British Amphibian Keepers Society - Stafford (UK) August 5th 2012

Well, here's hoping everybody enjoyed the meeting today. :) Thank you to those who attended, and also to anybody who joined just to support the society, for helping to ensure the future of BAKS. :)

On that note, just to let you folks know that after an unusual 'election', Jane and Ian have been ratified as the newest members of the BAKS committee.

Oh and also to note, after today we are currently giving thought to having 2 meetings a year from next year on, we'll let folks know the outcome of our decision in due course. :)

Thanks again all.

Ade
 
Thanks for a great meeting, I really enjoyed it and also meeting some others from Caudata!

C
 
I second that froggy!

Great show, especially for its initial launch! Was nice to meet several caudata members who I know by username but not face.

It'll be nice to have newt/salamander representation on the committee too.
 
I really enjoyed the show, so many thanks to Ade and his gang for organising this event . It was lovely to meet some more caudate addicts.
 
Ok, I'm going to say this. :)

Now, altough I am absolutely basking in the thanks and praise, look at things from a calculated position.

If it wasn't for you folks who turned up, had tables etc, what would all of our work have amounted to? That's right, an empty room with a few of us sat looking bored...

We didn't make it a good event, YOU all did! We create an event, you folks turned it into a GOOD event.

Ade
 
I had a great time managed to give away more stuff than I sold so total fail on the cash front but met lots of nice people, I also tried to take a hit out on smiley sam from a random karate kid who happened to wander past , he accepted the contract (payment in madagascan hissing cockroaches) but sam ran off, never mind , always next year.
 
This is a photo from the cool (i.e. caudata) corner of the BAKS meeting:

evut-albums-miscellaneous-picture23607-caudata-members-baks-meeting-stafford.jpg


From left: Sam, Jane, moi, Ian, Julia and Chris
 
Cool photo. :) Was seriously cool meeting you caudata.org folks. :)

I'll be honest, I felt a bit guilty initially putting Ian up there like that. It turned out to be a good thing though as you had a nice big space and stacks of chairs so you could have a mini cuadata.org meet within BAKS. To me this is a good thing, I'd love to see more groups using the opportunity to actually sit down with eachother and chat. To those of us on the committee of BAKS, including you 3 caudata.org folks, I am sure that the social side of these meetings is VERY important. :) I was also personally gratified to see how well the animals were cared for up that corner! Everybody there set a great example of how animals should be cared for during a meeting like this, but you guys really did go that extra mile!! You really helped to make one of my dreams come true, that been that I reckon the first BAKS meeting really did set an example of how to care for the animals at meetings like this. :)

I am also going to thank those without tables on that score too. Absolutely everybody showed respect and good sense when examining animals on sale! Where folks needed to pick up tubs it was done with the utmost care and the minimum of messing. So to our members as well a big thank you for helping us to perhaps set a benchmark for trying to ensure the wellbeing of our animals at these meetings. :) Even on my table, my frogs didn't show a SINGLE sign of been stressed, and I am sure the other table holders will say the same. Despite having plenty of plant and in some cases big leaf to hide in, my frogs were all right out on show watching the world go by! The pums I didn't sell went back into their rearing viv as if nothing had changed. Everybody should be very proud of themselves! I certainly am proud of been a part of BAKS with you all.

Sorry I had to nick Julia, guessing that next time around I'll need to put the caudata.org table in the cluster with Kirsty, Mike, myself and the entrance table. :) That way the caudata posse wont lose 3 of their members to BAKS duties. lol

Oh and Chris, grats on winning the 1st prize in the free prize draw bud. :D Was really gratifying to see your expression when Kirsty handed it to you. :D

Ade
 
Yet more news. :bowl:

Our next meeting has been penciled in for 7th April 2013, we will also be holding a second meeting next year, probably some time around September time.

None BAKS members (and BAKS members for that matter) can now download the 1st issue of our newsletter from this link Newsletters - Newsletter Samples.

First up, we have SCRAPPED membership fees for under 16s! From now on if you are under 16 and wish to attend meetings you will need an adult to join and attend with you. You can still opt to let us know your email address and we'll send you an extra newsletter. Also you may still join the forums by using your parent's/adult's membership number. This wont effect current members at all. Under 16s may not book tables however.

Next, we've scrapped table fees completely! Now ANY member may book a table for free! However membership is mandatory for this. Also, to prevent time wasters we will be charging a small deposit on table bookings, refunded when you attend with suitable stuff to sell. If however you don't attend, or turn up without anything suitable, the deposit will be forfeited.

Next up, we've changed our membership options. You now have 2 options to chose from, one like the old one includes the usual stuff plus entrance to 1 meeting included. The new option includes entrance to 2 meetings for a lower cost than paying to attend 1 and then paying for the 2nd on the door. We have done this to help to cover the cost of running 2 member meetings a year, without it effecting those who only wish to attend the 1, or who join just for membership and don't plan to attend either meeting. There will still be an option to pay entrance on the door at a second meeting for members who have paid for the 1 meeting option that will be cheaper than our on the door membership options. Again, this will not effect our current members, who joined under the 1 meeting a year option which is unchanged just renamed.

Which brings me to the next bit of news. In order to encourage people to join in advance, and also to cover the extra admin costs (paper and printer ink. lol) there will be a small premium to pay for those joining at meetings rather than in advance, making joining online in advance an even better deal. We will publish information about this over on the BAKS site at B.A.K.S.

Lastly, if you are a disabled member attending a meeting, and you require an escort/helper, they will NOT be required to join or pay entrance. However where it's not obvious we reserve the right to request some form of evidence of a disability requiring such an escort/helper.

Our intent is to try to open BAKS up to people a little more. We hope that this will help.

Ade
 
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