Saltwater Aquarium Shows
- Thread starter eagleeyemike
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I helped out at the first SWU, and it was a *small* contribution as I wasn't an active member of the Club at the time. Still, just my little bit included a few airport trips for pickup of livestock donated for the event, and getting up at 2:30 in the morning to pack it up and move it down. Thankfully the people who agreed to help me were prompt 
It was a great conference (IMO the Zoo was a fantastic venue!) and those who organized it did a superb job.
I think what I'm "hearing" from most of the posts by people who have "been there, done that" is that while it's a great idea, polling people to see who wants it to happen, isn't necessarily a reflection of who can and will *make it happen*. Therein lies the reservations. Many of the key organizers of past events are no longer active within the club, and without someone able and experienced to co-ordinate it and put it all together, it's a huge gamble.
I was secretary of MASNA some years ago, and "fell" into the position right after a MACNA that was a financial disaster and nearly spelled the end of MASNA (MASNA used to be the flow-through for the money in and out for MACNA). After that it was structured differently so the risk was placed on the organizing/hosting club - lessons learned
Fortunately we had some volunteer legal representation (MASNA did) that helped the entity settle some of the debts and keep the organization solvent - but barely.
I believe that the winning bid for the next year is announced at each year's MACNA (at least that's how it was done when I was involved). Not sure if it's still done that way - perhaps Bob (Lifestudent) can clarify that.
"Bigger" isn't always better - local events like the frag meeting, are still a lot of work but manageable for those who take the task on.
JMHO...
Jenn
It was a great conference (IMO the Zoo was a fantastic venue!) and those who organized it did a superb job.I think what I'm "hearing" from most of the posts by people who have "been there, done that" is that while it's a great idea, polling people to see who wants it to happen, isn't necessarily a reflection of who can and will *make it happen*. Therein lies the reservations. Many of the key organizers of past events are no longer active within the club, and without someone able and experienced to co-ordinate it and put it all together, it's a huge gamble.
I was secretary of MASNA some years ago, and "fell" into the position right after a MACNA that was a financial disaster and nearly spelled the end of MASNA (MASNA used to be the flow-through for the money in and out for MACNA). After that it was structured differently so the risk was placed on the organizing/hosting club - lessons learned
Fortunately we had some volunteer legal representation (MASNA did) that helped the entity settle some of the debts and keep the organization solvent - but barely.I believe that the winning bid for the next year is announced at each year's MACNA (at least that's how it was done when I was involved). Not sure if it's still done that way - perhaps Bob (Lifestudent) can clarify that.
"Bigger" isn't always better - local events like the frag meeting, are still a lot of work but manageable for those who take the task on.
JMHO...
Jenn
well I will chime in as an outsider. I have always wondered why there were not some big nice organized frag "swaps" around Atlanta. I have packed up coral and tanks and participated in Chattanoga, Nashville, Montgomery as well as others. There are quite a few people from Alabama that I know that do the same and attend them all. I know Nashvilles is one of the biggest around and had about 500 people that attended there couple of weeks ago.They had national participation with vendors from all over the country.I think an annual arc frag swap would be HUGE.
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sponsors sponsors sponsors ????????
sponsors seem to be reluctant about these things sometimes but I have seen it help them as well. one guy that has a srore in Montgomery Alabama has had some big crowds in his store on the Saturday afternoon after those swaps. I usually always plan a visit to a store or 2 after out of town swaps I have attended on my way home. Picked up some awesome fish from a lfs in Memphis after the last swap there. When the hobbyist vendors get packed up they usually have plenty of extra cash in their pockets to spend!
I will go on record as volunteering to help with organizing a late summer/early fall (September-October) metro Atlanta frag/equipment swap. I am a teacher and have some flexibility with regard to my schedule beginning the end of May. That means I can do some legwork this summer to help make such an event a reality.
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Sponsors bring money. Money help ARC become bigger and better. Depending on how much sponsor help you had you could hire some things out. Yes you are correct you still needs lots of volunteers. I started this thread just looking for a show to attend. One in Ga would be nice though.
I think it is a good idea to get feedback regarding volunteers like you are attempting to do. I would think that after gathering some initial information this idea would need to be brought before the BOD to get official approval to move forward. I think they (BOD) would appreciate some kind of (semi-)official proposal to show how things would work, commitment level of volunteers, potential cost for the club, etc. Just my thoughts.
I agree on all accounts.
I'm requesting to the moderators that this thread be closed until after the February frag meet.
We've got a lot of time, money, and effort invested in the February frag meeting, and I want the club as a whole to focus on one thing at a time. I have no problem entertaining the idea of a larger event, but launching the campaign less than two weeks before our biggest event of the year is counter productive.
I've invited Jason (aquaculture) to bring his ideas to a BoD meeting where they can be talked about in more detail, before everyone jumps off the deep end.
