1st time orchid society Pres. and I want to rejuvenate my society. Recommendations?

[fotofashion]

Our local society has two groups to encourage new and slightly experienced growers. One is the newcomers group and the other is the intermediate group. You have to have been a member two years to join the intermediate group. The groups meet at various places including one another's greenhouses and some nurseries (sadly Teas has closed so there goes one good meeting place). These are educational for those who have little or no experience growing orchids. The intermediate group will emphasize propagation the early part of the year. Our spring show is coming up in April. One really popular aspect of the meetings is the refreshments. Who needs supper after that.
Sounds like you have plenty of good suggestions to get you started. We all wish you success.
Beverly A.

[zygostates]

I have been reading all of your thoughts, suggestions, and opinions of what an orchid society should be..and I am grateful. Today will be my first meeting as Pres. I will admit a little nervousness about standing in front of these people I have known for over 10 years, but I feel I have some great suggestions of offer to have a better year. Please dont stop with your thoughts and suggestions...they have been very helpful!

[cb977]

I've been thinking about this all morning

When I was V.P. and Newsletter Editor of my former club, I got a lot of great ideas for the club and for the newsletter in the AOS Forum. There's an entire forum dedicated to articles and ideas from newsletter editors around the world! Great stuff

I realized also that when I was writing my original reply, I might have sounded negative about it. I'm really not but there were so many wonderful ideas coming from the newer members, all being squashed by a small group of longtime members...it was...and still is...frustrating to me.

That being said, a club NEEDS to have new ideas and people volunteering to do jobs they are not comfortable with (at first)...

Your taking on this big responsibility deserves a round of applause so:



Just remember to enjoy yourself

[Paul]

A similar OS related occurred on another forum I frequent. The friendliness factor cannot be overemphasized.

The first OS to which I ever attended was fantastic.

I was very new to the hobby at that time. It was a small group ... maybe about 25 regular members. Not only did they have some very knowledgable 'oldtimers' but they were also very hospitable. I wasn't there more than a few minutes before someone greeted me, engaged me in conversation as to what I was currently growing as well as some general chit chat which put me at ease. Then that person introduced me to a couple others who had orchid interests similar to mine. Over the course of my time with that OS, I noticed that the treatment I had received was the norm.

Meetings were centered around a speaker or main topic for discussion, but there was always a great deal of socializing as well.

Show-and-tell time generally had a goodly number and variety of plants -- and while we would all 'ooh' and 'aah' over some of the truly remarkable plants that would be brought in, no one was made to feel foolish because they had brought in their phal that only had 3 flowers. (Sometimes even the long time growers would bring in some rather homely flowering plants and amusedly chide their own personal lack of success with that plant.) Each member would get up and 'introduce' their plants.

Showtime was always a group effort with regards to plants. Most of the folks were small area growers -- window sills, lighted plant stands and such -- so very few specimen-sized plants were in the OS displays. But the plus side was greater involvement of the members because in order to put up a nice display, contributions of all sorts of plants from mini's to large cyms were put into play.

In contrast, there are the two societies within driving distance to where I live now that I rarely bother with. Neither one has inspired me to make them a part of my life and if they had been my first introduction to OS's, I would never have bothered with one again nor ever gotten involved in shows.

In both cases the OS were large -- at least 2-3X bigger than the first one I had belonged to. If I hadn't made an effort to talk to their members, I believe I would have gone the whole meeting without talking to a soul. That hardly makes a newcomer feel welcome.

Considering the far greater size of both of these, I was surprised by how few plants were brought in for show-and-tell. Whether I just happened to attend on 'bad days' or whether this was due to a prevailing attitude that unless it's stupendous don't bother (I rather suspect the latter). One or two members of the OS board would handle the show-and-tell plant introductions.

Showtime -- the emphasis was on big plants. I see this as a detrimental to getting the home hobbyist members truly involved. Afterall, how many nongreenhouse owners have room for specimen-sized plants? True a multispike phal can truly be a sight to behold, but how is the home grower, who may be ecstatic because their phal has not only put out a spike but has also not blasted a single bud, being made to feel like they have anything to contribute? For that matter, with my first OS, I had on numerous occasions had minicatts with only 2-4 flowers as my contribution for the display. Despite competition with other OS's (several of which were much larger), it wasn't uncommon for one of my plants to ribbon. It was a good feeling and one I would have missed out on with these other two OS's and their emphasis on large plants.

[RosieC]

I've not joined an OS, but Paul has described exactly what would attract me in his first smaller OS and exactly what would stop me attending in the larger OS he describes.

I've experienced similar things in a non orchid related society. I started off in the larger style... I had to make a real effort to talk to members (and in Real Life I am a VERY shy person until I know people), and I never felt I had anything I could contribute. Luckily a friend asked me to their sociaty, a bit further from where I live and much smaller... but in that first visit people chatted to me and I felt welcomed and every visit I chatted with more people, and not only did I feel my contibution was apreciated but that it was needed.

I think Paul has got it exactly right. The friendliness factor cannot be overemphasized. Also making people feel they can contribute however small that contribution may be is another big factor.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by RosieC

I think Paul has got it exactly right. The friendliness factor cannot be overemphasized. Also making people feel they can contribute however small that contribution may be is another big factor.

[vmax3000]

Originally Posted by mojomick

I am a member of a society that has grown from about 10 members 5 years ago to over 25 at the present time. We have monthly meetings with speakers, a monthly newsletter which contains pictures of members bloomers, and articles written by members, a yearly show and sale (which has gained popularity by the general public). We have given classes at Adult Education and we send our newsletter to local Master Gardeners, the local newspaper, and others who express interest. We have a wonderful group with new members who are greeted by all with enthusiam and offers of help. I think the combination of helpful people and publicity always help a society.

I was voted president of a local society a number of years back. There was one guy who was very experienced, aos rep, swroga rep, had done breeding and selling, whatnot. He was the biggest hurdle to everything the group suggested. I started out with an educational mindset. I checked out some of the presentations from the AOS (they mailed me a little video on potting or some other aspect of orchid growing) and I would publicize it and man it. One or two of the other members started showing up to these educational programs, helping to answer questions and they caught the enthusiasm. I really learned a lot about caring for my plants and would get in discussions about fertilizers and water quality...generally had a blast, after the nerves passed. I had them before every meeting and every class! I tried to defer to the older orchid expert and be civil and include him in anything (asking him what suggestion he had, if he shot something down). I printed out a directory, which contained all of the members' info. I grabbed every person in the close vicinity (as in within 99 miles, b/c Waco is NOT to the center of the universe when it comes to orchids!) to come and speak. Just ideas about simple greenhouses or improving windowsill or underlight conditions goes a long way. So, speakers and show and tell and raffles, trading (trades are a good way of sharing keikis) and educational components worked for me.

The next year, we outgrew our meeting spot and found a new meeting area. I was no longer pres. I took a Den. loddigesii that I was particularly proud of to the show and tell portion. The blow-hard member picked it up, held it over his head, mentioned it was in the weed category (as in minis - he was into the BIG orchids...I like all orchids), lost his grip on the plant and it smashed to the floor. I gave myself a break from OS's after that. I suppose I could see if the group still exists and maybe join, again. With you guys to listen to my rants, I am so much better in public!

Okay,

[snakecharma]

i was so impressed by the friendliness and good humour of my OS that I joined the same night as my first visit

Our OS has a year long growing competition, a sales table, lucky door and raffle prizes. There is a monthly member show (divided into Novice & Open) with accumulating pointscores than earn credit at the sales table. We also have at least 2 public shows a year, a monthly guest speaker and featured plant of the month. Prior to meeting start time there is also a growing class covering different things every month like repotting, cultivation specifics etc.

And Cake! There must be Cake and Coffee!

best of luck, El Presidente

[orchids3]

Dealing with Orchid societies with old and set ways that are not getting the job done is one of the hardest things to deal with. Often a few do most of the work and the others feel that there is a clique of some type - A leader should emphasize that the society will serve all membes best when viewed as a place where participation will make it all the more interesting. Roll up the sleeves and find something that needs to be done and do it - you will find that you can change things in a positive way and you will find that participating and encouraging others to participate is very rewarding and constructive.

[zygostates]

Hey everyone!,
Thanks so much for all of your ideas and experience stories. I have a list written down already of ideas to try to implement in months to come. My first meeting was a success in regards to getting some new things passed. We as a society used to have a ribbon judging system for show and tell when we had big commercial growers in our society. I asked is we could go back to the old fashion show and tell of bringing any plant you have and tell something about it. We passed a measure to take $350.00 out our funds to buy in spike/blooming orchids to have at each meeting that didnt have an outside speaker bringing plants as a draw to attract members to a meeting. Growing classes will be 30 minutes before each meeting and aimed at new members. And lastly...I asked everyone to start trying to drag people to visit our meetings like people used to in years back. Driving up our membership numbers is crucial for this year. I was told that I didnt seem nervous...but I was...lol. Thanks again!