What does this club do for you?

[smorrow5773]

I found this site about a year ago. At the time I had been keeping saltwater tanks for almost 10 years. I joined thinking I might meet some local people who shared my interests and trade a few things. Shortly after joining I realized how screwed up this club is. I spend alot of time on other club forums and never have I encountered such disrespectful behavior. These forums are open to everyone to see and I find it embarrasing to even have my screenname show up here. Perhaps it is an age or generation thing, maybe your parents should have beat the crap out of you. I don't know but the things that go on in this forum represent the CIMA group as a whole. If everyone would keep the childish behaviors in check, more people would be inclined to join this group. There are quite a few of us in the area with knowledge and frags to share, but tend to be on the professional, courteous level, and prefer to stay away from trivial bs associated with this group. Sorry for ranting out, but I feel this is something to be considered by the new leadership, as well as each and every one of you. Good luck!

[pewter_jean]

I am not in CIMA, but it is close enough to me I frequently check out this forum, and all I can say is, Tisk, tisk tisk. I know several people that live up in the Mattoon, and Springfield area. and they hear me talk about how active our club is and they ask me if I can help get them info about a club in thier area. I told 3 different people about CIMA and all three after checking out the goings on here decided they were better off staying away. Which is a real shame, these clubs have so much potiential, and can help so many people and it has come down to this.
smorrow, you can teach me anything you want to about corals.

[medic29]

I have to say...I just starting reading in this forum the last few days and have no clue what the issues are and for that matter don't really care. My whole reason for reading this forum is to learn more about the saltwater and reef hobby and to learn more from others who have more experience than I and possibly share frags, etc. I'm not interested in the drama as I'm sure many others are not as well.

I read where others are requesting the hatchet get burried and for things to go on from there; that sounds like a wonderful idea. I would hate for this forum to go away because others could not figure out how to get along.

[brad23]

Steps are being taken to reslove these issues keep watching.

[fkdenton]

pewter_jean does have a point the slash club has not been around long but is doing great. That club is more social oriantated than reef, I think SEASL might be a better suited club for us to imitate.

[pewter_jean]

But the way "Medic 29 is the fourth person I have told about CIMA to join, He really enjoys his tank, and want to learn as much as possible about this hobby. and this isn't a very good first impression.
What is wrong with being social based. We get together and have bbq's and go out for pizza and beer. We discuss our tanks. We just have a good time doing it. Just because a club is "formally a club" does not mean the club has to be formal. It isn't like we are marine bioligy student in college sitting in a lecture.

[GreenBay1]

The problem with CIMA is that it was ran by one person for so long that the club got used to a certain pattern to things. Then the younger B/N and other area people started joining. They had new ideas and great inthusiasm toward the club, however that made people uncomfortable thus the uneasiness got to rolling. Now people will say this is all wrong, but if you step back and look, it's just that. The older generation is in "battle" with the new. The older generation is a great source of wisdom in the hobby and to see all the bickering really puts a hamper on the forward progress of this fantastic hobby.

[Horace]

From my perspective it was exactly as GreenBay described. When several of us newer folks joined, there was essentially no leadership at all. Noone was really a figure head that I knew of. Heck I never even knew Henry existed until several months after posting on this board. In fact the new folks seemed to account for about 90% of the traffic on this forum. It didnt take very long for tensions to rise once the "president" returned and started ruling with an iron fist. After that things just snow balled.

SO NOW THAT IS ALL HISTORY.....We are moving on to greener pastures. We have setup the new Bloomington Normal Area Reef Club board and things there will remain civil. Hopefully by us leaving, this board becomes civil once again as well. Its just a shame that it came to this. However, I really see this as a great opportunity for those of us in the B/N area to band togeather and form a strong knit group. Meetings will be much easier to attend/host, group buys will be a piece of cake, frag swaps will be held often, and there are TONS of us around who have tanks within only a few miles. I am excited to say the least!

I would also like to mention that ANYONE is welcome to come to our meetings and take part in our activities. We are in NO WAY EXCLUDING ANYONE, and that means ANYONE.

I look forward to seeing some of you on the new boards!

[BrianD]

Greenbay and Horace

This is the last warning I will issue. Any further editorializing about others in the community will not be accepted.