AOS Orchid Marketplace - My email to them

[MateoinLosAngeles]

Originally Posted by Ray

Folks subscribing to my newsletter get a better discount than do AOS members…

How do I find your newsletter?!

Originally Posted by SFLguy

they have to be careful about not allowing someone on the list that fits the basic criteria for their 501c3 and litigious issues.

I work part time in a management position at a Non-Profit corporation (unrelated to orchids) and I can assure that this is not an issue. 501c3s retain a great deal of discretion in the exercising of their mission. The thing here is that no one takes a "cut" and that, if their mission is to promote the cultivation and conservation of Orchids, they don't, say, exclusively do webinars on the cultivation of Poinsettias.

The only requirement besides having a somewhat consistent and charitable focus on a particular mission is that their funding is spent in the mission, they can't just take money and "not do anything" e.g. if the AOS owned a greenhouse and they simply rented it out without creating any workshops, or webinars, then it could lose its 501(c)3 as their activity would effectively be that of a landlord, not an educational organization... losing 501(c)3 status is a process that, nevertheless, would take years...

Originally Posted by estación seca

If you ever want to see dysfunction, get yourself elected to the board of a national 501(c)3 hobbyist organization.

Sad but true...........

---------- Post added at 10:29 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:58 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Ray

I think the flaw in the logic is expecting the AOS to vet the vendors.

Yes and no, at my non-profit, for example, we do require anyone that uses our services to submit an application and statement to make sure that their activity aligns with our mission. This does differ on whether our service is directly funded by a grant or by our discretionary spending –– as grants need more detailed and itemized reporting.

How I see this, the 5% discount is their way of saying that these vendors are aligning with their mission of supporting orchid growing by making their services "more accessible." However, one could fairly expect that in order to be featured on the marketplace, the AOS could request a simple report (or questionnaire) stating their growing practices, education resources available to clients (even repotme offers culture sheets), and, for example, if the plants are actually grown by them and not simply repotted and sold within a week after arriving from Taiwan. Proof of this could be submitting a few photos of the greenhouse, logs, or inventory records they might keep.

This hobby might be niche enough for this to not have been an issue, but lacking a minimal oversight can really expose members to scammers. I think one could've expected this marketplace to have some merit. Seems that it's simply the orchid equivalent to Craigslist.

[estación seca]

I think vetting would be too much for the small number of AOS staff and volunteers. My perspective is more along the lines of "these are vendors dedicated enough to support the AOS and give discounts to members."

[Toadwally]

Would remove any ambiguity.

[Ray]

Yes and no, at my non-profit, for example, we do require anyone that uses our services to submit an application and statement to make sure that their activity aligns with our mission. This does differ on whether our service is directly funded by a grant or by our discretionary spending –– as grants need more detailed and itemized reporting.

How I see this, the 5% discount is their way of saying that these vendors are aligning with their mission of supporting orchid growing by making their services "more accessible." However, one could fairly expect that in order to be featured on the marketplace, the AOS could request a simple report (or questionnaire) stating their growing practices, education resources available to clients (even repotme offers culture sheets), and, for example, if the plants are actually grown by them and not simply repotted and sold within a week after arriving from Taiwan. Proof of this could be submitting a few photos of the greenhouse, logs, or inventory records they might keep.

This hobby might be niche enough for this to not have been an issue, but lacking a minimal oversight can really expose members to scammers. I think one could've expected this marketplace to have some merit. Seems that it's simply the orchid equivalent to Craigslist.

“The American Orchid Society's mission is to promote and support the passion for orchids through education, conservation, and research.”

Taking a “devil’s advocate” role for just a second, spreading the word about vendors who simply buy and resell is doing that, isn’t it?

[Toadwally]

FWIW, a "just the facts, ma'am" approac to pos./neg. vendor experience cpuld be immensely helpful.

[MateoinLosAngeles]

Originally Posted by Ray

“The American Orchid Society's mission is to promote and support the passion for orchids through education, conservation, and research.”

Taking a “devil’s advocate” role for just a second, spreading the word about vendors who simply buy and resell is doing that, isn’t it?

Sure, and most vendors resell orchids they've imported. It just feels sloppy to see an organization that gives out awards advertising vendors that can't grow an orchid.

[estación seca]

Awards are to identify superior plants of high breeding potential. It doesn't matter who holds them nor how long as long as they're considered for breeding.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Awards are to identify superior plants of high breeding potential. It doesn't matter who holds them nor how long as long as they're considered for breeding.

If I’m not mistaken, the AOS requires the exhibitor to have owned the plant for 6 months, supposedly preventing someone from buying a specimen and immediately taking for judging. I don’t think breeding potential, per se, is considered, as 3N plants are very showy, and get awarded, but cannot breed.

Originally Posted by MateoinLosAngeles

Sure, and most vendors resell orchids they've imported. It just feels sloppy to see an organization that gives out awards advertising vendors that can't grow an orchid.

Mateo, I understand your frustration, but I think that while you may want the AOS to vet vendors, they apparently do not see it as part of their purview. Don’t forget it is a highly volunteer organization.

My wife and I used to show Irish Setters. “The AKC” is a very well-established and much better funded organization, and all show dogs “must be” AKC registered, yet that registration is pretty much valueless, in my opinion.

If you have a litter of puppies from AKC-registered parents, a simple form makes them registered. They can be the greatest or they can be runts, but they can be registered and go on to produce more “AKC registered” offspring. That sounds like the quality has been vetted, but it absolutely hasn’t.

At one point - fortunately falling out of favor - Irish Setters and especially collies were bred to favor long, pointy heads with little to no “brow ridge”, and they garnered the most AKC show wins. It also bred them to have literally smaller brains, which strikes me as doing just the opposite of “supporting” the breeds.

[SFLguy]

Originally Posted by Ray

If I’m not mistaken, the AOS requires the exhibitor to have owned the plant for 6 months, supposedly preventing someone from buying a specimen and immediately taking for judging. I don’t think breeding potential, per se, is considered, as 3N plants are very showy, and get awarded, but cannot breed.

That is the case for culture awards since culture awards are given to the owner, not the plant. Flower quality awards are given to the plant, so it doesn't matter who owns them at the time that it gets awarded.

My view is that AOS awarding guides (not directs) overall flower quality forwards towards larger and fuller flowers that will end up being showier - which is what a majority of orchid growers look for.

Larger, fuller, and showier isn't for everyone, but that wow factor brings in a lot of people into the hobby, and then they can diversify from there.

---------- Post added at 09:26 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:24 AM ----------

So, while I agree that individual awards don't look at breeding potential of a particular plant, the overall process pushes breeding potential forwards

[Ray]

Originally Posted by MateoinLosAngeles

How do I find your newsletter?!

Sorry, I completely missed that question.

Go to the "Free Info" link on the website menu.