[OGD] Re: orchids Digest V2 #261

Kathy:  Thank you! Thank you!!  
Just like the President-  at the least, everybody now has lots 
of things to study and to find one's place in each possibility. 
Is THIS the American Way - I surely do hope so. 
You are one smart lady.  That was a LOT of work. 
Thank you, again. 
Elinor (That's right, Ariet is my second name, not first.)
 
 
In a message dated 9/12/2009 1:10:02 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
orchids@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
orchids  Digest    Fri, 11 Sep 2009    Volume: 02  Issue:  261

In This Issue:
Re: Merv Hall's  rant

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From:  K Barrett <orchidtrekker@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: Merv Hall's  rant
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:30:08 +0000

I hope Merv feels better  after getting that off his chest.  I hope he 
forwarded his email to  Carlos Fighetti and Ron McHatton, for it does no good 
to 
just say these things  here, he has to say them to the people at the AOS.  
Lee Cooke has been  gone from the AOS for three or four years.  The AOS is 
trying to  restructure in hard economic times.



The California Sierra  Nevada judging center held a Speaker's Day last 
month.  Carlos Fighetti  and Ron McHatton came gave talks, and also answered 
questions from the  audience.  AOS reps and/or local society presidents were 
invited to a BBQ  where they could have time with Fighetti and McHatton, too.  
The AOS  certainly wanted to hear member's ideas and complaints.  And there 
were  complaints.  Merv should see if his judging center can hold a similar 
 session for his region.  The Denver region came up with the idea (props  
to them!)  25 people joined or extended their AOS membership at the  
Speaker's Day.  We were revitalized.



Personally I look at  the drop in AOS membership as a good thing and I told 
McHatton and Fighetti  so.  We've finally gotten down to the nitty gritty 
hard core orchid  hobbyist ('addict').  As witnessed by the attendance and 
appreciation for  the lectures given at the Speaker's Day I told them they 
should raise the  level of discourse in 'Orchids'. Leave the 'where to cut the 
phal spike'  questions to the AOS Forum.  'Orchids' should be reserved for 
good hard  orchid information on the level you'd want to archive.  The new  
newsletter is a good source of info (IMHO) too.



I agree the AQ+  is clunky and I think they know it too.  Maxiamano's idea 
of OrchidWiz  "lite" designed just for AOS judging would probably be a 
better way to go,  relieving the AOS from the burden of producing a program and 
freeing  volunteers from dealing with computer glitches.  But who knows?  The 
 idea hasn't been tested.  OW may find the task onerous or more expensive  
than they think.  



But the common hobbyist really doesn't  care about the AQ+, does he?  I 
know I didn't.  All I wanted to know  was what orchids are, where to get 'em 
and how to grow 'em.  I built a  library, I collected back issues of 
magazines, and in doing so I became aware  that what appealed to me changed 
over 
time.  Articles I skipped over  later became important.  Including the last 3 
years of 'Orchids' there's  good stuff, its not all fluff.



Is it perfect?  Of course  not.  What I want to see published in 'Orchids' 
is entirely different  from what anyone else would want to see.  Whether you 
call the magazine  'Orchids' or 'The AOS Bulletin' it still has to appeal 
to the wide variety of  AOS membership and believe me, judging from past 
issues of the 'Bulletin'  there was plenty of crap in that magazine too.  So 
get 
over it.   Gordon Dillon must have had a wicked sense of humor for 
publishing a letter to  the editor complaining about the boring article written 
by 
Knudson on his  flasking technique - only the most important development to 
come down the pike  in orchid history.  See? One man's meat is another man's 
poison.   Whatever you get out of something is dependant on what you put 
into  it.



I know I'm not going to change Merv's mind.  Its made  up.  But I feel 
better for having gotten this off *my* chest,  *G*.



Going forward, I'd rearrange some of Fighetti's items in  the AOS mission 
statement as printed on the AOS homepage. 



I'd  make it:



Major Goals for FY 2009-2010
- Build and expand our  sense of community (Like fewer articles written 
about Florida)
- Initiate  fund-raising that provides the resources to grow (Like getting 
out and  speaking at Speaker's Days)
- Optimize management initiatives to support  the mission  (Test farming 
out AQ+ to OW freeing volunteer hours to  answer phones & emails)

- Identify actions to achieve and expand  orchid leadership (See item #2)
- Leverage our conservation, research, and  education capabilities
- Leverage the AOS brand  (There is no AOS  brand)


2009-2010 Strategic Goals
I. Strategies to expand the  membership by the end of June 2010
4. Participate in every major orchid  show in the country with a booth and 
benefits table that will provide a  discount coupon book from commercial 
members for each new member
5. Secure  a five- to 10-percent discount from selected commercial members 
for all AOS  members
b. Enhance the Orchid Source Directory on the Web site and in print  to be 
more product-category driven
1. Develop membership categories that  will attract hobbyists with varying 
levels of expertise by October 2009
2.  Design a commercial membership class that will attract 50 more members 
by  December 2009
a. Institute a Commercial Membership Task Force
3.  Redesign the Web site to make the Members-Only section a real draw for  
membership interest by November 2009

By Putting the AOS Bulletin Index  on line

6. Set aside one meeting a year dedicated to a presentation on  the State 
of the Society at each Affiliated Society



Enough from  me.



CC'd to Ron McHatton & Carlos Fighetti



K  Barrett

N Calif,  USA





------------------------------

End of  orchids Digest V2  #261
*****************************

Other related posts: