Cali Kid Corals

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ofzakaria said:
Btw if I understood the graphs correctly looking at the posts vs user active you see a hap that might indicate ppl ar not engaged or can be improved to engage. We want to narrow the gap between user active and posts.
That gap is your engagment.
The registration I did not get, its showing zero so am guessing you simply did not include it, not that there is no new registrations..

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Just a problem of using the same scale.
The number of posts is FAR greater than the number of new registrations, so it ends up looking like near 0.

I think what we need to look at it trends, not relative graphs.
If we start spending money for FB ads, does it go up??
 
Coral reefer said:
There are a lot of points here. I will address later. Busy day for me today.
Short story is the club has survived, and is therefor working. It can of course always be improved. Bigger is not necessarily better. We do not need a huge forum base to be successful as a local club. The more active members that want to help make the club continue to be great the better. Finding those people (new or experienced)is good.
If there is a couple new people questions and I don’t have mine I will skip them. If there are 20 People every day asking what temp and salinity they should run their tank at I may stop using the forum.
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But mike why would you leave the forum if there are more fundamental questions? We all will chip in and answer..or direct them to existing posts that answer.
Other forums have sticky threads that we add frequent question to and ask new commers to check these posts first. This is very effective. This way our answer to such repeated posts will simply be: please read the sticky thread xyz..

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rygh said:
Just a problem of using the same scale.
The number of posts is FAR greater than the number of new registrations, so it ends up looking like near 0.

I think what we need to look at it trends, not relative graphs.
If we start spending money for FB ads, does it go up??
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Agreed teends is what you want to look at.
Once a year you can look at absolute numbers to see if forum is shrinking or growing, but trends is what you do on frequent basis..
The base here is to decide what the goal is, then metrics to track the goal is established...
Would the goal be more or less active users? More or less new bay area based users? Mpre or less paying subs, More traffic and discussions?..etc

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ofzakaria said:
Got it so this is old conversation. Am talking to rob and have good confidence we can bring him back in ad a supporter to spread the word about bar more and more..

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He’s got a BAR banner he asked for for years if he wants it up, not sure if he took it down or left it.
 
ofzakaria said:
But mike why would you leave the forum if there are more fundamental questions? We all will chip in and answer..or direct them to existing posts that answer.
Other forums have sticky threads that we add frequent question to and ask new commers to check these posts first. This is very effective. This way our answer to such repeated posts will simply be: please read the sticky thread xyz..

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It’s just my opinion, but seeing the same questions over and over again is annoying. It’s not what I come here for. I like to help people and answer questions, but that’s not what I’m looking fir in a forum so I wouldn’t likely keep checking in much if that’s what the bulk of posts were.
Not saying new people aren’t welcome. I’m saying we don’t need a flood. Size isn’t important here.
We don’t need to stake out bars and liquor stores for drunks we can force to stop drinking. We are more like AA, here to help people stop that want to stop drinking and want help. We obviously need them to know we are here, in order to help them, but we don’t need to actively draw them in so much.
 
Coral reefer said:
It’s just my opinion, but seeing the same questions over and over again is annoying. It’s not what I come here for. I like to help people and answer questions, but that’s not what I’m looking fir in a forum so I wouldn’t likely keep checking in much if that’s what the bulk of posts were.
Not saying new people aren’t welcome. I’m saying we don’t need a flood. Size isn’t important here.
We don’t need to stake out bars and liquor stores for drunks we can force to stop drinking. We are more like AA, here to help people stop that want to stop drinking and want help. We obviously need them to know we are here, in order to help them, but we don’t need to actively draw them in so much.
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I get your point and I respect your opinion...

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rygh said:
We have a BOD meeting this coming weekend, and if time permits, I will bring up the following:
There is a proposal to do Facebook targeted advertising.
Does BOD think it is a good idea to pursue. If so, we will see if we can get a volunteer to drive it.
The volunteer will come up with a plan, description, and cost estimates.
Then meet later with board to discuss for final decision and plan.
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I think there are two proposals:
  1. Paid Targeted Facebook ads
  2. Utilizing Facebook as a traffic driver to the website, similar to what R2R does with posts about current topics and links back to the website discussion.
I get the desire to get BOD approvals for expenditures like ads, but if someone wants to do the second option and see if it improves the site then I don't see why you wouldn't just try it out and see if it works. Everyone is busy and I think it would be helpful to remove as many roadblocks as possible rather than making someone spend 2 hours writing a proposal for a task that would take 5 minutes a week to implement and maintain. Agree with @rygh that this needs a volunteer. I think we had a social media coordinator in the past. While there's been a fair amount of discussion about FB on this thread, I think a full FB/Insta/Twitter approach is needed (which is easy to do if you link the accounts).

glee said:
Support from LFS is important as others have mentioned because for new entrants to this hobby, the gateway is from LFS and everyone in this community. I’m not necessarily talking about sponsorship type of support but just making sure we have good relationships with our prized LFS. Keeping members happy is just as important because the more minions we have, the more we are willing to talk about the ethical husbandry of marine life.
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I mostly agree with the spirit of this statement, but FWIW, there are a whole slew of reef keepers that won't step foot in a LFS or will be there rarely because they get everything online. By only partnering with the LFS's or (maybe more accurately) relying on LFS's for primary outreach, we will insure those folks never know about BAR. The last time I was at Neptune I spent an hour or so there and I was the only customer during that entire time except for one other person (who didn't actually buy anything). I don't think there is any way that BAR can stop this shift to online retailers from happening and we probably need to at least consider that reality.
 
bluprntguy said:
I think there are two proposals:
  1. Paid Targeted Facebook ads
  2. Utilizing Facebook as a traffic driver to the website, similar to what R2R does with posts about current topics and links back to the website discussion.
I get the desire to get BOD approvals for expenditures like ads, but if someone wants to do the second option and see if it improves the site then I don't see why you wouldn't just try it out and see if it works. Everyone is busy and I think it would be helpful to remove as many roadblocks as possible rather than making someone spend 2 hours writing a proposal for a task that would take 5 minutes a week to implement and maintain. Agree with @rygh that this needs a volunteer. I think we had a social media coordinator in the past. While there's been a fair amount of discussion about FB on this thread, I think a full FB/Insta/Twitter approach is needed (which is easy to do if you link the accounts).



I mostly agree with the spirit of this statement, but FWIW, there are a whole slew of reef keepers that won't step foot in a LFS or will be there rarely because they get everything online. By only partnering with the LFS's or (maybe more accurately) relying on LFS's for primary outreach, we will insure those folks never know about BAR. The last time I was at Neptune I spent an hour or so there and I was the only customer during that entire time except for one other person (who didn't actually buy anything). I don't think there is any way that BAR can stop this shift to online retailers from happening and we probably need to at least consider that reality.
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Is it really worth the effort (to you) to do this outreach? If not then you are the same as many others here. Takes someone to want to do it. Shouldn’t take 2 hours to propose what you want. You could likely call anyone on the BOD this sat and say what you want to do over speaker phone and get an immediate vote.
 
NanoCrazed said:
How recently was that?
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Last year and the year before that. In death with Karson. I did report this to the club at large at a frag swap, and also at a BoD meeting. If the BoD would like me to write it up for general consumption I could, but what tends to happen is threads like that spiral out of control with an opinion from everyone. In some ways that is good, but in other ways it becomes a font of misinformation.

This is why that tyoe of conversation should come from the sponsorship director or another member of the board. Generally they do have a slightly better idea of the bigger picture, and the capacity to act on info for the clubs benefit. I am certain we gain nothing if everyone starts questioning sponsors or ex-sponsors. It's fine to have a wide-ranging discussion internally on these boards, but probably not export that to individuals representing the club on a larger basis.
 
Bruce Spiegelman said:
Last year and the year before that. In death with Karson. I did report this to the club at large at a frag swap, and also at a BoD meeting. If the BoD would like me to write it up for general consumption I could, but what tends to happen is threads like that spiral out of control with an opinion from everyone. In some ways that is good, but in other ways it becomes a font of misinformation.

This is why that tyoe of conversation should come from the sponsorship director or another member of the board. Generally they do have a slightly better idea of the bigger picture, and the capacity to act on info for the clubs benefit. I am certain we gain nothing if everyone starts questioning sponsors or ex-sponsors. It's fine to have a wide-ranging discussion internally on these boards, but probably not export that to individuals representing the club on a larger basis.
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Got it.
I will back off and leave it to the BOD.
Thanks Bruce.

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I completely, wholeheartedly agree with @rygh, that we should be driving everyone to BAR and not fb. Especially since i'm not a fan of fb. As far as reaching more people this way, this assumes that everyone is on fb, which they are not, myself included.
I'm supportive of @ofzakaria talking to Robert to see if his willing to support BAR.
I also agree with @Coral reefer that what we really need is for someone that's willing to engage and do some of these things. Generally speaking, We don't have a lack of ideas, but a lack of people volunteering.
 
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So dumb queation. Being the new guy here..kinda..
Who are the BOD? Is there a thread were we can tell who is the current BODs?

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ofzakaria said:
So dumb queation. Being the new guy here..kinda..
Who are the BOD? Is there a thread were we can tell who is the current BODs?
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Link up top under "About BAR": https://www.bareefers.org/forum/threads/meet-the-board-of-directors-bod.14194/

Coral reefer said:
Is it really worth the effort (to you) to do this outreach? If not then you are the same as many others here. Takes someone to want to do it. Shouldn’t take 2 hours to propose what you want. You could likely call anyone on the BOD this sat and say what you want to do over speaker phone and get an immediate vote.
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Well, it's not even clear that BOD supports trying to get new members or spending funds to do it. There actually seem to be a number of decidedly negative comments about recruiting new members on this thread. It might be easier to get people to volunteer if there is clear direction on what BOD wants and will support. When I do proposals at work I call my CFO ahead of time to make sure we are on the same page. It makes no sense to spend time working on a proposal for a $25,000 computer purchase if she's only going to approve $1,500.

IME, it always seems that people are willing to step up to volunteer when it's clear what is needed and the work is divided so it's not a major commitment.
 
please pardon my confusion
I am all for new members
just in a "slow drip"
I have no idea about the club's financial situation but I can't believe we're hurting for funds.
The willingness to pay a fee to be a member indicates a level of seriousness and dedication to this hobby.
Most newbies are in and then out within a year!
To me, the way in which we are willing to share, lend, give, to fellow reefers requires trust...a lot of it!
So if the increase in membership is too rapid, I fear this will be damaged if not lost altogether.
We don't need a huge membership...we're not selling anything

just my $0.02
 
bluprntguy said:
...IME, it always seems that people are willing to step up to volunteer when it's clear what is needed and the work is divided so it's not a major commitment.
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Well, since I am both Webmaster and Treasurer because of a lack of volunteers, I don't particularly agree with that.
There is a plan for a new Treasurer soon, but ....
 
What we DO want is more highly active engaged members.
What we DO NOT want is for this site to turn into chaos of something like Reef Central.

There will always be a disagreement on where the ideal spot is in between.
And FYI: The BOD does not always agree on it either.
 
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