Ideas

[washefuzzy]

I know of a great sponsor...me .  I've been offering to become a sponsor for the past 2 years.  Unfortunately I don't qualify as fish or fish supplies related.


So...what are my chances this year new exec?! 

I think it is a great idea.

[charlie]

I think it was mentioned somewhere earlier that it would be nice to see some ideas that would enrich & better the club, as opposed to the site/forum, not seeing much of those & it would be very helpful for the future season starting in Sept.

Something to keep in mind about this forum is that it is the face of a organised club as opposed to a stand alone forum, this kind of restrains us from some accepted public forum norms.
These are my personal thoughts & not the club`s or the executive.

[RoxyDog]

We have always kept our sponsors fish-related, I think that's the norm on aquarium sites, no? 

1. who is going to be responsible to background check possible businesses?  I trust Fishnut of course, but I KNOW Fishnut!
2. how do we choose the right kinds to accept?  after you leave the "aquatic hobby type" sponsors it gets sticky when some people don't agree with certain places being a sponsor. 

I'm not sure how I feel about this one.    

I think I'd be more comfortable if non-aqutic related businesses offered donations of prizes or something.  Don't ask me why, it's likely I'm crazy.    
But for instance if Fishnut wanted to sponsor a future prize for Tank of the Month.  She could buy a heater and we'd post "prize donated by Fishnut the realtor". 

[sas]

Being an out of towner I'm hesitant to voice an opinion but.............
I have to agree with this,

We have always kept our sponsors fish-related, I think that's the norm on aquarium sites, no? 

1. who is going to be responsible to background check possible businesses?  I trust Fishnut of course, but I KNOW Fishnut!
2. how do we choose the right kinds to accept?  after you leave the "aquatic hobby type" sponsors it gets sticky when some people don't agree with certain places being a sponsor. 

I'm not sure how I feel about this one.    

I think I'd be more comfortable if non-aquatic related businesses offered donations of prizes or something.  Don't ask me why, it's likely I'm crazy.    
But for instance if Fishnut wanted to sponsor a future prize for Tank of the Month.  She could buy a heater and we'd post "prize donated by Fishnut the realtor". 

However I'm not sure what the answer is to get people more involved in the club.
The few meetings I was able to attend were great and I'll tell you if we were not so
far away I'd be attending every meeting.
However on the aspect of the mini auctions I was a little embarrassed to be able to
buy plants etc., for next to nothing. If I had been the vendor I wouldn't have been pleased at all.
Also change the minimum bid to reflect what is being sold.
My suggestion is to go to two or three auctions a year and build on that.

Charge a nominal fee at the door for non members at meetings since there are usually guest
speakers for the meetings.

As far as site related , I feel we need some good stickies that cover the "very" basics,I think(maybe mistaken) members are tired of repeating the same info every time a new member starts up an aquarium.
Just my two cents.....

[FocusFin]

We have always kept our sponsors fish-related, I think that's the norm on aquarium sites, no? 

1. who is going to be responsible to background check possible businesses?  I trust Fishnut of course, but I KNOW Fishnut!
2. how do we choose the right kinds to accept?  after you leave the "aquatic hobby type" sponsors it gets sticky when some people don't agree with certain places being a sponsor. 

I'm not sure how I feel about this one.    

I think I'd be more comfortable if non-aqutic related businesses offered donations of prizes or something.  Don't ask me why, it's likely I'm crazy.    
But for instance if Fishnut wanted to sponsor a future prize for Tank of the Month.  She could buy a heater and we'd post "prize donated by Fishnut the realtor". 

I didn't want to dump on Fishnut's idea but since you brought it up I tend to agree. I'm not sure CLASIXXX ADULT MOVIES is the type of sponsor you want on a family site.

Seriously though, non-related sponsors would generate more income but provide little in the way of furthering partcipation of the hobby or the club, their participation would be primarily limited to the website, once again.

[Fishnut]

As I said, getting more sponsors means more money for the club, which means that we can do different things that will potentially increase participation, therefore making the club even more fun to be part of.  I would be happy to make a donation for prizes as an alternative though!

I can see where you guys are coming from and agree that this isn't an idea that'll be easy to implement.  You guys haven't totally dismissed the idea though, so what ways could we prevent all the potential issues?  Perhaps this is worth some brainstorming.  What about this for starters:

1. Applicant must be active in the majority of club activities

2. Applicant must be a paid member

3. Applicant must be the owner of his/her business

4. The product or service must be of potential use to a majority of OVAS members and appropriate for all ages

5. The sponsor must give an added benefit to any OVAS memeber who chooses to buy his/her products or use his/her services

RULES:

1. Becoming a sponsor does not permit the use of the OVAS website for solicitation, except within their sponsor thread.  Repeated violation of this rule will result in the discontinuation of sponsorship without a refund. (perhaps apply the 3 strike rule to this)

2. Any advertisements which is directed to the General Public and contains any reference to OVAS must meet the approval of the OVAS executive before distribution.  If it does not meet the approval of the OVAS executive, any reference to OVAS must be removed from the advertisement before being distributed.

3. Sponsors of non-fish related products or services are required to donate at least 1 door prize for each year they are an OVAS sponsor.

That's all I can think of for now.  Any thoughts?

[tskinner]

ASW doesn't have a forum...     am I looking in the wrong place?

I'm thinking maybe the new thread ideas such a Tank of the Month, Hot Thread, Product Reviews etc. will work if someone other than the APW and Exec ran them.  An OVAS member could volunteer to take care of each thread, moderate it, find the ideas/topics/tanks and Robert wouldn't have to worry about more on his plate.  All he'd have to do is set up the forum, or point that member to where he'd like to see it set up and voila!

I'd be willing to volunteer for something like this.  I'd prefer tank of the month since this is something i've been asking for........

[Vincenzo.]

make fw & sw in 2 separate forums

&


i say have a hitchhiker forum.
Ppl always postin pics saying ''help, what is this?'
Or a thred with common hitchhikers.
Good and bad ones.
A few details.

Ill help with that if ya like. I really enjoy hitchhiking creatures.

[Vincenzo.]

o ya...and....
Maybe fishnut does not get her own forum and what not. But maybe she donates or buys a heater or w.e, then she could atleast have one of those banners with her info. Its more subtle that way. I still say fish related or not, sponsor is sponsor. But yes id draw the line at classixxx. G'luck fishnut hope you get a banner. And maybe you could get me a house. we need one.

[FocusFin]

I'm thinking maybe the new thread ideas such a Tank of the Month, Hot Thread, Product Reviews etc. will work if someone other than the APW and Exec ran them.  An OVAS member could volunteer to take care of each thread, moderate it, find the ideas/topics/tanks and Robert wouldn't have to worry about more on his plate.  All he'd have to do is set up the forum, or point that member to where he'd like to see it set up and voila!

I'd be willing to volunteer for something like this.  I'd prefer tank of the month since this is something i've been asking for........

Watching the video in this thread http://ovas.ca/index.php?topic=37517.new#new made me wonder if in addition to the photo contest we could have periodic video contests. I realize there's already the homeshow each year but there's only been one reef tank represented in the past two years. The videos could be hosted on You Tube for example with the forum member's name in the title for reference. We could alternate between fresh and salt. Seeing tanks up close and moving adds a dimension you just don't get from pictures.

Just a thought.

[RoxyDog]

I realize there's already the homeshow each year but there's only been one reef tank represented in the past two years.

That's b/c only one reef tank was volunteered.  More videos would be great, but you still need people to volunteer to participate.    Maybe if the member did their own shooting they'd be more likely to do it.  *shrug*


I'd like to see more on the idea of OVAS members running each particular idea.  I really think we could get some good stuff going when each person only has one thing to run.  "Joe" could do a fish quiz every month.  "Mary" can do product review.  "George" can do tank of the month, etc.

Keep the ideas rolling, although keep in mind none of this will likely happen before the new season. 

[FocusFin]

That's b/c only one reef tank was volunteered.  

I know, the tank was mine. I don't know why more people on the saltwater side don't get involved in the homeshow but maybe submitting your own video with guidelines might attract more entries.

[Fishnut]

People will participate more if they get something, or have a chance of getting something really good in return.  Maybe I'll donate the draw prize for next year's home show...and it'll be something really good so people will be clamoring to get it, entering in droves!!   What kind of prizes do OVAS members go berserk for?

As another idea to improve the Home Show, I think it should be a year long project.  For example, there are never any ponds in the Home Show.  Ponds are only at their nicest later in the summer.  I would love to see more OVAS member ponds but in the spring when the home show is being filmed, most ponds are looking like green soup, none of the plants are growing yet and the fish haven't had long to fatten up and regain the vibrancy of their colours.  By spreading the filming out over a year (or OVAS season), there's much less of a push to have things done within a short time period.  The videographer volunteer will have a more relaxed time of taping tanks and editing.  Perhaps knowing that the filming deadline is very flexible, more people will enter. 

Salt water tanks are not easy to film from what I understand.  Why is that?  What can be done to make them look better on film?

[tskinner]

Salt water tanks are not easy to film from what I understand.  Why is that?  What can be done to make them look better on film?

A bit off topic but it has to do mainly with the amount of water movement if the pumps are on and the high kelvin temp of bulbs if running 12,14 or 20K's like I run.