Meeting Format Due to Club Growth

[ingg]

Some good questions Kevin!

I know I watched a trend - we had 25+ at 4 of the past 6 meetings, and 30+ at the last two or three, and never under 20 - except one I wasn't sure on.

Those'd be -

Robert's - 25+
Jeff's - Dunno I couldn't make it, was it 20+?
John's - 20+
Viktor's - 25+ - this one mighta hit 30 people, that was a full house.
My house - 35 or so, we didn't get a good final count, but know it was over 30..
Rick's - 39

5 of those 6 meetings were in Maryland. Sheesh, we need to try and get better about rotating, huh?

I don't know if we have the membership by geography - I mean, I know we do, I just don't know if the data has ever been sorted that way. Oh, Kri-is....

I know there is a pretty big concentration right around catonsville/columbia/laurel (Joe, Kris, Aaron, Jeff U., Marge, Cristy, Judi, Blaise, Frannie isn't far off, and whoever else I'm omitting), and I know there is another one around the reston/springfield/alexandria sort of area(Mark, Michael, Ghazanfar, John, Rick, Jeff L., Rob, Donkeyfish (omg poor girl I keep forgetting her name, I am awful) and whoever else I am omitting).

[Ltrepeter2000]

I voted against a hall as well. I dont think that the atmosphere of an auditorium lends itself to people actually getting to know one another even if they are large meetings. I know that this will limit the number of people that can host legitimately but for those that are not able to host I wouldnt mind seeing us set up a tank tour or a once every other month open house to visit different members set ups that want people to see them. There would have to be controls so that the members place doesnt get overwhelmed but still something that I think would benefit the members and the group.

I also like the auction but think that there need to be some limitations. Possibly preregistration of items so that 1) someone doesnt miss the entire meeting typing the list into a computer 2) Cuts down on the last minute items 3) Makes it visible quickly if we are going to have an overabundance of a certain plant so that there are limits to how many of each are actually in the auction. I think that this would keep the auction alot more organized and give everyone an idea of what to expect.

I am also against splitting the group up as I think that would degrade the knowledge base and the quality of the meetings.

If the meetings grow exponentially then I might rethink my comments but I think as we are now that its a good place to be.

Thanks
Rob

[finman57]

Wow, What a tough one.

In the first few years of CCA it was always at someones house. I loved that but it became too much for some and we found our selves meeting at the same few homes. Attendance dropped off when we hit the same house for the 3rd time in a year. The difference here is that we were a lot smaller than GWAPA at that time and there were less houses to choose from.
Moving to a standard location has advantages but it does change the feel of a club. When we first moved to Layhill, I really missed the houses but we could never have had the presentations by speakers that we have now at a home. Having Ad at my house with the attendance we had would not have worked. Heck where would I have put the cars. LOL let alone the wings..

I do not envy the Board with this decision. No matter what you do, you will not make everyone happy. You just have to decide what is best for the group as a whole. I loose sleep over these types of decisions at CCA.

[Ltrepeter2000]

Donkeyfish = Jen

[Spine]

I would like to keep meeting at members houses.

But I also know we need to look into the future. Maybe we could do the Layhill thing for 1 or 2 special events a year. This might allow us to probe and prod our way slowly into the future. We need to try something to answer some of these new questions.

[krisw]

Rob, you don't have a bad idea regarding doing tank tours independent of our decision here. You also have some good ideas for the auction that we could investigate. We could also ask for some soft limitations such as not bring multiple bags of items, unless all of them contain massive amounts of plants, and then, limit to 2 bags of any given plant type per seller. Or, something like a 5 bag per seller limit. Of course, that could penalize the advanced hobbyist from sharing the wealth of being able to grow multiple plants well, and wanting to share them throughout the club. For now, the auctions are large, but manageable. I think Aaron/Jeff did a great job balancing speed with explanation at the last auction, as it seemed to move faster than the meeting before, despite having more items. I think we ought to stick with the dual auctioneer system in the future.

Pat, I'm really glad that you chimed in here, as CCA has a wealth of knowledge on this subject, as you've already been through the process of tremendous growth. Same with Mike about the Chesapeake marine club. Pat, would you say that Layhill is more work for you (the board) than meeting at homes? Do you have to do more prep work for each meeting verses leaving most of that to the hosts?

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

Possibly preregistration of items so that 1) someone doesnt miss the entire meeting typing the list into a computer 2) Cuts down on the last minute items 3) Makes it visible quickly if we are going to have an overabundance of a certain plant so that there are limits to how many of each are actually in the auction. I think that this would keep the auction alot more organized and give everyone an idea of what to expect.
Rob

I REALLY like this idea - regardless of the current topic at hand.
It the next step from posting up what we're bringing to the meeting.
It can go right into Kris's auction database and it'll show folks what's
going to be at the auction. Link the items to images and basic information
about the item and you'll eliminate some of the questions that come up
during the auction and help speed it along.

Great idea Rob!

[krisw]

I REALLY like this idea - regardless of the current topic at hand.
It the next step from posting up what we're bringing to the meeting.
It can go right into Kris's auction database and it'll show folks what's
going to be at the auction. Link the items to images and basic information
about the item and you'll eliminate some of the questions that come up
during the auction and help speed it along.

The only problem I see with this is that the submissions would have to be done by say 11:00am on meeting day, so that I'm sure to have time to download the lists to my laptop. For me, I usually don't know what I'm bringing until about that time on the meeting morning. That said, if I can find time to build the pages/system required for this, I'd be willing to try it out to see how it worked.

[Ltrepeter2000]

Thanks Ghaz....its something that kind of came up at CCA about their auctions and peoples questions and after dwelling on how large our last two auctions were I just felt that their needed to be some guidelines. Dont get me wrong, I think its fantastic that there are this many people contributing but there are certain plants that create a logjam.

I am not really in favor of limiting the number of plants an individual can bring for exactly the same reason that Kris spoke to. I think that the more the senior members bring and spread the better off the club tanks are. Even if newer members kill off the plants it creates discussion on here and promotes learning.

I just think that if we limit the number of bags that can be brought of a certain plant and eveyone knows coming in what to expect to be there it makes it easier for newer members to get an idea of what to expect and research what they can or cannot currently grow with their setups.

It will also make it easier on the host when deciding where would be a good place to place the auction items when they come in to the home so that they do not interfere with people participating in the meeting topic.

The auctions at the meetings are one of the things that I think makes this club a great place to learn and grow in this hobby because without them there are many plants that would not have been available to me with the selection in many of the LFS being barren(Scales excluded) I am not really in favor of the combined auctions as I think that will drive up the prices and make alot of items unaffordable for many of the newer members that are hesitant to try the plants in the first place. The low prices, for the most part, create a chance to try new things. I have always been impressed with how many of the plants that the senior members share that they easily could have gotten much more for on Aquabid or other sites.

[finman57]

Pat, I'm really glad that you chimed in here, as CCA has a wealth of knowledge on this subject, as you've already been through the process of tremendous growth. Same with Mike about the Chesapeake marine club. Pat, would you say that Layhill is more work for you (the board) than meeting at homes? Do you have to do more prep work for each meeting verses leaving most of that to the hosts?

I would say it is more work for me only because I also bring the food every month. When it was in houses, the host provided most and I would bring one item. Now I do the shopping and bring everything. And yes, my truck is full every month with the food the raffle, membership, shirts, auction, and other items I bring. But, that being said, I have it down to a science and it is second nature. The only work at the sight is setting my stuff up and the tables and chairs if they need to be moved. It takes Tracey and I a good bit of time at home loading with what we bring, but we would have to do most of that at a home too.

The nice thing about having one spot for meetings is any member or prospective member knows where it is even if they don't have email or a computer or forget to look. Yes I know that is not many people now days but we got our first member last meeting without either. lol
All my ads and flyers show the meeting location.
We had people show up at houses on the wrong days(i did it my 3rd month. Remember Fracine?) and had people show up at the wrong house on the wrong month.lol
I do miss seeing set ups at peoples houses but I do not plan on moving back to homes. We had 42 adults and some kids at the last one. My house would hold that but not in one room or one floor.
We picked LayHill because of Francine and it was centrally located for us at the time. We too have members from several states. So it still works for now.
(I know I type too much. Sorry)