To all moderators

This may seem somewhat off topic, but have you ever thought of getting toghther to create a monthly newsletter. I know of a few people that would love to contribute as well as recieve such a news letter. Many of the post I see in this forum can be easily ansered if members purchased a few reef related books. I just think It would be a cool Idea to start a newsletter for members that detial aspects of modern reefing as well as current reef events. I think this publication would be benifical considering everyone wants to rape the hobbyist everytime they attach reef to a product. Why dont we contribute our wealth of knowledge to a none profit information publication which would be emailed to members monthly. I think it would be great to have a product showcase as well as set-up info. Then we could evaluate stocking ideas. The benifits of this site are great, but how many times can we argue about UGF's till we take action to inform hobbyists without chraging an arm and a leg for it. If i am stepping out of bounds I apologies, but it kills me everytime i see someone buy a coral I know they do not have the knowledge to keep and end up killing it.i think every pet store I have seen in my life was willing to sell my gonipora and tell me they are really easy to keep. Its things like that I just cant stand for anymore. If the idea seems any good feel free to email me. I will be more then happy to contribute sometime to save a coral here and there....
Just a thought
Mike

[Drew]

I think that is a good idea! I'd love to contribute.

[Doug1]

Interesting idea. I suspect its very time consuming though. Hopefully we will have new revamped webpage up soon, and several features of the new page will be easy for new people to peruse through current data.
One of the feature will be an expanded article section open to anyone interested in contributing. I have been planning on one on lighting types vs cost. I know Brian from Atlantis was going to do a study on MH bulb types.
Another area I feel could be addressed is Protien Skimmers, the basics of and user input rating various skimmers, that sort of thing.
Any other ideas you or anyone might have, lets kickem around.
I would love to see reefers post articles on their new coral, six months later, that sort of thing.
Once the site is up an email tickler pointing out hot new topics would be a good feature and reiterate the FAQ's and such.
Dont worry bout throwin out an opinion, the board is here for everyone to learn from. Hell if there weren't questions I would have a lot more free time <G>, but then I would be forced to get a real life;-)

[Spanky]

Originally posted by MrMike:
Many of the post I see in this forum can be easily ansered if members purchased a few reef related books.

Great! Then we could be all chat, all the time and stop answering all these annoying reef questions!

[dark horge]

A newsletter is indeed a LOT of effort.

Online BB questions have the benefit of occasionally surprising everyone. I mean everyone, including those not yet registered on TRT but reading through the threads.

If anyone has an article they want to contribute, post it. If it's REALLLY good, we'll archive it

When we have enough really good articles, maybe we can archive them not as threads of interest, but as full html article-pages. Yet another welcome addition to the number of online reefing libraries!

Granted i agree it can be time consuming, but if we can agree with a format. All we need to do is come up with content. We make it fair and have someone be editor and a few guys come up with topics they have knowledge on. For instance a few member compile articles hand them to a few members to edit and make sure they are fact rather then fiction then finale someone to give approval then its simply a matter of copy and pasting then emailing it to anyone interested. I am sure if it takes off it may get more time consuming, but you spread that time over on a few members to simplify the task at hand. I did not mean to say the BB is not enough,but rather if we had some insight into the modern reef hobby to a newbie. it would be great having everyone reading from the same page when we want to debate a issue. I think a bias informational newsletter dedicated to the reef hobby is due. I mean Model airplan builder have a newsletter and how hard is it to build one of those thing. Let them try to keep an acopora hhehehehe. Anyways I would love to see this idea take off.

[Drew]

I too would love to see this idea materialize, and once again, I would love to contribute.

[dark horge]

Hi Mike,

The problem is with the vetting process: checking for accuracy. It's okay to put out your piece on you own, and risk being called a fool. But when you put out an organization newsletter, the stakes are raised and you need fact-checking! You will need editors with expertise, and they invariably have their hands full. Let me give you an example:

Back in early 2000, a thread elsewhere on the severe neurotoxicity of Palythoa led to a suggestion that we start a Hazardous Critters list, or the HazCrit for short.

Ron S. thought it was a neat idea, and IIRC Frank M. was similarly disposed, but neither had time to either add to such a list or to review it for accuracy. I wanted their seal of approval, darn it! Without their imprimatur, I somehow thought the list was not worth the huge effort, and I bailed.

I still have the rough outline and a preliminary list of twenty-something suspect creatures, profiles, and antidotes/remedies. I'll probably just throw that sucker on the wall and see what sticks

Seriously Mike, if you want to start something, ya gotta do it yourself and THEN if it's worthy it will generate support to carry it onwards.

I got that advice from one of the founders of another successful reef board, and though we eventually parted ways in bitterness, I still treasure his advice, and the memory of friendship.

Go for it.
Ask people one-on-one for their articles, even if they've already been 'published' online. Whip 'em together, slap on disclaimers about the opinions expressed being those of the authors alone (har har), apply intelligent layout, font selection and credited images, and WHAM!

You've got Issue No.1, Vol 1.


But you HAVE to deal with authors one on one. An open invitation for articles from all comers means you have to turn down some as unfit for print, and that can hurt some feelings. Better to reduce the risk by

a) selecting authorities.
b) lowering the technicality of the topic, which reduces the need for authorities.

Think it through, and if it still looks good after all your Devil's Advocates are done messing with it, have a go!

[ 06-25-2001: Message edited by: dark horge ]