October 30th Meeting Minutes

[Faltang1090]

Jason I have been volunteering for 20 yrs now with various mostly scouts Canada and I have never seen the turn over in the three years I have been with Taras due to burn out or personal matters. What can we hope for if we have a spring show no vendors no volunteers, as is how many vendors would be willing to come if they are angry or put off by us now? How much is that show worth to you? Or to any vendor? Say we get a great venue, which we did... Put up all the advertisements, pay all this money that taras has raised over the years and we maybe fill half the tables. Only a thousand people come through the door, everyone is mad they can't get in the door fast enough, theres no vendors, not enough variety whatever... Guess what happens we waste money then again we look foolish. Everyone's mad at us, the board drops in half again because they don't want to deal with it or any other number of personal reasons. The only reason why a NFPO ever fails is lack of volunteers, personal issues causing volunteer drop out and/or lack of funding. Those can be attributed to anything as well. What we are wanting to do is start over to be able to make things better

yes the shows have been run in the past by two people, but how often can we find somebody, no anybody who has the time and willingness to spend countless hours doing almost everything. Then after it's all done not feel bitter or angry because no one helped him or her? We all have lives, bills and work. So we want to restructure and refine the way Taras works. Becaus if the cycle repeats as it has done in the past how many volunteers or people will want to be associated with Taras. With the drama always Taras has lost a valuable commodity in this city, people. If it's not one thing it's another when dealing with so many people, so many different attitudes, mentalities, and opinions. If we as the board cannot see eye to eye, and have level, clear goals and status of what goes on in Taras. How can we possibly do anything but go through this all over in 6 months or a year?

[slamjay]

And how many vendors will be pissed off that there isn't a show? How many of the public? And then they go "Why would I want to book the fall show, how do I know it will even happen? Every time there is a show the society takes the exact risks that you are describing, Any show could bomb. Any show could be a smashing success. That is the risk every time.

Why don't you actually ask the vendors? E-mail the vendors of the fall show and ask if they plan to attend the spring show. Then you have your answer.

[Farva]

TARAS was having issues getting enough people to help out at the last show. This was before half the board stepped down you want to bet on there being enough people to run the Spring show? Its going to take some time for people to trust TARAS again. We would not have an issue with vending at the show
.

[RyanGSP]

And how many vendors will be pissed off that there isn't a show? How many of the public? And then they go "Why would I want to book the fall show, how do I know it will even happen? Every time there is a show the society takes the exact risks that you are describing, Any show could bomb. Any show could be a smashing success. That is the risk every time.

Why don't you actually ask the vendors? E-mail the vendors of the fall show and ask if they plan to attend the spring show. Then you have your answer.

For someone who was complaining the new show location was 30 min away and not your dpor steps you seem to have some strong comments Jason.

if a Spring show is so important to you why dont you organize one.

[slamjay]

I've organized 10 shows and was VP and President for 2 years. How many have you done? What have you ever contributed? Nothing.

[GONESNAKEE]

Lets keep this constructive Vs turning it into a BS flame fest that accomplishes NOTHING other than ENTIRELY defeating the purpose.
Please & THX
Nuff Said (hopefully?) Mark

[Faltang1090]

Flame fest on thread closed or soon to be closed guys we really wanted contructive ideas not bashing/blaming either way! thumper "said if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all..."

[mandie]

Jay, one of our concerns regarding vendors is the possibility of there being a spring show held by Jim and Greg. We figure that seeing as how we already often struggle to get good vendor turnout, if there were a big show around the same time, we probably wouldn't see very many people interested in vending at our show. Vendors are a HUGE part of the show as who really wants to go to a reptile show/sale that has a poor selection of reptiles? I don't think that any of us are morally opposed to having a spring show, nor are we afraid of hard work. However, we are very interested in doing WHATEVER is best for TARAS... and different people of course have different opinions of that. And really.. there is no one right answer. :/ We are really appreciating hearing peoples' constructive feedback and would really like to keep this thread positive in order for us to gain insight from other members of the society.

[cornelsw]

Jay, one of our concerns regarding vendors is the possibility of there being a spring show held by Jim and Greg. We figure that seeing as how we already often struggle to get good vendor turnout, if there were a big show around the same time, we probably wouldn't see very many people interested in vending at our show. Vendors are a HUGE part of the show as who really wants to go to a reptile show/sale that has a poor selection of reptiles? I don't think that any of us are morally opposed to having a spring show, nor are we afraid of hard work. However, we are very interested in doing WHATEVER is best for TARAS... and different people of course have different opinions of that. And really.. there is no one right answer. :/ We are really appreciating hearing peoples' constructive feedback and would really like to keep this thread positive in order for us to gain insight from other members of the society.

Not sure why this is being mentioned or even playing a part but we said more than once that we weren't doing a show if TARA'S was putting on a show. We will now consider putting one on of yours is cancelled, but it isn't a for sure thing we want to put one on.

[Jazzy, Belle & daddy]

First off, I strongly suggest that the executive and mods consider making a TARAS member discussions forum, where paid TARAS members are only privy to TARAS discussions. Airing society "dirty laundry" is never a positive thing. TARAS Members contribute to TARAS issues, forum members do not. Just my 2 cents.

Second, I hope that TARAS does manage to put on a show for longevity of your society. Not doing a show would be seriously detrimental to any momentum you have built.

Third, as the ERAS VP for the past 2 years, I can understand burnout. The VP role for ERAS has always been unbalanced (the VP is the show organizer), and to manage it effectively it is daunting to say the least. If you do decide to go forward with a show, I can help you out with my organizational frameworks, task assignments, contacts, media engagements, etc. On behalf of ERAS I will forward you my entire show planner which is a MASSIVE detailed spreadsheet containing hundreds and hundreds of hours of my work over the past 2 years. This was compiled by me as my legacy for the incoming executive for 2013 and something that I am extremely proud of. As a "sister organization" for lack of better words, I think it is imperative to share ideas, innovations, and cross promote wherever possible. We should do this more often in my opinion.

I want to see TARAS succeed and weather the storm. You CAN rebuild your relationships with vendors, friends, and the community. ERAS is a testament to this, as we experienced society altering issues a few years ago; 2012 is in the books now as the most successful year for ERAS in our history.

Remember – TARAS is an ideal, first and foremost. No one can doubt the rectitude of the principles that formed TARAS. Focusing on this as a start will help you reform your framework.

Good luck guys, remember ERAS is here to help you out in whatever way we can.