Orchid Show(s) Question

[stonedragonfarms]

Originally Posted by ronaldhanko

Our society does everything it can to twist arms by way of getting other societies to come to our show. I agree with what one poster has written, that with shows getting smaller and memberships dwindling, we have to do everything possible to support other societies. As to vendors, I can see the issues there, but what could possibly be the problem with having other societies participate.

This is my line of thinking exactly, especially in light of trying to interest more people in this thing that we are passionate about...

[orchids3]

Actually we charge $500 for the vendor spaces at our shows. It all goes for advertising. We do not charge admission just put out a donation jar to pay for the facility. Getting enought public participation to make it profitable to vendors is the trick. The society does not expect to make anything. I like the table tops or benches too. At least some members participate. Members who will actually do part of the work are getting more and more rare. Have heard vendors complain a little - especially those that travel a long distance.

[stonedragonfarms]

Originally Posted by orchids3

Actually we charge $500 for the vendor spaces at our shows. It all goes for advertising. We do not charge admission just put out a donation jar to pay for the facility. Getting enought public participation to make it profitable to vendors is the trick. The society does not expect to make anything. I like the table tops or benches too. At least some members participate. Members who will actually do part of the work are getting more and more rare. Have heard vendors complain a little - especially those that travel a long distance.

Wow, $500! That's astonishing, then again, I have no idea how the size of your show compares to the size of my previous OS, so it's more likely just a matter of location and scale.
I commiserate with you on member participation; for quite a few years myself and two others were the de facto society members that set up displays at outlying society shows; this was very rewarding in that I made a lot of friends all over the state, was able to establish rapport with many vendors & was able to garner a lot of information from the various judges, commercial growers and horticulturists that I had the chance to rub elbows with. On the flip side, it sort of left a bad taste in my mouth as it seemed that many other society members, with much more free time than I (long-time retirees, non-working spouses, etc) were the first to insist that their collection be shown, yet would not be willing to put keys in the ignition and get their hands (or tires) dirty. This was sometimes mirrored in our own show; everyone wants a slice of bread hot from the oven, but nobody wants to help make it...frustrating and predictable just the same. I wonder if anyone is doing any research or fact-finding in ways of sustaining, reworking or over-hauling orchid societies? I also wonder if down the road we might see more orchid shows happening in conjunction with other horticultural events--I often think the crossover marketing & captive(ish) audience would be win-win...
Thanks for the note, sorry to ramble
Adam

[Cym Ladye]

Originally Posted by stonedragonfarms

CL: I like the bench show format, I wish more society shows would use it; though I think this has something to do with my typical desire to evaluate plants within a genus alongside their peers (and also my desire to steer well away from Phalaenopsis and their ilk...I can just find the entire bench and admire whatever is on either side...) Is the format of your show consistent with other society shows in California?

Adam,

I think the bottom line is the size of the show and the number of members willing to put on and display in the show.

Our bench show format groups all like genera together spaced from Novice to Open. The public sees all the Phals together, all the Cyms together etc. Comparison of quality is easy to make. The major winners of each section are placed on a trophy table, although I personally like to see the trophy winner in the context of the remaining plants in that genera.

Most small shows here in Northern Ca are held on this basis. But the bigger the show gets, the harder it is to get member work participation, the more the club goes to commercial vendors to do the work and the vendors sooner or later get more than a little miffed and finally say "no more". In the meantime, the club tries to make the vendors happy, usually at the expense of the individual hobby exhibitors in the clubs, and make them feel like 2nd class citizens.

The bottom line is in the dynamics in the individual clubs today. Our Branch is one of two in the CSA that has a truly dynamic membership, working hard for the club and eager to show and work on displays. The secret is to not outgrow your volunteers when it comes to putting on a show.

Two of the largest shows on the West Coast are managed by companies, not by the society volunteer membership. They just got too big. Volunteers are still needed but the publicity and major positions are handled by the managing company.

CL

[stonedragonfarms]

Originally Posted by Cym Ladye

Adam,

I think the bottom line is the size of the show and the number of members willing to put on and display in the show.

Our bench show format groups all like genera together spaced from Novice to Open. The public sees all the Phals together, all the Cyms together etc. Comparison of quality is easy to make. The major winners of each section are placed on a trophy table, although I personally like to see the trophy winner in the context of the remaining plants in that genera.

Most small shows here in Northern Ca are held on this basis. But the bigger the show gets, the harder it is to get member work participation, the more the club goes to commercial vendors to do the work and the vendors sooner or later get more than a little miffed and finally say "no more". In the meantime, the club tries to make the vendors happy, usually at the expense of the individual hobby exhibitors in the clubs, and make them feel like 2nd class citizens.

The bottom line is in the dynamics in the individual clubs today. Our Branch is one of two in the CSA that has a truly dynamic membership, working hard for the club and eager to show and work on displays. The secret is to not outgrow your volunteers when it comes to putting on a show.

Two of the largest shows on the West Coast are managed by companies, not by the society volunteer membership. They just got too big. Volunteers are still needed but the publicity and major positions are handled by the managing company.

CL

Do you know if the big show in SF is one of these? Just curious...

[orchids3]

Odd thing about member participation. Many get disgusted with orchid societies because there seems to be a clique - usually not so. Just people who do all the work - the trick is to make people understand that societies membership is best enjoyed as a participating thing. Amazing how much much more fun it is if people only see youn hiney and elbows.

[quiltergal]

Our show is relatively small. We invite neighboring societies to participate and usually have a good response from the Roseburg area. We also participate in their shows. The vendors also set up displays, however I am not sure if that is a requirement for being a vendor or not. We also have a society table for members who only have one or two plants blooming at the time. Members with many blooming plants can request their own table or half of a table depending on how many they have. We also extend an invitation to anyone unaffiliated with any society to show their orchids. If they only have one or two they are included on the society table. If they have a lot they are treated as a member and get their own table or part of a table. Last year an unaffiliated person had part of a table and got an AOS award on her Epicyclia.

Our feeling is the more the merrier. The more plants there are in the show area the more public interest the show is likely to generate. Since this is our major fundraiser for the year we want as many people through the door as possible.

[Cym Ladye]

Originally Posted by stonedragonfarms

Do you know if the big show in SF is one of these? Just curious...

The two large shows in California are the POE (Pacific Orchid Expo) and the SBIOS (Santa Barbara International Orchid Show) POE is run by the Larose Group with as many volunteer worker bees from the SF Orchid Society (and other societies around the Bay) as they can get for security, docent tours, ribbon judging clerks and the like.

The Santa Barbara Show is run by an organization of the same name. I do not know all the details but no individual club manages it. Volunteers are used in many jobs from many different areas. Judging stands on its own.

Of the two, my vote goes to SBIOS without question! Better weather, better parking, better displays, higher quality plants both in the displays and for sale, easy driving distance to top area commercial nurseries, great hospitality to vendors AND exhibitors, need I go on?

CL

[orchids3]

Two years ago the Santa Barbera show fell short of my expectations. It was great but not as great as I had come to expect. Cym Congress was good. Had a lot of conflicts with a sons wedding. Wish I could have spent more time on site.
Florida shows have declined a little in my opinion. Have not been to the Ft Lauderdale show but have attended Miami several times. After it moved out of the Coconut grove Miami deteriorated. Redlands orchid festival is always worth attending - would go every year if I could. Love all shows - no matter how good or not so good - always learn something and see something new and see people I know and want to talk too or run and hide from. Have lost track of a lot of the people I knew on the West coast but did see some familiar faces at Santa Barbera.
About my comment about charging vendors - vendors usually bring a good size truck load of plants to sell - often sold the first day if they are what the public wants. Many go home and get another truckload for the second day - hence the complaints from vendor who travel long distance. It is worth $500 if they get that kind of business. Not worth the money if there are too many vendors and they dont get their invesment back due to diluted sales. It also not good to have plants that dont sell. Unfortunately the economy hurts all - vendor and customer alike - saying more would be too political ---------

[Cym Ladye]

Originally Posted by orchids3

Two years ago the Santa Barbera show fell short of my expectations. It was great but not as great as I had come to expect. Cym Congress was good.........

The 2009 year at SB was not one of the best for a number of reasons, some weather related and unfortunately some political. Hopefully, you can visit again as the past two years have been of very high quality.