what do you look for in a reef club?

[Crabby]

Hi, I edited my post on @MadReefer Reef Hobbyist thread.

Can we link our club/site there?
It is more exposure

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[Hallowhead]

Here is my input:

1. We need to re-visit the group buy requirements and what justifies a group buys. I have tried to set up several in the past and was shut down. Last night I was buying ROX .8 carbon from BRS on the sale and I wanted to post a quick group buy to see if anyone wanted to split 5 gallons. I choose not to know that It would be required to get upper approval and go to local sponsors first, thus ruining any chances of getting that 5 gallons split. I get we need to include sponsors for group buys sometimes, but there has to be some sort of tie we can cut to allow us to create group buys fast amongst members, it gets to the point in which I have several local reefers that I reach out to instead..

2. We are never going to be a R2R when it comes to the website and the input / activity level, but we should be maximizing the people that are here.

3. As I have mentioned, I will lend a hand in cutting the costs of this website to hopefully release some funds to hold more meets, engage in large coral group buys etc. I just need to know the information to do so. Maybe when we cut the overhead of the website, we can bring back POTM or some sort of monthly raffle in which we all log onto a team and raffle off one sick coral a month? or quarter? idk.

4. Meetings and small swaps need to come back. Do they need to be large coordinated efforts? I don't think so, I think we overcomplicate a lot of simple stuff. When I have frags for sale that I cut up, I have people coming in and out of my house left right, and center, it doesn't require beers/food; they're nice, but it just requires people lol. We should be setting up little swaps regardless of attendees, if they're local people will go, then we can have larger meets that are formal and much more setup less frequently maybe seasonally?

5. MOST IMPORTANT. REMOVE THE KETO GUMMY BULL CRAP SPAMMERS. Add a timer or whatever for your first post, or require some sort of captcha idk.

 

[Foxchase]

Here is my input:

1. We need to re-visit the group buy requirements and what justifies a group buys. I have tried to set up several in the past and was shut down. Last night I was buying ROX .8 carbon from BRS on the sale and I wanted to post a quick group buy to see if anyone wanted to split 5 gallons. I choose not to know that It would be required to get upper approval and go to local sponsors first, thus ruining any chances of getting that 5 gallons split. I get we need to include sponsors for group buys sometimes, but there has to be some sort of tie we can cut to allow us to create group buys fast amongst members, it gets to the point in which I have several local reefers that I reach out to instead..

2. We are never going to be a R2R when it comes to the website and the input / activity level, but we should be maximizing the people that are here.

3. As I have mentioned, I will lend a hand in cutting the costs of this website to hopefully release some funds to hold more meets, engage in large coral group buys etc. I just need to know the information to do so. Maybe when we cut the overhead of the website, we can bring back POTM or some sort of monthly raffle in which we all log onto a team and raffle off one sick coral a month? or quarter? idk.

4. Meetings and small swaps need to come back. Do they need to be large coordinated efforts? I don't think so, I think we overcomplicate a lot of simple stuff. When I have frags for sale that I cut up, I have people coming in and out of my house left right, and center, it doesn't require beers/food; they're nice, but it just requires people lol. We should be setting up little swaps regardless of attendees, if they're local people will go, then we can have larger meets that are formal and much more setup less frequently maybe seasonally?

5. MOST IMPORTANT. REMOVE THE KETO GUMMY BULL CRAP SPAMMERS. Add a timer or whatever for your first post, or require some sort of captcha idk.

I agree with you 100%. Specially on the group buys. It would be much easier if we could just post group buys and whoever is interested can join so we can save on shipping costs. (specially with the prices of everything now a days)

 

[ecam]

I agree with you 100%. Specially on the group buys. It would be much easier if we could just post group buys and whoever is interested can join so we can save on shipping costs. (specially with the prices of everything now a days)

501c3 regulations. We have to kind control the sell activity within in the forum. We are not to picky on approvals. But the board is personally liable here. So not To much wiggle room on this one guys

 

[NJTaxMan]

Bumping this back up. would hate to see a good thread die because it is no longer accessible through scrolling.

 

[mickeysreef <*))))<]

my HOA has a pavilion on barnegat Bay we can use. there is a porta-potty and electricity. not sure if this would work or not, possibly if the weather is right.

 

[DYIguy]

I became a member so I could get free/ cheap stuff- I didn't need info or advice because I got it from google and FB-hahahahaha. and I didn't see much as far as conversations etc going on- probably because I wasn't looking for it- one tends to see what they want

So I got free stuff- several tanks with stands/ hoods- and I gave several tanks with hoods away
Free corals, chaeto , and I gave some away too, live rock,
Cheap stuff- lights, corals/ frags

Trades, one always gets the better deal, but every trade is a good trade- so who cares

Then I found that local advice was better than what I was getting online- someone local, who I could follow up with a conversation and who shares their experiences- not a post and go like online

But for me, the best part is meeting fellow reefers and spending a few moments talking tanks, experiences- highs and lows ( I don't out much lol)

 

[Edwardw771]

I would love to see the meetings in homes come back again. We used to have a calendar set up for the year and alternated South, Central and North, threw in a holiday party at a restaurant and a frag swap that was at a public venue and everyone was happy.

The best thing about this club is the willingness to help. When I installed my 240 that I bought from a fellow reefer in the group, I had many people from the group come up and they not only helped me move the tank from one house to my house, I had members who came and helped me plumb the tank to my basement. And the advice on problems, not to mention the sharing of corals at reasonable prices or trades.

Also, when it was at someone's house, everyone jumped in and brought something, so it didn't all fall on the host/hostess.

I remember moving tanks at your house. And meetings too. Ah the good old days lol.

 

[Shawn2122]

It would be great if we could have the list of meetings/locations for the year so we could plan accordingly. People could sign up ahead of time to host and use Google forms to survey what things[frags etc.] people are bringing so we would know ahead of time. Sponsors might be easier to find if they had this info in advance. Just a thought...

 

[MadReefer]

It would be great if we could have the list of meetings/locations for the year so we could plan accordingly. People could sign up ahead of time to host and use Google forms to survey what things[frags etc.] people are bringing so we would know ahead of time. Sponsors might be easier to find if they had this info in advance. Just a thought...

We used to do that back in the day. Unfortunately, its difficult as people don't want to host or cannot commit that far in advance.
Only one meeting this year in March at my house.

 

[mnat]

Unless something has changed, getting board approval for group buy has nothing to do with 501c3 regulations. That was done because back in the day, people would harass store owners and websites about giving us discounts because they were connected to NJRC. It pissed off a lot of store owners and was made it impossible to control for the board and if the buys went south the BOD did not want to be involved. Two categories of group buy were created, BOD sponsored group buys and then member group buys that had to be approved so the BOD was at least aware that they were going on and were done in an appropriate manner.

@Hallowhead again unless something has changed, I have seen people put up to split shipping or try and hit a certain amount for small purchases. I think you would be ok with that but again I could be wrong. Unfortunately, I think the days of massive club based group buy are over. With MAP pricing, amazon, and other online retailers in the game, the discounts ain't what they used to be and getting stuff around the state with zero/minimal meetings makes it difficult. Also, driving around to go get things/deliver things probably eats up a lot of the discount. Maybe we need to do more with local stores and retailers, maybe that is the way forward.