Sponsors...

[Bruce Spiegelman]

Here's the problem -- sorting through member requests (we get about 4-5 a day now) is always a bit of a judgement call. That becomes a little more dicey if we are advertising for members there. I think the preference would be they come to the website forst to find us.

 

[Bruce Spiegelman]

Also -- there's a lot of members adverse to 'just" increasing membership numbers with no regard to quality.

 

[ofzakaria]

Aha got it.
Then conclusion here is that we should not tey to reach out..because "they should find us first" means no outreach method.
Such a dilemma and I totally get it, I just feel its bit limiting the potential of the forum.
Informstions on this forum is by far much higher quality than other forums and I some times wish more reefers (especially new ones) browse through BAR before they go and get lost in the sea of informstions on other forums 80% of which is useless...

Anyway, thanks for clarifying...

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[NanoCrazed]

I found BAR through Neptune. I was talking to rob about my experince in R2R and about my incident with the tank transfer, he recommended I check BAR out.
I did and got hooked...now BAR is the only forum i hang around in.
Higher quality users for sure..
I love this forum!

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@ofzakaria that's my point, you found out through Rob who owns Neptune. They used to be a sponsor as was AC, I believe. So, if we can work with LFSs to have folks there just name drop, it would not only help out the club but also in the hobby, especially the new folks who probably have lots of learning to do and in seek of guidance to our mission statement of advancing husbandry and education. All it takes is someone who works at the shop to mention BAR or hand out a card or flying about BAR. Rob probably gets hundreds maybe up to a thousand customers a week... with many of them new... would love to see folks get pointed in the right direction early on, and give back later on.

BTW -- no so much about getting more sponsors and over-indexing there but working with quality LFSs to build a relationship as a means of getting exposure. FB is a good idea but I didn't even know there were these groups until way later in the hobby when I start collecting high end nems... (and I work in tech! hah...)

 

[JVU]

We also have a (little used) FB page, I think that is what Bruce was referring to for trolls and bots signing up

 

[ofzakaria]

@ofzakaria that's my point, you found out through Rob who owns Neptune. They used to be a sponsor as was AC, I believe. So, if we can work with LFSs to have folks there just name drop, it would not only help out the club but also in the hobby, especially the new folks who probably have lots of learning to do and in seek of guidance to our mission statement of advancing husbandry and education. All it takes is someone who works at the shop to mention BAR or hand out a card or flying about BAR. Rob probably gets hundreds maybe up to a thousand customers a week... with many of them new... would love to see folks get pointed in the right direction early on, and give back later on.

BTW -- no so much about getting more sponsors and over-indexing there but working with quality LFSs to build a relationship as a means of getting exposure. FB is a good idea but I didn't even know there were these groups until way later in the hobby when I start collecting high end nems... (and I work in tech! hah...)

I thought Neptune is a sponsor..no?
I even thought I saw their name in the sponsors page.
Man Neptune and AC are pretty much the bay area LFS..they have the lion share of customers and stocks...they are very important if we talking about quality reefers I think..

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[ofzakaria]

We also have a (little used) FB page, I think that is what Bruce was referring to for trolls and bots signing up

Yes because signing up to a fb page is so simple and easily automated. With one fb account u can sign up to a thousand GB page via automation that visit the page and click "join"
But BAR website require actual account creation which is harder to spam.
Again my advocacy for fb is to use it for advertisement like what you do on radio and tv..just to advertise and ask people to come join bar lol.
I did not mean to repeat myself sorry about that.

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[ofzakaria]

Also -- there's a lot of members adverse to 'just" increasing membership numbers with no regard to quality.

This statment can be tricky down the line.
Regardless of quality, every product, BAR included, needs awareness and customer base.
Think about it, you need more and more "quality customers" that can help elevate the forum and help board of directors for years to come.
I think having more new sign ups and achieving quality can be mutually execlusive and do not have to be on opposit sides..

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[NanoCrazed]

I thought Neptune is a sponsor..no?
I even thought I saw their name in the sponsors page.
Man Neptune and AC are pretty much the bay area LFS..they have the lion share of customers and stocks...they are very important if we talking about quality reefers I think..

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No, they aren't sponsors anymore unfortunately... I used to drive to AC and Neptune several times a week for almost a year... lmao. solid shops

 

[ofzakaria]

No, they aren't sponsors anymore unfortunately... I used to drive to AC and Neptune several times a week for almost a year... lmao. solid shops

Oh man.
Both these shops are absolut Aces...I cannot imagin bay area reefing industry without both of them..srsly.
We are so spoiled with bay area lfs..I see how hard it is on ppl in other states and areas where shipping is the only option...buying bugger size frags for redicluse prices while with Neptune and AC we have options to choose from..
Having a banner in Neptune or AC will bring new customers for sure, do not you think?

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[Coral reefer]

Oh man.
Both these shops are absolut Aces...I cannot imagin bay area reefing industry without both of them..srsly.
We are so spoiled with bay area lfs..I see how hard it is on ppl in other states and areas where shipping is the only option...buying bugger size frags for redicluse prices while with Neptune and AC we have options to choose from..
Having a banner in Neptune or AC will bring new customers for sure, do not you think?

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I think they are so big we have very little to offer them at this point. They are great though absolutely.

 

[ofzakaria]

I think they are so big we have very little to offer them at this point. They are great though absolutely.

So we know we need to offer them something? Should not their support of the forum to push the industry which in turn should benifit them as well?
Is not that the pitch?

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[rygh]

I am all for using FB to drive new members to our website.
But I am generally against doing memberships, active threads, and discussions on FB.

The website is critical to BAR.
We spend quite a bit of time making the website the best we can.
We need to keep the thread activity level up to maintain interest and critical mass.
Anything we do on FB tends to dilute that.

 

[bluprntguy]

Also -- there's a lot of members adverse to 'just" increasing membership numbers with no regard to quality.

If this is true, then we should consider revising our mission statement to more accurately reflect the goals of the group.

IMO, if we continue this approach, eventually we'll also suffer from lack of members attending events leading to smaller and smaller events. It takes a lot of effort to plan events and I'm sure it's disappointing if only a small number of people show up. Ultimately people will stop putting in the effort to plan anything and the members wills stop seeing any value. I might would suggest that we already see this happening.

There's also already a thread on R2R where there are a few people saying that this club doesn't do any events and our forum isn't active and they were looking for other suggestions for local reef clubs in the area.

Also, FWIW, people new to reefing probably have more energy and enthusiasm. By not actively recruiting them, we are insuring that there is no new blood to help plan events and bring in new energy and ideas...

 

[ofzakaria]

I am all for using FB to drive new members to our website.
But I am generally against doing memberships, active threads, and discussions on FB.

The website is critical to BAR.
We spend quite a bit of time making the website the best we can.
We need to keep the thread activity level up to maintain interest and critical mass.
Anything we do on FB tends to dilute that.

100% agree, am against facebook memberships as well. BAR website forum is much stronger and organized.
Fb is just a good advertisement vehicle..
You would be suprised how much data they have that they can target a very specific customers with the tiniest details so you can target a micro or macro population.
You can as an example target profiles that:
Discuss reef
Live in specific area
Have posted xx numbers about reef or aquarium
Have friends who share the same hobby..

Uts crazy how much data fb has about all of us..

At the moment they are the biggest and most accurate advertisement platform globally....
Crazy!

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[ofzakaria]

If this is true, then we should consider revising our mission statement to more accurately reflect the goals of the group.

IMO, if we continue this approach, eventually we'll also suffer from lack of members attending events leading to smaller and smaller events. It takes a lot of effort to plan events and I'm sure it's disappointing if only a small number of people show up. Ultimately people will stop putting in the effort to plan anything and the members wills stop seeing any value. I might would suggest that we already see this happening.

There's also already a thread on R2R where there are a few people saying that this club doesn't do any events and our forum isn't active and they were looking for other suggestions for local reef clubs in the area.

Also, FWIW, people new to reefing probably have more energy and enthusiasm. By not actively recruiting them, we are insuring that there is no new blood to help plan events and bring in new energy and ideas...

That was exactly my point.
You need new blood not only to bring new expertise, revenus and discussions, but also to have prospect board members, volunteers and ppl willing to help the forum over years to come...
Also quality is subjective, we need to make sure we have a good definition of quality to not alienate a segment of reefers do not you think?
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[Bruce Spiegelman]

There are reasons that AC and Neptune are no longer sponsors, and it has zero to do with offering them something. I have posted at length about this before, and I can look for those explanations on a night when LSU isn't playing for the championship.

 

[bluprntguy]

There are reasons that AC and Neptune are no longer sponsors, and it has zero to do with offering them something. I have posted at length about this before, and I can look for those explanations on a night when LSU isn't playing for the championship.

Looks like that thread is here:

Neptune Aquatics is no longer a sponsor

So found out today when I went into Neptune's that they are no longer a sponsor. Are we actively keeping in touch with our sponsers and seeing how to improve our relationship? Lost AC and now Neprune. Both being big influential stores in our area. Seems a shame. Neptune has been a staunch...

www.bareefers.org

 

[Bruce Spiegelman]

Looks like that thread is here:

Neptune Aquatics is no longer a sponsor

So found out today when I went into Neptune's that they are no longer a sponsor. Are we actively keeping in touch with our sponsers and seeing how to improve our relationship? Lost AC and now Neprune. Both being big influential stores in our area. Seems a shame. Neptune has been a staunch...

www.bareefers.org

Nope.

 

[JVU]

I like the idea of trying to promote exposure so that more people find out about the club and see for themselves if it would be a good fit for them. As has been pointed out several times, we want and need new membership not just to grow but to maintain, and to stay relevant.

I believe the grumbling before was against the idea of enticing people with freebies or good deals, and then winding up either never seeing them again or having people who only are in it for the freebies/good deals without giving back anything. Its not some subtle or subjective judgement of quality.

Neptune and AC quit us, not the other way around. I wasn’t directly involved but I know that it wasn’t taken lightly by BAR, we all really valued (and value) them beyond any monetary donation level of sponsorship. That was a while ago and attitudes change. We should approach them again and see how everyone feels. Maybe their contribution toward sponsorship can be helping us drive membership. The Board can talk about it and other ideas you guys are coming up with at our upcoming meeting.

Since this is a sponsorship discussion, I’d like to include @The_Lazy_Reefer Daniel our new Sponsorship Director.