lattehiatus
Past President
It's a new year, BAR! In 2014, we are turning our attention inwards towards our community and individual members. Each of us have unique ideas and goals about the tanks in our homes, and we want to foster collaboration and the exchange of ideas to enable us to provide ever better husbandry for the animals in our care. This is your club, and you have the prerogative to mold it and make use of it in the way that it best suits you. We are extremely grateful for the vast number of volunteers in the past year who opted to chair and organize events such as tank tours and swaps, volunteered in various roles during events, and welcoming new members and dispensing advice on a wide variety of topics.
Simultaneously, we want to look outward towards what we could do as a club to make an impact in the greater community, whether it is educating the public or supporting the scientific and conservation efforts surrounding natural reefs.
It is looking to be an exciting 2014, though before we plunge in, I would like to extend some overdue appreciation:
Special thanks are in order to the out-going BOD members. @gimmito and @Coral reefer were installed as VP and Sponsorship respectively in the end of 2011 and have extended countless hours lining up guest speakers, putting on club events, and maintaining/creating relationships with the club's sponsors over the past 2.5 years. They stepped up when the club was on the verge of becoming an online-only club and turned things around - no easy feat. @tankguy diligently weeded through every single new forum registration as Secretary to keep spammers out, and it is a credit to his success as gatekeeper that we were not invaded by the barbarian spammer hoardes before the forum migration. Unfortunately @tankguy had to take a leave of absence due to personal life events, and we hope that he will bounce back quickly. @bondolo served as Officer at Large and was invaluable in providing critical support including manning the BAR table at meetings and events and managing the club's social media presence.
Please welcome the new BOD officers, @FeliciaLynn as VP, @magnetar68 as Secretary, and @goldielocke76 as Sponsorship officer. They each have big ideas that they are bringing to the table to make the club even better, and I am personally looking forward to the rollout.
There are many more folks who deserve accolades, including @Piper and @saltwatersig who run the swaps like clockwork, @GDawson for helping with membership, @Apon and many others who organized tank tours, and the Nominations Committee who sought out and vetted 2014 officers prior to elections.
Last but certainly not least, I would like to thank the 2013 BOD officers who are staying on for 2014. @mray2660 diligently keeps our finances in order as Treasurer and hauls all the supplies to every single meeting, and is in contention with @patchin to be the longest-serving BOD officer. @patchin ensures we have a meeting space that is properly equipped for any type of event we can imagine putting on (so far we have yet to stump him) - as the Facilities officer, he is the first to arrive and last to leave our meetings. Finally, huge props go to @denzil our Webmaster for his tireless efforts in first implementing the huge forrum upgrade to the XenForo platform and the host of continuous improvements including automating membership dues.
Final thoughts:
BAR is a community of driven and passionate hobbyists, and it could not be what it is without everyone's dedication. To loosely paraphrase a famous quote, ask not "What has BAR done for me lately?" Instead, consider asking, "What can I do to improve BAR, the hobby, and the reefs that make our hobby possible?"
Simultaneously, we want to look outward towards what we could do as a club to make an impact in the greater community, whether it is educating the public or supporting the scientific and conservation efforts surrounding natural reefs.
It is looking to be an exciting 2014, though before we plunge in, I would like to extend some overdue appreciation:
Special thanks are in order to the out-going BOD members. @gimmito and @Coral reefer were installed as VP and Sponsorship respectively in the end of 2011 and have extended countless hours lining up guest speakers, putting on club events, and maintaining/creating relationships with the club's sponsors over the past 2.5 years. They stepped up when the club was on the verge of becoming an online-only club and turned things around - no easy feat. @tankguy diligently weeded through every single new forum registration as Secretary to keep spammers out, and it is a credit to his success as gatekeeper that we were not invaded by the barbarian spammer hoardes before the forum migration. Unfortunately @tankguy had to take a leave of absence due to personal life events, and we hope that he will bounce back quickly. @bondolo served as Officer at Large and was invaluable in providing critical support including manning the BAR table at meetings and events and managing the club's social media presence.
Please welcome the new BOD officers, @FeliciaLynn as VP, @magnetar68 as Secretary, and @goldielocke76 as Sponsorship officer. They each have big ideas that they are bringing to the table to make the club even better, and I am personally looking forward to the rollout.
There are many more folks who deserve accolades, including @Piper and @saltwatersig who run the swaps like clockwork, @GDawson for helping with membership, @Apon and many others who organized tank tours, and the Nominations Committee who sought out and vetted 2014 officers prior to elections.
Last but certainly not least, I would like to thank the 2013 BOD officers who are staying on for 2014. @mray2660 diligently keeps our finances in order as Treasurer and hauls all the supplies to every single meeting, and is in contention with @patchin to be the longest-serving BOD officer. @patchin ensures we have a meeting space that is properly equipped for any type of event we can imagine putting on (so far we have yet to stump him) - as the Facilities officer, he is the first to arrive and last to leave our meetings. Finally, huge props go to @denzil our Webmaster for his tireless efforts in first implementing the huge forrum upgrade to the XenForo platform and the host of continuous improvements including automating membership dues.
Final thoughts:
BAR is a community of driven and passionate hobbyists, and it could not be what it is without everyone's dedication. To loosely paraphrase a famous quote, ask not "What has BAR done for me lately?" Instead, consider asking, "What can I do to improve BAR, the hobby, and the reefs that make our hobby possible?"
