What happened to this club

Defective_Weeble · Jul 8, 2014

bknapp said:
This is going to be blunt and harsh. If you're too lazy to sign up for a forum you're too lazy for this hobby.

100% agreed. But I also think that new hobbyists won't know that. There's much more to the education of newcomers than the technical knowledge. They also need to know the best places to find information. Again, a statement toward the benefits of forums that the forum owners don't tend to advertise.

Dylan R · Jul 8, 2014

I'm fairly new but I do absolutely zero social media till I got into this hobby but using Tapatalk it couldn't get any easier so I don't understand and I am not tech savvy haha

bknapp · Jul 8, 2014

Defective_Weeble said:
100% agreed. But I also think that new hobbyists won't know that. There's much more to the education of newcomers than the technical knowledge. They also need to know the best places to find information. Again, a statement toward the benefits of forums that the forum owners don't tend to advertise.

Which is a part of the reason we push r2r and the MTRC pages so much, the wealth of experience and knowledge here is so great and vast that you cannot compare it to anywhere else.

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.

revhtree · Jul 8, 2014

Thanks guys for doing what you do! We as R2R use FB to promote the forums and drive people to our site as much as we can. We spend at least 2-3 hrs a day just on social networking! As others have mentioned as well, summer is the big slow down in the hobby. But that doesn't mean we can't keep working to get people coming and posting here! Thank you!

NeveSSL · Jul 8, 2014

Thanks for chiming in, Rev.

Some great points in this discussion. Its certainly a challenge. It usually seems very difficult to convey how important solid information is to the people in the Facebook groups. They just have a different frame of reference. I'm betting many of them don't stay in the hobby and I've personally seen many of them fail time and time again with their tanks. It is unfortunate, but it is what it is. There will ALWAYS be people who think they want to do the hobby, jump into it, spend $3,000, and jump right back out after losing everything. It unfortunately seems to be part of human nature, or at least our culture.

Brandon

waynesworld · Jul 9, 2014

Facebook may be easier to post quick pic's is there a FB page for MTRC i have been gone for a long time so not sure.

pickupman66 · Jul 9, 2014

I may be old school but I have never used Facebook for reef advice. Yes I see the photos that people posting there tanks and have commented want your twice but for me information is found in the forums

bknapp · Jul 9, 2014

waynesworld said:
Facebook may be easier to post quick pic's is there a FB page for MTRC i have been gone for a long time so not sure.

MTRC does have a Facebook page, we are working on making it more active and visible.

pickupman66 said:
I may be old school but I have never used Facebook for reef advice. Yes I see the photos that people posting there tanks and have commented want your twice but for me information is found in the forums

Yeah, IMO the forums are much more informative than Facebook.

revhtree · Jul 10, 2014

Does Facebook give away cool prizes?

Is FB ran by someone some of you know personally that lives close?

Haha! Sorry had to! Support the forums! Support R2R!!

bknapp · Jul 10, 2014

revhtree said:
Does Facebook give away cool prizes?

Is FB ran by someone some of you know personally that lives close?

Haha! Sorry had to! Support the forums! Support R2R!!

Yes to both. Although, R2R gives away nicer stuff. (I haven't won anything from either, LOL)

CJ7 · Jul 10, 2014

revhtree said:
Does Facebook give away cool prizes? Yes, we just did a best photo contest for a frag of one of my personal acros.

Is FB ran by someone some of you know personally that lives close? Yes, myself and a few others

Haha! Sorry had to! Support the forums! Support R2R!!

Really??

Look I don't see the need of bashing the people that use Facebook. Sure, there are a lot of new people that join the facebook group and post but there are also a bunch of veteran guys there as well. I am on FB and R2R every day. not only MTRC but the main R2R forum which holds TONNNS of knowledge and build info. Am I on FB more often and longer? Yes because there is more going on. I went to one meeting last year when I first signed up with my wife after JR told me about MTRC. To be honest it was the worst experience ever. There was a push to increase membership last year and all I heard at this meeting was complaining that a bunch of new people had joined and what a pain it was going to be run the club and dig it out of the hole it was in. I helped out a bit at the frag swap, but I haven't been back to another meeting. Either way we all enjoy this hobby and like to talk to each other and it shouldn't matter if it is on FB or MTRC.

revhtree · Jul 10, 2014

Ok never mind I was kinda being sarcastic but it was missed. I definitely support FB. Ask my accountant.

bknapp · Jul 10, 2014

I honestly don't see any "bashing," I see discussion. Nobody here on R2R or members of MTRC dislike the use of Facebook, I'm on Facebook I'm also on R2R. I don't use Facebook as a major tool for reef keeping, pain and simple.

And for your one bad experience at an MTRC meeting, I apologize and would like to invite you to try us out one more time. If you'd like to discuss your experience please PM me.

NeveSSL · Jul 10, 2014

CJ7 said:
Really??

Look I don't see the need of bashing the people that use Facebook. Sure, there are a lot of new people that join the facebook group and post but there are also a bunch of veteran guys there as well. I am on FB and R2R every day. not only MTRC but the main R2R forum which holds TONNNS of knowledge and build info. Am I on FB more often and longer? Yes because there is more going on. I went to one meeting last year when I first signed up with my wife after JR told me about MTRC. To be honest it was the worst experience ever. There was a push to increase membership last year and all I heard at this meeting was complaining that a bunch of new people had joined and what a pain it was going to be run the club and dig it out of the hole it was in. I helped out a bit at the frag swap, but I haven't been back to another meeting. Either way we all enjoy this hobby and like to talk to each other and it shouldn't matter if it is on FB or MTRC.

I don't believe you're alone in not enjoying that meeting. There were a lot of frustrations vented to everyone there that probably should have only been said to a few, but what can I say... Chris is very passionate and had the best intentions. The complaint wasn't new people joining as much as it was about people wanting all of the benefits of the club without participating, but that's a different topic for a different time. I am truly sorry that was your first meeting, as it was obviously not a pleasant one. As I've said to others, don't just use one experience to base the entire organization off of. I'd recommend coming to another meeting before writing it off.

As far as FB vs forums, they're just totally and completely different in both their purposes as well as their usefulness, in my opinion. That's about all I have to say about that.

Brandon

Bowin · Jul 10, 2014

I joined MTRC almost a year ago and admittedly my first meeting was an odd experience. I didn't really know anyone and I was very new to the hobby(still am). I almost didn't want to come back. No one was rude but I kinda felt like a fly on the wall. But as they all have said I didn't want that one experience to be the deciding factor on my opinion of the group. I have made some good friends and learned a lot. I'm hoping to find ways where I can contribute and be more active in this group. I also am on fb more and not bashing it but when I want the best advice and guidance on a subject I always come here first.

bknapp · Jul 10, 2014

Bowin said:
I joined MTRC almost a year ago and admittedly my first meeting was an odd experience. I didn't really know anyone and I was very new to the hobby(still am). I almost didn't want to come back. No one was rude but I kinda felt like a fly on the wall. But as they all have said I didn't want that one experience to be the deciding factor on my opinion of the group. I have made some good friends and learned a lot. I'm hoping to find ways where I can contribute and be more active in this group. I also am on fb more and not bashing it but when I want the best advice and guidance on a subject I always come here first.

The first meeting you go to is always the weirdest, but it's like your first day at a new job or school you always seem to be on the outside no matter how welcoming people are. We're glad you stuck it out and gave us another try.

Bowin · Jul 10, 2014

bknapp said:
The first meeting you go to is always the weirdest, but it's like your first day at a new job or school you always seem to be on the outside no matter how welcoming people are. We're glad you stuck it out and gave us another try.

Thank you and I'm excited about being a part of the group.

NeveSSL · Jul 10, 2014

bknapp said:
The first meeting you go to is always the weirdest, but it's like your first day at a new job or school you always seem to be on the outside no matter how welcoming people are. We're glad you stuck it out and gave us another try.

Its also worth noting that this was mentioned at one of the meetings and we're working on starting a welcoming committee to help people get integrated into the club at meetings.

Brandon

Stemick · Jul 10, 2014

It is summer time not only do the forums seem to slow down during the summer but I have heard from LFS that it even it gets slow for them during the summer time. I read though alot of post daily. This forum is like a good book you can't put down. I don't post much because I'm still learning without alot experiance but I do post what info I do have. Most of the time if I do have a question I normally can find it with searching for it instead of making a post. I have also noticed that the people with years of knowledge are on the forums. Thats why I come here first.Facebok seems to be good for that quick fix. But If you came to a forum did most of your homework first then most of the time your would not need that quick fix. Thats what this is for right to share our knowledge , expand our knowledge and enjoy each others tanks and ideas. But with most of the stuff you need on a forum like this with such amazing people with years (some decades) of knowledge its all about what and how much you put into it.

palvyre · Jul 10, 2014

I haven't posted much because I haven't really done much, but normal maintenance. Everything is growing out great, even those pesky Aiptasia mrr. I haven't really had any problems either, so I haven't been posting for help.