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Next Meeting?!?!?!?!?!...!!! (1 Viewer)

What if I want to host a monthly meeting, but too embarrassed about the amount of growth and live stock in my tank? Will I be made fun of? :gay1:

Considering this is called Twin Cities Marine Aquarium Society, I believe we should limit our monthly host home/business location to the Twin Cities. St. Cloud is sort of a drive. Just my 2 cents. :)

No, you won't be made fun of...and if you make some shameless requests for FIF's, you may actually get some! :biggthumpup:

We pull from outer areas, those people are free to have meetings. 'twin cities' in and of itself would mean just mpls/stpaul. hard to draw a line.
 
The changes made are expected to make people want to have meetings more often and make them more popular. When someone holds a meeting and one person shows up, it kind of deters people from wanting to go to another one. At the same time, if you want a membership you are more likely to do what it takes to get there whether you have to take time from work, or drive a little further. With the change there is expected to be some loss, the discussion concluded the loss would not be that large because of how the rule was changed to become a member after going to one meeting instead of two to retain membership status. I think this should be nice for the newer people who dont have the knowledge to research their buyers and sellers in the first place and gives them common ground to deal on starting with the people they met at the meeting perhaps. For everyone at the same time, we are limiting the occurrences of bad transactions without putting the club in the middle and giving us a way to determine a buyer/ sellers quality of persona on our own.
 
I think it's probably a smart move and I'm eager to become a member and attend meetings. I'll probably like the fact that the trading and buying is members only once I'm on the other side of the fence ;) This next meeting in Annandale just won't work for me and I wouldn't feel comfortable hosting one without attending one or two first. So I'll just wait it out until the next one.
 
Wife permitting, I intend to host a meeting in the next 1-3 weeks. I don't have frags to FIF or even sell, but you will be free to come and look and SIGN IN. Plenty of room. Two tanks. A 34G red sea max and a 180G mixed reef. My Sister and Brother in law will be co hosting so I can accommodate as many as can make it.

Again, if the wife permits it. Probably a sunday afternoon.....
 
It would be ideal (for me at least) if more meetings could be set-up. I'd like to host one eventually but with just getting into the hobby, there's nothing to look at. :biggrin: Besides, with a baby and the gal at home, it would make it pretty difficult to hold something like this.

Just curious, when going to these meetings, is a RSVP or anything like that required? Given my day to day, it's hard to commit to much. Thanks.
 
I am new to all of this, but was at Clint's DA meeting and made sure I signed in. Did that count? Must not have, since I lost access to the buy/sell forums today and not sure what to do about it, other than watch for the next meeting I can attend.
 
nice! are all these events handicap accessable or am I being descriminated against? OH BTW GL on SALES!
 
I am new to all of this, but was at Clint's DA meeting and made sure I signed in. Did that count? Must not have, since I lost access to the buy/sell forums today and not sure what to do about it, other than watch for the next meeting I can attend.

It DOES count. I sent the sign in sheets to the correct people in the BOD. However Agent just had a baby so he's been very busy with his new kid :) sadly that means it's taking a bit of time for him to get everyone checked in from the meeting. I know some have offered to help him with it.

Just hold tight, you will get upgraded soon.
 
nice! are all these events handicap accessable or am I being descriminated against? OH BTW GL on SALES!

for peoples homes it might be a problem for you. This is where the BOD's ability to wave the rule for people in the situation like yours can still be members. Even then, I have attended many meetings in the summer where the garage was used, chairs, tables (beer, pop food) where all out in the garage. Seeing the tank it's self however would be a problem.

For my store, there is a curb cut, and the door is 42" wide so you should have no troubles getting in. However, it's a heck of a drive.

I have not seen Fragtastics new building but I suspect it's accessible for you. I can't speak for him but I'd bet as part of opening up he'll hold a meeting there that you could attend.

I know the BOD wants stores to host meetings as well. So I am sure we can find one that will accommodate you.
 
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So the official announcement states:

wkjames said:
2) Activity to maintain membership status has changed from 2 meetings every 12 months to 1 meeting every 12 months, not including frag swap events.

Which says to me that frag swaps are now not considered a valid option to become a member. Fine. However the bylaw states as follows:

spsick said:
First sentence of the bylaws:

1.1 Becoming a Member
Membership is obtained by:
(a) Attending a TCMAS sponsored event and providing the information
required on the sign in sheet; or
(b) majority vote of the board of directors.


Which states that TCMAS sponsored events do indeed count....so which is it? Are the bylaws going to now be changed? Just wondering.

I attended a frag swap and signed the sign in sheet and never received member status anyway, even after several PM's to follow up. Nothing ever happened. Makes me wonder if the same thing would happen if I attended a meeting. Those of us in outlying areas make the miles to attend a meeting as required to be considered a member and have to roll the dice to see if we even actually get to become a member or not.

The current cost to make the trip, doesn't seem worth it when it's such a crap shoot.

In addition, I agree that the immediate cut off of non members to sale forums is a bit harsh and hasty. The next scheduled meeting is what 6 weeks out? Anyone heard of a grace period?
 
It DOES count. I sent the sign in sheets to the correct people in the BOD. However Agent just had a baby so he's been very busy with his new kid :) sadly that means it's taking a bit of time for him to get everyone checked in from the meeting. I know some have offered to help him with it.

Just hold tight, you will get upgraded soon.

If full access to the boards now hinges on someone registering members from a meeting, it is unacceptable to take weeks for this to happen. It should be done immediately after the meeting. Honestly, how long can it take? I don't imagine each meeting results in scores of new members to enter and/or change status of on the forums.
 
Almost. Pick a date not taken on the calender and let the BOD know you want to host a meeting. then it's official ;)

Only requirement is there is a fishtank to look at.


If full access to the boards now hinges on someone registering members from a meeting, it is unacceptable to take weeks for this to happen. It should be done immediately after the meeting. Honestly, how long can it take? I don't imagine each meeting results in scores of new members to enter and/or change status of on the forums.

Bryan is still catching up on older meetings that relied on a paper sign in sheet that needed to be logged. Going forward there will be a sign in through online access that will automate the membership status updates. Part of a tool Bryan took the time to make so our club would work a little easier.
 
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Hmmm.. what are the requirements for hosting meetings? Being that many of us want to retain our ability to sell/trade/buy...

Do we need to:

-have experience
-have a nice tank
-have a workshop
-have to educate others on reefing
-have food
-is there a limit on members attending, can 2 people count as a meeting?

???? anyone
 
Bryan is still catching up on older meetings that relied on a paper sign in sheet that needed to be logged. Going forward there will be a sign in through online access that will automate the membership status updates. Part of a tool Bryan took the time to make so our club would work a little easier.

Good to hear there is something easier in the works. I think the biggest issue here is that the execution of this change is poor at best. These things should have been in place before the proposed change was even introduced and/or voted on. The pieces should have been in place prior to the change. It's a bit of putting the cart before the horse.

I do not disagree with the changes that are being made, I just wish the execution was much better and a bit more thought out. It was all too hasty.

You said yourself that Brian is not caught up on registering members, how does that make it acceptable to make these changes especially for those people who assume they are now members because they attended a meeting yet suddenly got locked out anyway? That's just bad business.
 
If full access to the boards now hinges on someone registering members from a meeting, it is unacceptable to take weeks for this to happen. It should be done immediately after the meeting. Honestly, how long can it take? I don't imagine each meeting results in scores of new members to enter and/or change status of on the forums.
Since most of this is directed at me,

It first depends on when the meeting attendance is reported back. I (Secretary of the Board, responsible for members records) personally didn't receive DA's (Clint's) attendance sheet until a few days ago. It has roughly 40 members on it. All of those members need to be manually entered into a database for tracking, searched in the user admin and then changed. Now try to decipher 40 peoples handwriting. Those 40 members will take me at minimum of an hour. Sure an hour doesn't seem like much but let's look deeper into the picture.

I just got the sheets a few days ago, a full time job, 6 week old baby, 400g reef system, two dogs, business meeting to attend, moderation on the boards, answering questions like this which I've done in the past, trying to assist with all of the threads since the business meeting, reviewing new bylaws, creating threads we discussed at the business meeting, etc. Now let's carve an hour out.

All I ask is that members please be patient. A few days here and there is not critical. Classifieds are not critical to membership, it's a bonus. Access to knowledge, help and it's members is the most important part and you have that.

If people are not members from past meetings, 99% chance we didn't get the attendance list. I think from the last frag swap there were only about 2 names I could never figure out from their handwriting.
 

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