I've done everything I can think of that can be done for free or moderate cost to get a fresh/salt water club going, 50+ miles north and probably 200 miles south of the only other combined clubs in Florida. This includes trying to get
articles in the local papers, who are not really interested- also putting posters in the local pet shops, and trying to find a meeting place.
It appears that all the meeting places available here charge a min. of $100/night-- churches, schools, clubs, libraries, malls, etc.
I for one am not willing to take that out of personal funds on the gamble that I'll be compensated for it. I did finally find a Municipally- funded Center who offered to let me/us have the first night (only) free without a guarantee that we'd renew when we could pay for it out of dues- the first meeting is tomorrow night. It's ideal- an aquatic museum/ visitor center central to the area I'm trying to serve.
My question to this group: What should be the agenda for this first meeting, bearing in mind that I haven't got a clue how many will attend, or who will volunteer? - All I can say is that one street in this town, there are presently four stores selling fish and supplies within a one- mile stretch, so there must be a lot of interest in fish...
Should I, as organizer, appoint folks to the committees?

Starting a local club takes a lot of work, best wishes with it.
If you would like us to host a subforum here on aquariumforum for your club, please let me know. This will also help attract membership for you.

Jarred is right. Speaking as a local club president, it isn't easy. Start small meeting at members homes once a month and see how many folks that attracts. You will need to have a club forum so I recommend that you take Jarred's offer and set one up. Go slowly and see what happens. Best of luck.

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Doc

Dr Hank's 200 gallon Reef Tank
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f46/drhanks-tank-3440.html

+1 on meeting at members houses. It also gives members a chance to show off anything new, exciting, or rare, either live or equipment, they would like to share.

Your first meeting will be a startup meeting. Find out who is interested, vote in people to various offices. Eventually your club may be able to get sponsored from local fish stores, offering a 10% discount for members for instance. At this point your club may initiate a small yearly fee ($10-$20) and you will need a treasurer. Stuff like that should be figured out in the first meeting.

A key point of the first meeting will be a discussion of content for future meetings. Workshops for instance; does anyone know how to build an awesome home made sump? This will be driven purely by member interests. If someone shows up who knows a lot about corals or freshwater inverts, you will want to note that and get them to present at a future date and be available to answer questions at that meeting.

Anyway, there is more, but you get the idea. Your first meeting is going to be figuring out where the interest lies and who would be good help in the future. It will primarily be a "hello, thanks for coming. How can we get interest and make this work?" meeting. You are going to want something small to discuss if that gets wrapped up quickly, but that can be whatever you are interested in at the moment; even if it is just the benefits of running a bio filtration system.


Edit: oh yeah, getting a forum up and running is a must. That is how the majority of your members are going to find you.

Hi, all- it's Dave again, and I'm hardly flushed with success- only five peeps showed up, but luckily one was a fish shop (pet store) owner who appears (underlined)- to be quite receptive to the idea of a local fish club- and she actually buys from her customers- for cash- - also a marine biologist who works for the state of FL, a friend who organized the club in Hollywood and was very active in one in NY before retiring here, and a volunteer at the River Center at Burt Reynolds Park on the Loxahatchee River, which is where we held our meeting, such as it was.
The assemblage (snicker)- were all quite friendly,instantly.. I was discouraged at first, but perked up when they all started with the suggestions, and the Center's coordinator offered to give us another free shot next month and is helping with flyers, sodas, and coffee!
- I really appreciate your suggestions, guys- too bad they came so late, but then I asked too late, to tell the truth- my bad .. will implement them in time.
-Dave-

Wow man, 5 is actually a solid turnout for a first meeting! good job. Getting the attention of a fish store that early is also incredible news. A huge incentive to joining local fish groups is the 10% off perk a lot of local fish stores offer to the groups. If you can get the fish store to do that for you, even on a temporary promotional bases, it will help you out big time. The fish stores like it because it is a very low cost advertising option for them as well. The endorsement of a local fish club can be great for business.

Sounds like a fine start, good luck for next time.