Are you a member of your local &/or national Orchid Society? Why or why not?

[billc]

Originally Posted by tucker85

My main reason for joining was the show and tell table. None of my family or friends are even the least bit interested in my orchids so it was nice to be able to take my blooming plants to a place where people were enthusiastic about them. I always enjoy seeing other members orchids also.

That's exactly why I joined and continue to go to my local OS. There are some great growers, there are some that kill every plant and buy another but they all like orchids.

Bill

[fishmommy]

I am a local member (well, 1.5 hour drive to meetings but hey) but not an AOS member. I get everything I need from the state society and the internet. I go to meetings regularly because the people there are fabulous and the plants on display and for sale are divine.

[nutgirl]

I think it's a matter of taste and circumstances.

I haven't joined a local OS because I like to go to "meetings" on the internet in my PJ's.

Yes, I'm probably missing a lot of info but that's what works for me.

Maureen

[Leafmite]

Nutgirl, I think so, too.

[Paul]

Originally Posted by Skycat

And the reason I only have one orchid? Well, because they're expensive...

Well "expensive" is a rather subjective term and it understandably varies from person to person. Much depends upon one's rationale. If it is due to one's economic situation, no one can argue with that. One can only afford what one can reasonably afford. But I know I have on many an occasion run into people at orchid shows who use as their basis of comparison the common plants like African violets and the assorted foliage houseplants one sees at the market or BBS. Those folks I make an effort to enlighten (politely, of course). Most of said folks, I find, are unaware of length of time it takes to get an orchid to blooming size, not to mention the effort and expense of propagating orchids in comparison to common plants. Give me a big healthy AV leaf and I can -- without the aid of any special equipment or any real effort -- have a dozen or more plantlets within a month or so easy. Those plantlets will, if happy with conditions, be blooming within 6months or so typically. If only chids were so easy! Then too, I have run into people who think nothing of dropping $20 or more every couple weeks on cut flowers for their office or home. To them I point out the cost savings of buying a phal. It winds up being substantially cheaper to buy the orchid.

Originally Posted by RandomGemini

I went to a meeting at my local OS. I am not sure I will join. I was the youngest person in that room, and I'm in my late 30s. When I tried to engage people in conversation, they sort of nodded their heads at me and said, "Oh, that's nice." and moved on. The club president was very nice and I liked her, but the other club members... not so much. I felt very much like an outsider looking in. Maybe it was my hello kitty shirt, I dunno.

At my old os, we had a couple young'uns in their late teens/early 20s. They tended to get a bit spoiled by the older folks. "Oh, here son. Give this one a try ..." Being the youngest in you late 30's surprises me. But if the old-timers are that insular, I don't blame you for not going back. Societies like that eventually either go extinct -- because their attitudes drive away new blood -- or a few members "wake up and smell the coffee" and move into position to make changes as the old guard dies off. (Rather sad, in away, with either situation. Many of the old-timers have a great deal of experience they could otherwise share, as well as wonderful old hybrids in their collections they could share that instead are often "lost.")

[RandomGemini]

Originally Posted by Paul

At my old os, we had a couple young'uns in their late teens/early 20s. They tended to get a bit spoiled by the older folks. "Oh, here son. Give this one a try ..." Being the youngest in you late 30's surprises me. But if the old-timers are that insular, I don't blame you for not going back. Societies like that eventually either go extinct -- because their attitudes drive away new blood -- or a few members "wake up and smell the coffee" and move into position to make changes as the old guard dies off. (Rather sad, in away, with either situation. Many of the old-timers have a great deal of experience they could otherwise share, as well as wonderful old hybrids in their collections they could share that instead are often "lost.")

I'm thinking I may just go back anyway, just to show them I'm determined. I am probably gonna wait until after the holidays tho. I have some things I need to deal with here at home and I would love to have something in bloom to take to the meeting to get people talking. Maybe if I wow them with something cute, they'll see that I'm not just passing through.

[Leafmite]

Good luck and have fun!

[lusenok]

My local society meets on Saturdays at 1 PM.
For me it's a "prime time" to spend with my spouse (who is not a big fan of orchids) so I don't join.

[TOMMYMIAMI]

I love the orchids, love to learn about them, read about them, share their pictures and see pictures of other orchid growers. This being said, I don't have much trust in any organized groups, no matter what's the cause. I guess it may come still from childhood and the way we lived back in communist Czechoslovakia - where any type of "group meetings" and organizations other than government approved were strictly prohibited:-) In my lifetime, I took part in different groups, and in every single case I always left, realizing people in groups tend to play games and take roles and I don't like that. So, to sum it up, I am the member of one and only orchid society I truly enjoy - Orchid Board. I can chat, learn, ask, share and watch, everything in my own time, whenever I want, whatever I want! Why to mess this up!

[Bud]

I didn't know you were a Czeck....4 of my closest loyal co-workers in the stage are your countrymen who emigrated and became US citizens....
We have the same reasons for not joining any OS....I do not want my babies to be judged: I pay the entrance fees so I am a paying customer not obligated to anyone....I do not want any games or aggravations....OB is the only place I love and will be a member of: (I was once a member of a Forum and I was ganged upon so I left them to their own devices)....
I changed my mind about my AOS and RHS memberships and stopped my payments....I have no need for them.