Meeting Speakers and Topics

[dogofwar]

We've got a great mix speakers and topics for CCA for 2014, starting with Doug Gosnell on keeping and breeding angelfish at the January 11 meeting, members giving short BAP presentations in February and, of course, world-class speakers (Anton Lamboj, Pam Chin, Rusty Wessel and Shane Linder) at AquaMania.

What kinds of speakers and topics do you want? What makes you really want to come to meetings?

This poll allows multiple choices (the choices aren't mutually exclusive) - pick as many as you think describe your preferences...and feel free to post to describe your interests and preferences more accurately.

Would be great to have feedback from both members and non-members who attend meetings.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[zackcrack00]

I know a few people breed liveberaers, maybe Frank Cowherd can talk about raising and breeding.

 

[Pat Kelly]

?
This is a Cichlid club

 

[jonclark96]

While on occasion we will have a speaker talk about other aquarium fish, the vast majority of our talks will be focused on cichlids and/or catfish.

 

[chriscoli]

Oooh, New World seems to be in the lead! Very interesting!

 

[JasonC]

Oooh, New World seems to be in the lead! Very interesting!

Well, it does seem that the tide in the club has shifted away from Africans to big CA nasties...


Really would like to see some hands on workshops myself... but maybe that is something that is better done in small groups on off weeks??

 

[dogofwar]

Keep the input coming, folks!

Matt

 

[festaedan]

Hands on activities? That sounds fun!

 

[halak]

I know a few people breed livebearers, maybe Frank Cowherd can talk about raising and breeding.

I think Zach meant raising live food.

 

[dogofwar]

What are some practical fishkeeping topics that folks would like to see?

Please be specific...

Matt

 

[TovMahal]

While not specifically a talk about cichlids, maybe we could have someone talk about the impact the South American gold rush is having on native fish populations including cichlids.

I know I am guilty of watching Gold Rush on the discovery channel even though I know what they are doing has to be having an impact on the environment especially native fish populations as they dredge the rivers, and dam up tributaries.


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[Localzoo]

While not specifically a talk about cichlids, maybe we could have someone talk about the impact the South American gold rush is having on native fish populations including cichlids.

I know I am guilty of watching Gold Rush on the discovery channel even though I know what they are doing has to be having an impact on the environment especially native fish populations as they dredge the rivers, and dam up tributaries.


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That's a good one


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[FishInMaryland]

It doesn't matter too much to me what the topic is, but the human interest/interaction angle is what I find most interesting. To see picture after picture of fish doesn't keep my interest too long, and those tend to be the presentations that run very long, also. The two presentations that stand out as good examples of what I'm talking about are Tony's recent discussion of his 2013 collecting trip, and he explained about all aspects of the trip, from preparation onward. The other example was a guy 3 years ago, who works for Bill Gates' foundation and made a lot of trips to Africa, and he provided a lot of commentary on the people he met, the way they lived, etc.

 

[harlowe777]

Breeding techniques..

 

[Localzoo]

It doesn't matter too much to me what the topic is, but the human interest/interaction angle is what I find most interesting. To see picture after picture of fish doesn't keep my interest too long, and those tend to be the presentations that run very long, also. The two presentations that stand out as good examples of what I'm talking about are Tony's recent discussion of his 2013 collecting trip, and he explained about all aspects of the trip, from preparation onward. The other example was a guy 3 years ago, who works for Bill Gates' foundation and made a lot of trips to Africa, and he provided a lot of commentary on the people he met, the way they lived, etc.

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[dogofwar]

Same thing I think (other than "what a bunch of morons") when I watch the Goldrush show (...and I do watch sometimes...so I guess I'm the moron ): Aren't they just destroying the environment...knocking down old growth trees...destroying and otherwise permanently altering waterways and wetlands....spilling fuel and hydraulic fluid all over the place?

While they don't use mercury, I bet that most of the miners there do (as they do in Africa). The consequences of that are horrific.

We've had some conservation-based speakers and topics in the past and the poll seems to reflect less interest in conservation topics among the club membership than other topics (like Practical fishkeeping topics - "how to").

Matt

While not specifically a talk about cichlids, maybe we could have someone talk about the impact the South American gold rush is having on native fish populations including cichlids.

I know I am guilty of watching Gold Rush on the discovery channel even though I know what they are doing has to be having an impact on the environment especially native fish populations as they dredge the rivers, and dam up tributaries.


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[dogofwar]

I greatly enjoyed both Shane's and Tony's presentations about their travels as well. But I like presentations that are broader than just fish and I like to travel (fish transport me to another place than Montgomery County Maryland ). Only about of 1/3 of folks who have voted so far seem to share our interests!

Interestingly, "Overview of a type of fish topics (e.g. "Thoricthys" or "Mbuna")" - probably the most common topic for speakers - is running in last place! Done wrong, the here's a (whatever fish) and here's another (whatever fish)...and here's the blue morph of (whatever fish)...and the green morph of (whatever fish)...and (whatever fish) from slightly east of there...can get really boring, really quickly (in my opinion).

Matt

It doesn't matter too much to me what the topic is, but the human interest/interaction angle is what I find most interesting. To see picture after picture of fish doesn't keep my interest too long, and those tend to be the presentations that run very long, also. The two presentations that stand out as good examples of what I'm talking about are Tony's recent discussion of his 2013 collecting trip, and he explained about all aspects of the trip, from preparation onward. The other example was a guy 3 years ago, who works for Bill Gates' foundation and made a lot of trips to Africa, and he provided a lot of commentary on the people he met, the way they lived, etc.

 

[dogofwar]

We've still only had 30 votes out of a couple of hundred members (and lots of other folks who aren't members but come to meetings / use the forum)...

I'd hate to draw conclusions based on such a small sample but if folks can't be bothered to vote or weigh in, then I guess it's their fault!

Matt

 

[mchambers]

A presentation on live foods might be good.

 

[dogofwar]

Thanks Matt!

Frank gave one a couple of years ago but maybe time for an update

Matt

A presentation on live foods might be good.