Meeting Topics and Frequency Poll

[Gil&Fin]

The officers and board members of PNWMAS would like feedback as to what members want to see for future meetings.  Above are some topic ideas in random order.  Please vote for your top three.  But don't stop there...please add other ideas in the thread as well.  We'd also like feedback about how often you'd attend meetings.  I'll keep the poll open for one week--Wednesday, February 3 (today) through Tuesday, Feburary 9.

 

We appreciate your input!

[StayPuff]

Im all about the meet and greet. Nothing more personal that getting to know people face to face and hearing experiances from everyone.

Thats my 2 cents

 

 

EDIT:)

 

 

EDIT also frag swaps at meet greet best ever Hearing stories and talking. I have learned more from chatting with people than any lecture could ever provide.

Edited February 3, 2016 by StayPuff

[Gil&Fin]

Glad you mentioned frag swaps because I forgot to say that I did not include raffles or frag swaps on the list because we try to do those in conjunction with other meetings (like the meet-and-greets, as you mentioned).  Thanks for the feedback!

[StayPuff]

Meet greet frag swap should be the same and you bet i look forward to those

 

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[MrBret]

Bump

[spectra]

Bump

 

I did not see that on the list

[kireek]

I personally would love to go to more meetings as time allows.Meeting at a park may be nice,especially if you got a kid or two that day.

[Lexinverts]

Thanks for posting this, Holly.

 

One comment: It seems that the choice of Meet-and-greet locations and the topics do not necessarily need to be mutually exclusive in the poll. We could have a presentation on a particular topic at a fish store or at a member's house. I wanted to pick more than 3!

[Gil&Fin]

Thanks for posting this, Holly.

 

One comment: It seems that the choice of Meet-and-greet locations and the topics do not necessarily need to be mutually exclusive in the poll. We could have a presentation on a particular topic at a fish store or at a member's house. I wanted to pick more than 3!

Some people did!  You're right though.  Maybe I should have set it up a little differently--putting all the meet-and-greets together.  Feel free to vote more.  Thanks for participating!

[Lexinverts]

Some people did!  You're right though.  Maybe I should have set it up a little differently--putting all the meet-and-greets together.  Feel free to vote more.  Thanks for participating!

Ok, will do.

 

Andy

[MrBret]

I did not see that on the list

It's in very small print.

[Gil&Fin]

Last day to vote!  The poll is at the top of the page and it only takes a minute--literally one minute.  The more feedback we get, the better choices we can make in planning meetings.  Don't forget you can add ideas in this thread because I'm sure there are a lot of things we didn't think about.

 

Your feedback is appreciated!

[LadySaber]

Oh oh anything in the Vancouver way would be nice. Hard for me to travel so most meetings I miss

[pledosophy]

I prefer meetings where there is something more "advanced" for lack of a better word, to learn or a meeting where we as a group give back/educate the community.

 

Collaborations with a diving group and a talk about the health of the reefs might be good. There are a few colleges with marine bio programs that offer research into corals. There is a research facility in SE using jellyfish mainly but other marine animals as well for medical research. (Although walking by the cadavers kinda freaked me out a bit) Hatfield is fun but maybe combining it with something at the Aquarium. I'm a nerd so I always enjoy the presentations from speakers especially if they are specific and specialized. (e.g. Bob Fenners on how corals are collected or Scott's on his propagation/triton system). Many great speakers like Richard Ross, Julian Sprung, Anthony Calfo, Eric Bornman, are great and do the MACNA circuit and will often be sponsored by their company. We don't need to go national with the local talent though. A sponsor highlight is great but what about having Kenny give a presentation on how he builds his lights and what research and testing goes into it regarding specific kelvin temperatures and growth. We can use our own community as presenters/specialists.

 

Getting specific companies to give presentations on the advancement of specific technology like ATI on their product line would also be great and is very accessible (American ATI rep is a member).

 

A tour and presentation by a business like Envision Acrylics on how tanks are made and what technology they are using for advancement (their kressils are industry leading).

 

For community involvement SOLVE beach clean up has been a staple for us. There are other community style beach clean ups as well. As a group focused on Marine organisms beach clean up and education is paramount. Getting a space at fairs or festivals with interactive activities for attendees would be a great way to spread knowledge through the community. I do this with another organization I am a part of and it works great for our message there. If you read our mission statement as a club, we should do more of this.

 

I'm not down on frag swaps. When I was with OCMARS, we organized what turned into the largest frag swap in the world, but for us frag swaps are every meeting.

 

Organizing a meet and greet, how about 1st Tuesday of the month is Moloko's and last Thursday's is Vagabond's. Announce it and done, doesn't take planning. Do it in two regions and have inconsistent and it will work. OCMARS is one of the more successful groups in the country and this meetings are at a pancake house the same day every month. Consistency for meet and greets would be good. We used to do it at a McMennimans and get 20-30 people a month. If we want to pursuit that we just need consistency. The "club" can not sponsor it for liability reasons but we could post it and spread it on our social media pages as member supported.

 

IMHO with 10 board member/officers we should be able to plan a "good" meeting once a month, a meet and greet once or twice a month, and contributions to the community a few times a year.

 

 

 

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[milesmiles902]

@Pledosophy

 

I think there is a lot of truth to what you said. Outside of what was voted on in this thread, there is much we could do. I really like the idea of beach cleanup or educating the public of some type. Both of those are things that I think that PNWMAS should do at least 2 times a year. Whether that be on a meet day or not, it is important to do outreach.

 

I also think that meetings at local organizations i.e. marine aquariums, research facilities, manufacturing companies are great. I would love to learn about how people build aquarium lights or acrylic aquariums. Not only do we each have our own experiences with these topics, but can contribute as we learn about how other people do it. How professionals do it.

 

Also, consistency is important. I think it would be good to plan out a year of what people think we should do. I know I am not arranging it, and it is hard to plan ahead, but having a schedule where we know 4 months down the line we will have this speaker, or in a month we will be at NOAA getting a tour. For me, when I can plan ahead I have a higher probability of making it.

 

In my opinion, I really like it when frags are raffled off or given away. I would be ok with that happening every meeting, I am not sure if an all out frag swap should happen every meeting (since I haven't been here that long), but can see why it wouldn't be appealing every meeting.

 

Something I would love to see is an auction. We need to have a monthly meeting where people donate frags and they are auctioned off. All the money goes to some type of charity or non-profit that truly needs it.

 

The forum is full of good people doing good things. i am glad I can chime in and let you know what I have to say. Thank you.

[Gil&Fin]

I appreciate everyone's feedback, and participation in the poll. I'll post results tomorrow.

 

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[Gil&Fin]

Anyone can click "Show Results" right under the poll to see the how many votes were cast, but here's a summary in order of votes:

 

23 people voted, plus there was at least one person who gave feedback in the thread, but didn't vote.

 

#1  Meet-and-Greet at member's house (16 votes)

#2  Meet-and-Greet at LFS (12 votes)

#3  Photography (7 votes)

      Shipping (7 votes)

      Oregon Coast Aquarium (7 votes)

      Lighting (7 votes)

      Fragging (7 votes)

#4  Meet-and-Greet at restaurant/park (6 votes)

      APEX (6 votes)

#5  Tips and Tricks (5 votes)

#6  Aquascaping (4 votes)

#7  Quarantining (2 votes)

 

Monthly meetings--15 votes

Bi-monthly meetings--8 votes

Quarterly meetings--0 votes

 

I want to say again that we appreciate ALL the feedback we received, whether it was supportive of what the Officers and Board Members are already doing, or whether the feedback was more controversial.  The Officers and Board Members will be meeting to consider all the information we've received.

 

Have a great day, everyone!