Calgary Aquarium Society

[Delphinus]

Agreed..

Seems we have grown to the point where a meet and greet in our house or apartment seems a little intimidating. Unfortunately though, the alternative is to find a hall or something which costs money and you don't get to see someone's tank. Makes me think that unless we got a vendor on board to host meetings the best alternative is still the "sort of monthly social" at someone's place.

It's too bad we couldn't entice Jack and Wendell to move a satellite prop-op to a warehouse here in Calgary ... If a win the lottery I promise I'll set one up (maybe I should buy a ticket sometime )

[Quinn]

I agree with Dave, Doug, et al. This was one of my concerns. I don't think we should join if it means our funds go to freshwater-related events (speakers, auctions). I have nothing against freshwater but frankly I am not interested in it in the slightest and I don't want my membership fee going to anything except marine-related causes.

I think a loosely organized group might be worthwhile solely because it would give us a bit of a pot (which we can't really have without organization because sooner or later someone will walk away with the membership fees or something and we'll be in trouble then) from which to draw if we ever had a chance to get a speaker (if we decide it's even worth the significant costs I expect would be associated with it), or perhaps we could put it towards web hosting. I would be willing to spearhead/assist in the development of an CMAS website, although "society" might not be the best term. (This would of course mean going back and deciding if we have a logo yet*. ) A site could be maintained for under $100/year with more than ample webspace for photos, videos, etc. Money could also be donated to the zoo project if it ever got going. Maybe we could get a nice plaque with our logo on it put next to the tank.

I don't think any formal group we organize should worry too much about holding scheduled meetings. Casual get-togethers seem adequate for our purposes.

* I'll be the first to say I'd love to see the logo I did in use. However I also recognize it may have an unfair advantage as I was able to create it in vector format which is pretty much essential in our case. I would be willing to convert other popular submissions to vector format as well for comparison.

[Buccaneer]

So for the cost of a cup of coffee we could likely have a website

That is a start I think ... we could have LFS for a minimum fee put ads on the website or trade for advertising in their stores to promote awareness for the Calgary club and maybe draw in some of those enthusiasts that dont already know about us.

There are alot of Marine aquarium enthusiasts in this city that probably dont have a clue as to the wealth of resources available to them here at Canreef or our local members.

[Tarolisol]

Buk and teevee have great ideas, and however else put there thoughts into those ideas. Sounds like the beggining of a plan.

[EmilyB]

Well Jack brought all those frags out, and wasn't really greeted with much enthusiasm.

[danny zubot]

Many of us that now consider our hobby as the ultimate challenge started by raising various fresh water species. I am still very fond of African cichlids and plecos. The line that separates us is not as thick as we like to think though. Consider the challenges of establishing a successful planted ecosystem versus the challenges of a reef ecosystem. They both require a vast amount of knowlege and work to make it happen. With that respect given, I am not really interested in meeting with such a vast group of aquarists. I'd rather have something developed just for reef keepers.

As far as the zoo project is concerned, there are many displays of freshwater fish integrated into Destination Africa. People can learn about the real importance of cichlids and barbs while visiting the hippo exhibit.
Why not teach people about the real importance of preserving our reefs? IMO they are more beautiful anyway.

Danny

[Invigor]

there's definately a line between sw clubs and aquarium societies. it seems fw enthusiasts don't care about sw, and there's the sw enthusiasts that don't give a darn about freshwater.

I used to work in a LFS and some of the veteran sw guys have never had a fw setup, they don't even know how to set one up, nor do they care! then there's the odd few people that do both that's the real fish enthusiast!

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by EmilyB

Well Jack brought all those frags out, and wasn't really greeted with much enthusiasm.

I dont think that we were as well prepared for Jack's visit as I would have liked ... in hindsight we should have had a tank all lit up for him to display those frags ... I bought a few myself but thought a better presentation would have sold them all ... the other thing is that if he presold the majority on this website or our own website would have been more effective.

[danny zubot]

So when is the next "frag swap/beer tasting" going to be. I've actually never been to one before, so I'm interested.

[Delphinus]

Wait, before we embark on creating a website .... maybe slow down a bit.

Ok, as a moderator here on Canreef, I can't be impartial to this, but here are my thoughts.

I appreciate the buy-in that everyone has, but we've talked about formalizing on several occasions in the past, and it hasn't happened yet. I really do think we're getting ahead of ourselves here.

I want everyone to ask themselves, what does a website give you that we don't already have on Canreef. You have to ask yourself what it is that you'll get out of a formalized club, what specific needs are not being met right now, that would be by a club.

Creating the tangibles before we have taken the step of creating and registering the club, with bylaws, and directors, and etc., will encourage fractionization down the road.

It's great to see this movement afoot, but I think people forget just how much work it is to keep a society running. I'm sorry but I don't know if we've really yet hit critical mass for this to become a sustainable reality.

My suggestion is that we do have another meeting where we can table this agenda, and put forth an action plan, with specific tasks delegated to specific individuals.

I'm sorry if I sound like a downer, but if we do this then we should do it right. If it's time for another meeting, then let's have another meeting.