Greed is evil.

[Triggerjay]

So, a few of you might know I have been holding the position of president for our local club. Since I took over, and attempted to re-kindle the club, our membership has grown from only 7 regular members, to over 50. I have gotten the website The SEAS, official site back online, and have taken the time to create laminated membership cards, make new member applications which were distributed at the LFS'es, and spread the word about our club. Our club holds 4 "events" a year, including fragging demonstrations where members get to take home frags of the corals used for demonstration paid for by the club treasury, and frag swaps. In addition to that, we hold a monthly "business" meeting. The monthly meeting is always held at a members house, and gives us the chance to talk shop, and see other peoples setups. Well, the meetings have been a bust. One of the meetings, the host went out and bought food for a crowd, and I was the ONLY person who showed up. It seems that the only things people show up to, are the events, where they are very likley to go home with something. No one wants to go to the monthly meetings, and talk about saltwater,.... hang out with fellow dork reefers, and see other peoples systems? whats up with that? It seems that people around my area don't give a **** about anything unless they are getting something.. I expressed my concern regarding this issue in my resignation post. After all the hard work I have put into this thing, I am out of ideas to re-kindle the magic of what once was.. in the past, a club that people were proud to be members of. If I was informed correctly, at one time, the club had about 20 members, and the monthly meetings were always a full house.. Now it seems the club has 50 or so members who just want something for nothing. I don't understand it. What is a matter with people? I have resigned my presidency, and now the VP, (who has NEVER come to a monthly meeting) is asking the club members if there is really a need for a club, because he doesn't want to deal with it. I am sooooo frustrated after all the hard work I have put into the club. I was hoping someone with a fresh look on things, and some new ideas would step up to the plate and somehow get monthly meeting attendance up.. Instead, the VP wants to flush the club down the drain so he doesn't have to deal with it. Then another member asks... "So does this mean we all get our membership dues back?" .... After all the benefits they got from being a member... the 10% off discounts I set up with all the LFS'es, the free corals they got from the fragging demo ($280.00 worth) the door prizes that were bought using club money... the food they ate at the events... ALL of this was paid for using the club treasury. Now, there is a decent amount of money in the treasury, which came from a fundraiser garage sale that was held back when there were only 7 members,... but all the NEW membership money has basically been spent on events. There is about $700.00 in the treasury, and I feel that if the club is dissolved, that the easiest thing to do, would be to divide it evenly between all the members... This will give them almost all their money back from the club dues... but why should they get it? Why should they get to keep the frags the club paid for, the door prizes,... the food they ate,... AND get their money back? I feel dissolving the club should NOT be an option. I think the money should sit IDLE in an account if they make this decision until someone else with a fresh look on things, and ideas comes along... Am I crazy? I think they are all GREEDY... Its a damn shame too...

Jason

 

[tippMANn98]

They are not the only ones dude. I see this greed, wanting something for nothing on a daily basis. It is really sad, some people just want want want, and never GIVE or DO. I totally know what you are saying. It might be a good thing that you are getting out of it, you know?

 

[funkpolice]

wow, that sucks. I wish I had a club available to me like that. People don't know a good thing when they have it. Unfortunately this behavior seems to be the norm today, almost the American way.
bill

 

[tippMANn98]

its not the american way, its the bad influence on america...sorry jason, I would totally be into that club just like you are....its too bad i am not there in springfield, Im a southern boy, I wouldnt make it there!!!

 

[rlcline76]

Jason,
This seems to be the way things go. You have a very lucky club to have pooled that much dough together and it is quite unfortunate that it will probably be dissolved.

 

[DaveK]

I would say that greed or "wanting something for nothing" is a factor, but I suspect there is a lot more.

In this day and age, the demands upon a person's time can be staggering, and as much as we might like to, free time can't always be devoted to reefs.

 

[Bigrockindaddy]

Dude
I am going to write a song called entitlement. Because people think they are entitled to everything for free. I work in customer service and when did good customer service turn into I don't have to pay for that or you are giving me bad service? Thats why I love my fish . They earn their keep and don't give me attitude when I am 1/2 late feeding em.....

 

[BoomerD]

And there you have it folks...the number two reason I refuse to have anything to do with aquarium/reef clubs beyond occasionally being a member...The number one reason is that all too often, the egos of the officers gets in the way of the real business at hand...the hobby.
I've belonged to a couple of fishy-clubs (by any other name) over the years and have sat on the board of directors of a couple. The back-stabbing and infighting that goes on (hopefully behind the scenes) is surprising. "I'm the President, and I make the decisions," "I'm on the BOD and I get to help myself to the donations from the sponsoring stores," "I sit on the XYZ Reef club's BOD and I think I should get a larger discount because we send out members to your store."
and on, and on, and on...
When a good friend started talking about starting a reef club in the city where he lives, he asked me to get involved. I declined other than to help him where I could with planning and setting it up. I advised him on the possible legal issues, financial issues, and the potential problems clubs face, but I refused to take an active part in the club. I've seen too many clubs self-destruct, either because members don't want to help with anything except get free stuff, (90% of the work is done by 10% of the people) or because of the "Clash of the Egos" that seems to always happen.

My condolences TJ. It can be heartbreaking to see something you've nurtured get torn apart by greed and apathy.

 

[burning2nd]

its weird, that i never really want much, and people are always giveing me stuff..


sounds like corporate america-reefing gone wrong..

sux

 

[BigAl07]

I've been in a few "Clubs" over the years and it seems that unless there is a "Group" effort many, if not all, clubs go through this. Sorry to hear...

Our local reef club is in a similar boat so the President has tried a couple of things and I think it's working. Meetings are now every OTHER month. He's also worked out a good "program" with a couple of the LFS in where they donate small items for club raffles. At each meeting we buy anywhere from 1 ticket to as many as you like for $1 each. Each meeting there is easily $100 in raffle prizes. Also some of the members will donate things (frags etc) which only increases the meeting frenzy. It's VERY rare that everyone at the meeting doesn't walk away with something and usually nothing is bought out of club funds.

Also something that is a HUGE hit is a "Tank Tour" we do once a year. It doesn't bring in any money but it let's us see many tanks in a single day. We have our bi-monthly meeting in the "Conference Room" of a local restaurant.

I'm not saying this will help but maybe in all the blah blah I typed you can get an idea of something.

Good luck

 

[rmlevasseur]

I agree 100% that people in this country have so much entitlement issues. As a lawer, I often take court appointed cases. 90% of these bastards that get a free lawyer and win are less greatful than the people that pay me $1000's and lose (which I don't do often, lol).

True story. Last week I represented a woman who was in contempt for not paying child support. I asked her why she wasn't working, and she said she was "depressed". I asked her why she was depressed and she said "because I'm not working". I then asked her what she was going to do about this. And the answer..."apply for social security disability"!!!

Now, on the other hand, Bush has screwed us over hard, and everyone is feeling the heat. I can't even organize a poker party anymore because people don't want to spend the money on gas or aren't willing to risk $20. Hell, I do well and I still feel pinched hard; I can only imagine what it is like for others less fortunate.

Perhaps your group just doesn't have the funds to keep something so organized together. Maybe if you made it less formal people would feel more comfortable? I dunno, just an idea...

 

[Triggerjay]

Thanks guys. Its just frustrating.. My cell phone rings all the time with "so and so said this, and I don't want him to come to my store anymore",... or "I did a group buy, and so and so didn't pay for their stuff".. the list goes on and on. I told the members in my resignation that I will still go to the meetings, and other club affairs, and support the club to the best of my abilities,... but not in a club officer position. If the club survives, wonderful. I would love to see that happen more than anything.. But if it doesn't, I guess I will just go my own way, and do my own thing.. It will be the commadary I will miss..

Jason

 

[kathywithbirds]

That sucks Jason. I think alot of clubs of all sorts suffer from similar problems. I coudn't take the b*^iness of my sorority in college, I finally just kinda cut ties.

Maybe Billy98 has some ideas, he's secretary of the NJ reefers club and it seems really well run. I've only been to a couple, meetings are held at a club member's home each month.

 

[Dentoid]

Jason, I feel your frustration, however if people pay for a membership that has a specific time frame associated with it, then that is what they should get for their money. For example, if the yearly membership is $20.00 then they should get a years worth of being a member regardless of what is given away at the quarterly events. If that time frame is cut short, then they should receive back a prorated portion of their dues regardless of what they got for free at a quarterly event. That doesn't mean the club has to offer a quarterly event or even offer anything free at quarterly events. However, the club does have to give them a year of membership. The freebies at these quarterly events are incentives to get people to come to the event and should not, unless otherwise indicated, be used against the members. Think of the freebies as advertising dollars, a way to promote the club.

Instead, it is incumbent upon the membership to elect, appoint or otherwise put the people into office that will uphold the bylaws and integrity of the club to insure its survival. It is further a duty of the officers to identify, nurture and groom the next set of leaders to carry on their hard work. It sounds like your VP was a poor choice in this case. Your resignation paired with a dead beat VP has just caused the pyramid to crumble from the top. The members will support good leaders, but will scatter without them. When they scatter, they will want, or take, a piece of the pyramid you worked so hard to build.

It is common for a person to pour his heart and soul into something that he believes in just to burnout and quit when apathy abounds. If you truly believe in this club, don't let your hard work go down the drain. Turn your anger into action and start looking for people that are interested in helping to keep the club going. Persistence in the face of apathy will always win.

Just another opinion. All the best my friend!

 

[tippMANn98]

hey, if you have to go your own way, you will always have Reef Sanctuary!!!

 

[deaclauderdale]

Now this is a very personal issue for me. As I do not have a reef club near I do try and network with as many reefers as I can but they always want to sell you something. There is never really a moment when people just say hey here's a frag for you and when they do do this it's generally brown. I can say this because I'm always offering both corals and equipment at low and more often no cost to reefers. I realize that this hobby is expensive so catching a break when you can is important for those who don't have deep pockets. You know what "sharing is caring" and it sucks that people refuse to give of themselves any more without a direct benefit in return.