Ideas that may make PSAS more appealing..

[Ed Hahn]

What do you think draws people to meetings besides the learning about the hobby?

 

[krisfal]

I would think the social aspect, being able to get together with people who talk the reef language.

 

[Ed Hahn]

I would think the social aspect, being able to get together with people who talk the reef language.

I have heard non stop how nice it would be to have meetings at peoples houses. The other clubs I have visited in past have that. They do pot lucks, have a hot topic to learn by, bring frags to trade, still do raffles to support clubs, then hope people come back.

Here are some of the topics I have witnessed in peoples houses.

acrylic shop with Bar Aquatics (spokane)
Two part additives group order...Club bought product at discounted rate, then mixed it and donated it to members (tri-cities)
difference in lighting in comparison VHO, Compacts, MH, T5.(spokane)
husbandtry, reef safe fishes (spokane).
mounting corals, fragging demo. (tri-cities)
coral compatibility Softies, LPS, SPS requirements (spokane)
Aquascaping
Auto Top offs by Brent Barr (spokane)
Equipment used for Calcium. requirements, chemistry (spokane)

You observe another set up and talk about what we like.

I wish you all would witness another meeting, be my guest to my house.
You call me if you want to do that. The club Bods in the past have organized meetings on dates so this could happen.

Spokane use to be first week end of month-Saturday, sometimes Friday
Tri-Cities usually is the second week end of month-Friday or Saturday
Seattle is usually the third week end of month- Saturday
Portland has their meetings on Sundays.


I ask you this. How many threads, personal messages have you witnessed that say, come to house, have a drink, lets talk reef, and relax?


I really want to bring that excitement back to this group.


We could ask those that want to trade frags to do so at meetings, that door has always been open.
I have witnessed people in the past giving away equipment at Meetings at BCC.
In the past there was a Vendors meeting at BCC where all vendors brought their equipment, with raffle.
I have witnessed people saying I have problems, can someone help me one on one? I look forward to seeing friends that share the same desire as I do to be successful.
I often look for someone that has a thriving reef and want to learn from them.

 

[krisfal]

I wish you all would witness another meeting, be my guest to my house.
You call me if you want to do that. The club Bods in the past have organized meetings on dates so this could happen.

As I was re-reading this post I had an idea. For our April pay it forward frag swap what if we invite other regional club members e.g. Portland, TriCities, Spokane? That might bring in some different frags than what we have locally and therefore may stir even more interest for this event locally. Also one of the BOD could talk about the origin of this event "Bob Moore".

I have thought about trying to do that event at my house, my only concern being I am quite a bit off the beaten path (Some reefers recently have showed up and said "Are we still in Washington?") But we can discuss that as we get closer to the time.

Just a thought I had so I thought I would throw it out there!

 

[krisfal]

So last night I was over at a long time member of the PSAS and was asked what I thought was going on, why all the contreversy?

I just said I really do not understand all the tension and that I feel like I was dropped in the middle of a mine field and a nest of hornets was thrown in for good measure.

Now I am alergic to bees and have an aversion to being blown up so I really do not know which way to turn. I want to make a difference here, but there is a lot about the history of this club I do not know as I have only, this month, been a member for a year.

So while I was talking to this person I tried to probe and see what their thoughts were on the club. The topic that kept coming up was that it seemed that the club quit being fun at some point and became about making money. It was stated that everytime somebody wanted to do something the answer was there was not enough money. When I look at the balance sheet Bob sent the other day it does not seem to jive with what I was being told, while I know we cannot just spend freely I think there is enough money (and more to come in with new members) that money should not always be the driving factor.

So i was trying to think of a way we could increase interest in attending meetings and get past this "its all about the money" perception.

So the idea I hit upon was to buy some $25.00 gift certificates to be given away as a door prize at meetings. One certificate for each meeting through June would be $225.00. This would be seperate from any raffle we had and would cost the member nothing, they will automatically be entered into the drawing for the door prize by showing up at the meeting (to be fair I think it should only be the person with the membership card that gets in the drawing, that way the member who brings along 3 kids and a wife doesn't have a better chance than the member who came solo).

I think we need to get real creative to change the attitudes that seem to be here. The membership will decline if it is not fun and current members along with our sponsors are likely our main sources for new members. So we need to bring back the fun!

I will find my way out of this minefield, while not getting stung, because I refuse to give up. I am going to be throwing as many ideas as I can come up with at you guys feel free to be honest with your feedback on whether you think they are good or not. I do not get offended when somebody says they think something will not work, rather I just look for new ideas or evolve the old idea into something that might be better.

 

[Ed Hahn]

Kris,
There was a previous treasurer that was very tight with money. That is good because we did not spend. That person had lots of good ideas and lots of experience.
That is why I am trying to be cheap with speakers. But unless they were in the BOD, they probably were guessing.

I believe the tension thing went away. No talk of election helps that. Election devides people at times. People are set in their ways.
This place should be fun and energetic like a book or movie that never ends everyone wants to visit. So if it takes gift certificates, a book from a well known author signed, piece of equipment, a subscription to a FAMA or TFH magazine, maybe we need to do it. We do need to give back to people. We need a attitude adjustment party.

 

[Eickhorn]

Kris & ED

Great ideas. Why only 25.00 for a certificate. I think we have the funds to make them 50.00. As for meetings at houses? Good if the house is large enough . My home is small and my cats would freak out,

 

[krisfal]

Kris,
There was a previous treasurer that was very tight with money. That is good because we did not spend. That person had lots of good ideas and lots of experience.
That is why I am trying to be cheap with speakers. But unless they were in the BOD, they probably were guessing.

I believe the tension thing went away. No talk of election helps that. Election devides people at times. People are set in their ways.
This place should be fun and energetic like a book or movie that never ends everyone wants to visit. So if it takes gift certificates, a book from a well known author signed, piece of equipment, a subscription to a FAMA or TFH magazine, maybe we need to do it. We do need to give back to people. We need a attitude adjustment party.

While I believe it is good to be frugal with the $$$ at the same time we collect the money to make the club function. The person I spoke with has made generous donations to the club and while I do not believe has actually been on the board, has close ties with past board members. I just wanted to throw this out there because real or not it is these types of feelings can drive members away. I think we should start doing quarterly treasurer reports and be right out front with what the BOD does. If we break down the wall so that there is no longer a "behind the scenes" there will be less chance for bad feelings I think.

 

[krisfal]

Kris & ED

Great ideas. Why only 25.00 for a certificate. I think we have the funds to make them 50.00. As for meetings at houses? Good if the house is large enough . My home is small and my cats would freak out,

So should we get a gift certificate for the upcoming meeting? If I were to choose I would say Barrier reef to start as they have really been trying to show their support recently. I think we should stick to $25 only so that it is sustainable long term. I would hate to start higher and then have to lower it because money gets tight.

 

[Vicki]

I think the gift certificates are worth a try and see if they get more of our members to the meetings.

I'd also venture to guess that any Sponsor that we tell about this will 'match' the amount on the gift certificate. ie...We buy a gift certificate in the amount of $25.00 and they either GIVE us another $25 gift certificate OR make it a $50 gift certificate. Again, this is just a guess but I know the Sponsors have done this in the past.

Vicki

 

[Ed Hahn]

Its easy to spend money. I would be frugal also. I have some GFO from Idaho (simillar to Rowaphos). We will have some of Randys product (reef nutrition foods). One gift certificate from a vendor at each meeting shows we support that vendor. We can rotate vendors. We want to be as fair as possible. When we buy the certificate tell the vendor we are doing it to introduce more people to his store or promote more business. If he wants to match it, it would be awesome. I would not ask them to match it. I would leave the option to them in good faith.

 

[trido]

I also think that the certificate idea is a good one. It will make every meeting a bit more exciting without cost to the members. I agree with Ed about not asking the sponsors to match it. Its tough times for them and If we as a club are promoting them without wanting back, it will only help strenghten our relationship with them.
What we need to do with our spending is find the balance and this is a good start. $50 IMO will be pushing the account. So far we have three speaker meetings and two possible tank tours. After paying BCC three times and renting some sort of large busses Im sure the account will be strained. Im not sure if a public quarterly is necessary but our actions as the BOD, and talking with friends can surely help change the tone of members mistrust and lack of understanding.

As for getting meetings into peoples homes. Its a great idea and alot more fun than anything at BCC. Granted, guest speakers are great for learning and they do get great reviews for the most part.
Im sure that as the club has grown, more people have been fearful of inviting a possible 40 members into their home. I know I was nervous, but after having done it. I would be willing to do it again.My wife is another story ther though. Johnathan said to me at the last meeting that he would also be happy to host another one. IM sure he will want another agenda format but thats fine. Maybe we can get him researching somethiing else.
Matt in puyallup is excited to host one. We asked him to, and he gladly accepted. Maybe we should ask who would be willing in the future if this is what we are looking for. Im sure the thought never occurs to members. For the most part, everyone likes to show off their tanks.

 

[Vicki]

I was not suggesting we ASK our Sponsors to match the gift certificate.

I do know in the past that they've done so.

Vicki

 

[Ed Hahn]

I was not suggesting we ASK our Sponsors to match the gift certificate.

I do know in the past that they've done so.

Vicki

That is where I am hoping that a bell goes off in their head knowing we are buying from them, If they feel comfortable they can do what they want.
We play the Pride game with them. We use good faith.
Lets rebuild that relationship.

We can see who follows. We do not have to say PSAS bought Gift certificate. But show gift certificate and say its one of our sponsors.
A part of people working together. We want to do one vendor a month if we start. We will need to keep track of where we bought certificates each month. We do not want to show any favortism. Beleive me Vendors challenge you on that. So do not get caught up in that game. We need to work together equally with all.

 

[ghazni]

We do not have to say PSAS bought Gift certificate. But show gift certificate and say its one of our sponsors.

I love this idea.

IMO, we should do a GC too.

Do you folks want me to pick it up?

Ghazni