The countdown is on!

[MRuttle]

Ok just an update. I have signed up for the IBC and should hear back from them in a few days...

Samantha I hope you can get your Aunt to help. What if you ask for the Membeship for your b-day / christmass?  

[janftica]

I just started into the Betta breeding, so I am new at this.  I HAVE had Bettas for years, successfully kept them till they were/are 4-5 years old, so Im not a newbie to Bettas. I have had different kinds of fish since I was a child.  I love fish!

I also bred show quality Arabian/Half-Arabian horses, and happy to say am the ONLY Arabian breeder in Canada to have shipped a Part-Arabian horse to Britian to stand at stud over there. I have produced/shown and owned several National and World Champion horses.  Saying this might not mean anything to you, but my point it this.

I was an active member of the Eastern Cdn Arabian Association, and the US Ntl and Cdn Ntl Associations, all of these cost way over 100 in memberships....to date I have never recovered any of the money spent on these memberships, as I found that not being able to show, nor making any sales off the official websites, has NOT benefitted me in any way.

I was also a member of several Arabian forums...When one of them (the biggest) decided it was time to have the members pay for the opportunity to chat and gather info and advertise their horses for sale, they put a $10 membership fee on the board.  If you weren't a member, you could still access the forum, but couldn't see any pictures of horses posted, and so couldn't read the classifieds either. Many people did not agree and went elsewhere, starting up their own forum which did not charge!

I did not pay to join then!  I feel a forum should stay that way....a place to chat and gather information required, or put an add up now and again, show off your offspring and accomplishments, meet new people and make aquaintances.

When I found this website, I didn't have a clue what it was....didn't know what IBC was either LOL.  Just was browsing the web looking for Betta info, and found several sites that were very informing, and I am currently chatting on.  

I understand about club dues and all that goes with it, shows are expensive that's for sure.  However as others have mentioned, having to pay for something that is readily available elsewhere on other forums, along with a membership to another club is a little overwhelming to some people!  

Many people just want a place to chat and meeting local/canadian people is great, but that doesn't mean they haven't learned what they needed to know from other forums!  

I myself don't see the need to split up this association (for want of a better name )   I agree with many that it is nice to have a place to chat to other Canadians about Bettas, but for many of us, showing it not an option, and paying out $40 in one whopping go for the priviledge is just not something we can all do.

I doubt very much if I will be joining...I will continue to way the pro's and con's for a few more days. http://209.85.62.26/html/emoticons/unsure.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='unsure.gif' />

[sushi_betta]

While I thoroughly understand the pros and cons of what it's all coming down to, I regretfully will not be signing up.

I really enjoyed everyone's advice I was given when I was attempting to get back into breeding, and met a few great people.


I think it would've been even better to have the option of becoming a member, having your different statuses on the board:

Non-Paying Member (obviously, a new member)
Society Member (those who donate a set amount in behalf of the forum)
IBC Member (those who pay the IBC membership)


I do appreciate Sai for offering me some great deals on his halfmoons, and Traco for inviting me to come see her fish and pick up her pair of halfmoons to take home http://209.85.62.26/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /> and to Irene for her gorgeous Ocellatas!!!

For those who are interested my msn and e-mail is always open:

<mod edit to remove email address. Please share email addresses by PM only for your own security>

I wish everyone the best with the forum!!! Who knows, if I eventually get my fish room or more space at least, I may be back here with a vengence and sign my butt up http://209.85.62.26/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' />

- Lauren

[crazy4bettas]

When I found this website, I didn't have a clue what it was....didn't know what IBC was either LOL.  Just was browsing the web looking for Betta info, and found several sites that were very informing, and I am currently chatting on.  

Many people just want a place to chat and meeting local/canadian people is great, but that doesn't mean they haven't learned what they needed to know from other forums!  

Anna,

Sorry to hear that you may not be joining us on the other side.  However, with your past experience, I'm sure that you can fully understand that we need to have a recognized Canadian betta group in order to promote bettas and sound betta breeding practices.  I guess that this is ultimately the goal of bettabreederscanada and always was the goal.

I too am a member on other "free" betta sites and have gleaned lots of information (rightly and wrongly) from them.  Chatting is always great fun, and I enjoy being in the betta community.  I just want to mention that I have been a member of these sites since long before I became a member of BBC, but the BBC is now the number one site that I log onto in the evenings when I get home from work.  I feel closer to those of you who are on this site - even though we may actually live farther away from each other than some of the American members on the other sites!  I believe that we, as Canadians, face similar challenges in promoting our bettas and in acquiring quality stock to work with in our breeding programs.  These challenges are ones that people from out-of-country cannot fully comprehend.

Although I've been a member at several other sites, other than BBC there is only one other site that I frequent regularly... Ultimatebettas.  However, you will rarely find me posting there for several different reasons.  Firstly, I am put off by the repetitiveness of the questions - "What is this disease?", "How do I cure my fish?", "Where can I find free fish?", "How can Walmart/PetCo/PetSmart/Etc DO this to their bettas?", "How do I breed my VTs and where do I get rid of all the fry?".  Secondly, many of the people who were regular members on there when I joined have stopped posting/visiting, probably for much the same reasons I have.... There are many new members every week - many of whom join just so they can ask a question about their sick fish and never post again after receiving sound advice.  I really hope that this site does not become like that...

I envision this site to be one where we, as members, can support each other on a regular basis, even if we live thousands of kilometers apart.  It would be nice to promote quality bettas and sponsor a recognized show.  I may not be able to travel to Ontario for the show (where, let's face it, it probably would be), but for less than $20 I could ship a couple of fish out to Cat, Kim, Zena or Ian and ask them to show the fish for me in my name.  I'm sure there will be "work-arounds" in place once we actually start organizing shows (there's going to have to be if we are going to get any kind of participation)

I'm going to be sorry to see some of the members here go after this month.  There are a few who have been very regular, very responsive and very nice members here who will not be joining us after Sept.  I want to let all of you know that I have been happy to "meet" you and I hope we can keep in touch. Meanwhile, lets ALL get out there and promote great betta-keeping and betta-breeding practices!  http://209.85.62.26/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' />  

[Rayman86]

Amen Heather. I want to grab your email before the weeks up. If I cant I have a few stashed emails from Kim and im sure she will have no problem getting it to me. It would be nice to keep in touch or if theres an order from overseas we can go in on.

I still frequent UB all the time. And a lot of people do see that place as just a fish hospital. It can be glicky sometimes and some of the posts are straight from the cookie cutter but it beats some forums out there.

I do like Sushis idea though and had one similar to that myself. If I could make a donation to the club to stay a part of the forum I would. A place like this as I would see it would be a tool for spreading the hobby here in Canada AND it has done just that on a few occasions as I and others have experienced.

[zoe1457]

Hello folks!  Just a quick update on the status of our Incorporation.  I am pleased to annonce that we are almost there!  I had to submit a small revision last week, but was told that as far as Corporations Canada was concerned, we were now considered a not-for-profit club!  Which brings me to the topic of membership dues....  As per IBC rules, you must belong to our parent club before you can belong to BBC.  Individual adult memberships with IBC start at $20 per year. Please make sure your dues are current with them before purchasing a membership here.  Any membership applications will be checked against the IBC list before membership is granted with BBC
FEE SCHEDULE
Aged 16 (as of the year 2008) and over-    $20 per year
Under 16                                            -    $10 per year
Family (2 adults, 2 children max)          -    $40 per year

Please Pay Pal the appropriate fee to bettabreederscanada@gmail.com with a note specifically stating that you are paying for a membership.  If paying by cheque or money order, please send to

Catherine Salmon
1966 Main St. W
APT 501,
ON Hamilton
L8S 1J6

Please make payable to Betta Breeders Canada.  All memberships are good until the end of the month that you purchased your membership.

Deadline to have your memberships in order is Sept 30, 2008.  Anyone that has not paid their fees by then will be deleted from this site.  I hope to see you all on the "other side" of this.

I have paid the other day then the site sent me an email to follow to finish my sign up.  By accident i hit unsafe   http://209.85.62.26/html/emoticons/dry.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='dry.gif' />   i can not retrieve the email.   Does anyone know what it is that I may have gotten?  I would like to get it back on hotmail if at all possible.

zoe1457

[janftica]

http://209.85.62.26/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /> I am hoping that this club might also consider the options listed by many members to have a chat only side to the forum.  The paid members can access the club info/meetings/shows etc, but the chat only people could just access the chat room.

I might consider joining down the road when money is not such and issue...my hubby may be on strike soon and I have no other income, so that is why this comes at a difficult time for me to make a decision one way or the other.

I spent all I could afford to get my breeding stock/tanks/equipment ahead of time, so any additional dollars must go for food now for my boys and girls.

I hope the club succeeds, I am not against it, just for me its not feasible at this time, and although I would like to show my beauties, I can't do that either right now....so for me, I have to sit it out!

Email me privately if you all want to chat sometime about your fishies/spawns etc.
Anna

[Ian Turkstra]

Hello folks!  Just a quick update on the status of our Incorporation.  I am pleased to annonce that we are almost there!  I had to submit a small revision last week, but was told that as far as Corporations Canada was concerned, we were now considered a not-for-profit club!  Which brings me to the topic of membership dues....  As per IBC rules, you must belong to our parent club before you can belong to BBC.  Individual adult memberships with IBC start at $20 per year. Please make sure your dues are current with them before purchasing a membership here.  Any membership applications will be checked against the IBC list before membership is granted with BBC
FEE SCHEDULE
Aged 16 (as of the year 2008) and over-    $20 per year
Under 16                                            -    $10 per year
Family (2 adults, 2 children max)          -    $40 per year

Please Pay Pal the appropriate fee to bettabreederscanada@gmail.com with a note specifically stating that you are paying for a membership.  If paying by cheque or money order, please send to

Catherine Salmon
1966 Main St. W
APT 501,
ON Hamilton
L8S 1J6

Please make payable to Betta Breeders Canada.  All memberships are good until the end of the month that you purchased your membership.

Deadline to have your memberships in order is Sept 30, 2008.  Anyone that has not paid their fees by then will be deleted from this site.  I hope to see you all on the "other side" of this.

I have paid the other day then the site sent me an email to follow to finish my sign up.  By accident i hit unsafe   http://209.85.62.26/html/emoticons/dry.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='dry.gif' />   i can not retrieve the email.   Does anyone know what it is that I may have gotten?  I would like to get it back on hotmail if at all possible.

zoe1457

zoe, are you talking about the IBC part or the BBC part?  If you're talking about the BBC, can you send me the email address you would have used for paypal?  Usually paypal doesn't require you to hit a link in an email to finish payment.

-Ian

 

[crazy4bettas]

Ian's right... usually paypal doesn't send a "confirmation e-mail"; it does everything while you are logged on.

I know that there are alot of phishing e-mails being sent to hotmail regarding paypal... I know this because I use my home address for paypal and I get all kinds of "please confirm this payment" or "please confirm payment information" e-mails on my hotmail account.

So... it might be a good thing that you marked it as unsafe - lol.  

[hyperfin]

Ok maybe this is a stupid question but if we pay to become a member are we supposed to pay on CND$ or in the US$?  

[Ian Turkstra]

Canadian (of course http://209.85.62.26/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' />) for us, USD for the IBC http://209.85.62.26/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' />  

[hyperfin]

Alright as one of the newest members and only being on for less than a month i have paid for both my IBC and BBC memberships today. I feel that this is a worth while cause to bring a show back and to help keep CANADIAN breeders in touch with one-another. I to understand that not everyone has the available funds to do this but you always make the money available for the things you love. You wouldn't go without purchasing food for your betta's would you? So why not pay for your membership to the hobby you love , support and want to grow?  

[Ian Turkstra]

Excellent, welcome Hyperfin.  You'll find both the IBC and the BBC to be very worthwhile clubs to be a part of http://209.85.62.26/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' />  

[Sunaga]

Well, I haven't talked to my aunt in time, obviously. I've been busy. Dx

I'm ready to spend 24 bucks though, yes yes. I just won't be able to get it in on time.

Just one idea: Instead of actually deleting accounts, why not just do a temporary freeze, so that when they finally pay (if they do), the account can simply be unfrozen so that the member has their old post count and info/etc? And if the member has made it clear that they don't ever intend to pay, then actually delete the account. This way, say, a user's email is still displayed so that forum members can contact them if needed. Like a reference, almost.

[MRuttle]

Sunga I thinkt hats a good idea.