new ideas for club

[jon carman]

This is a book. Break it up into chapters and read at will. None of this is set in stone, just goals that we will be addressing. These are just result of hail Mary brainstorm session and are thoughts that need to be thought out.

Changes we are looking at for 2013:

1) have a free level of club membership. Premium level will still be $15 and will include selling in classified and a way better split at auction. After some discussion, there are several people out there that would participate, but they have one tank and don't see need to pay to be apart of something. By losing them we lose a potential buyer at auction, potential forum contributor, and free word of mouth advertising.

2) officer teams- it is true I want to give up president title for now. We don't need titles until we have a stable, growing club. With the last swap, it was not handled properly at all. And afterward finger pointing because it wasn't anyone's defined responsibility. Officers are setting for goals to accomplish. We came up with 4 for this year. Great swap/ auction, advertising campaign, budget appropriatly, and welcome and retain new members.

So I am not going to consider myself president nor will I consider Rick a board member. I will consider myself officer over goal and him officer over another. If you as a member want to help club, join officer over goal and help them reach it so they aren't doing it all by themself.

Another thought being already put in place is member boards. Alan has just started his metaframe project, so he has his own personal project board. I need other members to step up and as they do projects, large or small with aquariums, document progress for club and post. If we can all do 1 or 2 projects a year, it would be a pretty impressive library. From how to do a water change to how to build a fish room. Anything. If you are willing to help let me know and I will create you a board.

At auction we want to give sellers incentive to bring quality fish without feeling like they are just giving them away. It takes a lot of work to bag fish properly, and it is a normally loosing risk to bring a quality fish. I call it a double whammy. I can except and expect that a $50 fish may only bring $25. 50% loss, but when you add a 30% club take on that it is piling on in my opinion. The club can make more than enough with 10% off premium members. Maybe I am wrong, but we can start there and tweak. Regular members would be the normal 30% and guest may be determined later. Also hope Scott sticks around to help officer with auction to get BAP auction running strong.



I don't want to back Rick in a corner, but I think he would Excel at being the officer in charge of welcoming new members, birthdays, and retention. His fun polls keep conversation going as well. I want him to continue with leading the club, just we have to morph into a different role for a while. I see where he is upset. He probably sees change I am proposing as shredding the work he has done for two years. I am not, I am putting it in a safe place to be brought back at a later date when it fits the needs of a club with 75 to 100+ active members.

For advertising, I want to hit internet hard. Other forums and clubs, Craigslist, facebook, cichlid forum, and anywhere else we can think of.

Anyway, as officers select their goals, we will announce and ask for help.
Also plan to have monthly chats with all members that want to be apart at least once a month.

[vivienb]

Jon, did you type all of this or did you get an assistant? I am impressed Just picking on you because you are the only person I know who can text a 3 word sentence and cover all of the important words needed to answer a question! I know change can be unsettling at first, but sometimes it is necessary to meet the demands of people and help a club to grow. Brad and I are not official members so I feel hesitant to post things here. Not that we oppose to spend $15 to be a part of this great club, we have just been busy stocking our tanks and doing a few tank deals here and there to make a few bucks so we can get better equipment and buy more fish, etc. I think these are great ideas and will draw in more members! We will be seeing you soon

[signde]

this sounds more laid back and more reasonable giving the size of the club and participation level. all the politics lately have been a turn off for me.

[AlanM]

I think this will work for everyone involved. It de-complicates things and gives Rick some relief from trying to handle so much by himself.

[davidtcb1]

I too think it's a great jumpstart to getting this thing back on track and more inviting to new prospects. Pounding the internet is the way to go anymore when getting the word out there, so that's a must to me (i.e. I throw away two phone books/yellow pages every year that have never been opened). And like Alan said, not all responsibility will rest on one or two's shoulders.

[bnoel210]

This sounds like a great start. Cant wait to help with whatever I can

[paddysdaddy]

I've been asked for an opinion, so here's the condensed version.
1. Most clubs fail due to internal politics and personality differences. Rarely is it an outside influence, insolvency or legal problems. I hope the MCAA doesn't join the huge list of failed fish clubs-local, specialty, national and international.
2. Robert's Rules of Order may seem a bit formal for informal gatherings such as fish fans. I can tell you with decades of experience that any time a passionate group of passionate people discuss, trade within or plan their passion, those "rules" are a damned good thing and are used often. Without them AND a formal hierarchy; pandemonium, egos and hurt feeling will prevail in the incredibly brief time the club lasts.
3. I was not surprised to see the MCAA appeared to be comprised of a 3-6 person core that did it all. Most clubs are like this, however, calls for help are quickly answered in successful clubs and people MUST be vocal about what they want and must immediately offer to handle the proposed change, event or research. Step up or shut up.
That's it. I ABHOR politics, have seen egos and politics ruin most fish clubs-including national ones-and believe anyone that has their eyes open can see one or more national club dying right now. My new attitude is that if denial or politics or egos or personalities or collusion kills a club-SO BE IT.

[jon carman]

Scott, or 3-6 people do change over a lot, and even then we still haven't killed ourselves. But we would like to take it to the next level. If we had 8-10 people step up, and then all outer fringe make swap I would call that success.

[paddysdaddy]

The Louisville Club has stepped up for the 2014 ACA convention! IMO, this is a HUGE win for those of us in the midwest, it will draw from the East Coast, the upper central US, Texas and FL. The Louisville club is fairly small by convention hosting standards but I bet it goes well, the last one there was in '92 or '93. I'd hope to see strong attendance, volunteering and support from the MCAA as it is geographically the third closest club to the Louisville Tropical Fish Fanciers. If you have not seen Rusty's fish house, that alone will justify the weekend trip and before any whining about cichlids is heard, his Koi ponds are as nice as his cichlid collection and his livebearers are spectacular. Rusty Wessell is one of the world's leading fish collectors in case you don't know
It's worth pointing out that the Louisville, Indy and Cinci clubs are all all-species clubs and not specifically cichlid clubs and the Louisville Koi club draws competitors even from outside the US for their shows.
Nashville has 220% of Louisville's population. Think about this, folks. Less than half Nashville's size and not one, but two thriving clubs that host national or international shows.

[AlanM]

Dec 11, 2012 12:24:59 GMT -6 paddysdaddy said:

The Louisville Club has stepped up for the 2014 ACA convention! IMO, this is a HUGE win for those of us in the midwest, it will draw from the East Coast, the upper central US, Texas and FL. The Louisville club is fairly small by convention hosting standards but I bet it goes well, the last one there was in '92 or '93. I'd hope to see strong attendance, volunteering and support from the MCAA as it is geographically the third closest club to the Louisville Tropical Fish Fanciers. If you have not seen Rusty's fish house, that alone will justify the weekend trip and before any whining about cichlids is heard, his Koi ponds are as nice as his cichlid collection and his livebearers are spectacular. Rusty is one of the world's leading fish collectors in case you don't know
It's worth pointing out that the Louisville, Indy and Cinci clubs are all all-species clubs and not specifically cichlid clubs and the Louisville Koi club draws competitors even from outside the US for their shows.
Nashville has 220% of Louisville's population. Think about this, folks. Less than half Nashville's size and not one, but two thriving clubs that host national or international shows.

That is good news. We surely need to plan to help with that as much as we can. It will be a good experience and a great opportunity for networking as well.

[kyangelsncorys]

This is a great thing to have happen here in our back door as the saying goes , I think we should all try to go and help -watch and learn so that in the future we know what it takes to put a show on . Im excited and will be there for sure with the good LORD willing.

[paddysdaddy]

The largest reptile show in the US, Repticon, will be in nashville Sept 28, 29. Whether a stack of flyers or an actual table, this would be a great place to raise awareness of the MCAA with some of the most serious and novice animal keepers in the area.

[jgentry]

I'm hoping to be able to get back involved in the hobby more next spring. If the officer group needs any help from me on anything just ask. I'll do whatever I can. I will definately attend the ACA this coming year and hope to have my fishroom up before then so I can buy way too many fish at the convention.

[rinat123]

I will consider myself officer over goal and him officer over another. If you as a member want to help club, join officer over goal and help them reach it so they aren't doing it all by themself.

[lawrence]

To love something more than life is to make life something more than it is.