Letter to AOS

[MuscleGirl'sHobby]

Just another thought...

A decent share of today's youth are concerned about the environment and destruction of rain forests. Shouldn't the educational outreach also include information about endangered/threatened orchids and why they are in that state i.e. over-gathering, de-forestation etc? Sparking the interest in young environmentalists could go a long way to ensuring the future safety of these beauties in the wild.

I do believe many colleges (and probably some high schools too) have environmental clubs. Getting in contact with them may be a good avenue as well.

[littlefrog]

Rhonda,

I'm actually a member of the research committee, but I'm probably a better fit for Education... If you need me let me know.

Environmental issues are already a big part of the AOS mission, and I've seen a fair amount of coverage in the magazine lately. I'm satisfied there. We could use some more outreach to younger growers, K-12 and college age are two good demographics. Now, we could add a section to the magazine highlighting the contributions/collections of younger members - there was an article about one of the interns last month that was right on topic.

I don't know how we could do it, but 'Find a Mentor' would be a great feature. Wouldn't have to be just for young people. I'm thinking a pool of mentor volunteers with geographical coordinates, and a function that matches 'mentees' to mentors based on co-location. I'm sure many if not most of the AOS judges would love to serve as mentors. We do already, it just isn't well formalized. And of course we have forums like this for online education - might want to have a dedicated one sponsored by AOS. I don't actually go to AOS's website (sorry) - just not in the habit and it sucked for so long it is hard to get back in it. So there may already be this function at AOS, for all I know.

edit: I know there is an AOS forum, I meant a forum dedicated to educating young persons...

[isurus79]

This discussion is great! However, I wonder if promoting just orchids is putting the cart before the horse? After talking to many orchid enthusiasts over the years (Ive been growing for 14 of my 28 years!) and participating in the OB for over a year now, it seems like the vast majority of orchid lovers started the same way....They had a garden or grew up in a gardening family first. For lack of a better analogy, it seems like having a garden (mine was a veggie garden) is the gateway drug and orchids are the crack. Veggie gardens work much better for kids as well because of the short term gratification associated with growing veggies (in one season you get salads for a month!) rather than waiting for flowers for a year which fade after a few weeks. Not to mention the fact that tomato plants can take the abuse/neglect of a 10 year old kid better than a Cattleya can. Now I know that the AOS is an orchid society and not a gardening society, but wouldnt it make more sense for the AOS to either somehow promote gardening to young kids as a way to get them interested in the greener side of things OR wouldnt it make more sense for the AOS to target those kids/students/youth that are already growing gardens somehow. Targeting those kids that are already growing tomatos and cucumbers might be a more focused allocation of resources than the trying to target EVERYONE!! Its like firing a laser at a target rather than a shotgun.

[Ross]

Originally Posted by Jerry Delaney

I am afraid I have to disagree with the idea that cost is a major problem in attracting young people. Spending ones income for young people is usually a matter of priorities. How do you convince a teenager that spending that $20 in their pocket on an orchid is going to be much more fulfilling than purchasing a new electronic game?

Jerry I agree with you 100%. In fact I had been ignoring this thread due to a couple comments about me. But I must say, this is the most lucid response on this thread so far (even including my early ones!) I have a son (in his 30s) and a grandson (almost 16, and a member of the board, infrequent as he may be) both of whom are interested in orchids and perhaps one day owning orchids - but at least in learning about them and caring for them. Why? It's certainly not $60 subscriptions to magazines they don't understand. It's due (I believe) to my direct involvement with their education regarding orchids. I am far from an elitist, however I think I know my stuff. And there is rarely a day they are over to the house when we don't do a tour to see what's in bloom, what has changed, what water changes will be occurring, etc. How can AOS reach and cultivate younger members? By convincing them that this is a hobby worth persuing. They have, perhaps, more spendable income than we older folks. They certainly are exploring ways to get involved and find a way to make a difference. That's what I hear. Will my offspring become as devoted to growing orchids as I have become? Who knows? But will they have been given a chance, through education and direct exposure? You bet. My grandson and I will be planting the second crop in our basement garden this weekend. Not orchids, but who knows? One day...

[Undergrounder]

Originally Posted by Phantasm

The web is an important tool but people are missing the boat if they think it is the only solution. I personally have learned much more from mentors, other orchid nuts and interaction with knowledgeable people. You can learn much via the web but NOTHING works as well as hands on experience.

The lack of social skills and finding time for local garden clubs, etc seems to be a major problem for younger folks.
As time goes on it will probably lead to a death knell for local societies and a diminished AOS. This will lead to a lack of creative orchid businesses and the continued homogenization of orchid business into the Trader Joe's and Home Depot mold. Many of the traditional orchid nurseries have gone the way of the dodo bird over the past 20 years and this has diminished the quality of orchids to a great extent.

If young folks don't socialize, hybridize and educate themselves via the web, books and mentors then the future of orchids is bleak indeed.

Im sorry but i think you have a very unfortunate view of young people. To use myself as an example, the simple fact is that i can get all the social interaction i need from my friends. My friends and I would see eachother maybe 3 or more times a week, spend all weekend doing things together, etc. Tell me if i'm stereotyping but it's my understanding that many retired people belong to and attend societies for the social interaction, not just the orchids. I maintain that this is simply not a factor for young people.

Yes you can learn more about orchids on the web, but -hands on experience- does not apply to orchid meetings. You don't go there to grow orchids, you go there to get information about growing orchids. The hand on experience is gained from the growing, which web or not, is irrelevent to meetings.

I maintain that your problem is not attracting young people to orchids, but attracting young people to orchid societies. I realise i might be sounding confrontational, (im sure some of you are integral parts of your societies), but im just trying to help you out.

[Rhonda_in_FL]

I think it is a combination of several things. There is no one answer.

We certainly do need to attract young people to growing orchids--but young people are just like adults (people are people!)

Some young people would join societies just like some adults would join societies. What can societies do to welcome them into the group?

Would young people join a society--say at a college--that is just for their age category? That was a terrific idea that was posted much earlier in the thread.

Some people (young and old) are not 'joiners' and want to get their information from the web or print. That is fine too--but as the Education Committee is structuring goals--we need to engage them as well. While the website is getting better, it is not where it needs to be. AOS is aware of this.

In my mind, AOS should be the vehicle of information for all three groups of people. The bottom line is not how old someone is--we need to be the organization that supports the passion of orchids. We need to engage growers of any age in many ways.

[kiki-do]

Shakkai made a lot of sense about getting children excited about growing, whether it's orchids or any plant.
Ross also mentioned direct involvement and that is the the best way to get young people interested. I've enjoyed everyone's input.
It really is up to all of us to make this happen. I think it's important to raise awareness that we can not only enjoy their uniqueness, but help save them from environmental woes.
I am a member of AOS and I look periodically at the website, which has been a source of fustration in the past (I'm not a computer wiz), but I do enjoy the magazines. I mainly pay the $60 for "the overall cause" especially educational. I'm too far away to take advantage of what they have to offer.
My local society is over an hour's drive from me, so I can only make fair weather meetings. However, it energizes me to go. People are warm, friendly, knowledgeable, and very giving of themselves. They bring blooming beauties and offer tips and hand's on experiences. I learn more from these meetings than I could ever give to the meetings. In May, all members are given 5 seedlings to plant that night and to keep. It's so much fun.
I offered a 2 hour class to my local adult education center on basic orchid care last month. I had a full group and more wanting to sign up. People are given orchids as gifts and don't know what to do with them. They had no idea they will rebloom. My enthusiasm and love of orchids became infectious and I've heard since that three or four people have bought orchids (they came because they love orchids, but were afraid of them).
What they see with me is a person who loves growing orchids who is not stuffy and I don't even pretend to know all there is to know about them. I always tell them I am a learner too.
Schools everywhere love it when people volunteer to come in and have a show-n-tell. It would blend in with environmental issues, plus the uniqueness of explaining how these magnificent plants grow in the rain forest would absolutely "wow" the children. I'm seriously thinking of doing just that this spring, when our weather permits.
My niece visited me last year and called me a month later telling me she purchased two orchids. She is so into growing them now because she was exposed to mine.
Exposure, exposure, exposure. That is the key to future orchid growers.
I became an orchid grower when I saw a friend's orchids all through her kitchen and livingroom. That was my "wow" factor.

[greenbean]

Originally Posted by shakkai

Hi Jerry, You are right in so many ways, and it isn't just an issue for orchids, all gardening and many other types of 'clubs' and societies are all feeling the same way.

My is that the best approach may be to increase services and benefits for members first - make them all really, really positive about the society. So much so that they go out and tell other people how wonderful it is and how much they get out of their memberships. I think that targetting the general public rarely works. We tried something similar in the Clematis Society that I belonged to - including a year's membership with plants that were sold at the big RHS shows, however, only 1, maybe 2, of those people renewed their memberships the next year. It just doesn't work with people who have only a casual interest.

The key, I think - and why I'm so keen on getting young children involved at an early age - is that that gives them time to develop more than just a casual interest.

My team mate at work has a 10 year old daughter who enjoys growing plants, but didn't have any orchids. I asked her if would like some. Simple. I picked 4 different plants (not very expensive) printed out culture information - and included the guide to growing orchids produced by Writhlington (great book for kids!! as well as adults) and gave them to her to give to her daughter. Who knows, if she has success with at least one of them, it just might be the thing that gets her 'hooked'.

If everyone looked around for a child that might enjoy growing his/her own orchid we just might be able to cultivate more orchid lovers. And I really believe that the benefits of that far outweigh the costs.

That is exactly what I think people should be doing! More experienced growers reaching out individually to young people who might be interested in growing orchids. It would be slower than say, a nation or world-wide membership perk, but in the end it would have much better, longer lasting results. The young person gets a more personal experience and the experienced grower has someone to teach. Even though I'm very young and inexperienced, I love sharing what I do know. I would think more experienced growers would want to do so as well! Keep up the amazing work Shakkai!!!

[MuscleGirl'sHobby]

Originally Posted by greenbean

That is exactly what I think people should be doing! More experienced growers reaching out individually to young people who might be interested in growing orchids. It would be slower than say, a nation or world-wide membership perk, but in the end it would have much better, longer lasting results. The young person gets a more personal experience and the experienced grower has someone to teach. Even though I'm very young and inexperienced, I love sharing what I do know. I would think more experienced growers would want to do so as well! Keep up the amazing work Shakkai!!!

Yes, another huge 2nd to that. I agree as well. This is where I think the AOS could really bennefit from the local/regional orchid societies. I don't know what connection there is between an affilate society and the AOS, but it seems that good networking and communication between them would be key. The local societies can be the eyes and ears for the AOS. Also, they are that arm to reach into the local community. It hasn't been easy for me to find others interested in orchids locally and I've been trying pretty hard. Now I've got a date and time for the next meeting of a local group and I'm very excited to go. But if I've been looking hard, and it took me this long to find contact information. Those with a casual interest will have never been reached.

Yes, I agree that younger members need to be reached, but as has been pointed out, not just any kid is going to be interested. Classroom show and tell type presentations might spark a couple interests of the much younger kids, but the more likely targets are certainly kids with parents who will support the hobby and possibly take interest themselves. I see this as the family who already either gardens, or enjoys houseplants.

Some national organizations also offer youth membership with a special youth focused publication. This would be a bit of an undertaking, but if there is enough interest out there, it could take off. Certainly the AOS wouldn't want to launch something like that until a full evaluation was done to see if it's a viable endeavour. But, it's an idea.

It was mentioned much earlier (I'm sorry, I've forgotten by who or I'd give due credit) about having an education/outreach position in the local societies. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have someone as a designated youth mentor. Certainly would be along the same lines, and could possibly be the same person.

[quiltergal]

Certainly targeting a youth audience is a great idea, but quite honestly you'd be missing the boat on a much larger population who most likely have more disposable income than kids. People pick up new hobbies at any age. I'm certainly a good example. I'm in my 50's and my teenager got me started. I have no idea how he got interested in orchids in his teens. It just sort of happened one day. I took him to the local OS meeting and he felt uncomfortable there and didn't want to go back. Frankly I did too. I was more persistant and finally joined a month ago. It took several visits and showing my face around and chatting people up before I actually felt welcomed. If I was a practicing introvert I never would have gone back as many times as I did. I guess my point is that even the local societies seem very insolated and not easy to find or join. I have to wonder if the smaller societies are a reflection of AOS as a whole. I'm not slamming AOS just noting that it really shouldn't be that hard to connect with like minded people. Granted I only have experience with one group, but all the years I've lived here I never knew they existed.

I've done my share of infecting new people with the orchid bug. I've given away a few of my NOIDs as starter plants with culture sheets and a bottle of fertilizer.