Purpose of MASC: The Marine Aquarium Society of Colorado is dedicated to the endorsement, education, and fellowship of marine aquarium hobbyists. We will increase awareness among members and the public of the importance and value of marine ecosystems and their preservation through captive propagation and responsible collection of organisms. We will deepen hobbyists’ knowledge about the husbandry and study of marine plants and animals, increasing the longevity and well being of the creatures in our care.*
Matthew thank you for your thoughts and I'm sorry you do not feel welcome and or not included. It is no ones intentions whom love this club to ever make someone feel left out, not included or feel un-welcomed. We will always accept newcomers and we will always invite them to attend our meetings and gatherings. Case in point we had several new members come today, several new members donate huge items to a great cause and even new members come today to join in the fun and even participate in donating to the raffles. Again I am sorry to read your post and learn that you feel unwelcome. Below are some continued thoughts on what MASC is and what our motto and purpose is.
MASC is a free place for anyone curious about the hobby, new to the hobby and experienced hobbyists alike. There are no mandatory fees or requirements to partake in 90% of what MASC has to offer.
Everyone including guests just browsing, registered users and badged members all have equal rights to browse the site and participate how they see fit, are comfortable in engaging with and hopefully will all get out if it what they want to get out of it and or achieve. MASC is a great place to turn to for a great wealth of experiences knowledge, that is offered by both registered users and badged members the same, with neither being more qualified than the other.
Fortunately what comes along with the experiences of all users of MASC is the chance to gain friends, meet new people and the ability to engage in fellowship with others with the same passions for the hobby. Again this part is by no means a requirement to use and participate with in the group, but it certainly adds to the fun, as well as the overall well being and strength of the group. There are those whom will choose to embrace that and those whom choose not to, both of which are fine. You will also find that members will be the first to welcome people into the club, donate unpaid time to both the club and fellow hobbyists, dbtc corals and help out others with tank issues. This does not mean that there are not others that are not members whom arent great assests to the club, because there are several, I mean several of them (ex. Jda123 and dym). Again neither is better than the other and both are welcome just the same.
Now MASC is not actually a completely free site, meaning there obviously is costs associated with keeping the site live and operational for all users to enjoy. Because MASC is a non-profit (there is not one individual in the entire group financially profiting) it looks to and requires both donations and volunteering from with in the group in order to survive. These donations come in the form of cash donations for membership, cash donations from those whom have simply enjoyed and found great insight from the site and want to give back, cash donations from users whom attend meetings and participate in our raffles and also those whom want to attend and engage in some of our larger frag swaps and conferences. We have dozens of volunteers for everything such as being in the board (again unpaid and without reward), helping setup, manage and run events, donate numerous monies and hard goods to raffle items, donate time in planning events and lastly they do this all for the better good of the club and without the expectancy of reward. Again with out these funds and volunteers MASC would not be able to exist for anyone including both member and non-members.
There are rules within MASC but these are put in place inorder to hopefully keep everyone engaging in MASC homogeneously, not to create dictatorship and or punish others with out reason or thought behind the rule. There will always be those whom disagree and it always in hopes that they will be in minority and that the rules benefit the masses and the group as a whole.
It is important to remember that each person will get out of MASC what they alone choose. If one chooses to fully engage in the group and participate in meetings, join us in fundraisers to help fellow reef enthusiasts, give back to the club financially or in fellowship to help support it and take advantage to the other 10% of what MASC offers; that's great and we welcome anyone and everyone to do so. If you would like simply to engage in saltwater reef keeping conversation, learn new things about the hobby, take advantage of our usually awesome classifieds section, join us at gatherings as your time allows; that is great as well and we welcome everyone to participate as they see fit.
Bottom line, everyone on MASC is equal as far what they want to get and take away from the site. There will be those whom will embrace newcomers/those whom don't engage all that often and then there are those that won't. Again this is a free site for all to enjoy equally and to take away and give back what they please. It is important to remember like with all of technology that allows us to communicate with out physically talking in person that emotions can not always be accurately interpreted and what the person is saying on the other end isn't always being perceived how they were intended. So please take everything with a grain of salt when it is perceived that the other person is taking a authoritarian stance. Everyone needs to feel welcome, respect others as fellow reef enthusiasts and appreciate the great assest MASC is and what its users both non-members and members have to offer.
In closing, MASC invites anyone and everyone to participate on the site as they see fit. It is encouraged to engage in the group as you can or want in hopes of bettering and strengthening the depth of experiences of the community, but again is this by no means a requirement. We hope that those of you whom find value in the site, community and what it has to offer will join us as you can not only here on the forum but also at our meetings, fundraisers and conferences. We are all on this site because of our interest, love, enjoyment and or passion for the hobby and it is important that we maintain that as the first and foremost emphasis when dealing with anything related to the group. Lets continue to help the hobby grow here in Colorado and lets encourage others to join us in this awesome and amazing hobby.
*** Disclaimer***
These are my thoughts solely as a participant of MASC and a complete addict of the reef keeping hobby, not the voice of the entire BOD, an officer of the BOD or anyone whom has anything to gain by broadcasting opinion. If anyone would like to discuss things further in private, please pm me and we can discuss any thoughts, criticisms and or suggestions you might have.
