Question about the GWAPA board

[Prince]

Why is the board so restrictive for non-members? Besides time and meeting locations (and they really are not an issue) not being able to access more of the site as a non-member, Really doesn't make me want to join. To my (MY OPINION) it seems like all that is wanted is the money first. Do the members or B.O.D. feel this a good way to get more people to join? I would pose this question their buy alas I am unable to post in the suggestion form. I posted it here because I know we have members in our club who are members in GWAPA. This post was not meant to offend anyone.

 

[krisw]

Prince, it's a fair question to ask. I receive a couple emails each year about this, and there are a number of good reasons for this. It is not a money grab.

1. There are a number of very good public aquatic plant forums on the Internet. They also require a whole team of moderators to keep control over the posts. The GWAPA board does not want to have to do this.

2. We like to think of our forum as an online extension to our members; something to fill the gap between the meetings. The privacy of our forums allow our members to discuss things among a group of people that they can put faces to. It also allows us to post member-only buys, sales, and the like without broadcasting them to the world.

3. Lastly, by limiting our forum users to members, we've pretty much reduced our spam problem to zero.

All of this said, we welcome anyone to attend our meetings, even though they are usually held in member's homes. I'm sorry if our forum policy has rubbed you the wrong way.

-Kris Weinhold
GWAPA President

 

[Prince]

It didn't rub me the wrong. just wanted an explanation. As much as it sucks for non members it makes sense.

 

[Prince]

I would like to attend some of your meetings. I am planing to attend the March meeting since it's in a meeting hall. Don't comfortable showing up to some strangers house say hey I am here for the monthly GWAPA meeting.

 

[krisw]

Prince, we'd love to have you at our March meeting. Really, we have new members all the time at our member's homes. It's not a big deal.

 

[F8LBITE]

I think if you let people check out the forum without having to sign up, it would be more likely for something to catch a prospective member's eye and make them want to join. Ive been to a GWAPA meeting and thought it was pretty cool with cool people but im just not that into plants. Just my 2 cents.

 

[chris_todd]

I would like to attend some of your meetings. I am planing to attend the March meeting since it's in a meeting hall. Don't comfortable showing up to some strangers house say hey I am here for the monthly GWAPA meeting.

Color us weird, but when we're hosting a GWAPA meeting, we kind of expect complete strangers to show up and say "Hi, I'm here for the GWAPA meeting". Seriously, like Kris said, come on by, it's a cool group of folks, and maybe you'll come over to the green side of the force! :lol: And if I'm not mistaken, this month's topic has to do with the "hardscape" portion of aquascaping (arranging the substrate, rocks, and driftwood) so even folks who have no plants in their tanks might enjoy it.

 

[bertolli]

I might check it out, whens the meeting?

 

[DonkeyFish]

Prince, and anyone else on the fence, please do come to a meeting! You will see familiar faces and we always welcome new people. We had three new people show up at the last meeting!

Next meeting is the 27th (always on the 4th Saturday of the month) at 1:00 in Bowie, MD. Chris was correct... the meeting will be a hands-on workshop on hardscaping a tank. We will have stations set up with 10 gallon tanks and sand, and the participants get to pick through rocks and driftwood and come up with their own scapes. It will be a great chance to learn, for yourself and through others... or just spectate!

-Jen
GWAPA Vice President

 

[DiscusnAfricans]

I would like to attend some of your meetings. I am planing to attend the March meeting since it's in a meeting hall. Don't comfortable showing up to some strangers house say hey I am here for the monthly GWAPA meeting.

It seemed weird to me at first too, but I went to a couple of meetings, and I really enjoyed it. People will make you feel welcome, just as CCA does. You're pretty likely to see a fellow CCAer as well. I'm going to try and make this months meeting since its in MD and seems like a cool topic.

 

[longstocking]

It actually bothered me as well... as I was trying to find answers to a plant question without having to post it. ( I like the search function ). I have only attended one meeting... I did enjoy the one meeting .... distance is an issue for me ( I understand why you have them alternating in VA and MD and think it's great ).