What's up with the MAC web site?

[jhemdal1]

Hi All,

I'll be attending a public aquarium conference next week and since one of the sessions will be on sustainability of aquarium collections, I thought I would drop in on the MAC web site to see how their reorganization was going on. I see that the whole site is down with just a "new web page coming soon" announcement showing on the home page. Isn't that the equivalent of a padlock on a shop's door? I mean, what could be so out of date on the old web site that having NO site would be a better option?

Jay

 

[mpedersen]

For those that go looking - http://www.aquariumcouncil.org/

Is that a new logo for MAC?

It is strange to see the site pulled and this replacement "coming soon" up there. That's generally not good internet business practices...among other things it hurts things like Google Rankings etc. (i.e it used to point to http://www.aquariumcouncil.org/maccertification.html , but now that comes up with a 404). As an internet professional, I don't think I'd normally advise this route as part of a revamping of an online presence...it's not like a physical store that you need to close for remodeling!

"interesting".....

 

[Anonymous]

That's simply a variation of the same old logo Matt. It's still very much like another certification group funded by the very same funders as MAC. I'm speaking about MSC, Marine Stewardship Council.

 

[Anonymous]

:roll: Moochers

 

[mpedersen]

Wow, who designed which logo first?

What about the Reef Stewardship Foundation?

 

[Anonymous]

Wow, who designed which logo first?

What about the Reef Stewardship Foundation?

Does it matter? They all st... I mean feed from the same trough.

 

[jhemdal1]

So nobody knows anything? I tried the 8217 number and the "mailbox was full". I tried sending an email to the info address and it bounced back as undeliverable.....


Jay

 

[Anonymous]

Wow, who designed which logo first?

What about the Reef Stewardship Foundation?

Hands down MSC. MAC came after them.

RSF is a very young group, just a little older then MOFIB IIRC.

 

[jhemdal1]

All,

I just received an email from MAC executive director David Mainenti, he was at the MAC board meeting in Bali, so that accounts for the communication issues.
The web site is indeed down for a complete re-work, and the phase one launch of the new web site will happen shortly.


Jay

 

[mpedersen]

RSF is a very young group, just a little older then MOFIB IIRC.

FWIW, I think Brian had about a year's head start on me when I started up MOFIB...I only learned of RSF (formerly Project DIBS) maybe 2 months into MOFIB...had I know about it prior, I might have approached Brian before I ever set down the MOFIB path!

Interesting to hear that they chucked the current website...really not a good idea from a marketing / PR standpoint as I pointed out earlier in the thread.

 

[Anonymous]

RSF is a very young group, just a little older then MOFIB IIRC.

Yah it was odd being on booth sites and yet you both didn't know about each other Guess I should have said something?

FWIW, I think Brian had about a year's head start on me when I started up MOFIB...I only learned of RSF (formerly Project DIBS) maybe 2 months into MOFIB...had I know about it prior, I might have approached Brian before I ever set down the MOFIB path![/quote]

Interesting to hear that they chucked the current website...really not a good idea from a marketing / PR standpoint as I pointed out earlier in the thread.

Everyone who had a link to their site, or had info linked on the last site lost it or had it disrupted for a few weeks. You only get a few shots with people and website. If they try for a week and only get a logo AFTER the group has been around for a DECADE first thought they will have is MAC is DEAD. Very bad move but I'm afraid one typical of MAC They had that PR machine pumping but a few years ago it broke and none of them can seem to kick start it into gear again.

 

[DavidM]

MAC's new website is going up this weekend. The old site was so outdated that we had to take it down. We dont consider it to be a marketing problem because everyone supports or hates MAC anyway. Yes the original logo of MAC was modified from MSC, as were many other system components, such as accreditation, since the original designer of the MSC standards came over to design the first MAC standards. But that period of exploratory growith (e.g. 1998-2008) is over. Its now time to go back to basics and set up a simple system that the industry can use to help deal with the governmental pressure coming down the pike with this new US administration and continuous EU regulations. We are down to a $300k/year budget from the multi-millions we had in the past and its a good thing. We have resolved our legal and grant issues and as some of you will know, they do not just go away easily. The Board has come up with a final strategy to relaunch the brand and it took a while because we did not have much to work with as most of the information and materials was unusable or outdated.

I am not going to plead with anyone on this site to pledge to help or to trust us or even believe in what we are doing anymore. We are going to revise the standards in the next few months, taking into consideration 10 years of lessons learned. We are going to work with the industry to get certified product to market by opening up the sale of certified organisms through a licensed retailer program. We are going to work to certify some low hanging fruit instead of going for the problem areas we have in the past.

Only time will tell what will happen, but something needs to occur, and if we do it right, it just might work. I am confident it will. Comment as you want - we are still trying to make a difference.

Dave

 

[Jaime Baquero]

Dave,

Yes, there are many lessons learned. We humans, do learn from mistakes. Since the beginning, many knew that MAC was dealing with complicate issues, one of the most difficult to deal with has been the lack of interest of the majority within the industry to get involve in the process of change. Over 3 decades since most of the problems were identified and very little has changed... perhaps one day, we will learn that all the efforts during all these years got us to what is best for the coral reefs and fish populations in developing countries.... the ban of the trade.

Thank you for your time and efforts during all these years.

Best regards

Jaime