Name suggestions for a National Reptile body

[Newhere]

Yea I know jack, you have gone from saying there is no association to name to requesting a mission statement before we can name it and now you agree there should be a name but we need it to be decided by a wider audience. Its just throwing out some ideas on aps for the people that are trying to make it happen and its everyone on heres chance to have their say.

 

[RedFox]

I wholly agree, this is a good idea and something I would like to see happen. But perhaps input and decisions are best not necessarily being decided here also.
With only just on 50 or so active members here at any one point, and an estimated 60,000 keepers nationwide. It's a bit selfish and foolish to make decisions on behalf of everyone between just us here. Even things seemingly trivial as a name.(entirely not trivial, and therefore should be discussed in a broader forum to a wider audience)
That is my point of jumping the gun that Newhere doesn't seem to grasp...

Very much agree. I doubt any decisions will be reached in this thread but it is an interesting discussion that could be carried onto the wider community, with more ideas being put forth. I chucked up an idea for the name not because I want everyone to agree with me but to create some further conversation.

Like I said in the other thread, as a young keeper who would like to continue to enjoy keeping reptiles well into the future, I have a lot to gain from a national body that will lobby against further restrictions being placed on the hobby. I hope it garners enough support to have a strong influence in the future.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

I've just copied this from the other thread re: the need for a name. A name is needed early on for very fundamental reasons...

Although it does seem to be putting the cart before the horse a bit, the organisation really does need to have a name very early on, so it can be built as a proper legal entity from day one, particularly because it will be taking members money, probably from day one. I'm assuming it will need to be an incorporated body, this facilitates the setting up of bank accounts and all those structural things, and means that the body must be accountable for every cent whenever audited.

If I recall, to have a body like this incorporated, you need to have all the office-bearers named and in place, similarly to establish bank accounts for an incorporated body. So there's a bit of work to do to get the show up and running.

The names I'd find easy are ARKA - Australian Reptile Keepers Association, or one I find even more appealing - OzARK - Oz Association of Reptile Keepers. This dovetails nicely with USARK, and although I haven't followed their developing philosophy, if it was agreeable perhaps the Australian body could seek some sort of affiliation with our US counterparts. Just a thought bubble really. I've had a couple of quite long yarns with Brian Barczyk about our plight and the parallels with what the Yanks are dealing with now. It won't be too long before the influences that have successfully infected herp politics in the US will cast their eyes in our direction - the world is shrinking every day, and animal RIGHTS lobbyists can very easily dress up their debates as animal WELFARE to make them palatable even to reptile keepers. They are patient, skilled at politics and they are extremely well funded.

Jamie

 

[AllThingsReptile]

National Australian Reptile Awareness Conservation and Keepers Initiative
(N.A.R.A.C.K.I)

Its a bit long but IMO something like this should not just be focused on keepers and the captive lives of reptiles, but also dedicated to researching and educating people on wild reptiles.
This hobby developed from the study of wild reptiles, and should not lose this connection, especially not be represented without mention of what early keepers actually kept reptiles for, to watch and learn about them, for a better understanding of how they behave in the wild.

Thats just my 2 cents anyway

 

[Jacknife]

Yea I know jack, you have gone from saying there is no association to name to requesting a mission statement before we can name it and now you agree there should be a name but we need it to be decided by a wider audience. Its just throwing out some ideas on aps for the people that are trying to make it happen and its everyone on heres chance to have their say.

Right now there isn't an association. First point of reference for starting one is a mission statement. This is far far far too small an audience to be making major decisions.
Everyone gets to have their say. But I don't because I don't think here is a big enough place for this kind of talk? Hmmm...
How many well known and well respected, established with decades experienced keepers, breeders and conservationists who we should be discussing this all with are here talking about it? Pretty much none of them.
These are the people we need to be engaging and working with for the outcomes we want, not chasing our tails here on things like what should we call ourselves...

 

[Pythoninfinite]

National Australian Reptile Awareness Conservation and Keepers Initiative
(N.A.R.A.C.K.I)

Its a bit long but IMO something like this should not just be focused on keepers and the captive lives of reptiles, but also dedicated to researching and educating people on wild reptiles.
This hobby developed from the study of wild reptiles, and should not lose this connection, especially not be represented without mention of what early keepers actually kept reptiles for, to watch and learn about them, for a better understanding of how they behave in the wild.

Thats just my 2 cents anyway

Whatever the name ends up being, it has to be concise. Active office bearers will get very tired of saying a name like that repetetively throughout the day, and even writing it would become tiresome. You could delete the "National" to cut it down a bit, and maybe even "Conservation" could be redundant - "Awareness" already implies some sort of significant concern for reptiles.

Jamie

 

[Bluetongue1]

I agree with Jacknife. Asking for a name that will "identify and define who we are and what we do" is asking for a mission statement. A name can reflect the essence of a mission statement but it is not going to encapsulate all that it entails. The purpose of a body and the people that it relates to need to be delineated as a first step. A name is simply a means of identifying the body and a good name will give some idea about who is involved and a general idea of what they are on about. Yet, however good a name is, it is not going to delineate the the various reasons why an association exists, the values that they hold and operate under or the aims they seek to achieve. These are the core elements and these need attending to before anything else. Otherwise it is like modelling with clay and the end result is to be a human and you turn a couple of dozen people loose on it without direction as to gender, height, body build, naked vs clothed, posture, detail or absence of sexual organs, length of hair, age etc.

Who here can clearly state what this federal body is aiming to do, who it is doing it for and why?

Blue

 

[wokka]

I imagine the process is:
1.register an incorporated association with name office bearers and standard template aims and objectives and rules
2.appoint a steering committee
3. hold the first agm with agenda including:
election of office bearers
possible name change
adoption of mission statement
This would probably span a year before anything "real" happens, so the name is not critical initially but should be as broad as possible-maybe Reptiles Australia (RA)or Austrlian Reptile Association (ARA)

 

[Pythoninfinite]

That's pretty much how it would work Wokka - get a framework together, and you need a name for this, to hang the important bits on - names of office-bearers, an initial constitution and all that stuff. At that stage pretty much everything has the potential to be changed or added to, even the name, then once the consultation processes have been finalised, the details can be changed accordingly. A bit of duplication of effort, but until we have a structure to hang key people and objectives on, the whole thing will remain a shapeless mass.

Jamie

 

[jacorin]

so according to jack and kitten,just asking for suggestions for names for this concept is useless... in that case..how do i lock this thread or delete it??? admin help please

- - - Updated - - -

oh by the by...have either of you pair,taken this discussion out to your friend?? groups?? wider community??? .... dare i say no you haven't???

 

[Virides]

so according to jack and kitten,just asking for suggestions for names for this concept is useless... in that case..how do i lock this thread or delete it??? admin help please

- - - Updated - - -

oh by the by...have either of you pair,taken this discussion out to your friend?? groups?? wider community??? .... dare i say no you haven't???

I don't think you need to delete this thread.

A name is actually a valid point as others have mentioned it is required when setting up banking structures.

Also, giving something a name at the start helps you build a brand. The more the name is out there, the more people will refer to it and when it is used on google, the better those results will be in reference to the movement. If you just call it "national reptile body" you will likely pick up all the other threads started years ago, or stuff that doesn't apply entirely.

 

[Tigerlily]

I like wokka's suggestions of Reptiles Australia or Australian Reptile Association... nice and simple, and people don't really need to know the EXACT SPECIFICS of what the association is about... "oh hey these people like snakes, I kinda dig snakes, let me check it out" appeals to a much wider audience than "Herpetological Association Involving Serious Business Regarding Snakes And Lizards and Such". (a lot of people don't even know what "herpetology" means lol, and I for one am tired of those herpes jokes - maybe it's just my nitwit friends but still...)

I also see nothing wrong with getting a name in action... sure mission statement is great, but if you're gonna talk the talk why not walk the walk and come up with a contribution? At least this is a starting point... when I started my graphic design company I didn't have much idea what I would specialise in, but I had a decent catchy name and it's helped to put me in people's minds when they think of work they need done; I've found it doesn't matter if they're looking for web design, logo design, illustration; the general not-too-specific umbrella of my name brings them to me, which is nice and easy and pretty great. It's always better to filter out the people who you can't accommodate than to scare off people who could have been perfect. A more complex/specific name could put people off before they even bother trying to make contact. It might sound superficial but sometimes it's pretty important...

my 2c

 

[Jacknife]

so according to jack and kitten,just asking for suggestions for names for this concept is useless... in that case..how do i lock this thread or delete it??? admin help please

- - - Updated - - -

oh by the by...have either of you pair,taken this discussion out to your friend?? groups?? wider community??? .... dare i say no you haven't???

dare I say you'd be well wrong. It was met with a mix of laughter and honest good lucks. Faith is low in the townfolk right now...

I think if you feel you need a name right now, Scales And Fails(SAF) is a perfect working title...

 

[ShaunMorelia]

[MENTION=35891]Jacknife[/MENTION], you are the first person I have seen on the forums be so against this. People I've spoken to have been quite positive and keen to help where they can to get this representation going.

There are many aspects to an organisation like this that will benefit the hobby as a whole.
Go have a read of Slickturtles' posts and see what he's put together.
Even if you don't like some of the points, I am sure that there is a few that you know would benefit your hobby.

I honestly don't know why there is such division and bitching in this hobby here.

Thanks,
Shaun.

 

[PythonLegs]

How about Bob. Easy to spell.

 

[champagne]

Faith is low in the townfolk right now...

I think if you feel you need a name right now, Scales And Fails(SAF) is a perfect working title...

I can't believe anyone is actually feeding these troll posts... Just ignore them as clearly it has no merit but is just trying to get a reaction. I think ARKA is the best so far.

 

[Virides]

Australian Reptile Keepers Association (ARKA) would be my pick also. In a way it relates in two ways:

Australian Reptile.....Keepers Association and Australian Reptile Keepers Association. The first being that it kind of reflects the current restrictions in Australia - no exotics.

 

[montysrainbow]

Jackknife ur posts are so straight to the point ha ha jus sayin.

Umm i reckon 1st one

 

[zulu]

We have 6 herp societys in NSW ,how much representation do we want really. The system we had put in place years back is good ,most of the push for a national reptile association comes from the north and in in particular NT.
Do they even have a reptile society in the NT, seems one is needed .
MMM a name, what about K.A.O.S keepers at odds

 

[borntobnude]

I have just read a post on f/b in a python group ,, it starts of

"I know people don't like Aussie Pythons and Snakes forum,but " and then makes reference to this and the other thread on the 'association '

says a lot I think !!