Membership benefits?

[popsbjd]

I have to say that I've read this whole thread and its made my mind up to join. I live in Athens, probably won't attend meetings, and will rarely use the arc discount, however, supporting the community and its conservation efforts is important to me. Even though I don't post much, I read a lot and its my go to source for reef questions. Just my 2 cents on the matter.

 

[rdnelson]

popsbjd;1006174 wrote: I have to say that I've read this whole thread and its made my mind up to join. I live in Athens, probably won't attend meetings, and will rarely use the arc discount, however, supporting the community and its conservation efforts is important to me. Even though I don't post much, I read a lot and its my go to source for reef questions. Just my 2 cents on the matter.

Very glad to hear that. Welcome.

 

[mcphock]

EcoReefGuy;1006110 wrote: eventually pushing potential members away can be hurtful to your community.

That's true, but not all potential members are beneficial to the community either.

Anyway, the thread gave you tons of reasons, including personal testimony from new and non-members. Not sure how much more 'selling' you need. Maybe this just isn't right for you.

 

[tonymission]

McPhock;1006204 wrote: That's true, but not all potential members are beneficial to the community either.

Who's to decide that? Who determines what someone should be joining for?

This whole idea that we're this huge family and if you aren't joining to be a part of that then go away is pretty crazy. The community for a new member comes later... he doesn't know anyone, hasn't developed any relationships yet. Why should he place higher value on that? It's ridiculous for long standing members to impose their value of the club onto newcomers. That's something that evolves over time and easy for an old school dude to quantify.

I think this guy was asking a very legitimate question and used the word "selfish" to garner more specific answers to what he was asking. Some folks thin sliced that word out of his posts and here we are.

Pretty disappointing attitude really. I expect more from such an amazing community of unselfish people.

 

[russ]

I just read this and I am very impressed. I actually have been impressed for the past year being on here.

I have been on this site for years and at one time stopped visiting because there were so many know it alls. The club has changed and it is awesome. I was/am disappointed at the limited stuff you can get on a discount, I like bouncing ideas off people especially when they have your best interest in mind. The LFS has thief cash register in mind most of the time.

If you use the site, can afford it, and it is helpful, join the club. It's $30.00 and it is a non profit.

 

[mcphock]

tonymission;1006205 wrote: Who's to decide that? Who determines what someone should be joining for?

If all members were beneficial for a community, we'd have no need for moderators.

Further, that wasn't a condemnation of his reason to join or not join. Nor was it a commentary on how some members interact with the club. I was just responding to the idea that turning away some potential members is long term hurtful. I, personally, disagree with that.

If I recall right, you frequent multiple forums across a spectrum of interests. Perhaps you've run into something similar to this: One of the forums I frequent, somethingawful, charges $10 to access the forum at all. This helps to support the server cost, but also serves a prophylactic measure to ensure those that join are more serious about abiding by community standards. In other words, trolls are less likely to join just to troll when they have to thump down $10 to do it. That doesn't necessarily </em>directly correlate to the ARC, but I believe the example is a good one.

 

[ecoreefguy]

If you think a bit of money is a troll deterrence , we need to sit down one day and listen to Xbox live games lol.

 

[1mbrews8]

Send the 30 bucks for the membership and support the club . That's less than three bucks a month for a year! Totally worth it

 

[mcphock]

EcoReefGuy;1006212 wrote: If you think a bit of money is a troll deterrence , we need to sit down one day and listen to Xbox live games lol.

Never played xbox, but I've heard it can be pretty bad. Even with my example, SomethingAwful has permabanned 19,799 users. Haha

 

[rdnelson]

McPhock;1006204 wrote: That's true, but not all potential members are beneficial to the community either.

Anyway, the thread gave you tons of reasons, including personal testimony from new and non-members. Not sure how much more 'selling' you need. Maybe this just isn't right for you.

Maybe I can put this a different way that might be a little more palatable.

While we would like you to stick around regardless, based on what you expect as a paid member, I don't think you would be happy becoming one. I also would expect that you would add little to the stated goals of the club and therefore would not become a valued member of the community that makes up the club. But you can still partake in many of our activities at no charge to you. I for one would not think less of you but I also would not go out of my way to help you should the occasion arise. On the other hand, if I see a paid member or even someone who shows interest in becoming one in need of help, I would do all I could to give that help. I think many here would back me up on that statement and be right there next to me.

That is the true value of the club to me. But it doesn't have to be for everyone.

 

[organ builder]

Discretion would suggest that perhaps I should forego another comment on this thread, but I'm probably not that discreet...

Seth doesn't need me to defend him; his value to the club and his hard work for the club were obvious to us long before we had been members 3 months. His desire for the club to be more than just an internet forum is a recurring topic, most eloquently expressed, perhaps, at the Christmas party. Some of that may be generational--I think Seth is younger than I am, but I'm not giving anything away if I report that he isn't in his early 20s.

I don't want to sound like an old curmudgeon going on about "this younger generation always on line and not talking to people in person" either, but real, physical contact with people makes one less prone to the forms of isolation and depression that can strike those of us who spend too much time staring at a screen.

We enjoyed the meetings we were able to attend last year, and probably managed to get to about 75% of them. That was during what seems to be an "off" year for the club, but we still enjoyed it, and learned a lot.

Is this the best reef forum on the web? Probably not. It's not got the traffic some of the others have, or the international members whose contributions can really open one's eyes at times. If you are looking mostly for web interaction, then I would agree this might not be the most productive place for you.

This, though, is the only reef forum I check every day. It's the only one where I have EVER posted (and I do a lot more reading than posting). There is just a different feel on a bulletin board when you've met some of the people in real life. I've learned a lot here--usually not by starting my own thread, but by searching and discovering what the members have said when someone else went through the same growing pains that I'm having. My willingness to use a search feature is probably why some of the longer-term members will wonder who this guy is going on about how much the forum has done for him when he has so few posts...

I have learned you don't have to spend tens of thousands of dollars to do this hobby very well (although you certainly can if you have it to spend). It's not cheap, though, and the yearly membership fee--one third or less that of any professional society to which I belong--is one of the best purchases we made.

 

[crew]

I think of it as a $30 donation to a cause that I support and leave it at that. From a selfish perspective, the 10% discount has paid for my membership this year easily.

 

[tonymission]

McPhock;1006211 wrote: If all members were beneficial for a community, we'd have no need for moderators.

Further, that wasn't a condemnation of his reason to join or not join. Nor was it a commentary on how some members interact with the club. I was just responding to the idea that turning away some potential members is long term hurtful. I, personally, disagree with that.

If I recall right, you frequent multiple forums across a spectrum of interests. Perhaps you've run into something similar to this: One of the forums I frequent, somethingawful, charges $10 to access the forum at all. This helps to support the server cost, but also serves a prophylactic measure to ensure those that join are more serious about abiding by community standards. In other words, trolls are less likely to join just to troll when they have to thump down $10 to do it. That doesn't necessarily </em>directly correlate to the ARC, but I believe the example is a good one.

I didn't mean to make it seem like I was talking directly to you even though I quoted your post. Sorry about that. Just not sure why anyone would want to turn this guy away. He's hardly a troll and the $30, money spent at local sponsors (he just bought like 100 radions) and I'm sure he'll make some good posts over the year is a decent starting contribution to our local community.

Pretty familiar with something awful. For some reason I thought we used to host them at GameSpy when I was there... Or they just used to make fun of us all the time, I can't remember lol... That board was the troll board before trolling was really even a word. Before Twitter haha... I can see that working out over there. I'm on tons of boards, yes, but really nothing local so it's hard for me to compare.

I just don't think this particular guy is the kind of guy we want to push away. He was being honest and joined for the same reasons everyone else joins. Seems like everyone is responding to him like he asked "sell me on why I should join" when basically that's what he said but I don't think it was with the tone that some people seem to be replying to. When I got to know more people that's when I started to realize how cool this community is because of the people that make it up and being apart of that was worth the $30 to me.

 

[grouper therapy]

tonymission;1006261 wrote: I didn't mean to make it seem like I was talking directly to you even though I quoted your post. Sorry about that. Just not sure why anyone would want to turn this guy away. He's hardly a troll and the $30, money spent at local sponsors (he just bought like 100 radions) and I'm sure he'll make some good posts over the year is a decent starting contribution to our local community.

Pretty familiar with something awful. For some reason I thought we used to host them at GameSpy when I was there... Or they just used to make fun of us all the time, I can't remember lol... That board was the troll board before trolling was really even a word. Before Twitter haha... I can see that working out over there. I'm on tons of boards, yes, but really nothing local so it's hard for me to compare.

I just don't think this particular guy is the kind of guy we want to push away. He was being honest and joined for the same reasons everyone else joins. Seems like everyone is responding to him like he asked "sell me on why I should join" when basically that's what he said but I don't think it was with the tone that some people seem to be replying to. When I got to know more people that's when I started to realize how cool this community is because of the people that make it up and being apart of that was worth the $30 to me.

+1
We all join here for selfish reasons. No one on here would spend $30 and not expect something in return whether or not it was monetary, comradery, advice, physical help etc. No one comes here and joins as an act of total unselfish charity. Get real people.

 

[wannabeeareefkeeper]

rdnelson99;1006176 wrote: Very glad to hear that. Welcome.

^^^^^ +1 on what Rich said.

 

[kevinbeth]

Reason #2. Then you can post in the lounge or new member forums where drama seeking threads are welcome instead of placing your question in a REEF discussion forum.

 

[smalone01]

I just joined because of this thread. Thanks for all of the valuable info guys!

 

[tonymission]

smalone01;1006385 wrote: I just joined because of this thread. Thanks for all of the valuable info guys!

Awesome, welcome aboard! Glad to have you

 

[camellia]

awestbr11;1006112 wrote: Hiiii everyone!

I joined mainly for the awesome clownfish avatar (just kidding)! I'm actually excited to the point of irrationality at having joined. I am new to reefing, but have always wanted to start. I'm hoping that I may be able to get my first fish in by the summer after I've cycled and tested it with my inverts.

I do have a question about my membership card. I have some purchases coming up and haven't gotten my card yet. When I try to grab it off the "ARC Virtual Member Card" I get an error that says:

TCPDF ERROR: [Image] Unable to get the size of the image: /var/www/vhosts/atlantareefclub.org/httpdocs/forums/images/customavatars/avatar8784_0.gif

Anyone have any ideas what I'm doing wrong? Getting it quickly for the perks isn't really a big deal to me but I can't wait to stick it in my wallet. This is the first organization I have ever joined and I am excited to get my paws on the card.

Thanks for the help!

Welcome to ARC, glad you joined! We need more "Shemales" around here:yes:

And

Welcome Popsbjd and SMalone01.

(Wish I remembered how to quote several...(Rich))

WHAT A GREAT THREAD THIS HAS BECOME!!

Hope the OP posts more often ... as a member or not! He certainly got some honest, sincere, strong emotions out of people as to how they feel about this AWESOME club.

And I agree with russ,
ARC has only gotten BETTER these last years. THANKS to SO many great people giving to the club and community!!

 

[camellia]

popsbjd;1006174 wrote: I have to say that I've read this whole thread and its made my mind up to join. I live in Athens, probably won't attend meetings, and will rarely use the arc discount, however, supporting the community and its conservation efforts is important to me. Even though I don't post much, I read a lot and its my go to source for reef questions. Just my 2 cents on the matter.

and use my food energy life love