubs and check out www.MASNA.org

 

[Anonymous]

Lefty stopped posting for our sins...

 

[liquid]

if this never takes off I would hate for you to go through the work for nothing

Basically we'd need a Title for your forum and a Description. We normally also make one person from your club a forum Moderator for your club forum.

Shane

 

[Anonymous]

I was part of the start up for the Louisiance reef club. For us it was easy. Started with a couple of guys that liked to get together once every 4-6 weeks, have and few beers and talk fish tanks. I posted on here and RC asking for people in the area and it took off.

 

[Anonymous]

Snowman check out Atlanta Southeastern Marine Aquarium Society. We have monthly meetings with door prizes and such as well as we had a behind the scenes tour of the GA aquarium. Always looking for a few good reefers. lol that just sounded funny lol.

 

[bleedingthought]

I'm in the Atlanta area and wouldn't mind being part of a club. In fact, I really would like to do that. I still don't know any reefers except for the ones that are part of LFSs.

 

[Anonymous]

I posted a poster in a lfs who was willing to sponsor a club and also host meetings. I had it up for over 6 weeks. We decided on a club name Western Kentucky Area Reef Enthusists (WeKare) :lol: hoaky I know. Now we just need members. I've adopted by-laws and charter from http://www.masna.org/ for votage once we have some members.

 

[JennM]

I'm in the Atlanta area and wouldn't mind being part of a club. In fact, I really would like to do that. I still don't know any reefers except for the ones that are part of LFSs.

Check out www.atlantareefclub.org It's a large club now with lots of members. I'm no longer an active member but I founded the club, with the help of a few others, back in 2000.

I was looking for a club as I was new to the area. There had been a club locally but it had disbanded over what I've been told were political reasons. A couple of months after I started to inquire, someone I'd met locally who had belonged to the defunct club tossed out the idea of starting one up again. I volunteered to help him. As it happened, we arranged for the first meeting location (in a now-defunct LFS that I worked at at the time), and about 15 people showed up. The man who had introduced the idea wasn't able to attend, so I chaired the meeting. The second meeting was at the same LFS (where I worked) and some of the former members of the old club warned us it would all get too political and discouraged us from the idea altogheter. The initial "organizer" of the would-be club did attend the second meeting, but he never attended another. So I picked up the ball and ran with it.

After somebody at the club meeting, who also ran a garage-based fish biz, tried to sell his wares right under the nose of the LFS owner who was good enough to host us, that bridge was burned, and the club was no longer welcome to meet there. It's very gauche to trade frags in somebody's store (unless they invite the practice - some do, some don't - check first!), and it's also gauche for somebody to try to conduct their business in someone else's place of business, particularly when they are in direct competition. You might want to keep that in mind

The third meeting was at somebody's house, and there were 7 of us left after the previous debacle, all wondering if the negative sounding guy was right and we should just forget it, or should we carry on? Well we carried on. For the first 15 months or so the club was small, no dues or money to collect, I chaired the meetings, and it was the same handful of people doing the work.

Once I decided to open my own LFS business, I saw it as a conflict of interest to stay "in charge" of the group - lest it look like a store-related club and that would potentially interfere with establishing relationships with other local stores... so I stepped back and let the democratic process work. New board of directors was elected, I stayed involved but in a lesser capacity. Besides, I didn't have the spare time I used to either.

Eventually things got bigger, dues started to be charged, and things did get political. I left the club in 2003 because of this. After I quit, I got "banned" :lol: I didn't need the drama. At the end of that year a new board of directors was elected, things were smoothed over (many people made many apologies and mended many fences, but to this day some folks still hold a grudge :roll: ) I rejoined the club in 2005, and while I don't go to meetings anymore (no time), I did participate in last year's Saltwater U that was a big success. I have not rejoined this year... no real reason - no time to attend, and being a retailer I don't need the discount card that comes with the membership.

All this being said, and having been there, done that, here's my advice...

Start small. If it gets big, that's great, but as our club grew many people complained (and I still hear complaints to this day) that it's not personal anymore... it used to be a friendly group who all knew each other - now half the members don't know anybody - they join for a "discount card", not for fellowship. Many never attend meetings.. but the $20 dues will pay for itself in short order with sponsor store discounts, so many join for that reason, and that reason only.

Keep it about fellowship and sharing information. Once a club starts to think they can strongarm vendors, it gets ugly. When we were small, vendors approached us with product samples and such, and we accepted their generosity graciously. I've seen the pendulum swing the opposite way, however, with a club with it's hand out all the time, and that can alienate the vendors. Anything they are willing to give should be "enough". (This was one of the major issues that prompted me to leave, I was embarrassed by the way the club treated a vendor who'd been more than generous, and they still wanted more, and got angry when the request for more was respectfully declined).

Powerbuys and stuff are great - but don't make that type of thing the be-all and end-all of the club. If you do, the club won't have "heart"... it will be all about a "discount card". If that's your mandate, then disregard what I'm saying about this, but from your initial post, it sounds like you want to start a club like the one I started *was* like in the beginning.

There are merits to co-opping and group buying - don't get me wrong - that type of thing is good for the vendor as well as the consumer. I just found as a *hobbyist* it left a bad taste in my mouth when the focus was all about getting more, cheaper, than it was about sharing success and failure stories, helping less experienced hobbyists and such, which was the spirit in which the club was started. Mandates and priorities shifted, IMO.

It's a lot of work to get a club off the ground. We started as an informal gathering but as the club grew, certain things had to be implemented. After my tenure as club president, I helped the new board of directors incorporate and become a non-profit organization - lots of paperwork there. You also need a constitution and bylaws - we found a draft document on the MASNA site, and adopted that, then the membership proposed amendments, voted on them and passed them to modify that generic document to suit the club. Lots of that was long and boring, but some thoughtful members really came up with good wording for amendments, speakers for and against, etc. and I think the process worked as it should have, to clearly define the club's purposes.

Be prepared to do much of it yourself. You'll probably get a lot of attendees, but not very many who'll step up to the plate to help. This applies no matter what type of organization.. I've been in service clubs, scouting, and other organizations, and it's always 10% of the people doing 90% of the work. If you're up to it... I say go for it

I wish you luck in your endeavour.

Jenn

 

[SnowManSnow]

haha Jenn got banned!

b

 

[Anonymous]

Breakin the law

breakin the law

lol

ASMAS has no dues and no politics that I have heard so far in 8 months. All we talk is fish related issues and reefing stuff. There was some talk about getting a scuba trip together but haven't heard much of that lately. I really enjoy our club and we need new members. Our CEO/CFO/Chairman of the board/President/ you get the idea, just stepped down for a while so we are in transition to a new regime/dictatorship lol. It really is fun and I would hope that anyone in the Atlanta area ( I drive 2 hours for meetings) would give us a shot.

Ok club plug is over.

Thanks lol


ps Jenn your specials of the week page is Nov 2004.

 

[Anonymous]

I think the important question to ask over and over again for the life of the club is 'what is the club for', and try to stick to that. BAR is about propagation, although we slid away from that for a while. Now that we are again asking 'what is the club for' we have several new projects in the pipeline that could turn out to be really great.

Hobby clubs are notorious for having a few people do the bulk of the work and then suffering burn out. Watch out for it because it really isn't pleasant.

 

[Rob Top]

Thanks all for the advice. I have gotten a handful of people interested and plan for the 1st meeting to be July 1st. I have a lot of ideas as to where I want to see this go. But I don't want the "my" club thing to happen. this needs to be an "our" club. In my professinal life I have found that to be the best way to run a buisness. get everyones in put. So that's where I will start. I still have a ton of research to do though. I want to present those who are interested with as much information as I can find. Thanks and PLEASE keep the info and advice coming

 

[JennM]

ps Jenn your specials of the week page is Nov 2004.

Yes - I know. The other partner in the business, my ex-husband, is the "webmaster" (cough). His priorities no longer seem to be with the bidnezz... :roll: However, he clings to his shares.... likes to boast about being an "owner" but doesn't live up to the title. Crap happens.

I'm working on a remedy for that situation - the website, among other things - the website fell to the bottom of the to-do list.

As for ASMAS, I believe the originators of that group know of the "politics" of which I spoke. Perhaps that's why some felt another group was needed in this area? I don't know. I've never been involved with that group, so that's only my perception - I saw bits and pieces online when that group began, as an alternative to the other local club. Strangely though some of the charter memebers of the new club kept a foot in the other one too...

Brandon - Yeah I laughed too... "You can't fire me, I already quit!" I guess the BOD at the time felt it necessary to pee on it themselves. It was a sign of the times, and somebody felt they needed the 'last laugh'. I've still got the letter someplace, notifying me of my explusion and it even precluded my future membership :roll: Of course the expulsion letter is dated AFTER my open letter to the club, announcing my resignation... Of course I have another letter, written later, by the new BOD, expressing regret and welcoming me back. Ironically, most of the people that were involved in that unfortunate black eye to the club, are no longer active members, myself included. The BOD that followed, cleaned up a lot of the junk, thankfully, and seemed to have got the club back on track, but as I said, their mission statement appears to have changed from the initial intent of the club, which was fellowship - a group of people with a common interest, gathering to socialize and share information and frags, etc. The club forum mainly consists of items to buy/sell now instead of hobbyist questions. Such as it is I suppose - a club will evolve into whatever its membership wants it to be.

As I said, I didn't need more drama, so I did not jump back in with both feet. Bygones are bygones - I just didn't see a reason to get involved with it again. I spent a lot of time and my own money to help the club, and I just don't feel that it's a priority for me personally anymore, so I just keep my distance now. I wish the current club and its BOD well. I offered the same help for SWU2 that I gave last year, but my help wasn't needed this past year, so I wasn't involved in it this time. I didn't attend either - not because I didn't want to - I couldn't afford to. It was more expensive this year too. Nothing more, nothing less.

For the most part, my tenure with the club was a a good one. I learned a lot, made a lot of new friends and aquaintances, and yes, it was good for business in an indirect way.

Rob you have the right idea... run with it. I realize what I've posted may cast a negative light on clubs - that wasn't my intention - rather, just a "heads up" as to what *can* happen. I've been involved in several groups such as this, for a variety of purposes, and there have frequently been similar situations in other organizations - the old "absolute power" addage applies - so your "our club" thinking is good...

And Righty is right - few people doing most of the work - I expressed the same observation. Don't let your few good ones burn out. I think that might be why I just didn't get involved again, the drama aside, I didn't have the time to devote to it, and I know how it works - take on a small bit of work and it mushrooms, usually because few people step up to the plate. Don't burn yourself out either... while the work is important, I think it's also important to keep it in perspective... "It's ONLY a hobby club, it's ONLY a hobby club"... repeat that - and keep in mind that you're not out to achieve world peace... in the grand scheme of things some things aren't worth getting an ulcer for

Jenn