Quest

2003:
7/13/03
7/08/03
6/21/03
6/13/03
5/19/03
5/06/03
4/20/03
3/25/03
3/23/03
2/18/03
1/5/03

2002:
11/11/02
10/11/02
10/03/02
9/1/02
8/10/02
7/14/02
7/2/02
6/4/02
4/6/02
3/14/02

2001:
6/28/01
5/31/01
4/26/01
3/29/01

2000:
11/30/00
10/24/00
9/28/00
8/21/00
7/27/00
6/22/00
5/25/00
4/20/00
3/10/00
2/24/00

Q U E S T  Newsletter of the Madison Aquatic Gardeners Club, 4/20/03
From: John Glaeser 233-5182 NOTE: new e-mail address =


NEXT MEETING: THURSDAY EVENING, April 24, 03 … 6:30 – 9:00
Science House, 1645 Linden Drive on the UW Campus

7:00 TOPIC: Video clip from last year’s AGA (Aquatic Gardeners Association) convention in Houston.

By observing his plants, Chuck Gadd identifies nutrient deficiencies or excesses. The presentation is nicely illustrated and includes strategies to address plant nutrient issues. You’ll love this common sense approach.

8:00 Break

8:15 BUSINESS MEETING:

Item (1) Our Website…Do we keep it or dismiss it?

Many organizations out there have a website. Seems to be a natural expectation these days. Our generous tech savvy club member Victor Marsh, volunteered to get one up for us and service it. It does looks nifty, indeed.

Now that some time has passed, we need to review things. If it appears our membership is not using the site, why have it? True, it may catch a hit now and then from surfers. Is this sufficient reason to maintain the page as a record of agenda information, newsletters and membership aquarium picture gallery?

I invite us all to give this some thought. If we have compelling justification to continue with this media exposure, please present your view. Victor and I have been mulling over the issue. I’d like to share his view:

“Quite honestly, the MAG website doesn't seem to be of much value. As you mention, you are able to send emails with the information about meetings etc. directly to people. In some ways this is better, there is no web page address that has to be remembered, it just shows up in their in box. I think the only reason to keep a website would be if there was a group of people who would be dedicated to keeping it up to date and managing it. It would also be a good idea for the club to register its own domain name as well ( www.madisonaquaticgardeners.com or something).

Because I have been so busy lately I just don't have the time to keep things updated as quickly as they should be. I hope you can find others in the club with the time and know how to maintain a web site.

Please let me know what I should do with the current site. I will make sure everything that is there is backed up to a CDROM. Thanks. Victor Marsh”.

Let’s look for a direction this Thursday.

Item (2). Calendar for the coming months.

Do we suspend regular meetings during the summer?

How about some irregular activities with focused themes, with occasional small group meetings. I’ve some ideas. Bring in some of yours. Let’s experiment with this thread. I’d love to see some mini experimentation happening, involving a degree of collaboration. Reports in Fall could be fun.

8:30 Q&A. Share stories. Ask tech questions. Search for answers.

8:45 Chat. Check out library items. Exchange plants. Finish off the pizza.

9:00 – 9:15 Clean up

Reminder: Bring in tank water samples for testing, if you wish.

John