# Future meeting schedule



## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

At the meeting today, we discussed going to a quarterly meeting schedule, with the next meeting being in early December.

How do members who could not attend today feel about this?

--Michael


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## CrownMan (Sep 12, 2005)

I like the idea. It gives us some time to organize, acquire and grow some new plants, form some direction in our aquatic plant growing and sharing, lineup a few Fish/plant stores in the area and discuss the general topics that keep us meeting.

Let's hope the non antendees chime up as well.


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## fishyjoe24 (May 18, 2010)

I think that is a good ideal because it will give us time to grow and get more people involed. plus it will be closer to the holiedays and people will be out of school/or people with kids will have more time off I think. then we could do a holiday get together and have free give away or we could do something for the community... 

like the fish gallery ideal I had setup a planted tank, and read stories to the kids.


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## digital_gods (Apr 23, 2010)

I sent out a message asking if Mac Fan would be willing to host our Christmas party this year from hearing of they have hosted in years past.


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## Ekrindul (Jul 3, 2010)

As food for thought, I pulled this from the Greater Seattle Aquarium Society (GSAS) website http://www.gsas.org/:

"Meetings
GSAS usually meets the second Tuesday of each month at 7:30 PM, at Seattle Pacific University in North Queen Anne.

Our meeting location is in Otto Miller Hall (aka Miller Science Learning Center) on the campus of Seattle Pacific University but closer to the canal at the intersection of 3rd Ave West and West Nickerson, on the canal side, across the street from the bank and the gym. Free parking in the lot at 3rd and Nickerson, and also on the street. Recently we have been in room 127 for most meetings, but also 109 for "big speakers" and across the street at the gym for auctions. here is Google's location of the building.

We break for the summer months of July and August and hold no formal meetings. However, we do arrange a picnic during this time period.

Over the course of a year, meetings will cover a wide variety of topics appealing to both the beginning and advanced aquarist. Meetings are usually focused around a guest speaker who is either a local or nationally known expert and range from discussions about koi ponds, to explanations of the cutting edge of marine aquaria technology, to tips on fish breeding and raising your own live food without annoying your neighbors.

The months of February and April are especially important for the GSAS because this is when we hold our plant and general auctions respectively. These auctions are a major source of income financing our philanthropy and general funds. They're also a great opportunity to find unusual livestock and dry-goods, and generally have a hectically good time. "


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## fishyjoe24 (May 18, 2010)

/\------------- that looks wonder if we can work out that?


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## Ekrindul (Jul 3, 2010)

I sent an email to the officer within GSAS responsible for their auctions to see if he can provide us with some details of how they conduct and structure their auctions. I'll share his response once I receive it.


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## digital_gods (Apr 23, 2010)

Josh, good job on finding that info.


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## AquaCamp (May 31, 2010)

There was a lot of discussion about setting up auctions in order to raise funds for the club. For an example: The Houston Aquarium Society has an auction this weekend, follow this link to their site if you want to see more details:

http://www.houstonaquariumsociety.org/AUCTION PAGE-Fall2.htm

It also fleshes out some of the Auction Rules. I know from just being an observer/buyer at the TCA Auctions, these events take a ton of planning and lots of volunteers to pull one off. Just check out the rules for this weekends auction, I bet every one of those has a story behind it...



> HOUSTON AQUARIUM SOCIETY
> 
> AUCTION RULES
> 
> ...


It would be quite a commitment to try and put something like that together.


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## Ekrindul (Jul 3, 2010)

Here's some of the information regarding the auctions GSAS conducts, courtesy of Phil Lacefield, Jr., who runs their auctions.

"Q: Just a general idea of how GSAS has structured the auctions would be great.

A: We have a mini-auction after ever club meeting (our next one is tomorrow night, I'll see if I can get our A/V guy to tape it and post it so you can see what it's like), usually lasts 60-90 minutes after the meeting. In February we'll have a VERY short talk, if any, then spend the rest of the night on our plant-only auction. In April, we pick a Saturday and have a Big General Auction, our biggest fundraiser of the year and a whole day's solid work.

Q: Where the items for auctions come from? members, sponsors, etc. How involved are sponsors in the process? How are the proceeds handled?

A: For the monthly meeting auctions, members bring in fish, plants, gear, what have you. If it's a donation to the club, it is labeled as such; otherwise, it's a "split", and we split the difference with them 50/50. Most times the folks bringing in stuff to sell have spent far more than they earn anyway, so we rarely pay out much money at the end of the night.

For the two big auctions, I contact national and international vendors and manufacturers of aquaria, let them know well in advance (like, say, this month) about our spring auctions, and keep hammering them for donations until they either tell me to go away or we get something out of them. Mostly I hit them up for the big one in April, and last year we had several thousand dollars' worth of donations from all over the place - Hagen, Red Sea, Tetra, all manner of companies big and small.

The amount of donations vary from year to year - last year was actually one of our smallest donation years, what with the economy, but we STILL got a buttload of stuff. We try to make sure every sponsor gets a thank you card, and gets added to our newsletter list if they'd like it. We in turn make sure their company links are on the GSAS webpage year-round, and point out to site visitors that they were generous sponsors. I get my list from perusing ads in TFH and other magazines, adding new vendors to my years-old database and editing out ones that don't participate or are defunct. Some companies are quick to donate lots and lots of not only cool auction items, but big piles of free samples and brochures as well; others are notoriously stingy and hard to contact, and we're lucky to get so much as a response out of them *[I removed the company names Phil mentioned]* (although to be fair, they both did donate nice piles last year, which was odd).

Q: I believe I had heard GSAS split proceeds between the provider of the item sold and the club. If so, how successful has this been? Does it encourage participation in the auctions? Who is the auction open to? members only, general public?

A: Splits are VERY successful, and encourage folks to bring in excess plants and critters not only to sell, but to give them some credits to buy MORE stuff that they don't already have! Donations vary from month to month, but on average I'd say that maybe 1/3 of our lots each month are straight donations. The auctions are open to members and non-members alike, but we really encourage non-members to sign up before the auction, as our bidding process is made MUCH easier if they use their membership number as their bidder card. I'll attach our auction rules below so you can get a feel for them.

Q: As I said, at this point were are simply trying to restructure the organization *[edited the remainder of my own remark here]*. We are looking for ideas that would encourage new membership, make the club more exciting for all and open up our options going forward. It seems GSAS has a great plan in place, and could provide a path for the DFWAPC to follow.

A: We've been very fortunate the last few years, and have almost $*[removed amount]* in the bank to pay for guest speakers to fly in from all over the world. We sometimes split the cost of this with the Vancouver (B.C.) Aquatic Hobby Club, so that they get to hear the speakers too, since they're only three hours north of us across the border. In addition, the ADA and sometimes the AGA help cover the cost of speakers that relate to those particular clubs and their agendas.

I run the auctions very loose and fast. I'm an auctioneer professionally in a previous life, but I don't run my mouth the whole time yammering like your traditional auctioneer. I will almost always start an item at one dollar, then keep raising it until I only see one hand left; that hand gets it for that price. My wife is the auction tracker, and we use a very complex Excel sheet on a laptop that automatically tracks what you've sold, what you bought and how much we/you owe at the end of the night. It's impossible to use this without using membership numbers as bidder numbers, by the way!"

I did remove the dollar amount they have managed to raise through auction, but from the activities he lists that they've managed to cover with the revenue, it is pretty obvious they have been successful. Needless to say, it was a very impressive amount. Much more than dues could bring in easily. It would be alot of work, but it would bring alot of reward.

Lastly, the guidelines used by GSAS are very similar to those used by HAS that AquaCamp pointed out above:

"AUCTION GUIDELINES

As our monthly post-meeting auctions continue to grow in support of the HAP and BAP programs, we will implement the following changes, starting with the October 2010 meeting. Any questions, please feel free to ask a board member!

1. Membership numbers: Your GSAS membership number will be your bidding number; you can find your number on your membership card, or we will have the master database at the meeting to look it up for you (but most are quite easy to memorize.) At the beginning of the meeting, someone will walk around (or we will have a table) and ask if you intend on bidding in the night's auction; if you do, you'll get a white card with your membership number written on it in BIG BLACK SHARPIE so the auctioneer can see it clearly.

2. Lot limits: We have decided to limit the number of LOTS you can sell at the monthly auctions to FIVE; each LOT can contain up to FIVE items, but they must be IDENTICAL items, e.g. five bags of 12 shrimp each. If any of these five items is in any way different (say, four fish each in four bags but only two in one bag), this would become two lots (one of four bags and one of one bag). If the items in the lot are in ANY way different, the auctioneer reserves the right to break them up or reject them from the bidding.

3.Bag etiquette: Fish of all kinds should be bagged (double-bagged is preferred) and rubber-banded in tall fish bags; if you don't have any handy, your favorite pet store should sell you some cheap. Jars and other containers are okay for SMALL fish and shrimp. NO ZIPLOC BAGS FOR FISH! Small, lightweight plants can be placed in Ziplocs, but if the plant requires a bit of water to stay alive it needs to be in a tall fish bag.

All items placed in the auction MUST display in clearly-written block text the following pieces of information:

- membership number (unless the item is a donation)

- if the item is a SPLIT or a DONATION

- scientific name of item, if known

- common name of item, if known

- quantity/sex/pairs/etc of item in bag

- any additional brief information

This info may either be written on the bag IN PERMANENT MARKER ONLY, or you may use a label; it is your responsibility to keep the labels clear, dry and legible. If you feel your handwriting is not clear enough for the auctioneer to read, please ask someone else at the meeting to write it for you, we will provide Sharpies for this purpose (pro tip: writing on the bag before you put anything in it gives much better results!)

4. If you have an unusually large fish that needs to travel by bucket, make SURE to bring along a heater and air stone to keep them alive during the meeting!

5. Equipment and other non-living items should also display the same information on masking tape or a label, and include such descriptions as "WORKS", "NEEDS BULBS", etc.

6. If the item is a DONATION, your membership number is not required; if you forget to put your membership number on the bag, it becomes a donation! The auctioneer reserves the right to reject or sell as a donation anything that can't be clearly read.

We hope that these guidelines will give our membership a quicker and more enjoyable auction experience every month. If this system works well for us; we may look at adopting some of the aspects of it for our big auctions in the spring. As always, any questions, just ask!"


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## fishyjoe24 (May 18, 2010)

/\----------- really good stuff. does any one thing dfwapc should do a auction?


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## digital_gods (Apr 23, 2010)

I think to get started, lets piggy back off the Cichlids auction to start off with. Everything sold is donated by us and the proceeds goes to benefit DFWAPC.


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## fishyjoe24 (May 18, 2010)

digital_gods said:


> I think to get started, lets piggy back off the Cichlids auction to start off with. Everything sold is donated by us and the proceeds goes to benefit DFWAPC.


cool the tca auction is this month on the 24th.


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## digital_gods (Apr 23, 2010)

When is the next TCA auction. I think that would give us more time to better prepair for it.


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## fishyjoe24 (May 18, 2010)

digital_gods said:


> When is the next TCA auction. I think that would give us more time to better prepair for it.


I think some time around march or April.


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## digital_gods (Apr 23, 2010)

I got good news everybody. MacFan has agreed to let us have our Christmas Party over at their place. Get ready to whip up your famous mystery dishes because we going Potluck style. I'll keep you posted with details as they develop.


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## snowball2020 (May 26, 2004)

sweet! I've been eyeing Mac's tank for quite some time now... he has some amazing tanks


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## fishyjoe24 (May 18, 2010)

cool, thanks macfan.


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