Fresh Ideas for MASC Meetings

[MuralReef]

I’d love the Denver Aquarium behind the scenes tour.

I also like the idea of a tour of area tanks. Maybe one month North end one month South end? In Washington, we had similar events and it also gave us a chance to see a few tanks not in public space or private homes that we normally wouldn’t get the chance to see (businesses with private displays?) If anyone knows of tanks that fit that description and you have the connections to make it happen.

Garage sale.


A few random ideas:

Educational workshop series where we can hone our skills and learn new ones. These are good for new reefers and experienced as well. We all get stuck in our DIY traditions. Acrylic, plumbing, lighting, building a stand....

Possibly incorporate the DIY series into building an entire reef or fish only system composed of donated items and donate it at the end to a children’s hospital or something similar. Use your imagination. Good PR for MASC and a good cause if we could make it a reality. I guess the question is who will do the maintenance on the tank long term. It’s just a crazy idea. I would donate some equipment to the cause to make it happen.

Your mention of the businesses with private displays gave me an idea. Maybe we can do a series of tours to local businesses that have displays that are maintained by our vendors. I don't know how it would work but many of our vendors also maintain a wide range of tanks through out the metro area. It could showcase their work and give us a chance to check out some cool displays.

We used to do educational demos and got away from that. This is something that we should revive and incorporate videos that cover the demonstration that we could post to the site.

 

[SkyShark]

Let’s get Vonn Miller to host a meeting! I know he has a sweet tank. Anyone best buds with Vonn???

 

[Mermaid Gardens]

I like all those ideas. Especially the downtown aquarium.

Also would be willing to host a meeting sometime . I know some of you would like to see our ocean.

 

[asn-naso]

if you do the LFS tour, have a small contest at each store. the better you do at each contest, will award you with points, tickets or cards. The person at the end with the highest score wins ____ from one of our sponsors

 

[jda123]

A contest about starting a tank from scratch with a limited budget and with some rules - 40G max and $500 to $1000 for the whole year. $50 or $100 club donation to get in (for prizes). Then, after one year, there was a tour and everybody got to see what everybody else accomplished with the same budget and time. We carpooled around at checked out the best ones. The top few gave 30 minute talks at a meeting about how they were successful and why they did what they did. Build thread and one-year update and photos were mandatory. We played for some huge items like CaRx, lights, etc. that most everybody would want and had great participation. This was the best way that new folks could latch onto a single system or routine that worked for them. There was a huge spike of new and good tanks after this.

What we found is that the best hobbyists tended to be near the top and did a good job. Those are exactly the ones who you want to participate more and speak about methods, technique, etc. and have people into their homes to see their work.

This is a long and meticulous process, though.

 

[SynDen]

A contest about starting a tank from scratch with a limited budget and with some rules - 40G max and $500 to $1000 for the whole year. $50 or $100 club donation to get in (for prizes). Then, after one year, there was a tour and everybody got to see what everybody else accomplished with the same budget and time. We carpooled around at checked out the best ones. The top few gave 30 minute talks at a meeting about how they were successful and why they did what they did. Build thread and one-year update and photos were mandatory. We played for some huge items like CaRx, lights, etc. that most everybody would want and had great participation. This was the best way that new folks could latch onto a single system or routine that worked for them. There was a huge spike of new and good tanks after this.

What we found is that the best hobbyists tended to be near the top and did a good job. Those are exactly the ones who you want to participate more and speak about methods, technique, etc. and have people into their homes to see their work.

This is a long and meticulous process, though.

I like it, and something like that really aligns well with the overall mission of MASC as a whole, which is to educate and foster good reefkeeping skills. Although if we start something like this, you will need to attend a few meetings, since it was your idea and all

 

[jda123]

If somebody wants to handle the prizes and cash donations, I can come up with the rules and stuff. I will participate. I will even come and talk about the contest and also about my tank if I am one of the finalists. The hardest part will be brushing the dust off of really good hobbyists to get back active and not just browse around.

BTW - if we do something like this, I always donate the tank to a school or something when I am done.

 

[MuralReef]

Doug, I think this is a great idea. Would you be able to put together a set of rules and criteria for determining the winner(s)?

 

[ReefCheif]

Let’s get Vonn Miller to host a meeting! I know he has a sweet tank. Anyone best buds with Vonn???

Haha, I do Vons tank!

 

[ReefCheif]

Your mention of the businesses with private displays gave me an idea. Maybe we can do a series of tours to local businesses that have displays that are maintained by our vendors. I don't know how it would work but many of our vendors also maintain a wide range of tanks through out the metro area. It could showcase their work and give us a chance to check out some cool displays.

We used to do educational demos and got away from that. This is something that we should revive and incorporate videos that cover the demonstration that we could post to the site.

I may be able to help with something like this if we can come up with more specifics and something for me to approach the boss with. Could probably do a handful of our commercial accounts or something like that. Might even be able to do a Cabellas system tour, although that one may take some serious string pulling on our end. Im willing to see what I can on any front to help bring a little life back to the club!

 

[High Plains Reefer]

expanding on the tank contest what if we did a jar reef contest it would be saier to afford

 

[SynDen]

I may be able to help with something like this if we can come up with more specifics and something for me to approach the boss with. Could probably do a handful of our commercial accounts or something like that. Might even be able to do a Cabellas system tour, although that one may take some serious string pulling on our end. Im willing to see what I can on any front to help bring a little life back to the club!

Excellent, and noted thank you. I think we might want to try and organize something like that this spring/summer, Ill ping you once we get done with the current event and see what we can work out.

expanding on the tank contest what if we did a jar reef contest it would be saier to afford

I like it, although I think you could choose any size tank 40g or less. So I think, one participant could certainly choose to go that route. Now that you mention it, I might even try that

 

[High Plains Reefer]

I think Ive got the jar bug too I think I saw a post on r2r about them and they seem intregueing

 

[SynDen]

I think Ive got the jar bug too I think I saw a post on r2r about them and they seem intregueing

Ya I have seen a few circulating FB lately, and I agree the simplistic nature of them have me intrigued as well

 

[jda123]

I will put some rules together in a day or two - when I get back from vacation.

The vast majority of Jar tanks are death sentences for the inhabitants with so little of a margin for error. Some will succeed, but most will fail at a rate even higher than normal failure rates. ...only the best of the best will be able to keep a jar tank for long. They are false positive for average or noobie hobbyists and should always be disclaimed to be in the VERY DIFFICULT realm.

 

[JuanGutz]

Meeting at a local brewery.

 

[jda123]

Here are some thoughts on the contest that I proposed:
http://www.marinecolorado.org/threads/year-long-tank-build-grow-contest-and-education.25951/