How can reef clubs promote the hobby?

[TritonsGarden]

I would like to get your opinions on ways that local reef clubs can generate interest, bring in new hobbyists and club members, and keep members active.

Which of the following activities would you support with time and donations?

 

[FateX8]

i had to vote for all of them because there really isnt one thinig you can do to promote the hobby
when they see a reef tank, sure thatll bring them in but if they cant maintain anything or dont have the experience and no one helps them then theyre gunna get deterred and quit
frag swaps isnt the best thing to promote the hobby but its a great way to keep members in reef clubs active

 

[LorenK]

i would caution against setting up a public aquarium...think about the long term commitment.

Our club has a school outreach program.

 

[saltwaternewb]

I think that developing relationships with the LFS or at least the better ones in the club's area would be a great help too, then you have the possibility of being able to post reef club information in the store and the employees would help promote the club as well and even become members to help promote themselves. I just wish there was a reef club in my area but there's not.

 

[Russellaqua]

I know the local club in Maine, Salt Water Addicts of Maine (SWAM), does a lot of frag swaps, contests to give away donations, and try to bring in guest speakers. They also pick a monthly topic for their meeting. This month is all about seahorse breeding and husbandry. I think a school outreach is great. It doesn't necessarily directly support the hobby, but anything that gets kids interested in nature and conservation is a worthwhile effort.

 

[TritonsGarden]

i would caution against setting up a public aquarium...think about the long term commitment.

Our club has a school outreach program.

I agree that this endeavor should not be attempted except for the most dedicated and determined clubs, however I do believe this has great potential to create new hobbyists by putting it right in front of them.

I know of a couple of clubs that have setups in children's hospitals. This is a wonderful project because the children and their parents can enjoy the natural beauty of the reef and perhaps take their mind off the troubles they are facing if only for a short time.

To spark the interest of the non-reefing public, perhaps temporary setups in doctors offices, restaurants, or other public places where people congregate and are required to wait would be beneficial. These setups could be moved periodically to new locations. Who knows, once the setups are in place, the property owners may decide to buy it out.

Jack

 

[gooch]

I set up a touch pool at a childrens museum. Let the kids touch snails, hermits, starfish, and a bunch of other things. Showed them what coral was and answered questions. Kids love hands on. I also set up an aquarium in a special needs classroom at an elementary school. It was a tiny tank but the kids really enjoyed it. Had a few corals and neat fish in it. When I would go to clean the tank or bring in livestock the kids would all get a kick out of it. I did all these things without the help of my local club.

There is a new LFS in town that has asked me to come in one or two days a week to talk to people about reefkeeping. I volunteer my time not really trying to sell anything but just to make sure the customers are buying things that fit what they want to do. Does it generate sales for them. Absolutely. It has also lost them a sale or two but probably gained more customers through an honest approach. Does it make me want to help them more. You betcha. Funny thing is one of the local reef club members called me out on RC and reported me to the moderators saying I was an employee pushing sales and promoting the store online. Never once did I push a sale on anyone or have I pushed a sale on anyone. I am about the hobby even though I have a business that sells propagating tools. I gain absolutely nothing by helping them. I pay full price for everything I purchase and refuse to ask for a deal. So after that big fiasco I decided that at least for the time being I am done with my local club. The guy works for another store in the area and is the GUY who founded the club. So he can have his club. He actually told me I should be more active in the club. Truth is over my time in the hobby I have probably been the most active guy in the area. I just dont go into his store and dont attend a ton of reef meetings. I feel my time is better served helping and promoting the hobby outside of the local club.

I do love reef clubs but have been soured by one guy in mine. And it wasn't the first time. I may write a book someday. I think I will title it. "Saltwater Misadventures Of A Dedicated Hobbyist, Don't Try This At Home" I think it would be a nice book for newbies to read so they don't make the same mistakes many of us have made in the past.

 

[ReefArtist]

Organize frag swaps. This gets members very excited. Might also include frag sale, and auctions. These go over very well with our club.

Setup and maintain public aquariums to expose the hobby to new people. - Way to long term and who's going to get the call when something fails. Don't do it!!!

Work with local schools to give talks and demos to students. - This is a great way to get younger people into the hobby and also their families. We have a lot of teachers in our club and this works out wonderfully.

Provide a tutoring or apprentice program for new club members to ensure their success. - In theory this sounds good but unless you want to be responsible for not only successes but also failures - this could be a bad step. There are a hundred ways of doing things and everyone thinks their ideas or solutions are the best, it could end in up in a claims court.

Hold workshops for potential new hobbyists to educate them on reef keeping basics. - We have an education topic each month - could be anything but at each meeting someone gives a speech on reefing. Some are basic some are not as this keeps everyone interested

Implement and exercise a recruitment plan to increase club membership. - If your club is interesting and exciting the reefers will come. Having frag swaps, sales, good speakers etc, the reefers will come to you. You must have a person heading this up so you know who is a member and who is not. When selling frags with becomes very important. Just because a reefer comes to all the meetings and is very active, they may have forgotten to pay their dues .

Have contests and other activities to keep club member actives and participating. - I think this is the key to keeping members interested and coming to meetings. We just a "Spring trim and clean" meeting that all the members could bring all their reefing goods to sale. Corals, equipment whatever and we had a few speakers with lots of give a ways. It was the best showing the club had ever seen and we ended up with 45 NEW MEMBERS!!! This was held in a members back yard with a full BBQ and all - wonderful time

These are just my thoughts and what I've found to work, other clubs might have other ideas and thoughts. What works in one area might not in another.

 

[LorenK]

Our club (Atlanta Reef Club) is very fortunate that we have a large member base...we are either the largest or next to largest (Dallas club is huge) so we can afford to do things that other clubs may not be able to do.

One of the things I think is important is to have a mission of some sort. Ours is 'Preservation through Education' and our money goes toward things in that topic area.

There are few things I think we do to promote the hobby:

1. We have a very active forum were folks can ask questions and will likely have an answer back in minutes. It also has a well used trading section where people can buy/sell used equipment and corals. It makes the hobby very affordable.

2. We have a monthly meeting where we have very good speakers. Not every meeting has speakers, we have a few social events as well. Our largest event is a coral propogation demonstration where every member goes home with free corals. We have speakers such as Dana Riddle (sp?), Mark from Melev's Reef, John Coppolino (Angel Fish expert) etc. Probidio came and spoke to us...brought us lots of free samples.

3. We have a good number of LFS sponsors. All sponsors are required to provide a minimum of 10% to Atlanta Reef Club members. Every member gets a card and they use that to prove eligibility. With over 30 local sponsors, this is a huge attraction to become a paying member.

4. We have outreach programs such as our teen program where we teach youths about reefs. The largest is Saltwater U but we will not have it this year due to MACNA (hosted in Atlanta...buy your tickets!!!)

5. Member hosted events (Poker night, Tour of Tanks, etc).

6. The biggest piece is that our club members really care. We have had cases of large tanks cracking and members driving hours to help out. Another where the wife of someone in Iraq contacted us when her husbands tank cracked and we a) replaced it, b) upgraded the lighting and filtration and c) completely stocked it...kind of like extreme home make over for tanks. We built a tank for a member's friend that had cancer (now cancer free!). The list goes on and on...we have some of the most generous reefers in our club.

7. Xenia, GSP, and other easy starter frags...free. Just post and it someone have it for you.

8. Power/group buys. The club bands together and hosts powerbuys once every two months or so (more or less with demand/good ideas). we've had powerbuys on clams, refractometers, salt, chillers, Neptune products, etc. In addition, club members put together group buys to defray shippinng costs. I got 4 fish from Live Aquaria last week for $8 shipping...can't beat that.

And we are constantly looking for other ways to help people in our area. We have a wiki that we have been trying to get off the ground and we are starting a club library with both books and equipment (PAR meters, tank drill bits and guides, fish traps, etc).

One great way is to just talk about your hobby. I've started so many conversations at work because my desktop has my fish on it. Or when I sell something on Craigslists (like a tank if nobody on the local club wants it), I chat up the club.


Feel free to check out our site (atlantareefclub.org) for ideas. There are plenty of other clubs to check out as well...Boston seems really well put together as well as Dallas.

 

[TritonsGarden]

You guys have some programs going. Keep up the good work!!!! Hopefully other clubs will be inspired to do more.

Jack

 

[Burks]

We here in Toledo (TRAC - Toledo Reef and Aquarium Club) have quite a few activities we do to try and gain new members and teach the public about proper husbandry.

A) We hold monthly meetings and try to have presentations at all of them. This month we had a speaker who owns a live rock culturing company out of Florida do a presentation. Fascinating guy!

B) We are involved with local schools. One of which we've had multiple tanks donated to and we help maintain them. The kids at the school have placed high in the state competitions before, they're fantastic learners!

C) We attend local festivals and set up booths to hold raffles. Last year we gave away a full 125g setup! A week ago we attended the local zoos Earth Day event and had a blast.

D) The local fish stores play a large role in this as well. They are club sponsors but also really push the club to their customers. Many of them have become great members. If it weren't for the local fish store, I never would have found TRAC or became the VP.

E) Free frags, fish, and plants to members! We are starting a new program after reading about a club out of California having great success doing this. We are not only a marine club but freshwater as well. A LOT of trading goes on, even for more expensive items.

F) Etc. We're always doing something. Whether it's trying to attract new members or just help teach the public a bit. It's fun to see someone learn something totally new.

On terms of success I'd have to say we are doing fairly well! This fall we will be holding our first big event, an aquatic swap. This will be for anyone, whether they be fresh or salt or in between, to bring whatever they want to swap. We don't want to keep anyone away as we are not strictly one side or the other. It's funny how being around others can make you set up a tank you never thought of doing, and having success at it!

 

[momof6kids]

balagan,

Your reef club sounds so much like ours I am going to plagiarize your message. Hope you don't mind.

Our club (New Jersey Reefers) is very fortunate that we have a large member base...so we can afford to do things that other clubs may not be able to do.

There are few things I think we do to promote the hobby:

1. We have a very active forum were folks can ask questions and will likely have an answer back in minutes. It also has a well used trading section where people can buy/sell used equipment and corals. It makes the hobby very affordable.

2. We have a monthly meeting where we have very good speakers. Not every meeting has speakers, we have a few social events as well.

3. We have a good number of LFS sponsors. We only have 22 sponsers so far, so we aren't up to you yet. Every member gets a card and they use that to prove eligibility.

4. We have outreach programs such as our Conservation and education committee where we go into different arenas (ex. The Liberty Science Center, and The Camden Aquarium) to make the public more aware.

5. Member hosted events.

6. The biggest piece is that our club members really care. We have had cases of large tanks cracking and members driving hours to help out. The list goes on and on...we have some of the most generous reefers in our club.

7. Xenia, GSP, and other easy starter frags...free. Just post and it someone have it for you. We have a Deals and Steals forum specifically for this.

8. Power/group buys. The club bands together and hosts powerbuys every months (sometimes 2 a month). we've had powerbuys on clams, refractometers, salt, chillers, PAAquatics, etc. In addition, club members put together group buys to defray shipping costs.

And we are constantly looking for other ways to help people in our area.

Feel free to check out our site (http://www.njreefers.org) for ideas. There are plenty of other clubs to check out as well...Boston seems really well put together as well as Dallas.

Atlanta isn't too shabby either. j/k Keep up the great work.