Koi Clubs and members

[koiczar]

Nancy, you hit the nail on the head. The Santa Clara club has been trying to figure this problem out for the past 3 years. The only thing I can come up with is there is too much information available on the internet. People do work long hours. They hardly have time at home as it is. Who wants to spend that precious time going to a meeting, especially if they've already heard that speaker, or are simply not interested in the topic. It's very difficult to get a topic that a large group is interested in. We've even taken a poll among our members and can't get enough feedback from them as to what they are interested in hearing about.

The unfortunate thing is that there is too much BAD/WRONG information available and the unsuspecting "newbie" out there ends up following some great sounding marketing ploy and ends up with the wrong ideas about what makes a proper koi pond.

Also, it seems the longer a club is around, the more entrenched the ideas of how the club should be run (but this is how we've always done it) and the politics and in-fighting runs rampant. I've finally decided after 8 years holding various positions on the executive committee and board of directors to step away and take a break from all of the above. I don't need the club, but always felt that if I could help provide information to newcomers or generally assist in disseminating good information to the general public about our hobby it would satisfy me. But, after all this time, I'm worn out trying.

[woodyaht]

I've got to agree with you Czar. I have yet to join a club, and that is due to a couple of reasons. First off I have been around Yacht clubs/Country Clubs most of my life and the political crap, and clicks that are involved are beyond me, and they reside and all clubs that I have seen. Secondly the closest club to me is 45min. away minimum, and if I am not at work, I am working on my home, so to take time away from either on a regular basis is difficult.

When you have your local Country Club, it is "local", and close by, but there isn't a koi club in every town, so traveling and and time away from home life is precious. This is just the world we live in and it's not going to get any better. A prime example is my best friend is on his second baby and I haven't seen him in months because I refuse to always be the one to go to his house, as his complaint is " it's too much work to load up the diapers and baby stuff to come visit", well that's BS to me, but how so many people in the world have gotten. I have told him time and time again, " throw some diapers in a bag and go", but it's still just too much work.

I honestly doubt there's much of anything that anyone can do to help the problem, we have all gotten away from the slow paced life of the past, and are set into this fast paced life where we drive into our garages and close the door behind us, unlike yesteryear when people were social and would stand out at the mail box and visit with the neighbor for hours. Everyone seems to just want to isolate themselves inside their home when not at work.

[Ryan S.]

You west coast folks should have it much easier. Here you may have 2-3 other Koi keepers an hour drive from your house, if your lucky. You should probably address membership and attendance at meetings separate. To increase membership, you can go the route of MAKC, with a included newsletter and free admission to there Koi America show. We are members of MAKC for that reason. Other stuff, like backup airpumps, pumps, show tanks for QT available for checkout, books for the same reason, discounts to vendors, all good ways to drive membership. Most koi clubs really just have to many meetings. Cut down the number and try to make them more meaningfull, speaker or labs, a single fish vendor there, anything?

[koifishgirl]

The reason I dont go is that all the meetings are a 1hr drive from my house and I dont drive in the big city. So I dont get to attend any functions. A lot of people just cannot and will not drive in all that heavy traffic. I have tried to find someone close to me that attended the meeting so I could go with them but the only one that I found was a goldfish judge and I think the only reason he joined the club was to get him name out and what he does. They moved from up north and are starting their new retired life in the south. I called and ask them about going with them to the meetings and got a good responce and have not heard from them since.

Meetings are held at different people houses once a month and none so far are close enough for me to drive and fill safe getting there. But now if there was a bus that could take the members to the meeting and I did not have to drive the rat race then I could attend and so would more people. A lot of people dont live in the fast paced and cant or wont drive it.

[Surfhead]

I know as a member who rarely attends meetings I can tell you what I myself would like to see done.

I would really appreciate being asked what I want to be discussed. put togther a list of meeting topics and put it to a vote. then take the top choices and put together meetings to fit. Then you know you are putting together a popular topic that the members of your club want.

also I like the idea of bringing the clubs into the computer era. A lot of clubs could take a note from Nancy at Koi Kichi. many don't have websites and if they do they are two static pages with little more then contact info. you gotta get people excited about the upcoming meetings. update with "party" photos from the last meeting, talk about the upcoming meeting and really sell it, perhaps a message board or a place for people to upload photos of their pond. have a library of koi health info, photos of koi owned by members that have won awards, archive articles, etc etc. And maybe get a local vendor to pop in with discounted merchandise.

oh, and free booze is always nice!!!

[Mike T]

Our club is having the same problems… I think the biggest problem is trying to meet the needs of both the Old timers and Newbies…

Towards this end, we’re trying a few "new" things… First: Bekko, Steve Hopkins started a Newsletters covering club events, club member profiles so we get to know each other better and an educational section covering all aspects of the hobby…

In addition we’re changing the format of our 2-1/2 hour meetings so that the first ½ hour is devoted to old and new business, followed by a 1-hour educational session again covering all aspects of the hobby based on general needs and ending with a 1-hour open forum where we discuss common problems…

Steve is coordinating the educational sessions using guest speakers from the community at large in addition to club members… We are hoping that one of our first speakers will be the newly appointed State Ag department Vet, who has a background in fisheries.

Guy Kmett, our club V.P., just purchased a LCD projector and we hope to use this tool to enhance the meetings… We used the projector at the last meeting for presentations by the Horimoto’s and Leroy Taba covering their recent Japan koi buying trip as well as a presentation by Gary Hironaka showing how the Momotaro auctions are run… All were very interesting and well received… The projector’s uses seem to be endless…

Ken and Shir also introduced the new way of showing koi in bags… We hope to use the technique to enhance the learning process of koi appreciation and for future shows and/or koi auctions… This new system will allow members to bring koi to our meetings without the hassles of setting up show tanks etc. while allowing onlookers a up close view of the koi…

As we are just starting out, any suggestions from other club members will be greatly appreciated…

Aloha! Mike T

[luke frisbee]

surfhead hit it....FREE booze....
actually FREE anything will double the attendance at a meeting...just getting a good deal will have em show up...
But then a koi club has too much variation to be a good thing for anyone...I've run in two "Koi Clubs" and One ZNA chapter.
the koi clubs had a cross section of humanity and their desire to learn or keep anything to do with koi....
The ZNA Chapter was HARD CORE and Worth attending. It was what I thought a koi club should be, but somehow I thought it was about koi and not personal BS. I got the boot...their call. I'd have never done it to them. But I get enough Koi stuff from the 'net, and going to a friendly person's pond when i can get an invite.
I do feel as though a KOI Club would be joined if it was for the Kichi. the ZNA chapter charges about $100 a year but most of that goes to the magazine (which wasn't worth it). But if a Koi Club put dues at $250 a year and had maybe 5 meetings a year inwhich they flew in a breeder or chartered a bus to go to a show. Well that would probably get the better koi hobbyists to come on out.
Ya get $5000 for 20 people joining and then have that subsidize part of what it takes to put on a "meeting". The Public could buy tickets to an individual meeting for a substantial amount over what it costs each club member that attends.
maybe it would work......fly one of the Momo people in for a vacation and have him bring a bunch of tosai....on which he could give a slide presentation on the development that normally occurs ...and then somehow the tosai get disbursed. I've seen some pics of the Europeans doing it....?

[luke frisbee]

And you could have dealers like JG come and explain how their products work?

[Brutuscz]

I used to belong to the MAKC, but next year I will join the pioneer valley club. I currently belong to the Connecticut reef society (Reef fish tanks...corals and stuff). What they do correct is: Meetings are held in retail facilities...with everything discounted for club members for the day. That way, you are not just going..you are hunting as well. I will go sometimes just to get cheaper supplies and corals. They also have raffles for things at meeting as well as regular speakers. The excitement of getting new things cheap will keep everyone going to meetings. Immediate gratification is the best way to attract a hobbyist and get them to return for more!!!

[Spike Cover]

Hi,
Spike Cover here. I belong to a club that's folding. We have tried to discover what will get members to meetings and, as a matter of fact, have discovered the answer on several occasions but seem to soon forget and/or ignore it. For you info, here is the results of a survey:
__________________________________________________ ______
The Questionnaire was submitted to approximately 50 members in mid November of 1999 of which about 19 responded (approx. 38%) by early February 2000. The following is a summary of the results of those respondents.
__________________________________________________ ____________________________

The respondents indicated they like the knowledge and friendship they gain from the club. They want the club to provide them with information on koi health and medication and on good koi husbandry. They overwhelmingly don’t like the politics of the club. If we want them to come to meetings, we need to have good speakers and visit ponds with good koi collections. The most important thing in the newsletter is information on local alerts and opportunities. Most respondents are still OK with Sunday meetings but a fair number would prefer a week night. They would prefer most of the meetings be at members’ homes with knowledgeable koi related speakers on the agenda. Most folks were willing to host a club meeting and help at a koi show. Of the thirteen respondents who rated having their spouse involved above a one, the issue was fairly important to them.
__________________________________________________ ________________________

So we knew what they wanted; we just forgot or ignored the results or both. Anyway we didn't have good speakers, we continued to argue (very likely perceived as "politics" the thing everyone hates) and the club is going into mothballs or dissolving.

The lesson: if you go to the trouble of asking the members what will bring them out to meetings, you probably ought to believe what they tell you.

Cheers,
Spike