Web members only. Need your inputs.

[Ping]

The question I would like to start a thread on is....

What could your club (MAAST) provide that would entice you to become a Charter Member.

I know many of you have provided an input addressing your personal situation to other threads stating pro's and con's of becoming a Charter member. These idea's are spread out in too many posts and our club needs to consolidate your opinions.

I would ask everyone, from the long time posters to the brand new members for their opinions. If nothing would entice you, then please post some reasons why. The point of this thread is to educate the BOD and all members on what "YOU" want from our club.

Please provide your opinions based on what the Web site and the club provide right now. Not opinions on the proposed changes. Mud slinging is acceptable; just make them well thought out articulated thoughts

Again: this is for Web Members opinions only. Thank you, Peter K.

[miked78231]

am i a web member? if so then i think MAAST should "entice" us with Warp Tour tickets. From Autom to Ashes will be coming!!!! im oh so very excited and im sure you all are too. for every person who pays their dues or will be paying their dues should get two tickets to the warp tour. i would say four but thats being a little too greedy. thank you and good night.

[miked78231]

what about a weekly foot masage?

[Ping]

Come on Mike, you can do better than that. Aquaria related maybe, something that could come to fruition.

[miked78231]

the only thing that could bring me to a true fruition would be a pet monkey, not the little sugar glider monkies but an actual helper monkey. im pretty sure maast cant get me a monkey though. if not then im happy with how things are now. me personaly, i dont understand why you guys would restrict certain things on maast all the sudden. i would understand if this was somthing you were doing from the birth of MAAST but to come in the middle stages and start charging people for certain things that were free at one point in time doenst make sense. i dunno im not the smartest guy so maybe theres somthing there that im not seeing. i think it would be cool if you offered a higher discount percent, maybe 25% or more. just to let you guys know, know matter what you do to try and get rid of me i will always be a member. heh heh. so start cleaning up your mail boxes to make room for my random, pointless pms.

[captexas]

Guys, this is a serious issue. For those that apparently don't seem to know or get it, the Charter (paid) members are seeking to further restrict this website from non paying members a.k.a. Web Members. They feel that they are being robbed of paying their club membership by allowing this site to remain open and free to anyone as it always has been. The proposed plan restricts us from starting any new threads in the For Sale section and I'm not sure what else as they haven't completely posted details on what they are considering as they have it in their Charter Members Only Forum.

Take this seriously and provide info on why you have failed to pay for a club membership, $25/year. What would it take to get you to see it as a good value worth paying? And no they are not asking for how much to bribe you to pay up. If you don't speak up, restricting the For Sale forums will be just the beginning.

[truck0000]

When I read post about why people pay to be apart of Maast they say that they wanted to support the club and have got alot out of it. They wanted to give back.
When I read this thread it seems to me that people are only concerned about what they can get out of the site. Seems some what selfish to me, only an opinion though. Is everyones concern the forsale forumn being locked only?
1800 members and 130 charter members. As is the case often times in this country a few people are carrying alot. I am not elitist at all and respect everyones right to voice an opinion. If you dont want to pay then dont pay. The BOD is just trying to get some more envolment into the site. If you become a charter member chances are you will take a bigger interest in the site and become invested in its future.
This thread was started to see what would entice web members to join. any thoughts along these line would help.
Thank You

[matt]

Here's what would make me pay up again and return to charter member status; tell me who to make out the check to and where to mail it. Post this on the website in an easy to see spot that even an idiot like me can't miss and it's done. I don't want to do this via paypal, and if there are instructions for doing so on the site, I don't know where they are.

I've been meaning to pay my membership at a meeting, but I've been too busy to get to a meeting this year since I've been back and there you have it.

BTW, being a web member is NOTHING like living at your parents' house for free. :)

Edit: right after posting this I spent about 5 seconds finding exactly what I was looking for on the site under "membership." So much for lame excuses! As they say in California, "the check's in the mail"

[NaCl_H2O]

Edit: right after posting this I spent about 5 seconds finding exactly what I was looking for on the site under "membership." So much for lame excuses! As they say in California, "the check's in the mail"
You beat me to it, thanks Matt! :)

[SLAYCHILD]

Its a figure of speach man, come on. :P I like what matt said. Give me an address and ill send my $25. I dont use checks so thats out of the question. Ill send cash or a money order. Let us know.

[Ed]

Its a figure of speach man, come on. :P I like what matt said. Give me an address and ill send my $25. I dont use checks so thats out of the question. Ill send cash or a money order. Let us know.

Here you go:

You can Paypal the $25 membership dues to: treasurer@maast.org

OR

mail a check/money order to MAAST, P.O. Box 780582, San Antonio, TX 78278

OR

Pay at any meeting.

[Jynxgirl]

And I am going to go ahead and pay my $25...

I am getting a 60 gallon cube that I am going to have to buy more stuff for :D

Jill

[Ping]

I started this because:

1. I could

2. I feel nothing on the Web site should be restricted. MY opinion.

3. I agree with most of the venting I have read, including the post's to this thread. The biggest exception being the threat of a criminal spam attack.

4. If nothing on the site changes, I wonder what would entice more members to pay the $25 dues.

[gcantu]

When I read post about why people pay to be apart of Maast they say that they wanted to support the club and have got alot out of it. They wanted to give back.
When I read this thread it seems to me that people are only concerned about what they can get out of the site. Seems some what selfish to me, only an opinion though. Is everyones concern the forsale forumn being locked only?

It's not selfish when we also give back as much useful information as we get from those that teach us. To "give" back to this website and the hobby in turn does not necessarily mean that we should "pay dues" to feel like we have contributed in some fashion or other.

If I were to ask myself what would make me want to join as a charter member then I would have to say: "I don't know????"
I once considered joining, but did not know if I would actually go to any meetings or try and get discounts because I am a MAAST Charter Member. I really enjoyed meeting all the people that I have met through this website and appreciate all the good information this website has to offer. I just hope that it doesn't get to the point where certain forums begin to be "members only" forums. If it does come to that then that's that and I am sure we will all move on. I really enjoyed it while it lasted.

[Jeff]

i understand about using sponsership to pay for upgrades and maintaining this site but there could be some drawbacks.
1. how many people have been given a great deal at aquatic wharehouse or fin-addict? those deals cost them money, money that now is spent on sponsership fee's, and for a small business that one small disaster could wipe them out, they need as much money available to makegreat deals to promote loyalty from their customers.
2.i dont know how hard it would be to get a larger company to donate something and also to pay a fee for sponsership. the donations are a tax write off for them but i dont know about the fee's.
i became a charter member because i liked the club and could make a lot of the meetings, and i also understand why others dont join. instead of restricting forums maybe make the door prizes at the meetings all the top dollar items and the lower priced items are up for raffle. them maybe someone would like to pay up to get a lot better of prizes that fewer people have access to.
this has been a great thread here and this is what we need more of.

[Thunderkat]

What would entice me to sign back up as a charter member is:

FULL year membership from the day you sign up, not one that expires in January regardless of when you sign up. Think about it, if you were considering membership but it was November why sign up immediately? Just wait until the next year. I already don't want to sign up again because it would be better to wait until January that way I get a full year.

[nighthawk]

I guess I'll pitch in on the original question that was posed as to what could entice web members to become charter.

For me it's about location. I don't live in the local SA/Aus area so it is really not feasible for me to make any meetings. I'd consider myself reasonably a newcomer to the site. I don't post a lot because I honestly don't know a lot, but have learned a ton from maast and have improved my meager tank by leaps and bounds by trolling the various forums, including the 'for sale' forum.

When I first came to the site by recommendation from a friend I saw all the posting about the Sea World event with Palletta. I was pretty floored by this as I was really just getting into the hobby and I was doing a lot of reading by him. but the fact that my work schedule and distance from SA inhibit me from getting to meetings like this is what has kept me from paying in. I let some deals in the 'for sale' pass by because I know that I'm going to be paying an extra $60 or so just to come in and get the item.

I guess my suggestion would be if meetings and/or events could occur of weekends, those of us who live farther away would be able to attend. If things do go on on the weekends, let me know so I can get in on them and learn a bit more. Lastly, I think closing off some forums would discourage future people like me who visit the site not knowing much from delving deeper and seeing the wealth of info that is available and thus contemptlating membership.

[demodiki]

I would also say that most of the "happenings", not just meetings, happen in San Antonio. Living in Round Rock, it makes it difficult to feel a part of, or join in on these events.

[GaryP]

If I may, I'd like to make a suggestion.

The original purpose of the thread was to ask for your feedback on what changes or improvements to the club could be made that would make you feel like it was worthwhile to become a charter member. The discussion has strayed off topic a little. You concerns about website access have been heard and are being discussed now. Rather then all the reasons why you are not motivated to become a charter member, could you please provide some input as to what would motivate you.

Thanks

[NaCl_H2O]

Ok, I am as guilty as the next of getting this thread off-topic, Peter was attempting to get constrictuve input from Web Members on what would entice them to join, not what keeps them from joining.

The debate thread is Here (http://www.maast.org/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=18690), please utilize it for debating this issue and let's keep this one on topic.

Mods - please work to keep this on topic and possibly split inappropriate posts over to the other topic.

Thanks!

[Brett Wilson]

GaryP,

I think a readily accessible list of the stores that currently give a MAAST discount and how much that discount is would probably entice more people to pay dues (those that arent going to meetings/events, etc).

Also, the more online vendors (or out of town stores) you get to give a discount the more likely the people who dont live in San Antonio would be to pay dues as well...

Just an idea off the top of my head, one I can't say i've thought about for too long.

-Brett

[miked78231]

for every person that pays the 25.00 membership fee should get a 25.00 gift certificate to a LFS.

[Chris]

I think a readily accessible list of the stores that currently give a MAAST discount and how much that discount is would probably entice more people to pay dues (those that arent going to meetings/events, etc).

All of the local storefront MAAST Sponsors are listed in the Pet Store Listings (http://www.maast.org/stores.php), which are seperated by location.

[alton]

For every $250 you spend at a LFS that sponsors MAAST you get $25 back. That is a great incentive to join. I bought a pump and other material on Tuesday and saved $21. Very easy to get your $25 back. It's like buying something on tax free day every day!

[NaCl_H20_Taffy]

I'm joining at last & I don't go to the meetings or buy fish stuff. I have different hobbies, but they don't give discounts on the critters I'm interested in. But just the fact that, I love the for sale (not Aquarium stuff section & also the photography section) I love to see all kinds of photos of animals flowers etc & I prefer the ease of looking on this site for things I need. Also a very limited ad in the local newspaper, just for the weekend will run you as much as it does to become a charter member. And you can change & correct info yourself without calling & arguing with the ad people. Sign me up Steve ! :)

[NaCl_H2O]

Sign me up Steve ! :)
Done! PayPal sent, as soon as our Treasurer confirms ... I have an "In" with the administrator and can update your account status immediately ;)

Thanks - Love Ya (and I don't say that to all new Charter Members) :wub

[NewB]

I have had a SW tank set up for about 4 months. I was referred here about 2 months ago by a Charter member. I researched SW for about a year and a half. Most of the research was done on the MANY aquarium websites out there and reading books.

What appeals to me about this website is it is LOCAL(South Texas). It ofers an opportunity to interact and familiarize myself with LOCAL merchants and fellow aquarists.

I do plan on becoming a Charter member. Not for the discount at the varouis sponsors but for the simple fact that I don't want MAAST to fail.

I have some ideas for you. I won't go into specific details just vague ideas.

Incentive to join:

1. Online raffles/give aways. Allow Charter members not able to attend meetings an opportunity to win some of the great prizes that are offered at the meetings. (Post winners in the General forum for all to see.)

2. Have a Charter member and a Web Member of the month. Reward people for contributing to the MAAST website and it's members. ($20 local to winner FS or web sponsor gift certificate?) Remember that any Web member's are potentially Charter member's. ( I see people helping each other out all the time)

3. 1 free raffle ticket to any Charter member attending the MAAST meetings. Move these meetings around SA, Austin, Corpus, RGV. This will only encourage growth in those areas.

4. Post the MAAST goals for this year. What is MAAST doing this year to encourage growth and the sharing of knowledge in South Texas? (Forgive me is that is posted somewhere and I missed it.)

Financials: Why is this an issue?

If this is an issue for potential Charter members let them submit a request for disclosure. Is there anything top secret only Charter members should know about? I doubt it. Is there some really boring financial information? I'm sure there is.

I enjoy having MAAST as a resource. Before I came here I knew of 2 fish stores Texas Tropical and Fintique. I'm sure that eventually I would have found some of the MAAST sponsors but it has made it a lot easier.

[TroyPham]

good ideas NewB

[NaCl_H2O]

I have attempted to clean up this thread and remove "Debate" type replies, leaving the "What would entice me to join" replies. Everyone may not agree on what I split and what I didn't ... but I did it for "free", so you get what you pay for :P

Anyway, let's keep this one on topic and use the debate thread Here (http://www.maast.org/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=18690) for debate!

No posts were deleted, I am merging them into the other thread ...

[captexas]

I agree with rotating the meetings around to different areas. It used to be the goal was to rotate every other month between Austin and San Antonio. That has not been followed in quite some time and I know that has disenfranchised many of the Austin area people. I know it's not really feasable to have a meeting down in the Valley other than what the locals do on their own, but I think having one in Corpus at once or twice a year is good as well as returning to having more meetings in the Austin/Round Rock area. This includes not just regular monthly meetings, but also speakers and/or special events.

It's not just about getting a discount at a LFS. I was a charter member since there first was such as thing and never really got any discounts like that. I paid because at the time I was greatly involved in the club and beleived it was necessary to keep the club afloat at the time. The club has plenty of money now so I don't feel the need to chip in to keep it going and I haven't attended any meetings lately to participate in any of the other benefits Charter Members get, so I haven't renewed my membership for this year.

For now, I choose to enjoy the hobby through the website and talking to friends here and there that I have met. Yes, there is a value to using the website, but I can't see paying $25 a year just to use it, especially when it has always been free and I feel it should stay that way. Not because I am cheap or want to rip charter members off.

If it is that big a deal, then come up with some different levels of membership. I know there are tons of sites on the web that offer free intro periods and then after that you have to pay to continue using the site. Why not offer a 1 month or so free "Newbie" intro period and then after that they have to choose a level of membership? Perhaps they can then choose from Web Member only for say $5 a year for site use only without picture posting, $15 a year for Mid-level membership for site use, chat room use, and picture posting, or Charter membership for all of the above plus all the current great benefits Charter Members get. Continue with image galleries being Charter Members only. Maybe something along those lines would help get more people to join in some fashion and help contribute funds to the club.

Basically, not all people see the same value in paying $25 for numerous reasons, so maybe create different levels of value. Kind of like when you go to some stores and they offer a Good, Better, and Best selection.

[NaCl_H2O]

That's better Chris, thanks :)

BTW - Ping started this thread because I asked in the Charter's forum for someone to volunteer to start this, then sumarize it back into a post we have going there - Ping volunteered ... thanks Peter!

BTW Chris - In order to grow your post count faster, you should limit your individual posts to less than 500 word essays each ;) How often do you buy a new keyboard :blink

[GaryP]

Chris and I do group orders on keyboards. :)

[captexas]

And people say I'm too quiet! lol :P

[DaneDodger]

I'm new here so I don't know what all has been and haven't read all of this long thread. I hope folks will bear with me :D
It seems to me that most people simply want to know that they're getting a fair trade on their money. What people consider a fair trade or not varies but I think that goes to the old saying you can't please all of the people all of the time. All members can really do is vote to put people into the decision making offices that they feel will most likely give them as fair a trade as possible. If they don't feel a particular person has lived up to that they simply don't vote for him/her again.
Since I can't speak for anyone else on that I'll only speak for myself. A lot of this is probably already being done or at least worked on. I'd like to see regular meetings with varied topics of interest to the hobby (which could actually be polled or something to pick each topic thereby also giving members a say in what the club is covering which is always good), newsletters (again, written submissions from people following preset guidelines might be a good way to keep people involved), tank tours are always fun I hear, raffles, member discounts and such, and more lectures from guest speakers (even if they're not "famous" in the marine hobby world if they have superior knowledge of a particular topic it'd be worth hearing for me anyway). Also knowing that at least some of my money was going to good works such as educating the public or directly or indirectly through a well respected group fighting for things like better standards at our LFS, preserving our natural reefs, safe collection practices, captive breeding programs, etc.
Jenn

[DaneDodger]

Great gravy!! Did I forget group buys and frag swaps???? Mmmm fraaag swaaaps... (dreamin of the day I can frag and swap!!!!!)
Jenn

[NaCl_H2O]

Please see The Opinion Poll (http://www.maast.org/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=18868) Topic!

[JeremyGlen]

I would have to agree with captexas' ideas on multi-level membership.

I am the kind of person that gets on this site and starts a few threads, inputs on a couple others, and then doesn't even sign on for like a week or two. Other than selling and buying a couple of things, I haven't really done anything that makes me feel that I should pay for access to the site. I can usually go on eBay and sell things at a much higher price and usually more quickly than on this site, so anyone inferring that my sales have made enough for me to pay has been shot down. I prefer to sell my stuff on here to meet other people, see great tanks, and know that my fish and frags and such are going to good homes.

I don't really go to enough LFS's to even worry about the discount. First, I live in San Marcos and it costs me $10-$15 in gas just to get to any of the stores in Austin or SA. That alone kills my discount if I recieve one, much less the tax that I have to pay. I find it much more economical to order stuff for a much lower price and have it shipped to me for less than I would pay at the store anyway.

I would be willing to pay $10, maybe $15, for the access I have now.

As for the meetings, I am more willing to drive to Austin for a meeting because it is closer. I can drive to North Austin, almost RR, in the time it takes me to get to most of the places in SA. Even the meeting in Spring Branch was close to an hour drive one way. I wish we could have a meeting in San Marcos or New Braunfels. A little more "meeting in the middle"(no pun inten....well maybe) would be nice. The group buy I arranged seemed to work out better than most because there was a mid point and it wasn't Austinites having to drive more than an hour to get their stuff and pray it was still going to live all the way home.

Thats my 2 lincoln's

[motohead]

well,i am a little late in posting on this subject as i am not too active on this site.my take on it is this.the charter members are lucky that they voted not to restrict access to f/s to web members.they,"charter" members are the only ones who would have lost out on that one.we,as scumbag web members can and will take our buisiness elsewhere.i am think that out of two thousand some odd registered users and only 130 belonging to what i am now coming to believe is an elitist section of maast who really benefits from the f/s section?the answer is painfully obvious.must have been to the charters when it came time to vote.cause as i saw the results it is still unrestricted.also the benefit of much more knowledge from a very vast majority of people who frequent the site would have been lost.who does that hurt?newbies,thats who.instead of having 2000 or so folks to draw opinions from there would be alot less.i guarantee you that maast would have suffered greatly.just reading that thread,with some very unkind comments in there by certain "charters"almost makes me want to find a new board to frequent.but i have been coming to this board infrequently over the spaceof almost two years.i find maast to be very useful and have met a couple of very nice people.maybe you the "charters"should vote on a lowered membership rate for those who live in corpus,such as myself and a few others.the knowledge i have gained as well as a couple of aquaintances has been nice for me,but i also guaratee one can find those elsewhere.i truly would have had no problem paying 25 measly dollars to have helped maast out as far as support goes.but as far as raffles,door prizes,meetings,discounts and such do not affect me personally at all.i live in corpus.i am not driving to sa to have a slight chance at winning a frag or r/o unit or such.that is utterly ridiculous.but i do use the site to buy products,look at folks tanks,get help and offer it when i can.reading this thread makes me not want to pay the 25 bucks.doesnt the name of this"club"stand for marine aquarists of south texas?beginning to look like to me you should change it to marine elitists of san antonio.ill think about the 25 bucks and get back to ya. <_<

[captexas]

Um this is from back in April.

[motohead]

well,i am a little late in posting on this subject as i am not too active on this site.my take on it is this.the charter members are lucky that they voted not to restrict access to f/s to web members.they,"charter" members are the only ones who would have lost out on that one.we,as scumbag web members can and will take our buisiness elsewhere.i am think that out of two thousand some odd registered users and only 130 belonging to what i am now coming to believe is an elitist section of maast who really benefits from the f/s section?the answer is painfully obvious.must have been to the charters when it came time to vote.cause as i saw the results it is still unrestricted.also the benefit of much more knowledge from a very vast majority of people who frequent the site would have been lost.who does that hurt?newbies,thats who.instead of having 2000 or so folks to draw opinions from there would be alot less.i guarantee you that maast would have suffered greatly.just reading that thread,with some very unkind comments in there by certain "charters"almost makes me want to find a new board to frequent.but i have been coming to this board infrequently over the spaceof almost two years.i find maast to be very useful and have met a couple of very nice people.maybe you the "charters"should vote on a lowered membership rate for those who live in corpus,such as myself and a few others.the knowledge i have gained as well as a couple of aquaintances has been nice for me,but i also guaratee one can find those elsewhere.i truly would have had no problem paying 25 measly dollars to have helped maast out as far as support goes.but as far as raffles,door prizes,meetings,discounts and such do not affect me personally at all.i live in corpus.i am not driving to sa to have a slight chance at winning a frag or r/o unit or such.that is utterly ridiculous.but i do use the site to buy products,look at folks tanks,get help and offer it when i can.reading this thread makes me not want to pay the 25 bucks.doesnt the name of this"club"stand for marine aquarists of south texas?beginning to look like to me you should change it to marine elitists of san antonio.ill think about the 25 bucks and get back to ya. <_<

um,i don't care when it is from cap'n.i will still state what i think no matter how old it is.did you read the first part of the post where i said i was a little late in posting? :blink

[GaryP]

So who are you going to vote for, Ford or Carter?

[NaCl_H2O]

Hmm, MEOSA ... has a nice ring to it :P ;)

[Darth-Tater]

I like Wallace. He seems to be a bit on the radical side but a fair man for president. :blink I thought we beat to death this horse back in April :w00t There hasn't been too much bickering going on for a while.

DT

[LoneStar]

Now just remember, even though its in print does not mean its true!!!

http://www.seanet.com/~jimxc/Politics/dewey_defeats_truman1.jpg


:w00t :w00t :P

I'm a Truman fan myself :)

[motohead]

The question I would like to start a thread on is....

What could your club (MAAST) provide that would entice you to become a Charter Member.

I know many of you have provided an input addressing your personal situation to other threads stating pro's and con's of becoming a Charter member. These idea's are spread out in too many posts and our club needs to consolidate your opinions.

I would ask everyone, from the long time posters to the brand new members for their opinions. If nothing would entice you, then please post some reasons why. The point of this thread is to educate the BOD and all members on what "YOU" want from our club.

Please provide your opinions based on what the Web site and the club provide right now. Not opinions on the proposed changes. Mud slinging is acceptable; just make them well thought out articulated thoughts

Again: this is for Web Members opinions only. Thank you, Peter K.



once again,we have the charters coming up with evasive smart aleck remarks.let me ask this,what have you the charters done with the information gathered from this post and the debate post?maybe i am missing something here,but if the post is sooooo old,a couple of months old,something should have been discussed,or you all should have figured something out.or do you discuss that in the charter only forum?if nothing is to be done then state just that.if something is in the works to entice us webbies into being charters then state that.it is not so hard to come up with answers if something is ACTUALLY being done or discussed.what was the point of ping posting this question if it is just to be dropped?ya'll were so hot to get webbies to join,what now?

[cpreefguy]

:blink

[Darth-Tater]

Information? I guess smart aleck remarks are a privilage of being a martyer (I mean charter member) :skeezy

[motohead]

i guess if you want to be a smart aleck,first you need to know how to spell.privilege is how the word is spelled,so drop the a and add an e.also the word"martyer"is lost on me.i am guessing you meant"martyr"?if so,drop the e.i just thought i would post my opinion and ask some relevant questions but i can see that it is not going to work.ill just go back to being the quiet web member that i was i guess.if you do actually look on yourself as a martyr,you might want to slow down that ego a bit.on another note,hope you folks have a good monday. 8)

[GaryP]

motohead,

This was simply an idea that was brought up and subsequently dropped after we saw the response. Bringing it up again months later serves no purpose at this point. This thread will be locked because further discussion serves no purpose. It's a dead issue as far the BOD and charter members are concerned.

As always, we welcome any constructive criticism you may care to share with us. Thank you, and I hope you have a good monday too.

[SBreef]

And if you "DO NOT" have anything to add to the subject excepts for bad comments, KEEP it to yourself.
Gary, I think that except for the unwelcomed comments, the thread should be left open. Even if "Locked" members will still be able to read this thread, and start a new thread. I think that keeping this thread open, is a "Good" thing.

[GaryP]

Keep it open why?

To discuss a non-issue that died a cruel death months ago?

[SBreef]

How else can web members express themselves? And as Charter and BOD, members can we address these problems?

[Darth-Tater]

The point of mispelling the words was intentional. There has to be humor is someone who several months later finally logging on and reading a thread that was DEAD and respond to it just shows that there is humor in life. Oh yes I almost forgot. Bird Bird is having his 2nd annual event in July. This event is being held in Port A. Maybe that is close enuff for you to attend since you reside in Corpus. Maybe we can all get together web members and paying members sit in a circle around the fire and sing:

Kumbaya my lord, kumbaya
Kumbaya my lord, kumbaya
Kumbaya my lord, kumbaya
Oh lord, kumbaya

Someones singing lord, kumbaya
Someones singing lord, kumbaya
Someones singing lord, kumbaya
Oh lord, kumbayah

Someones laughing, lord, kumbaya
Someones laughing, lord, kumbaya
Someones laughing, lord, kumbaya
Oh lord, kumbaya

Someones crying, lord, kumbaya
Someones crying, lord, kumbaya
Someones crying, lord, kumbaya
Oh lord, kumbaya

Someones praying, lord, kumbaya
Someones praying, lord, kumbaya
Someones praying, lord, kumbaya
Oh lord, kumbaya

Someones sleeping, lord, kumbaya
Someones sleeping, lord, kumbaya
Someones sleeping, lord, kumbaya
Oh lord, kumbaya
Oh lord, kumbaya


Thank you for your comments.... Please drive thru

Let the flames continue..... :o

[brewercm]

BTW, all of this was brought up before the last vote (please see http://www.maast.org/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=18818) was taken to see what direction MAAST wanted to go in. At the time there were many different threads with different ideas of things that can be done to entice non-charters to become charter members. There was also discussion of bringing in new things for the existing charter members that are strictly for them. I was a large proponent of leaving the site the way it was and making additions for those who pay. I felt that this was fair and that if a charter member wanted to sell an item to only another charter member that was there prerogative. This is the reason that you are getting some of the responses that you are getting at this time.
Constructive criticism is always welcome and always will be. Blasting the members because over time a majority of them are now from the largest metropolitan area of the region that the club exists is not required or helpful. We have several members from the Corpus Christi area, and as a matter of fact we have been offered to have one of our meetings at one of these member’s houses. I am not sure if that is being pursued or not by the Meeting Committee at the moment (please become a charter member and join this committee if you really want to help the club). We are in the middle of a push to get more input and participation from our friends in the Austin area at this time also. We have a great old member moving back that has been asked and accepted to help in getting the Austin folks back involved with the club if they desire, but a focal point for the region. As stated before from David (Darth-Tater), we already have next months Port A trip planned, and I’m sure that you are signed up to be there.

So here then is a question for you, are you willing to do the same for the people that live in the gulf coast region and become a focal point for the club for that area? Get with the LFS’s in the area and see if you can convince them to come on board? Possibly get with the Texas State Aquarium and see if we can get them involved with a common cause that we share?

[motohead]

brewer,sbreef and gary,
Those are the kind of posts i was hoping to see.there is information in there that as i stated in my original post that since i was late on this thread,two months and some change late i probably missed out on.and i offered my opinion as to the posts question.
brewer,i would love to be of any help to further maast.if there is anything i can do living here in corpus such as speaking with the aquarium or hosting a meeting at my house i would gladly do so.as far as THE one lfs here in town i do not believe they are interested in maast in the slightest.the owner has been put off by some members here.thank you for posts that contained some actual information as to what has gone on since this post was originated and i missed out on.hope monday was good for ya'll,ours was too **** hot.

[i_love_pez]

If I may, I'd like to make a suggestion.

The original purpose of the thread was to ask for your feedback on what changes or improvements to the club could be made that would make you feel like it was worthwhile to become a charter member. The discussion has strayed off topic a little. You concerns about website access have been heard and are being discussed now. Rather then all the reasons why you are not motivated to become a charter member, could you please provide some input as to what would motivate you.

Thanks

thank you sir. i will make this reply short and simple.

if you want more charter members, dont restrict access for web members. also, as one other person said, meetings closer to round rock, austin and georgetown so that other members in those areas have a chance to participate.

thanks!

[Richard]

HERE (http://www.maast.org/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=9992&post days=0&postorder=asc&highlight=forum&start=0) is a better old thread to dig up.

[brewercm]

if you want more charter members, dont restrict access for web members. also, as one other person said, meetings closer to round rock, austin and georgetown so that other members in those areas have a chance to participate.

Roy has been begging folks in the Austin area for the last year to have a meeting back up in that area but we can't get anyone to step up. Please someone, anyone that wants and is willing to host a meeting in these areas please contact Roy (sbreef).

[i_love_pez]

that can present a problem. if theres no place to host it, then no meetings cannot be held.

if i still lived in austin, i would consider it. if yall dont mind having it at a muffler shop, i can call up my friend steven :P

[saltcreepette]

I'd host one but a word of warning; my house is tiny just under 1300 sq. ft.) . I am willing to work around that if people are willing to be a wee bit cramped. I've fit about thirty people in my living/dining/kitchen area which is all open. Y'all can let me know if you want me to host one. I am in Round Rock.

PS I even have a fishtank or two ;)

Hey I know what the topic can be....how to deal with hair algae and low calcium! Now all we need is a demo tank....pick me, pick me!

[SBreef]

Salt,

I will get with you to get something planned.

[i_love_pez]

one more thing. restricting web members from starting thread in the f/s forum will impact one crowd mainly. can you guess who thats gonna be, charter members?

if us lowly web members cannot sell our wares to you, where will you get your cheap gear from? most LFS's here keep a small supply of used gear. most keep brand new gear, i would guess because theyre a business and not a second hand/consignment store.

seriously, restrict the f/s forum and MAAST as a whole will lose out on the great deals that the web members offered. id be more partial to donate 5-10$ every now and then, like when i have leftover money in my bank account that i use for buying fish stuff.

im really surprised you dont have a DONATE NOW link on the left side of the page over there
<<<<------------

that might be something yall might want to add soon :)

[blueboy]

let it go