Write to Win

Hello aquarium hobbyists!

On behalf of Vancouver Aquatic Hobbyist Club (VAHC), we would like to welcome our new members as well as our renewing members for the year 2008. As many of you know, the VAHC publishes the FISHMONGER on average of 1 issue per month, usually a few days before each VAHC monthly meeting. The FISHMONGER provides updates from previous and upcoming club meetings, a classified section (which club members can advertise the sale of aquarium related items for FREE), as well as special reminders for large events such as our annual November auction. However, the bulk of the FISHMONGER has been about aquarium related topics such as articles contributed from our very own members or from other non-members. The FISHMONGER has had many useful articles on topics ranging from growing plants and fish nutrition to water quality and useful aquarium tips e.g. pest control and breeding fish; however, many of these articles were contributed by only a few VAHC members.

In the past, we have asked club members to participate in contributing articles to the FISHMONGER or even give us suggestions on article topics. To our dismay this turned out to be fruitless for many people did not participate. So this year, we would like to try something different. For those who contribute to the FISHMONGER by writing an article(s), he/she will get a chance to win (a) prize(s). For every ORIGINAL article submitted, the author will receive an entry to win a prize i.e. more ORIGINAL articles contributed, the more chances of winning, depending if he/she follows the guidelines for submitting articles listed below.

There are a few reasons why we would like to publish our own club members' articles. First, we view our club members as an important part of the club, and if the members want to share some information or say a few words, we would like to make it known in the FISHMONGER. Second, your article may help someone better understand a particular fish, plant, or some other aquarium related topic. Many of us are at different levels of expertise in the aquarium hobby, whether it is dealing with plants or fish. Writing an article in the FISHMONGER gives other members the opportunity to learn about other aquarium subjects which may be of interest to them or better yet, that they know nothing about. Third, it is always interesting to hear about what other VAHC club members are doing with their fish room whether it is 1 tank or many tanks. This not only gives the opportunity for a conversation piece between members at the monthly meetings, but it also gives members an idea of whom they should talk to if they have questions or suggestions relating to a particular fish or plant which the other person may have. Finally, we want our club members to contribute to the FISHMONGER because we want our club members to win great prizes on behalf of VAHC.

Writing articles can be made simple. We don't expect you to write a few pages about your fish room or about a particular fish, a few paragraphs will do. Anything aquarium related is acceptable for an article such as how to breed certain types of fishes, a spotlight on a particular fish, how to grow certain types of plants, your experiences with certain plants and fishes, your own fish setup or someone else's, experiments you have done with plants or fishes, etc…. It doesn't have to be full of useful facts or be serious as long as it is entertaining and possibly educational. A few suggestions for writing an article in the FISHMONGER:

  1. Write about something that you have experienced or have experience in. I find that this is like telling YOUR story about a particular fish, plant, fish breeding experiment, etc. Don't worry about what other people may say. Who has the right to tell you that YOUR story is incorrect? It happened to you not them.
  2. Include pictures if possible. A picture is worth a thousand words (however, if you just send a bunch of pictures, it won't count as an article i.e. no raffle entry). It makes it easier for readers to understand your message when pictures are included.
  3. Whether it is fish related or plant related, all helpful tips are welcome.
  4. When you are writing about breeding a particular fish, please include what YOU did and show some pictures if possible. Write about the particular species of fish, the food you fed, the tank setup to breed the fish, how you raised the young, etc.

How to give us your article and other helpful tips:

  1. You can either send it through email (preferred), mail, or hand it to any steering committee member
  2. If there are attachments e.g. pictures, you can give it together with your article
  3. Don't worry about formatting the picture with the article (text), we can do it for you
  4. The easiest way to give us an article via email is in a simple text format e.g. Microsoft word and the picture (if there is one as a j-peg or tiff file) as another attachment
  5. Include you name, member number and date of submission

Guidelines for submitting articles:

  • Articles should be a well developed topic
  • Articles should be at least 200 words (allowances are made for articles which are concise and well developed)
  • Articles should be the author's own original work or contain a bibliography listing references (provide title, author, and publishing date) due to copyright issues
  • Classified adds do not count as articles submitted
  • If you contribute articles that are not counted as eligible for an entry e.g. small article, based on the decision of the steering committee members, we will pool other similar articles until there is enough to make one entry e.g. 3-4 small articles for 1 entry
  • All entries MUST be proof read before submission

How the reward system works:

  • For every article submitted, the author will receive 1 entry for a chance to win a prize (unless article(s) do not follow the "Guidelines for submitting articles" listed above)
  • The steering committee will determine if articles follow the "Guidelines for submitting articles"
  • There is no limit to the number of entries
  • Draws are held twice a year (approximately every 6 months)
  • Following a draw, all previous entries are deleted and a new list of entries will be collected until the next draw
  • All entries will be collected from January 1st of the current year and will end December 31st of the same year
  • No entries will be carried over to the next membership year
  • All draws will be announced at the VAHC meeting

All articles or questions may be submitted by email to Patrick at ptamkee@hotmail.com with subject heading "VAHC fishmonger article".