Goodbye AOS

[stonedragonfarms]

I wonder how many of us used to wait in anticipation for our AOS Journal to arrive in the post?

When I first joined 15 years ago or so, the Journal was in its small "chapbook" format; I personally liked this form, but agree that it was hard to publish pictures of some blooms to size. I also liked the layout which put articles and growing information in the front of the Journal, and advertisements in the rear portion of the publication. Changes were made about 5 or 6 years ago, and the Journal went "trade" sized--pictures could be shown full sized and articles did not have to be wrapped around illustrations in odd ways. The trade off to this new size? Now advertisements were sprinkled throughout the Journal--good or bad, that was just the way it was. I acclimated to the reformat.

Then there was a hurricane (forgive me Florida and Gulf Coast friends, but I do not remember which...) which damaged a great deal of the AOS Gardens/Centre, and members saw our dues rise; where I once paid $45 for membership and Journal fees, I now was to pay $60. Grudgingly, I did so. I wonder how many AOS members out there have ever been to the AOS Centre in Florida, or how many ever will go?

Over the past 18 months I have watched the Journal steadily slide downhill: first there was the inclusion of Lindleyana in the Journal (forgive me if I remember wrongly, but this used to come as a biannual supplement to the Journal...and now that I think further back, was also available en masse as a seperate publication), giving the average orchidist a few nice pictures and a diatribe on new species or genus classification which require a degree in botany to interpret; second, cross advertising in the Journal increased (I don't remember seeing advertisements for the AHS, Orchid Digest or other non AOS socieities in Journals of the past); third, advertising space and advertisements in general appear to have increased, it now seems that the Journal is one of "those publications" (shout out to Men's Health) which requires one to read through the ads to find the articles; finally, the Jan 2009 Journal has undergone another change in format, supposedly this is to ensure that the AOS operates in the black in the coming year--pages have been narrowed to allow for better use of space, the binding of the Journal has been changed be more economical, and those ads I've been noticing, here again en masse.

For $60 I get a publication that has great photos, but is nowhere near the reading quality of Smithsonian or National Geographic (both steals at $12 and $15 respectively), I get free admission to the AOS Gardens and free or reduced admission other gardens across the US (though a contribution of $35 to the AHS will give me the same benefits, and a bimonthly publication as well) and other fringe benefits (reduced AOS award processing fees, an Orchid Vendor directory, discounts for classes at the AOS Centre, etc.). I'm sorry AOS, but it's goodbye for me. I'll use the $60 that I'm not paying you this coming year to buy some seedlings this summer. I'll get my orchid growing questions answered in online forums, where I can engage in conversation with a broad range of growers and hobbyists. If I need a photo-illustration of flowers or foliage, I'll zip to Jay Pfahl's excellent site or let Google help me out. And those ads and vendor directory? Orchidmall does a hell of a job keeping me posted should I care to browse.
Adam