OVAS Forum Decision: Reptile Related Content

[hamstercaster]

The question on the plate is whether the published mandate of OVAS, "to further the study of all forms of aquatic life", should include reptiles and amphibians. 

Rodents, Rabbits, Dogs, or Cats don't even come close to that, so we're not really opening doors there.

I think there are far more non aquatic reptiles than aquatic ones.  Now, that being said, the reasonning behind my previous message about dogs, roddents etc. is that there is lots of chit chat about dogs, hamsters and cats amongst other things and that since reptiles are heavily discussed in the Lounge too and that the reptile/amphibian lovers may actually get their own forum, I would not be surprised to see dog and cat or "domesticated" pet lovers ask for a forum of their own too regardless of the fact that it's not the OVAS mandate.  The Lounge is clearly not part of OVAS' mandate either but is provided for people to chit chat about anything and everything and thus renders the request for other non aquatic forums somewhat legitimate.  That is why I say you may have people asking for forums on cats and dogs amongst other things.  I voted against it as per OVAS' mandate but honnestly I couldn't care less as it will not have any impact on me whatsoever as I can chose what to read or not to read and I will still have that choice no matter what happens with the outcome of this poll.  I am only raising some points to be considered upon your final decision.  If you say no new forum, you will have a few disgruntled people but that's it and they'll move on and keep their talks about reptiles in the Lounge.  If you say yes, IMO you are opening the door for other requests not mather how related to aquaria or not they could be.

Oh yeah, keep in mind that there are dogs out there with palmed paws and that are thus probably more aquatic then a great bunch of reptiles out there 

[Jesse]

How about this then, since everyone is saying that people will want a forum for dog/cat/bird/small animal too, why dont we just get a "other" pet forum? That way all of us other animal enthusiasts will all be happy. The lounge can be anything non animal related, could it not?

I realize I was really biased for reptiles in my earlier posts and if anyone feels they were attacked personally I apologize for it.

[AdamR]

An aquarium (plural aquariums or aquaria) is a clear-sided container (typically constructed of glass or high-strength plastic) in which water-dwelling plants and animals (usually fish, and sometimes invertebrates, as well as amphibians, marine mammals, and reptiles) are kept in captivity, often for public display; or it is an establishment featuring such displays. Aquarium keeping is a popular hobby around the world, with about 60 million enthusiasts worldwide. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquarium

This is the Ottawa Valley Aquarium Society so I think if goes in a tank it should be allowed on OVAS.  I don't have any reptiles and I don't have any interest in them either but I don't see any reason to ban them.

AdamR

[Sue]

I think the reptile threads belong in the lounge section with all the other pet related subjects. The exception for me would be aquatic species which could also be discussed in freshwater or saltwater forums depending what they swim in. Maybe we need a 'phobia' beware flag so people don't accidentally scare themselves?  (I'm joking)

If there is a huge amount of reptile traffic on the site in the future then I'd be for the creation of a reptile lounge maintained in some kind of co-operative spirit with the herp club. I agree one shouldn't want to step on their toes or hurt their club.

I'd like to put forth the idea of the OVAS accepting members in good standing of any other CAOAC associated club to be able to post in the lounge. This would improve communication between us and our sister clubs, including the reptile club. For example If Spencer Jack wants to chat with us about the cold weather in Winnipeg why not let him? Of course it would be much easier to just change the lounge, back but that is a different issue.

A tangent thought...If Canadian Association of Aquarium Clubs accepts a reptile club as a member club it appears that they recognize the link between herp and fish enthusiasts.

[charlie]

My View is that reptile related content should stay in the lounge & the lounge should remain carded members access only.
Regards

[sas]

My View is that reptile related content should stay in the lounge & the lounge should remain carded members access only.
Regards

My thoughts exactly charlie thankyou. I'm a new member, don't have much say since I'm from out of town, can't make meetings, but I feel strongly that if you benefit from something maybe a contribution should be made? especially if you are using the site to sell or discuss something not related to aquariums? This site has a wealth of information to be accessed and it really concerns me that there is so much "discussion" by people who are not members that I fear it may be lost or derailed.........I hope this won't be the case.

[kennyman]

I think that the society can keep its aquatic integrity and still allow its members to have friendly discussion about off topic threads in the lounge. Be those topics snakes, lizards, dogs, cats, kids, funny people at mall, bananas or even gardening and TV shows.

If there is contention about non aquatic classifieds or clarification of aquatic classifieds then perhaps the executive should concider allowing Only Aquatic Classifieds in their respective forums and not at all in the lounge 

[FishPassion]

Your main page states 4 objectives all aquatic related, your logo is a fish, your sponsors are all aquatic. How would your sponsors react to a site which is now not directly all aquatic anymore? are we going to change the logo next? to a fish and an iguana? what will happen at monthly meetings partly reptile partly fish? Im picturing the mini auction allready scary thought. Read your home page OVAS is what 50 yrs old and now will include reptiles as a separate forum? can I join a reptile club and start a fish forum? do other clubs bow down to this I must check Aquarium Pros havent been there in a while I highly doubt they have a reptile forum. I frequent this site because it is fish related and if the club decides to to promote other forums then YES lets have "filters" as requested by Nelson so that I dont have to weed thru what I do and do not want to see and read. I have been very proud of what the OVAS exec has accompished in the past year and the club has grown big time. If this is the direction OVAS is taking I would not be surprised to see a decline in card carrying fish members in the future...

Guess where my vote is going...

Just picture some of the avatars!!!

[Mettle]

do other clubs bow down to this I must check Aquarium Pros havent been there in a while I highly doubt they have a reptile forum.

They do have a forum dedicated to computers though...   

Computers & Equipment
A place to discuss computers, electronics and related LEGAL items.

[FishPassion]

Mettle I just posted my opinion thats all, but I am glad you took the time to research it and found the computer section only and didnt find baked goods, reptiles,farmers almanac, gardening sewing etc. . I dont know why you have to comment on everyones post in this thread and defend your point or knit pic on irrelavant issues, this is a Poll for people to make "a" comment and I have made mine.

I sincerely hope I am "gramaticly" correct to your liking this time and didnt make to many typos as I normal do, and if I have please accept my apologies.

Perhaps we can leave this thread to others as well to post there view and not cram it with retaliations on every subject...

Regards
Klaus Jenett

[Mettle]

Mettle I just posted my opinion thats all, but I am glad you took the time to research it and found the computer section only and didnt find baked goods, reptiles,farmers almanac, gardening sewing etc. . I dont know why you have to comment on everyones post in this thread and defend your point or knit pic on irrelavant issues, this is a Poll for people to make "a" comment and I have made mine.

I sincerely hope I am "gramaticly" correct to your liking this time and didnt make to many typos as I normal do, and if I have please accept my apologies.

Perhaps we can leave this thread to others as well to post there view and not cram it with retaliations on every subject...

Regards
Klaus Jenett

Is someone feeling personally attacked? I don't know why. You made a comment about another site not having a reptile forum - I went and took a look - and as it turns out they have a forum dedicated to something that is further away from fish keeping than reptile keeping is. And it was mostly made as a joke, thus the emoticon. But obviously that fact was lost on you.

And it was never stipulated that people were to make a single comment. Website members were invited to vote. Since posts were allowed I figured that in part this was to debate the merits of a full out ban on reptile discussion on OVAS period (which I think is rediculous) and other remedies to the situation, with the opposite extreme being a reptile forum (which I do feel is uncalled for).

I've made two joking posts. One to you and one to Succintfish. If you two took those jokes personally then I apologize for that and in the future will not attempt to be humourous or joke around with either of you. But in your case, the fact that a computer forum exists isn't irrelevant at all because it goes to show that the forum you cited has strayed from its original objective of providing information to salt water enthusiasts. But that's neither here nor there, I guess. I'm just knit picking.

The other things I have posted are not 'retaliations'. They are simply counter-views/opinions/points on topics that have been brought up. If you can't handle that, then I apologize. But people are free to reply to my points if they want to. It just sounds like you're a bit bitter that I'm making some relevant points and perhaps you can't come up with anything to counter them with?

Cheers.

[kennyman]

One thing I noticed was The Lounge becoming private right after a bunch of junk in there, mostly classifieds. Now this could just be coincidence, but there was talk of it always being intended for members although It has been open since I started coming around a few years ago. I figured that was just some blah put out by the executive. So is this really a separate issue from the herps discussion?

I feel the restrictions to members in the lounge is was spurs this issue and I think the members only status is due in part to off topic classifieds. Let the lounge stay members or not, I care little either way but limit the non aquatic herps to lounge discussion just like if Kevin and I want to talk about how our dogs did at the shows. And eliminate all non aquatic classifieds from the site. Aquatic critters have every right to be in the main forum. I have some inverts in my tanks, do they need a separate forum, NO.

And if someone is going to complain about "Just Having To Scroll Through Invert Questions" in the fish forum then perhaps they should try only reading specific questions that seem interesting like I do. I don't read every post and I use the "Mark All Read" frequently so that I don't have a screen full of new posts that seem boring to me.

[C-Dog]

i think reptile content should be able to be posted in normal forums and stuff becasuse fish and reptiles can relate to each other really well

[rocketboy]

i don't know if its going to change much but i accidentally pressed it should be banned on the poll,i meant to press put the one where it should be in the lounge. if theres any way to change it let me know. sorry for the inconvenience, i guess thats what happends when you have no sleep at all for 2 days .

[Laura]

I voted for 'keeping the herp talk in the Lounge'.  I also support the decision to keep the Lounge for OVAS card carrying members. 

My understanding is that traffic on the forum doesn't come without a price.  In the forum's case I assume out funds primarily come from OVAS memberships and sponsors with additional funds from OVAS' cut of the auctions.

I've mentioned this in the past, but I enjoy the style of advertising on the forum.  Many forums I visit have very obtrusive advertising - the advertising here is relevant, useful and welcomed.  On a local site that I like and support, I will cheerfully pay the membership to keep us in the red rather than having to sell the site less discriminantly to support the traffic.

I think that people should be able to discuss and show off their pets, including their reptiles. WRT graphic content, I wouldn't want to read detailed discussions of mouse pithing, just as I would object to graphic Piranha/oscar feeding conversations.  I think there's an element of good taste required.

On the question of extra forums, I am opposed to the creation of additional forum headings unless there's a darned good reason for it.

[Jesse]

I realize this may be more work for the execs here, but if we could buy memberships at more times in a year than just the one set time, maybe the lounge would get the traffic it used to. I will support that it could remain in the lounge if I could get myself a membership. I believe that some people that want a membership say ah well I guess I will wait, and then when the time comes around they forget as its been like 4 months.

[PaleoFishGirl]

Memberships are available for purchase at any time....

[charlie]

I realize this may be more work for the execs here, but if we could buy memberships at more times in a year than just the one set time, maybe the lounge would get the traffic it used to. I will support that it could remain in the lounge if I could get myself a membership. I believe that some people that want a membership say ah well I guess I will wait, and then when the time comes around they forget as its been like 4 months.

http://ovas.ca/index.php?page=83

[Jesse]

Wow sorry... I was informed when I joined the site that it was only available at certain times! Ignore my last post...

[Mettle]

Was anything official decided on in relation to this issue at the meeting? Just curious.