Aca Member Poll

[Mr Firemouth]

Hi guys,

How many of you are current members of the ACA (http://www.cichlid.org/)?

[Mr Firemouth]

WOW?
This board has thousands of cichlid keepers and there are only 4 votes regarding membership of the American Cichlid Association.
Quote from BobR on another site...

Tangible benefits of ACA membership are:
1. recieve six issues of Buntbarsche Bulletin.
this alone is a better deal than subscription to any other magazine for cichlid keepers. the only other publication that comes close is Cichlid News. there are articles that appeared in BB first then were later modified and reappeared in Cichlid News.
ACA members are encouraged to submit articles to BB editor. Editor will help with grammer and such. Editors can even find images to go along with article. it can be fun to become published.

2. Access to ACA C.A.R.E.S.
this program is designed for cichlid keepers to house endangered fish. learn more about a species from fellow cichlid keepers

3. access to all BB back issues kept on ACA website
these back issues are password protected. soon there will be an index of all authors, title words and selected text words.

4. attend ACA convention.
currently to attend this convention, one must be either a member of ACA or a member of host club.
typically there are 6-12 cichlid experts speaking at a convention. there maybe more in attendance. it is a chance to meet a favorite author and discuss aspects about cichlids. this expierence cannot be overrated.
also while at convention, there is a special auction to raise money for research. fish are donated from Florida fish farms. There may be rare fish or fish ready to breed in these auctions.
of course there is the party atmosphere that pervades the entire convention.

5. there may be benefits I have overlooked, if i remember more I will repost.

Previous benefits that are now available to everyone:
use of ACA forum
Trading Post is where members buy and sell cichlids. This was a members only benefit but as of July 2007, it is now open to all.

All of this is put together by volunteers that love cichlids. Other magazines may love cichlids but are they created and published by volunteers? This is where the $25 goes, it goes to pay for a color journal that is first class.

I suspect ACA Board of Trustees may have a some other member only benefits down the road. Wait for futher tangible benefits and may miss something in BB that would make a difference in cichlid keeping. Do not wait, join now.

[Glaive]

Honestly one thing that puts me off a bit is their web site, but I am a web developer and such things affect my opinion more strongly than others. Were I to have time I would do for them as I do for many others, offer help.

[Mr Firemouth]

Their website has been revamped by use of the new forum and forum Portal Page (http://acaforum.com/index.php?act=home) .

There is a two part presentation of web designs being held at the Annual BOT Meeting at the Atlanta ACA convention this year. This will be pivotal in how the ACA's web presence is portrayed.

The main thing is the ACA is welcome to hobbyist and allows scientists to contribute also. The gap between the 2 is becoming closer as we continue to promote the Forum.
Also, the ACA C.A.R.E.S. program is great for keeping track of endangered and extinct in the wild cichlids being preserved in captivity. Claudia and her team are doing a great job!

If you have time for suggestions please do post them! Moving the ACA into the electronic arena is very important!

Thanks in advance Rich! :)

[Glaive]

It seems they had a massive change from just a week ago.
If I am in Atlanta this year I will be sure to go to the presentation.