I guess my hypothetical question is, why hasn't the CAS opened itself to the SW community before? It's not like SW is a recent phenomenon.
Personally I see an affiliation is a good thing, but I think our mandates are separate enough to warrant a distinct grouping.
If I could use the horticultural/plant geek world as an example .. in Calgary there is the Calgary Horticultural Society and the Foothills Orchid Society. The orchid growers belong to F.O.S. and maybe as well as the C.H.S., but not necessarily both; yet the two groups do recognize each other and I think technically the F.O.S. is considered underneath the C.H.S. "umbrella" but then the F.O.S. is also an affiliate member society of the American Orchid Society whereas the C.H.S. is not. If I'm not making any sense let me try to synopsize as that the "dotted line affiliations" are different.
I see a SW and SW/reef group as a good thing and has long been a dream of mine (and others on this board) to one day start the process going. In this I envision something similar to the paternal relationship of the hort societies in that this new group would see the umbrella of the C.A.S. yet also have that dotted line affilation to MASNA.
However with that said, Monza has a point. Right now we have the benefits of an informal society but without the requisite overhead of membership dues, a collection of bylaws, an elected directorship, and so on. We have meetings (somewhat irregularly but we could change that) we have frag swaps, collective arrangements of help when needed, information sharing, and technically I see no reason why we couldn't have guest speakers if that's what we really wanted (except that bringing in someone from outside the area costs money).
Anyhow back to my original musing, I think if CAS truly had an interest in SW they would have opened their doors to the idea long ago; but they haven't. But perhaps it goes back to the fact that the hobbies are distinct enough to warrant two distinct societies (I can't beleive it but I sound like a Quebec separatist here ...
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Just my thoughts ... I do one day see a formal association and affiliation but am not sure if the time is right to push it ahead just yet.