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-   North Central Pennsylvania Aquarium Reef Society (NCPARS) (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=246)
-   -   "pay it forward" program proposal (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1922842)

tnyr5 10/21/2010 01:21 PM

"pay it forward" program proposal
 
Ok, I've been thinking about this for a couple weeks and after talking to members of other clubs across the country with similar groups I think I'm ready.
I propose we start a "pay it forward" program in the NCPARS club. Basically, each member buys 1 neat coral to grow out. It doesn't have to be expensive , just desireable. When it's ready to frag, that person then gives (yes I said the g word!) a few frags to some other members of the group who also grow it out and continue the cycle. In this way, we can inject a ton of new corals into our club to pass around without any one person incurring a huge expense.

There won't be many rules to this, but I was advised to make a couple.

1. Anyone receiving a coral must then let everyone in the group know he / she has it. This is mostly to prevent people from taking their free frag and trying to sell it online.
2. No selling! I repeat, NO SELLING! :-P
3. Give frags to different people every time. The idea is to try and spread this stuff around. Eventually everyone will have everything they want anyway.
4. Everyone who wants to be a part of this must contribute by buying one new thing to spread around. As i said it doesn't need to be expensive it just needs to be something that most of the club doesn't have. If you buy something and it dies then you're excused but you should probably figure out why it died before you accept any free frags lol.

that's about all the rules I think would apply
my suggestions are as follows:
- don't try to go beyond your skill level - If sps defeat you but you're a whiz with zoas, by all means stick with them.
- If you're offered a frag that you don't really want / can't care for, please pass it up so it can go to someone else.

Let me know what you guys think ! I'm open to suggestions here. I'm also willing to start the process , I've got all kinds of things that are rare in the club.
Tony

rickyfins 10/21/2010 03:04 PM

Tony,

Please visit ncpars.org forums for our pay it forward program. We have information, rules, guidelines, etc. there and can start this anytime we have enough members interested.

speedo2wet 10/21/2010 04:13 PM

That sounds so awesome

disturbed 10/21/2010 05:31 PM

sounds like a great idea to me.im in

ParanoidObseshn 10/21/2010 05:37 PM

it does sound like a good idea.

jwalker314 10/21/2010 06:43 PM

count me in

PerezAF01 10/21/2010 07:45 PM

Very interesting. I'm in!

Phil125 10/21/2010 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickyfins (Post 17815761)
Tony,

Please visit ncpars.org forums for our pay it forward program. We have information, rules, guidelines, etc. there and can start this anytime we have enough members interested.

Took me a few minutes but i finally found it on the site. Looks pretty straight forward. We would need a hard list of participants and somebody to keep track. Also a short list of what people are thinking of growing.

1 excel spreadsheet that could list what everybody is growing and who has recieved frags of that coral. Easy to cross referance and forward to the people in it.

GSP frags for everyone =)

rickyfins 10/21/2010 08:37 PM

Phil, yes, with that thread in the forums that we started on NCPARS.ORG someone could upload the excel spreadsheet to ncpars.org. Then just update it as neccessary. That sheet would be where all participants could check to see whats out there, whats being grown, and how many people are in the program.

Using the site for this purpose is a benefit for our members. If only people would see it, that would surely help things out. If you notice the posts on there about the Pay it Forward Program... The dates are kind of old aren't they? We could have started this a while ago if we knew there were more interest.

Anyway...

If you guys need assistance loading a spreadsheet to the site for tracking purposes, let me know. I would be glad to help you guys get this rolling.

We would need a volunteer to do the tracking, additions, etc for the program. I know my time is very limited these days with all the projects I have going with society stuff, personal stuff, and my work. Any volunteer want to head the pay it forward program?

I can make sure that I am available for the volunteer as needed though. Also I am sure there are other board members that are willing to assist this person as needed.

Thanks so much guys. I am looking forward to seeing this thing working out.

I also have one thing to add about the rules...

In my opinion and probably most others... You should be a paid member of the society to participate in this program. There is a list we have that the volunteer can use to make sure those who are interested are paid members of the society.

When the program starts, please use the ncpars.org forum for communication about the program. This will eliminate confusion by others in the RC community as well as keeping those who are not members and from far off lands from confusing or posting things about the program.

PerezAF01 10/21/2010 08:45 PM

I can spear head this project unless someone else wants to take it. If someone else wants to take it, I can help out as necessary.

I am having a hard time navigating and finding the spreadsheet on ncpars.org
Can someone shoot me a link?

Al

rickyfins 10/21/2010 08:59 PM

You have to be logged in Al to view this thread.


http://www.ncpars.org/joomla/index.p...id=48&catid=12

jwalker314 10/21/2010 09:03 PM

i noticed in the original post that it is mentioned that each person will purchase a coral, what about people that already have corals available? could we do some kind of points system, where lets say i give away 4 soft corals to someone in the group. That will get me 4 points, and i can give those 4 points to someone for lets say a candycane coral. which in turn i can grow out and give 4 frags of that to others for 16 more points. 16 points can get me something nicer.

it might help get people started without an initial investment, i know a lot of people on here have corals that i would like to get frags of, and i know i have lots of beginner corals that would be great for someone starting off (which i would gladly give away to someone in the group)

maybe im making this too complicated, but a way to track it all would not only help it be organized but fair as well. what do you guys think? A webpage can easily be made up to keep track of everything.

PerezAF01 10/21/2010 09:21 PM

Thanks Rick


Point system sounds a little complicated. How would you assign point values to corals? It doesn't seem very fair because a rare acro may be assigned a high point value while zoos a low point value. This will benefit the zoa collector like myself and make it difficult for acro collectors to trade. I think the original idea with a waiting list works best in my opinion.

Al

Phil125 10/21/2010 09:34 PM

The point system kind of defeats the point of the pay it forward. People who cannot afford high point corals would not be able to earn enough points to get high point corals.

Although i do like a point system but make it a 1 for 1 not matter if its a GSP or an Acan polyp. That would reward the people for participating without it becoming class warfare.

rickyfins 10/21/2010 09:49 PM

I think everyone should read the official Pay it forward information on the site. Follow those rules set forth by Sanjay and his research for the program. Since Al is willing to lead here, I think we should let him follow the guidelines and set the rules as well as if there will be a point system or not.

My recommendation is like my reef... Keep it simple to be successful.

jbeckett25 10/22/2010 04:53 AM

I got to say I LOVE this idea! I would be more than happy to help out with this anyway I can.
My two cents: I think the first thing that would need to be done is to get a list of people who want to do this, I agree with the members only aspect, As this could help to promote membership for the club. could do a sign up sheet at our swaps. Also like the one for one plan no matter what it is give to get. I have a idea for the spread sheet as well: Name, member ID, coral wanted, and coral offered, Maybe a count of corals received and given. Might be best to stick with the buy a coral and grew it out aspect due to if some one has corals now that others want they are likely selling them at the swaps already and my be less likely to partake if they can't sell them. Just some thoughts Like I said love the idea and willing to help out any way I can.

PerezAF01 10/22/2010 08:44 AM

I am drafting up a tracking spreadsheet along with a set of rules. I will post once I have the final draft ready.

Al

rickyfins 10/22/2010 08:52 AM

Al please post that on the Forum on ncpars.org so we can keep track of things, some threads on here get lost in the mix sometimes.

jwalker314 10/22/2010 06:50 PM

thts a good point, that having a points system could make things more complicated than intended. it would be the same thing as selling them for "credits" also a good point about people selling what they already have and being less than willing to participate. So in that aspect each person gets a certain coral (maybe one nobody has in the group) and adds it to the list. will be looking forward to more details

Phil125 10/23/2010 02:43 PM

Looks like we have 7 people so far that are interested. Perez started a post with the rules on http://www.ncpars.org/.

Pay it Forward rules

tnyr5 10/23/2010 07:36 PM

Wow, I ignore the computer for two days and this thing takes off ! lol I'm glad people are interested in this. Ricky, I didn't know Sanjay had laid this out a long time ago, we talked about it the day after I posted. Hopefully lots of people sign up. This could really be great for the club and the area.

rigleautomotive 10/24/2010 06:36 AM

You guys did me proud.Way to "get er done"

Fizz71 10/25/2010 08:31 AM

Let me preempt this by saying I am _NOT_ an expert at this tool but you guys should check out http://docs.google.com. You can put up a shared spreadsheet to track all of this stuff. I'm not sure how much control you have over it, but I know it's a very popular tool and worth the time for somebody to look at.

I was so exicted when I first read about the pay-it-forward program on the site a while back and so dissapointed when I didn't hear about it again. I'd be interested although my tank space is starting to get sparce.

I only have one question...How do we know what to buy up front? In other words...how do we know what is desirable and where to get it?

rickyfins 10/25/2010 09:21 AM

Maybe the members who are going to be in the "Pay it forward" should make a wants list of the top three things they would like to have. Then coordinate with the other members in the program so that not everyone is going to have the same coral in the program.

Kevin... We have a doc section on ncpars.org which we can load a final(noneditable) copy. The only way then to edit the copy is from the administrator of the program.

PerezAF01 10/25/2010 09:22 AM

Thanks, I will play around with that program.

What is desirable? Thats a very good question and I think the easiest answer would be to ask the other members participating. Personally, I would buy something that I like and want in my tank then donate it to the program. If no one wants it, atleast I will have something I like. Either way would be fine. Perhaps we should also implement a time limit to request the item so that someone isnt stuck trying to offer a coral for a long period of time. Thanks for asking.

Al


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