CCA @ ACA 2017 and Opinions on the ACA

[dogofwar]

My daughter and I are headed to the American Cichlid Association (ACA) Annual Convention, which the Michigan Cichlid Association is hosting in Novi, Michigan this year. We hosted a very successful ACA Annual Convention in 2011.

This year, CCA is sponsoring the "Best of Division D – Africa Non-rift Lake, Madagascar and Asia" class in the fish show there. We will also be making a donation of $600 of the proceeds from the Big Fish Deal Rare Fish Auction to the ACA's Paul Loiselle Conservation Fund ( http://cichlid.org/?page_id=12).

I think that Pat Kelly and Tracy are the only other CCA folks attending this year. Please let me know if others are attending! It's really not a bad drive (about 8 hours) and we're stopping on the way at Cedar Point...

ACA membership is I think $35 per year and includes access to The Cichlid Room Companion (www.cichlidae.com), new and catalog of past Buntbarsche Bulletin, among other things. That and support for the organization is enough for me to contribute the cost of a cup of coffee per month to it.

That said, the role that ACA has played in the hobby is different today than it was at its height (late 80s / early 90s) and membership is a fraction of what it used to be. The ACA is not a local fish club (like ours), so it's really not a competitor.

Would be great to get folks' perspectives on the ACA and potential future directions, whether folks are members and what advice that you would give the current or future Board of Directors for the ACA. The more specific, constructive and thoughtful the better...

Matt

 

[dogofwar]

Really? No input

 

[rich_one]

Years ago, I joined the forum, but became disinterested because posting there seemed rare. Even though the 2011 event was in this area, most of their events are far enough away that I'd probably not attend. So that, combined with how infrequently the forum seemed to be used, I eventually lost interest. Now, this was a few years ago now. I haven't been in the forum in a long time, and have no idea if business picked up or not. Not much... but that's my two cents.

-Rich

 

[mchambers]

I joined because of the 2011 conference, but did not continue my membership. I'm a fish guy, not particularly a cichlid guy, and there's plenty of information about the fish I like all over the Internet. And, as rich_one says, the events are too far away for me to attend.

 

[Frankie Kenneth]

I just joined the CCA today. I did go and attend the ACA and had lots of fun. Look forward to getting to know more hobbyists

 

[FishEggs]

I just joined the CCA today. I did go and attend the ACA and had lots of fun. Look forward to getting to know more hobbyists

Welcome aboard Frankie.

 

[dogofwar]

Cool - are you local?

Matt

I just joined the CCA today. I did go and attend the ACA and had lots of fun. Look forward to getting to know more hobbyists

 

[DiscusnAfricans]

I cast for "I'm not a member, have heard of the ACA but have never been a member (why not?)" I couldn't remember if going to a convention actually got you membership or not, though I thought I heard it did, but couldn't remember if it was a reliable source.

That being said, I never tried to make use of my membership, whether using the website, and I never received the bulletin. I need something more interactive, even just a monthly email update would help me get interested.

As others said, not being local hurts also, I made it to the ACA in Indy, but thats the only event I've attended besides the one we hosted. Would be nice if something happened besides a yearly event, though I can't say specifically what that should be.

I hope the ACA is well supported, and hopefully I'll get more involved in the future. I think I'll have more opportunities in the future as my career develops and things calm down, but for now I do my best to support the local clubs. It would be great if ACA supported something through a local club just to get their name more visible, even if they had to pick and choose how/when that happened.