Get involved in GIRS!

There are a lot of things that need to happen in order to make any club a successful one

The Greater Iowa Reef Society is no exception. Volunteer roles are filled by dues-paying GIRS Members, but if you can't see those sub-forums (because you're not a dues-paying GIRS Member), then you might not know what those roles are and how you might be able to contribute.

There is a Committee sub-forum that is a user-joinable group, so any GIRS Member can be a part of the general Committee group, and contribute however they want to, whenever they want to, to any Committee.

If you're a dues-paying GIRS Member and are wondering why YOU can't see that sub-forum, that's because it's only visible when you join the Committee User Group. This can be found under the https://www.greateriowareefsociety.org/account/join-user-groups link in your Account Settings page. It's done this way so that the Home Page / Recent Posts / "feed" isn't too cluttered up.

There are several Committees for various aspects of GIRS operations. Each of these has a Committee Chair, and anyone else is welcome to assist their efforts however they can.

With any of these positions, it is entirely what you make of it. If you have a good idea, we'll let you run with it!

GIRS Event Planning

This committee is typically focused on Spring Fest and Fall Fest.

The Chair for each event is usually the Trustee for the area holding the fest, but that's not always the case.

Help is needed for everything from being a volunteer for the event setup & tear-down, manning tables, managing the volunteer schedule, arranging food, coordinating the layout & decorations, developing marketing material, you name it!

There are big jobs and small jobs. Demand for volunteers is high on events days, so we need members that can commit to helping out and can follow through with that commitment.

There is also a lot of crossover with other committees like Vendor Relations and Social Media.


GIRS Social Media

This committee is focused on promotion of GIRS through the internet on a regular basis. The Chair is in charge of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and other such accounts.

The purpose is to use various Social Media outlets to drive people to the GIRS and the GIRS forum, and make them aware of GIRS events (regional and club-wide)


GIRS Donations

This committee is focused on managing the donations process.

GIRS hosted MACNA in 2011, and was left in a unique financial position afterwards. This position has remained stable, and it was decided that some of this money should be used to promote the hobby in the form of donations. A donations applications process was developed so that anyone who wished to receive a monetary or product donation from GIRS could submit an application/request.

This process is a work in progress - most of the process has been laid out, but it still needs to have a few things ironed out so that it can be implemented. This may or may not be performed by the members that started the process, but anyone is welcome to step up to the plate.


GIRS Membership

This committee is focused on everything related to GIRS Membership. It is an important position that hasn't really been fully developed and implemented.

The chair would be in charge of welcoming new users, answering questions, explaining membership benefits, and putting them in touch with the groups in their area.


GIRS Vendor Relations

This committee is focused on communicating with various commercial vendors that might attend events (fests) as well as communicating with various manufacturers in order to gather donations to the club.

These donations are used for the Fest Raffles as well as Regional Events and Club Contests.


Other Volunteer Positions

With all of these, it's all what you make of it. If there is a need or a desire, a position can be created, or you can just do it!

One position that could be created, for instance, might be Marketing/Advertising.

This would involve things like developing and maintaining marketing content and material such as informational pamphlets, flyers, event/fest promotional material, website graphics, and even T-shirt designs.


For most of these positions, the foundation has already been laid. Some of these positions are filled or are being filled, but there's usually room for assistance. You can also take or assist with multiple positions.

When there is no one to take these positions, they generally fall to the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors encompasses the President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, and all of the Regional Trustees & Assistant Trustees.

Everyone has busy lives (and tanks to maintain), but when a few people step up to take up a little piece of the pie, that makes being part of the Board of Directors that much easier and enjoyable, and helps the club become better and stronger - for all members

...and lets us all enjoy the hobby the way everyone should!

If you have any questions, you can contact the Board of Directors privately by posting a thread in this sub-forum, where only you and the BoD will be able to see the discussion:
https://www.greateriowareefsociety.org/forums/questions-for-the-bod.65/

Thank you!
Greater Iowa Reef Society