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

[bkoppes]

Im against the whole decision, and ill tell you why.

As a newcomer about six months ago, I depended on the for sale thread to purchase my tank, equipment, livestock, etc. As a college student, I just couldn't afford purchasing this stuff from the shops, although ive donated plenty to my lfs.
My argument is... That if you cut off the for sale thread to members only, you will lose the vast majority of, shall we say, noobs. Now, the noobs are important to help veteran reefers unload there tanks to upgrade to another. They become more active in the hobby because theyre constantly checking this forum for items to purchase. They help members distribute corals and livestock outside of what stores provide, which allows for more diversity in our tanks. Im not saying that only beginners use that thread, but I would guess non members make the majority of the purchases. And keeping that thread available to everyone is beneficial to everyone. Just try selling your tank on the now private thread, and im sure you will have significantly less response.

It isnt fair to see a thriving thread of the forum and close it off just to attract members. It will not have the same success as an exclusive thread, because it doesn't attract the much needed beginner.

Having said this, the 75 gallon reef im enjoying right now because of the dozen or so members that Ive done business with. I rely on them to get my reef going and they rely on me to unload goods so they can upgrade and expand the hobby. The for sale thread just wont be the same after this decision.

Im not a member, but im on here 10 times a day and want my voice heard. And I would like to become a member, but its a little intimidating going to one of the meetings at someone's house when Im 20 and dont regularly socialize with people twice my age. Oh well, ill have to leave the comfort zone for a bit.

Membership is pretty easy to obtain.......go to a meeting. Get out of the comfort zone not only here but in life. Also, not everyone is twice your age on TCMAS. There are many members who are around your age.

I can't walk into costco because I don't have a membership and me complaining to them about it isn't going to get costco to change their rules.

 

[agent462]

Attending a meeting is not the only way to get membership. You can host a meeting, coordinate an event or give back to the club in some way. The BOD also has the right to extend membership to an individual as they see fit. This is typically reserved for people who give back to the club in other ways or have extreme circumstances.

I just want to quote myself because there is concern about new members feeling intimidated to come to a meeting. Also there are tons of younger people in this club. I consider myself getting old but I'm only 31. We have teenager on up members. Also meetings that are held at stores, speaker talks and business meetings are great for new members. They are great places to introduce yourself without interjecting yourself into someones home. We don't bite though, well maybe the clownfish do.

Also keep in mind it was voting members that voted this in place. It's driven from their reluctance to buy/sell/trade with newer members. They want to know the people they are doing business with.

Most new members also research for awhile before jumping in and buying things. If you don't, you really need to. You'll save yourself tons of money and headaches. This gives you plenty of time to attend a meeting and ask TONS of questions in person where you can see a working tank and get the best feedback you will ever get. Way better than reading it on a forum.

 

[Fasttalon94]

5 pages in 12 hours? Sounds like everyone likes the new change!

I understand that "it was voted on" but that doesn't mean it was a good idea. Heck look at what gets voted on and passed in Congress. I know, we've been over it a thousand times. If I had been there to raise my hand and say no, my opinion would have been heard yadda yadda. Fact is I did see that there was a business meeting in a thread somewhere (I still had to work last night so it didn't matter much anyway) and actually someone posted that business meetings are often dry and not recommended for a first timer's meeting.


However, had there been a clear and defined subsection where meetings and member stuff is discussed (instead of under general discussion) and someone had clearly stated that there would be a vote on limiting people's ability to view the FS?FT section I bet turn out would have been 2 times what it was. I personally think that this will hurt TCMAS in the long run.

Of course you run into hard to deal with people when you are trying to sell stuff. Answer me this though, would you rather sell to a newb on TCMAS or to some tire kicker on Craigslist? Just think there is probably a guy/gal out there right now selling a RR set up that will have to now try and list it on craigslist since I am not allowed to view their thread. And that my friends is a travesty and we should all be ashamed of ourselves.

 

[CollidedChaos]

And I would like to become a member, but its a little intimidating going to one of the meetings at someone's house when Im 20 and dont regularly socialize with people twice my age. Oh well, ill have to leave the comfort zone for a bit.

I don't regularly socialize with anyone. Ever. The only thing I've found that I have in common with other members is our love of the hobby.

Isn't that enough?

 

[Nanofreak79]

I was also at DA meeting and also being blocked from FS threads?

 

[SuperDave]

times are changing and i think it was a great idea .all my coral i frag it forward and to see it being sold on the other forum the next day hurts .i thought about just stop fragging but that sucks for the newbees

 

[David]

Whine whine whine whine whine.

Quit complaining and go to a freaking meeting.

 

[1TROY7]

How many people show up at a meeting? whats the average?

 

[kcooley]

I have heard of meetings where only one person showed up and i have heard of meetings that the member thought their house would come down between the water and the people.

 

[nelsonmarine]

What constitutes as a meeting?

What if I announced my house address, a time for people to stop by, check out my tank, sign in, mingle a bit, and turn that sheet of paper in to a BOD, would that constitute as a meeting?

If it's that simple, then why aren't there more meetings per month?

 

[guy9smiley2]

Either mrbills' april 30th or I'm trying to work something up within the next 3 weeks. I need to check with my wife when she gets back into town and check our schedules.

Would you like to have one yourself next week instead?

where is mr bills? i work mon-thurs 3:30 pm to 2 am. fri 9 am to 7 pm. sat 7 am to 3 pm. so hopefully it is after 3 p.m. and somewhat close to shakopee!!! otherwise we might have to have one on a sunday. ive already met quite a few members from buying and selling items and livestock. how do hosting meetings work? what owuld i need to do? litle details would be helpful

 

[patent]

Are the bylaws going to now be changed? Just wondering.

Yes, the meeting amended the bylaws.

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.

This board is run by volunteers. Chill out. They have lives, jobs, spouses, children, babies, etc. They have things that are more important. I realize its inconvenient for you, but you'll have to live with it.

 

[KJoFan]

Whine whine whine whine whine.

Quit complaining and go to a freaking meeting.

There is nothing wrong with asking for clarification on the rules. Implementing a rule based on other somewhat vague rules is not the way to run any club.

We'd love to attend a meeting, are you holding one I can come to right now? One of the gripes is that non-members or anyone for that matter doesn't have an opportunity to attend a meeting for another 6 weeks or so.

Can I announce a meeting to start in the next five minutes? There are two people in my house, both will be attending. We'll sign a sheet and send it to a BOD member and we should be golden. That is...according to those aforementioned vague rules and requirements regarding meetings and membership status.

Please stand by for my sign-in sheet from my just announced meeting. :beerchug:

 

[Got2luv3mReeferZ]

lol.... :gay1: have a :beerchug: and chill out. Now when should I be expecting to gain the member status being I did attend the last meeting?

 

[agent462]

What constitutes as a meeting?

What if I announced my house address, a time for people to stop by, check out my tank, sign in, mingle a bit, and turn that sheet of paper in to a BOD, would that constitute as a meeting?

If it's that simple, then why aren't there more meetings per month?

That's pretty much it. We generally have two slots available per month (any day and time you pick). You can pick one and then we'll book it on the calendar.

We're going to make this process more transparent. It was brought up at the meeting and we're also going to create a Host a Meeting Primer guide.

 

[Got2luv3mReeferZ]

Meng- serious? Can I come?

Nelson, LOL... I deleted my comment.. didn't want to get into trouble..

 

[mrbill]

I'm 50+ miles NW of the Mpls border and its a lot farther to the meetings on the NE and SE side so I dont make it to very many but it just isn't that hard to get to a meeting once a year. There are meetings on weekends and week nights. Some will have a ton of people and others only a few. Some will have a huge system and others a nano tank but it doesnt matter. Remember if we only did things that were easy we wouldn't be in this hobby.

My guess is that the meeting calendar will start to fill up and there will be a meeting you can make.

PS: IMO meetings at the LFS's are great for the first timers. Lots of thing to look at, usually there are drawings for door prizes, livestock discounts and you can get in and get out if you dont want to socialize.

 

[agent462]

I can still see it

I've already explained about members that attended the DA meeting. I'll continue to reply on why instead of trying to get to that.

 

[dblaness]

another well placed decision

 

[KJoFan]

We're going to make this process more transparent. It was brought up at the meeting and we're also going to create a Host a Meeting Primer guide.

Thank you! Bryan, this is what most of us (i think) have been getting at. We feel left in the dark because we didn't attend last night's meeting as to what all the new rules and regulations are. I don't think anyone is unwilling to meet the new demands, I know I'm not.

But further clarification on what came to pass at the meeting would have been nice to see in the original must-see post this morning. Like I said, it was just a cart before the horse situation. The banishment was implemented straight away without much explanation. Full disclosure of a public meeting would be appreciated.

The decision that was made was announced without background information or anything else, it caught a lot of people off guard is all.

I do appreciate those of you that have taken the time to answer the questions raised here and provide some further clarification.