# Discussion - Club Groups Idea



## scater (Nov 24, 2007)

I don't really go to KFDU, the emoticons scare me. What's the club concept?


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## scater (Nov 24, 2007)

So we could do the same sort of thing with more organised events - like SWR? I think that would be a great idea, particularly if we can get sponsors on board or use the AKFF prize fund for a lucky dip or some sort of informal comp.


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## scater (Nov 24, 2007)

nezevic said:


> More like localised fishing clubs than interstate outings.


Yeah I get that but if we're going to do things out own way, how a bout a regional group responsible for running official Akff events roughly monthly? Established members can form a leadership hub in each region and run the events. If we have at least five members on each committee that should allow us to cover absences and keep events running. We could get an AKFF branded mini-marquee like these to provide the hub at each event. http://www.instantmarquees.com.au/insta ... ms_006.htm I'd be surprised if we didn't start attracting sponsors interested in supporting the events and establishing a presence.


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## Stealthfisha (Jul 21, 2009)

I agree with the tent style arangement for AKFF activities etc for each state
I also agree on the active topics instant pop up
also the page layout ideas....

1. can we have a private contacts register for us and who is who in each state for control and programing events purposes?
2. Can I be officially known as BaggsHeroGodPatriot?
3. I promise to play nice when insulted by persons and will think before typing 

ill try to get back on tonight but need to complete my online components of 1st aid cse for sunday.....

Happy to be here ....flattered infact.....in a non gay kinda way.....but I accept if you are that way inclined heheheheh


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## scater (Nov 24, 2007)

Stealthfisha said:


> ... and will think before typing





Stealthfisha said:


> Happy to be here ....flattered infact.....in a non gay kinda way.....but I accept if you are that way inclined heheheheh


That was quick!


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## scater (Nov 24, 2007)

Ok, so here's what I've got in mind. Each regional centre that can, (SEQ, Melbourne, Adelaide, Moe etc.) forms a management group of at least five willing and established members. About once a month on a weekend that looks good weather-wise, one or more of the managers takes the AKFF branded marquee to that month's pre-arranged venue (Palmy, Metro, Wello, wherever people launch to get to Longy etc) and sets up. We can do a barbie or something (maybe a fundraiser?) and any interested kayak-fishing commercial interests can set up too and showcase their wares. This may be contingent on some sort of support for the event like prizes or a demo-day running in conjunction. Then everyone rocks up, meets, greets, fishes and - if it's a long weekend or an extended event - camps. The event can incorporate a competition or not as we choose. They could have instructional seminars by our resident guns and could also include safety seminars. It'd be a great way to introduce newbies to the sport and would be an opportunity for us to catch up regularly in person.

Thoughts?


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## scater (Nov 24, 2007)

Good point Indie, but the events would take in places like Wivenhoe or that lake in Vic where no-one ever catches fish.


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## scater (Nov 24, 2007)

Blue rock?


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

indiedog said:


> It's been said before, but to avoid the forum being renamed the "stealth kayaks offshore real man's fishing forum" or SKORMFF for short ;-)


This was the point I was trying to make in my drunk, again, post last night about people denigrating bream as ''poo-eaters'' and thereby mocking bream fishos. All should be made welcome


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## scater (Nov 24, 2007)

It's only denigration if it's not true. Seriously though, bream are great fish, if only they grew to a metre!


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## scater (Nov 24, 2007)

Surely though, if it's a regular thing we'll end up streamlining the process over time and between management groups. The thing is, these sort of things are done (like the stealth comps, but on a smaller scale). I would think that means they're manageable and a process for running them could be nailed down.


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## scater (Nov 24, 2007)

Does it make a difference if the marquee's not branded? I think we need a hub to help newbies find us. Would a disclaimer on the trip thread for each event help indemnify us? Like the red banner in the trips section.


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## anselmo (Aug 26, 2008)

indiedog said:


> I like the idea as much or probably more for the social side of it. Forget the marquee, get one of those single pole-in-the-ground banner type things. The format is something that can be refined over time.


This

Plus AKFF tshirts
UV 50+ long sleeves
Yes I know where the criticism would be here
(ABT style sponsor driven US bass boat in your face shirts are not what I'm envisioning)
Subtle, simple - bit like me


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

anselmo said:


> Subtle, simple - bit like me


 :shock:


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## anselmo (Aug 26, 2008)

indiedog said:


> anselmo said:
> 
> 
> > Subtle, simple - bit like me
> ...


Not so much that my eyes are brown though

But seriously, one of these









Or one of these









I'd wear the second, even in out with Mrs A or 2 work
Frankly I'd be embarrassed to be seen in #1


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## scater (Nov 24, 2007)

anselmo said:


> I'd wear the second, even in out with Mrs A or 2 work
> Frankly I'd be embarrassed to be seen in #1


Ditto, I love and regularly use the Columbia style shirts, and I've taught in them too.


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## anselmo (Aug 26, 2008)

scater said:


> anselmo said:
> 
> 
> > I'd wear the second, even in out with Mrs A or 2 work
> ...


Wearing one now in fact


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

The AKFF Golf Coast social meets have occurred 82 times now as many would know .... same day each month and get togethers vary from a worst of 2 members [me and clarkey at last January's year meet] and best roll up of about 15 but in the years it has been going would guess maybe 300 AKFFers have looked in and said hello establishing personal contact.

There is no agenda and it is purely a get together and a chance for many newbies to meet longer term members, and at such times mateships and knowledge happen.

Attendees these days are 95% also dual members on KFDU.

Re the KFDU clubs
I always attend the GC/NRKFC which is a club within that forum, covering area northern rivers of NSW to a point north roughly Beenleigh, although no official boundary in named.

To be in any of the forum clubs you have to be a member of KFDU and no other requirement of fees.....their clubs cover Brisbane north, south coast of NSW, and a small group in western NSW

Since 2011 GC/NR have had 30 club outings roughly a month apart, which are purely social events, starting about 0600 fishing on the water and ending approx 1130 with a sausage sizzle with everything needed being donated by members.

Generally get a roll up of 10-20 KFDUers of which 75% are also dual members on AKFF, there are no committees in running and anyone with a suggestion just throws the idea up and if a few think it is good the club coordinator lists an outing at that venue..... possibly 200 members have visited GC/NR outings

To my mind the AKFF GC social, and KFDU club structure both benefit with personal interaction among anglers and also leads to contact with the opposite forum depending where some first register.

People who think there is a conflict between the forums are just boofheads who are guessing rather than finding out in an on water or social situation.


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

theyakshed.com


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

theyakshed.com


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

bertros said:


> Throwing a random thought out there... what if we and KFDU did a mirror-post of club activities and shared the social time. If it's not about the forum, then it could work... possibly? Completely random, but could it be an option?


Did that last AKFF GC social meet for the first time, including a mirror post on KFDU, used this modified table marker, and everyone was happy .... got one tongue in cheek comment [with multiple laugh emoticons] that KFDU should be on top, but was able to point out it was alphabetical order


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## spork (Jan 21, 2012)

Seeing as KFDU already have regional "clubs" covered, and we seem to agree there is no point trying to duplicate or dilute that, how about doing it differently and keeping the focus online (although some "members" may well meet up in person).
It could be based on species, ie: AKFF Bass club, Bream club, Trout and redfin club, Flathead, squid and trevally club, Tuna and Mac club...
Or on type of fishing, not so much the "baitos club, the lure club or the fly club", more the Sweetwater club, the Estuary club, The offshore club etc.

Something along those lines would possibly complement the other forums club stuff rather than competing with it, but hopefully still foster that sense of belonging that clubs can deliver, while avoiding issuse like liability and insurance. Monthly / quarterly competitions could be held for small prizes and the immense prestige that goes with "winning" an online fishing comp. It could be accessible to new members (Yeti would probably won the bream clubs "most fish caught" prize in his first month of memebrship).

It's late. I have had a few beers. I may need to edit this post in the morning. ;-)


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## scater (Nov 24, 2007)

I don't envisage it being a club. Maybe we should remove that from the thread title. I see it more as what Indie described - a trip scheduled which anyone is free to attend. We don't charge fees or hand out memberships. The setup is minimal, maybe a marquee and a barbie, and we make it clear that anyone who attends does so at their own risk. If a commercial interest wants to set up a demo day or the like next door that's their prerogative. It's a group trip for members of the forum to get together and have a beer and a sausage and talk shit. If you want to fish, you fish. If you're a newbie and you just want to have a look at the setups and the techniques, do that. If we want to give a prize for the best catch on the day, so be it. It's a way of getting together as a community and making ourselves a bit more accessible to outsiders.


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## Stealthfisha (Jul 21, 2009)

I founded the south australian bowhunters......

its a "group" works well...we meet bi monthly....shoot...drink eat then shoot again.....no fees etc


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

gra said:


> Biggest issue with any club is structure. As soon as you formalise it in some way, somebody will want a hierarchy. Somebody else inevitably gets pissed about their voice not being heard, and blah blah blah it goes on.. .


Gra think the reason the KFDU clubs have worked is they have no structure, other than one coordinator, who is a volunteer who posts up the outing notice, and who then edits a growing list of attendees as starters reply "I will be there" [or similar], the GC/NR Clubs only possession is a donated BBQ plate and gas bottle.

Everything for an outing is donated by someone who is going along eg; in June I am taking onions and bread, someone else will bring snags, another some treats, another some soft drinks, if you want a beer it is BYO but normally that's only me. Attendee list is done so donors know how much to bring along for the saus sizzle

Anyone interested in the format/method here is the growing link to the next GC/NR outing
http://www.kfdu.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=83&t=38342

The only KFDU requirement was that club outing reports must be posted in trip reports forum so every one could read them [although we keep a list of outing archives on the club page], as naturally only locals tend to read their own club page as there is no other info in there, fishing rigs and tips are in the normal forums as here.


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## sunshiner (Feb 22, 2006)

Stated objective: "We are trying to make the forum a better place for the members and revive the community atmosphere which has dropped away of late."

My opinion is that a lot of people in general, not just kayak fishers, have no inclination to regularly participate in an online forum of any sort. However, I and some mates up here discovered some time back that there are many guys who just want to stay in touch and go fishing with their mates from time to time. At the lowest level these guys just use their phone but that becomes impossible if the number of possible attendees exceeds about three, and up here, it does.

Noosa Yakkers evolved from that discovery and provides an automatic communication facility whereby any of the group (but no one not in the group) can email the whole group and thereby assemble a few mates at the same time and place to go fishing. The other elements of Noosa Yakkers (such as the blog and its Trip Reports, etc) are just add-ons, albeit very useful ones. The main goal has always been to facilitate communication between members of the group and that is presently achieved by email but better methods will probably arise in future.

There are presently more than 100 people voluntarily subscribed to the Noosa Yakkers email list. Of those, my guess is that about 50 are also members of AKFF or KFDU, but most of them rarely, if ever, post on those forums.

It may also be of interest that Noosa Yakkers has a "closed group" Facebook page which has attracted 37 of our members (to view that page requires that the user first be on the Noosa Yakkers email list). Many of the more hard core members of Noosa Yakkers have expressed no interest at all in this facility, while they use the group email constantly.

So, if you're considering fostering geographic groups (like Gra, I avoid the word "club") I do think that has some merit but how will that extension of the forum meet the stated objective? Possibly more kayak fishers will be encouraged to sign up to AKFF, perhaps some of those will linger and even contribute by posting, and a very few will likely become true members of the community.

So, providing such a facility on AKFF may help. It may be of interest that our experience with Noosa Yakkers is that fishing is far more important than social activity so possibly the focus should be on that aspect.

How about this for a possibility? Set up a dedicated part of the forum where matters pertaining to the local geographic area can be raised and discussed including arranging fishing trips. Even better, establish an automatic email or SMS notification when someone initiates a thread about trying to arrange a fishing trip in that area. This notification would automatically be sent to all AKFF members who had registered as being interested in that region, unless they'd deliberately opted out.

Noosa Yakkers has been going for several years now. We have no formal committee, no property, no fees, no on land meetings. Many times we have between 7 and 10 yakkers fishing together and the best day so far this year had 17 of us out there at one time. It works, but it's all built around the need to communicate to organize fishing trips. That's possibly the way AKFF could go.


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## scater (Nov 24, 2007)

I see it more as something of a periodic "open day" where we're out there having a fishing trip and get-together, and outsiders and new members can come and check the sport out. If we've got a branded marquee it also provides a link between the forum and those people that are always approaching us on the beach. We're not really providing a service per se, unless you class a sausage as a service. It's just a social get together for forum members and whoever else wants to rock up, can.
If a commercial interest or safety day wants to run in conjunction, they do so as a separate entity. Anyone participating does so at their own risk which is made clear in the organisation thread and, if necessary, through waivers on the day. Now I'm no legal expert by any stretch of the imagination but would this be workable? It would rely on willing members in each geographical region to organise and run the event. I'm putting my hand up for SEQ but I reckon we'll need to have at least 5 members per region to ensure we can run these regularly while not making it too arduous. Who else would be interested in forming a regional group?


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

nezevic said:


> Tents and branding are not immediately possible. We just don't have the funds to outlay for a tent for each area currently.


Against the idea of tents from the start given that we play on the seaside which is notoriously windy. I have personally witnessed a promotional tent at a foreshore function take off in a gust of wind and slam into a group of people, several of whom required hospitalisation.
Dunno about the relative price of those large flags held erect by a bendy pole but from a safety/legal point of view a much better idea


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

theyakshed.com


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## Stealthfisha (Jul 21, 2009)

So has a decision been made or is this a mute point gents?
Recently via solartree and the snapper leader board the boys here in SA have been coined "team Flanno"......also identifying Glass and Plastic kayakers under "Glass and Plastic Divisions" .....we are pooling our resources into winning the snapper comp....it would be awesome to acknowledge this with a club per say....SAKFC......for all and not just Glass like it was intended.....if clubs are not to be endorsed with their own state section under "clubs" like KFDU....then can someone help me come up with a small thread and how to word it so all SA yakers know SAKFC is for everyone and we have two disaplines? Just a thought


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## Stealthfisha (Jul 21, 2009)

Thanks indie....im a bit too passionate at times and dont think before I type but im trying....for what its worth id love a CLUB button like clasifieds or trip reports has....I reckon SAKFC has displayed merit and will most likely succeed. ...

But yes most in SA are looking but none are bagging it out!...which means its 100% positive thus far....thanks for the reply.....all the rest of the focus group get stuffed :lol: 6 hours + without a reponse!!!! Bastards


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## Stealthfisha (Jul 21, 2009)

Love you man!


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