NWAAS

[etheonut]

One of the things that was talked about over pizza last year when we were trying to nail down our bylaws was the fact that we had many different positions to fill, but not a lot of people to fill them. We discussed getting rid of these different positions until there was a use for them. We also discussed who would be good at them already. I won't mention any names at this point. Our general consensus though was that we needed to have the programs and positions in place in preparation for growth. It would be a bad thing to try to play catch up with programs if the club started to take off in size. It is with that same philosophy that I come to you all today.

I would like to get our Breeder Award Program up and running. We have members that are breeding fish. Some of them are breeding lots of fish, some of them are just breeding something here and there. Some of us would like to breed fish, but haven't quite gotten around to it. Even if it isn't a stellar program to begin with, lets get it in place. There are rules and procedures that need to be discussed and adopted. Like so many other things, I think it would be better to have them in place, maybe work out some bugs, before we have a strong need for it.

I also think that having a BAP in place will help with membership. It will help show a level of expertise that our club already has. It will give us fish to sell to raise money either in Kansas City or in swap meets and mini-auctions here at home. We could even take some fish to the local stores and use them as advertisements.

When I was in Wisconsin I noticed that there were two things that people in attendance at the club meeting were interested in mostly, socializing and the BAP. In fact some of their members were receiving national recognition for their efforts in breeding fish. I would love to see our club applying for some of those awards, but we can't do that unless we have a program in place.

There are many different models for BAP programs. They each have their strengths and weaknesses, if you all show an interest in this I will do the research and we can talk about what our model will look like.

Kevin

[sumpnfishy]

Although I'm sure we will here from him soon if he is paying attention, you may want to contact Gerald Griffin. He has done a great deal to get the Oklahoma club's BAP moving. The best way to start a BAP is to steal, I mean borrow, a program from another club. Both KC and OKC have good programs though the one in OKC is used more.
I agree that we should start it. It's not a program that takes money (in fact if you require a donation of fish to the club it makes money) and doesn't take in inordinate amount of work once it is off the ground.
Michael

[sumpnfishy]

So Kevin, when are we going to get this started? I've got fry from 4 different families of fish right now and I'm working on three more. I want to go for 10 different families before the end of the year. On the other hand, to get points I'd have to fill out reports. I hate BAP reports!
Michael

[etheonut]

We will definitely be talking about this at the August meeting. There are MANY different formats and approaches we can take.

Kevin