[quote=“ihuntinde, post:28, topic:1903”]
Not that you all need to read my :TWOCENTS, but I’m going to give it to ya anyway. ;D
I am probably one of the newest additions to the forums, and I am not a paid member of the DRC, but I can say that the main reason I have not joined yet is the fact that I do not ever see me driving to Newark on a work night (Sun - Thur) to attend a meeting or other event. I can understand not wanting to hold meetings a little further south if there were only 3 or 4 members out of a 50 member club. However, it seems to me that there is a lot of interest from "slower-lower’. I also know of a few people with very successful salt water tanks that know very little of the DRC. As a matter of fact, I have even heard one say, “Well that club is for northern Delaware only, isn’t it?”
Personally, I would hate to think that everyone is assuming there is very little interest from downstater’s because there are so few represented on these forums. I would be willing to bet that we would all be a little surprised at the number of folks with a SW tank in the beach area.
My suggestion would be, start gauging interest now, in all forms of communication. Ask all of the LFS’ and big chain pet stores to post information about the club (see below for a expansion on this topic), post information in the announcement/community sections of local newspapers and craigslist, set up a facebook/myspace account, etc… I personally think you will find that there are a lot more people south of the canal that have SW tanks and either do not know about the DRC or know about it, but haven’t thought about participating because of the hassle of driving north, and not because of the time, but just the traffic and congestion is enough to keep some “slower-lowers” from attending.
I know that both of the LFS’ that I have been in (Fish Bowl and Premium Aquatics) have some sort of information about the club. I believe FB has business cards next to their register, and PA may have a 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper next to their register (may be imagining this, its been a while since I have been up there). I think the club should put a little bit of money out for some sort of banner. You all have a nice banner at the top of the forums that would look awesome on a 10x20 piece of vinyl. Something that really pops that people that go into these stores would notice and say, “Hey, what is that?” Those types of things are not really that expensive to have made, and I may be able to get a deal at a local printshop in Camden that is owned by a family member.
It seems to me that this club has very little exposure outside of this forum or by word of mouth and if you’d like to see it expand to be something like the NJ club, then you have to get more people exposed to it. If you would like, I could talk to my uncle about throwing the banner at the top of this forum on a piece of vinyl, and I can give it to someone that is coming to a meeting up there for everyone to look at. We could even go one step further and begin adding the window decals, something small like the DRC logo at the top of the forums, to our car windows. Again, it’s all about exposure.[/quote]
Very well said
This from a northern reefer who would head down to see some of the awesome lower DE tanks