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Re: AKA Membership


> mudpuddle wrote:
> 
> With all this talk about membership vs. non-membership, let me ask the
> nonmembers what is your reasons for not wanting to join the AKA?

Hey Chris,

Is it OK for a member to offer a guess or two? NO? 

What the heck. I'm going to do it anyway, so find your delete button. ;-)


For those who are looking for a tangible return on their dues, the JAKA and
BNL may really not seem like quite enough. They, of course, miss the greater
pleasure of being able to contribute to the hobby in a hundred less obvious
ways. The giving outweighs the getting for nearly all of us. As a "benefit,"
I personally consider N&R as a non-issue, and would if I lived in Billings.
That's just me.

If they didn't learn from the Beginner's Guide how to keep the fish going,
or if they have never had the experience of a good show and convention,
maybe it just isn't worth it to them. We should not miss them, too much,
either. Bon voyage!

I tried to raise killies entirely without the AKA. *That* was something
short of an entirely rewarding experience. 

When I returned, years later, Oleg Kiselev eased me back into it with great
patience and care. Need I mention that he was a member of AKA? Urged me to
join?

The support structure I found was a really nice thing, so I contribute dues
every year to be sure it is always available to every new killy keeper if
they want it, no matter where they live. What I'm paying for is the Web
pages, the Convention, the Beginner's Guide and all that stuff that makes
the hobby fun and worthwhile that AKA does by pulling folks together.

I enjoy helping other new folks, when I can. I give away a lot of nice fish
that are too easy for me to breed, but offer new folks a better start. [I
really need that tank space for my latest collection of *Aphyosemion
bettemiddleri* F1s. ;-)] It's my payback for Oleg's help some years ago.
That's the way it works, here.

Some, like Roger, were no doubt deeply hurt by unthinking and/or
unscrupulous folks who misuse their position on the BOT or Chairs to do
great harm. Our area had a recent ultra-nasty example of that in connection
with totally undercutting a new Affiliate that had been organized
*specifically* at the urging of the AKA Chairman (and a past Chair of AKA).
A subsequent BOT of AKA just let the club hang out to dry, without a word of
apology or explanation. As much work as I had put in on AKA's behalf in that
fiasco, I was sorely tempted to give up the benefits of contributing to the
hobby, just to register my angry protest.

When it came time to renew, this year, I stalled a while, but finally
decided the chance to contribute to a hobby that gives me so much pleasure
is far more important than carrying a grudge against an individual or two
who have their head totally up and locked.

Chris, I think many of the answers are somewhere in here if we look for
them. 

I hope Dr. Roger will decide to come back some day, but am aware that being
really shafted is awfully hard to forgive. He's a damned good author,
distinguished collector, expert breeder and outstanding fish identifier. He
is also a most honest and honorable man. We really should make sure we know
what it will take to get him back. He has far more to contribute than most
of us. I know he has been of invaluable help to me. I wish all of AKA could
receive that help via articles in JAKA, etc.

That's the way it looks from here. YMMV.

Wright

-- 
Wright Huntley, Fremont CA, USA, 510 494-8679  huntleyone at home dot com

         "DEMOCRACY" is two wolves and a lamb voting on lunch.
     "LIBERTY" is a well-armed lamb denying enforcement of the vote.
             *** http://www.self-gov.org/index.html ***
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