• President's Message - March 2015

    My how time is flying by! I can't believe it is March already. Many of our members are still buried under several feet of snow, but hopefully with Spring around the corner things will begin to improve and warm up.

    Our greatest accomplishment over the past couple of months has been the completion of our genetics calculator project. This project had been in research mode for a few years, but we were able to pull together the correct resources to make this dream a reality.

    We had been using Paul Suzi's calculator for several years. However, it didn't always follow our standards and tied our hands as far as being able to manage and/or update it. While we will be forever grateful to Paul for his generosity we have taken a different direction and created a new genetics calculator to run on our website.

    The TAS Angelfish Genetics Calculator is available to our membership only. It can be accessed at http://calculator.theangelfishsociety.org. If there are any questions about this new tool, please let us know as we take steps to improve it.

    There is one other item we need to address. Our Membership Dues. While most organizations similar to ours are charging $15 - $20 annually, we are still at $5 per year. Unfortunately, with our funding needs not being covered the Board of Directors has had to make a difficult decision....to increase our dues. We have tried valiantly over the past decade to not raise the annual dues, but are now in a position where this became a necessity.

    Our Board of Directors also took this opportunity to create different levels of membership. The levels outlined below will take effect on May 1, 2015.

    Level 1: Non-voting Materials Member $5
    This level is for those who would like access to our member only areas, including our genetics calculator. Those in this group will not have voting rights and will not be involved with the business side of the organization. Cannot run for office or hold a seat on a committee.

    Level 2: Full Membership $10**
    Full Membership will have voting rights, can hold office or committee seats per our bylaws in addition to access to all membership only areas.

    Level 3: Family Membership $15**
    Same as the Full Membership, but for multiple members residing in the same household, whether that be spouse, child or another family member.

    Level 4: Business Membership $25
    A Business Membership includes everything above, plus a single banner may be added to our website to help our members be aware of your business. All banners will be added to our rotating banners that display in certain areas on our website.

    ** Full and Family Memberships also include an option to become a Lifetime Member by paying for 25 years up front. Those wishing to become Lifetime Members will also receive a 20% discount.

    As there may be questions about these new levels, we will set time aside to address them at our meetings in March and April.