Gauging interest: Starting another Chicago area reef club

[Tethered_Limbs]

 

[jm23]

A few additional thoughts:

CR fulfills the role of a club, with the exception of local meetings and swap meets. The nice thing about a forum is receiving daily feedback with questions, problems, exciting additions, etc. that you might have. On one hand this fulfills the need of monthly meetings, on the other hand getting to meet with people face to face and just sharing each others company is what draws people too. I don't want to see CR become an "official club" as those who can't afford to pay for membership should not be excluded from the benefits of this forum. This forum has been a safe-haven (with the occasional street fight, mean-mugging, beefing, or scrap) and CR's leaderships choice to remain hands off for the most part has been a big part of that. People are allowed to post their thoughts, other websites, FS threads, etc without getting banned. I know there is the occasional time when someone needs to be put back in line, but the community seems to be almost unified in doing that before the leadership has to step in.

I would like to see CR organize more local events (or assist local members in setting one up) such as the BBQ coming up. I would also like to see a CR sponsored swap meet in the future (which I would be happy to assist with, that blows any prior swap meet out of the water). Other then that I see nothing else that is lacking and no reason to start up a completely separate club, when the structure is already in place here.

 

[Tank2379]

We have about 3 or 4 other Clubs in Illinois some are closer to others.

JARC- Also has meetings going every month I believe
BNARC
Rockford Reefeers
CMAS

I believe there are others but it's the same people in the same clubs all over so starting another Reef Club really is going to be another club to join in Illinios... But i'm down for whatever....

 

[Herbie]

Mike was not interested making CR affiliated with any club.

Mike is not interested in having the members of ChicagoReefs be told what they can and can't do on the forum buy a club. there's a big difference

There's also a big difference between a club and a 501 c3 tax exempt organization. I doubt most biker gangs get a lawyer to help them form their club. they just put a patch on their jacket. What you have to do depends on what you want to do

 

[caragol]

CR fulfills the role of a club, with the exception of local meetings and swap meets.

I'm kind of going in this line of thinking. I'm not too into the CMAS-like meetings and whatnot, so other than a swap, all of the comradery, mentoring, product reviews, contests (ex: grow-out) and help can be found here. I pay my dues by supporting the local sponsors who support the site. I like the small get-togethers and BBQs. I'm not sure what a club would actually more than this? Maybe I'm not thinking big enough. What kind of cool things could be organized other than a swap? Training events?

Edit: I suppose I could pay by dues by being a paying member of CR too. Maybe it's time to for me to say thanks.

 

[Aquaman]

Sorry guys I'm new here so I probably dont count but should't we get back to the basics??? What was the purpose for this club in the first place??

1) to meet fellow reefers and enjoy the hobby
2) help and educate the noobs (such as myself) to further grow the hobby
3) to buy trade and sell with fellow reefers
4) to have events...gettogethers...and contest (to make the hobby fun and interesting)
5) but most of all to enjoy this hobby

I thought we were already dooing that (hell I didnt even know what cmas was till yesterday) ..from what I see is when everyone wants to label everything ...and call it theirs.... then it becomes too structured and the hobby suffers.... its all about having fun I thought ?? My personal opinion.. is it all sounds like a big dick wave ...mabe im missing the point...if I am please tell me so ...

 

[Herbie]

I'm going to throw out there that I hope the swap tomorrow shows us that CMAS is back on track and headed in the direction that we may be able to work within the existing titles to get exactly what everyone is looking for here. I support change for the better in any form, but change is certainly easier from within.

Also, ChicagoReefs is exactly what you guys make it. We are a club and a forum and a swap meet and a hang-out all in one 24/7. I see no reason why we can't (we will) eventually have the structure and staff in place to hold actual CR hosted events. I also see no reason why that can't be in concert with the events of the other organizations in the area. In the mean time, the self-started events that you have come up with, and the gracious donations to our organic member events from Mike(Eyereef) and our sponsors have been a great way to keep spreading the word and tightening the bonds here.

CMAS certainly has a history, but CR is relatively young still. I think baby steps toward the goal of unified reefing are best suited here. I do love some constructive discussion and optimistic creativity though. Like my 4 year old told me the other day; "You can't do if you don't try" (this was while he was refusing to eat his tilapia though).

 

[Jep21]

I'm going to throw out there that I hope the swap tomorrow shows us that CMAS is back on track and headed in the direction that we may be able to work within the existing titles to get exactly what everyone is looking for here. I support change for the better in any form, but change is certainly easier from within.

Also, ChicagoReefs is exactly what you guys make it. We are a club and a forum and a swap meet and a hang-out all in one 24/7. I see no reason why we can't (we will) eventually have the structure and staff in place to hold actual CR hosted events. I also see no reason why that can't be in concert with the events of the other organizations in the area. In the mean time, the self-started events that you have come up with, and the gracious donations to our organic member events from Mike(Eyereef) and our sponsors have been a great way to keep spreading the word and tightening the bonds here.

CMAS certainly has a history, but CR is relatively young still. I think baby steps toward the goal of unified reefing are best suited here. I do love some constructive discussion and optimistic creativity though. Like my 4 year old told me the other day; "You can't do if you don't try" (this was while he was refusing to eat his tilapia though).

Well said..


I think we have the speaker of the group

 

[poidog]

Mike is not interested in having the members of ChicagoReefs be told what they can and can't do on the forum buy a club. there's a big difference

This was never the idea or intent at the time. CR was just to play host to the "new club"

CR fulfills the role of a club

Jon, CR is a for-profit business, it's not a club. However I do agree with you it does serve as a "virtual club"

 

[skunkmere]

I think a new club would be great.
~ something small
~ less vendor control/participation
~ break even profits
~ swaps in Chicago Proper
~ smaller swaps
~ no buy in raffles or at least keep it small and fair.\
~ NO Alpha Dog Leadership.

 

[Herbie]

This was never the idea or intent at the time. CR was just to play host to the "new club"

You'll note that we have no issue with the affiliation by proxy with CMAS BNARC or any of the other clubs that announce their business on here today. The exclusivity of the relationship between CR and CMAS was regarded as lopsided and there was pressure to have any live events held as CMAS and not CR hosted events. CR has no reason to accept that type of limitation.

Definitely true that CR is a privately owned piece of intellectual property while CMAS is a "member controlled" club. That difference is certainly important if you disagree with the course of either entity, but I sometimes look at it like trying to do business with a government vs. a business. The business has a reason to keep any and every customer happy, the government is only concerned about keeping their most influential voting constituents happy. Sometimes your opinion matters more when you don't have a way to vote it. . .

The past business with CMAS and CR is unimportant to this thread though and any past business was with a very different board at CMAS. The beauty of all of this is that there is only room for growth in the relationship if that growth is deemed best for the reefers (by the reefers).

 

[BigBarnacles]

CR is, IMO, the best social media outlet for us local reefers. I think regardless of whatever group you join, CR is the place to socialize. It's a great forum. I believe BigKev's purpose is related to non-online social meet ups and gatherings. Just as CMAS organizes swaps and contributes to the reefing community I believe BigKev, as well as many other reefers including myself, just want to add another organized form of reef related socializing. Get togethers that lack politics and that form of hierarchy that come with being in a typical reef group. A group that is maybe focused more on the social aspect of reefing. Who wouldn't like being in a group that hosts their monthly meets at a forest preserve BBQ, Baseball game, brewpub, etc? I think the idea of backyard/garage frag swaps happening on a regular basis would be great.

 

[bryman]

It seems antisocial, but maybe a "virtual" club is all we need? There's so much more information on the web now about reefing that all you need to do is a Google search on just about any topic. Answers to questions are available 24/7 on CR and RC. I think here at CR people are especially helpful too. You lose networking opportunities without the events, but you also lose complexity and formality of a club.

Seminars can be done via WebEx/GoToMeeting and people can attend from the privacy of their own homes no matter how far away they are. Maybe video conferencing meeting rooms can be offered to full CR members too so they can talk via video for advice, etc, at any time. Maybe sponsors will offer full CR members discounts. CR can help organize trips going to bigger events like MACNA or other regional frag swaps. It would allow the virtual club to function "on demand" when and where people want it.

What benefits are lost in this setup? It completely eliminates the overhead of running a physical club.

 

[poidog]

The past business with CMAS and CR is unimportant to this thread though and any past business was with a very different board at CMAS. The beauty of all of this is that there is only room for growth in the relationship if that growth is deemed best for the reefers (by the reefers).

I never brought up any of the past business with CR and CMAS, none of that involved and/or concerned me. I was referencing when another, different, Chicago based reef club tired to form and approached CR for involvement.

 

[BigKev23]

Personally, I feel that if something like this got off the ground, CR would definitely be the "host" more or less. Everyone is already here, so why not use that to our advantage.

 

[Herbie]

CR is, IMO, the best social media outlet for us local reefers. I think regardless of whatever group you join, CR is the place to socialize. It's a great forum. I believe BigKev's purpose is related to non-online social meet ups and gatherings. Just as CMAS organizes swaps and contributes to the reefing community I believe BigKev, as well as many other reefers including myself, just want to add another organized form of reef related socializing. Get togethers that lack politics and that form of hierarchy that come with being in a typical reef group. A group that is maybe focused more on the social aspect of reefing. Who wouldn't like being in a group that hosts their monthly meets at a forest preserve BBQ, Baseball game, brewpub, etc? I think the idea of backyard/garage frag swaps happening on a regular basis would be great.

to that point, please feel free to utilize the "groups" section on here for that purpose. It's a great feature that I think is a little under utilized. Shoot, you could start a whole club right there probably.

 

[Herbie]

I never brought up any of the past business with CR and CMAS, none of that involved and/or concerned me. I was referencing when another, different, Chicago based reef club tired to form and approached CR for involvement.

oh, my apologies. I was obviously not aware of that. That is also the beauty of CR in that relationships can be reviewed selectively based on perception of the impact rather than simply because the constituents demand it. I'm sure whatever descision was rendered was made in the best interest of the members.

 

[Joe5688]

I think everything is fine the way it is. Why ruin a good thing? Instead of making up another club, why not use what we have and use it to it's fullest. We already have an "online virtual club" Why not just start doing new things? I personally have hosted numerous unofficial and official CR Outings. Some of u may not know it but a lot of things are kept to the "tight group" that we on CR have.

Improve on what we have instead of trying to remake something that already exist.

 

[icedearth15324]

I use CR as a way to get information, buy/sell stuff, and chat about things. I use my local club (Joliet Area Reef Club) for the personal experience. We have BBQs, private shopping events at LFS, bowling trips, etc.

If CR were to make their own official group, I think there are enough people to make it work. There would just need to be guidelines and an organizational chain established before the club is made.

 

[Tank2379]

If you start another club your still going to get the same people that Join CMAS, JARC, BANARC, and most are here. I'm just trying to figure out what are the benefits going to be in this new club? CR is already a Club by itself, many members are doing offical and unoffical frag swap and meetings like Joe stated. I think CR is good and has enough people to form it's own Mega Frag Swap or Meetings... You have enough sponsors on this site to donate to you're events even... It's all about Participation within a club and it seems as if everyone like the Name Chicago Reefs instead of Chicago Marine Aquarium Society just with the same people.