Carol_Roberts
07-26-2004, 10:52 AM
Hi, my name is Carol Roberts and I'm here to talk to you about the North American Discus Association - NADA. This is a new club we are in the process of forming. It will be open to members worldwide, but our focus will be on hobbyists and events in the US and Canada.
Why have a club? What will a club do for me? These are two questions I hear frequently.
Why have a national club? To promote the hobby, encourage new members and support discus at fish shows. NADA can act as a governing body that oversees and supports discus related events in North America.
What will a club do for me? I've been looking around to see what other fish clubs on the national and local level provide. Most have a newsletter with articles and advertising. Many have a website, some hold shows and a few set standards for naming and judging their particular fish. Breeders and hobbyists can publicize that they are members of the association.
NADA could provide a roster of speakers for regional discus events and maintain a website to disseminate information on basic discus care. The association could act as a governing body to sponsor discus shows, accredit discus judges, and set judging standards.
We already have a few volunteers, but we'll need more. Chuck Russell from NY is working on the website. I've parked discusnada.com for a domain name. Chuck is asking for folks to help build the site. He is especially looking for people with a knowledge of computer graphics. We'll need photos, articles and a logo. I envision the website will have sections on basic discus care, links to advertisers and members sites, a members only area for NADA meetings and a calendar of upcoming discus events. No forums. I do not want to compete with the forums and I don't want the politics.
How would we have meetings - we're spread all over North America? Who wants to go to meetings anyway? I envision a "cyber" club with most meetings held online - just like chat - in the member's only area. We could post the minutes of the last meeting and conduct business online. It would be easier and save postage if voting could be done like polls in the member's only area. The board could start a poll for a particular motion, open voting for a specific period of time and vote. Once a year we'd get together at the ACA for a live meeting.
We could have different types of membership. Individual membership would cost $25.00 per year and would count for one vote. Family membership (for two adults and all children) cost $40 and would count for two votes.
Standard Officers - President, VP, Secretary, Treasurer and seven directors including the immediate past president (if there is one). Length of terms are yet to be decided. I've been on several different boards and keeping the immediate past president on board helps continuity and provides a corporate memory. This will make 11 officers. I'm thinking it might be best to have 7 or more positions filled by hobbyists and the rest open to professionals.
We'll need people to run various committees. For instance, I'd like to have a specialty discus show in conjunction with the ACA in Texas next year or the year after. The judging of this show would be a different day that the ACA judging, with a different judge. Awards could be given at the NADA member meeting. We'll need someone to be responsible for the show, rules, correspondence, judges, etc.
The head of the publication committee would oversee the newsletter. A program committee could be in charge of the Discus Study Group time slot at the ACA each year and provide a program for our annual meeting. We'll need a publicity chairman to seek advertising and sponsorships for the newsletters and shows. A librarian to take charge of physical documents and records - maybe we could even have a lending library. Eventually we may need an Auction committee.
You love your discus. You enjoy water changes. Discus are relaxing and lots of fun! Maybe the question shouldn't be "What can a discus club do for me?" Maybe you should ask yourself "What can I do to support this hobby?" I've helped lots of people over the years - maybe even you. Now I'm asking for your help. Help me make the North American Discus Association a reality.
Thank you.
Why have a club? What will a club do for me? These are two questions I hear frequently.
Why have a national club? To promote the hobby, encourage new members and support discus at fish shows. NADA can act as a governing body that oversees and supports discus related events in North America.
What will a club do for me? I've been looking around to see what other fish clubs on the national and local level provide. Most have a newsletter with articles and advertising. Many have a website, some hold shows and a few set standards for naming and judging their particular fish. Breeders and hobbyists can publicize that they are members of the association.
NADA could provide a roster of speakers for regional discus events and maintain a website to disseminate information on basic discus care. The association could act as a governing body to sponsor discus shows, accredit discus judges, and set judging standards.
We already have a few volunteers, but we'll need more. Chuck Russell from NY is working on the website. I've parked discusnada.com for a domain name. Chuck is asking for folks to help build the site. He is especially looking for people with a knowledge of computer graphics. We'll need photos, articles and a logo. I envision the website will have sections on basic discus care, links to advertisers and members sites, a members only area for NADA meetings and a calendar of upcoming discus events. No forums. I do not want to compete with the forums and I don't want the politics.
How would we have meetings - we're spread all over North America? Who wants to go to meetings anyway? I envision a "cyber" club with most meetings held online - just like chat - in the member's only area. We could post the minutes of the last meeting and conduct business online. It would be easier and save postage if voting could be done like polls in the member's only area. The board could start a poll for a particular motion, open voting for a specific period of time and vote. Once a year we'd get together at the ACA for a live meeting.
We could have different types of membership. Individual membership would cost $25.00 per year and would count for one vote. Family membership (for two adults and all children) cost $40 and would count for two votes.
Standard Officers - President, VP, Secretary, Treasurer and seven directors including the immediate past president (if there is one). Length of terms are yet to be decided. I've been on several different boards and keeping the immediate past president on board helps continuity and provides a corporate memory. This will make 11 officers. I'm thinking it might be best to have 7 or more positions filled by hobbyists and the rest open to professionals.
We'll need people to run various committees. For instance, I'd like to have a specialty discus show in conjunction with the ACA in Texas next year or the year after. The judging of this show would be a different day that the ACA judging, with a different judge. Awards could be given at the NADA member meeting. We'll need someone to be responsible for the show, rules, correspondence, judges, etc.
The head of the publication committee would oversee the newsletter. A program committee could be in charge of the Discus Study Group time slot at the ACA each year and provide a program for our annual meeting. We'll need a publicity chairman to seek advertising and sponsorships for the newsletters and shows. A librarian to take charge of physical documents and records - maybe we could even have a lending library. Eventually we may need an Auction committee.
You love your discus. You enjoy water changes. Discus are relaxing and lots of fun! Maybe the question shouldn't be "What can a discus club do for me?" Maybe you should ask yourself "What can I do to support this hobby?" I've helped lots of people over the years - maybe even you. Now I'm asking for your help. Help me make the North American Discus Association a reality.
Thank you.