The MHS 2010 Membership Package is here!!!

Current memberships are set to expire March 31, 2010 so members will have a few weeks to view the current package and decide whether to renew or not before their current package expires. All current members will receive a copy of the new newsletter in the mail as this is part of the previous membership package. Those that sign up before the end of the month will also receive this as an extra issue as technically, this is not part of the 4 issues that you will be receiving.

The 2010 MHS Membership Package Includes...

MHS Membership Card
  • Valid for 10% off Reptile Supplies at Pets 101
  • Valid for 10% off Reptile Supplies at Pet Traders
  • Valid for 10% off Reptile Supplies (not feeders or sale items) at Winnipeg Reptiles
MHS Newsletter
  • Published quarterly and mailed to your door
  • Ability to take part in our newsletter photo contest on the members only section of our website, non-members may view the photo contests but not enter
  • Ability to place text ads in our new classified section for free (1/issue)
  • Non-members will be able to read previous issues on-line with forums upgrade or pick up back issues at select locations in Winnipeg
Improved Forums Access
  • More private messages able to be stored with new forums upgrade (by March 31st tentatively)
  • Opportunities to vote on MHS issues (BOD, banners, forums upgrades, etc)
  • Ability to post classified ads; effective the new forums installation, non-members may view all ads but may only place want ads *
  • Reduced fees for MHS events where admission fee is required (such as Vern Ruml's last year)
...and a Free MHS T-Shirt with a paid membership. All this for only $25.00!!!
Best of all, you will be part of a group of people who believe that responsible herp ownership, public awareness, advocacy, education and conservation are the keys to keeping our hobby legal and public-friendly.

Your membership fees, advertising dollars and donations go towards keeping our forums up, offering value to our membership package, holding events, advertising and keeping our newsletter published.

Several activities are being planned for our peak season coming up, including a trip to Narcisse for the spring garter snake swarm, a camping weekend this summer, a BBQ at the Assiniboine Park, a possible trip to the Zoo and/or Ruml's Reptiles (pending discussion with those agencies), and Search for the Prairie Skink if that happens again this year. We also hope that the membership will continue to hold coffee nights and rib nights as we believe that this only strengthens the community.


The big thing is, we wanted to give you a good membership package, but more importantly, one that we are confident we could deliver. Your current BOD has only been in place for 8 months but most of you have noticed a lot of positive changes:

  • A new Banner and better presence at the MRBE's
  • A quarterly newsletter
  • An independant group of moderators
  • New forum software (coming March 31st)
  • Photo contests with real prizes
  • Membership votes on important MHS issues
  • Cool MHS T-shirts (Mens sizes S, M or XL only)
  • Transparency (we tell you what we are doing behind the scenes for you)
...not bad for a bunch of newbies :thumbup1:

Payments may now be made via Paypal. Send your membership payment via Paypal to rob@manitobaherp.com ($25) and then PM me you real name, address and phone number and we will set up your 2010 account!

* In regards to classified advertising on this site...To limit non-members from advertising on this site was a hard decision and caused much debate within the BOD itself. The fact is, this site costs us money to maintain (annual hosting, software upgrades, domain registration, etc). This year, the MHS will have to pay out close to $400 to upgrade and maintain this website. On a good year, the annual operating expense is closer to $100.00.
Currently,
this expense is being borne by the paid membership. The BOD feels that there are many out there who use this site primarily to advertise merchandise. As such, we believe it fair that they, too, contribute to the operations of this site.

Because of this, non-members will be converted to a read-only status to all sections of the classifieds with the exception of the want ads, where they may still post. This way, paid members will still be able to access the same size audience when posting an ad. It also helps those stores who contribute to the operation of the MHS.

Stores pay money for the privilege of advertising on this site and we believe that it is unfair that non-members be allowed the same benefit without paying for it. If we continue down this path, eventually we believe that we will start to lose sponsorship.

We ask these stores for money, we have to give them value back for this fee.
Finally, once we get the Paypal account operational, the MHS BOD will look at an annual classified advertiser fee for non-members but this is still tentative and pending further discussion.

You may also pick up your membership at Winnipeg Reptiles. You get a temporary membership number that you must register (follow the instructions on the card) and you can start using your card immediately!