Lee Cooke has his side of the story on the AOS Forum Discussion, on the AOS
Homepage http://orchidweb.org

"Jerry Hoffmeister" wrote in message
news
I'd also like to hear some real data so we can judge for ourselves if
they're selling under retail prices or not.

"danny" wrote in message
.. .
Could someone give an example of the "wholesale prices" that the AOS
headquarters is supposedly selling plants for? Just because someone
sells
plants at a reasonable price doesn't mean they are at wholesale. When a
Florida vendor (I don't remember which one) came to the SE Flower show
last
year their prices were noticeably higher than the other vendors, maybe
the
market down there is just due for a correction.

-danny

"Ray" wrote in message
...
There's one problem I perceive with the "appearance of impropriety,"
which
cuts from two directions:

1. Consider non-orchid growing folks who visit the AOS for the
novelty,
and buy a plant for the same reason. To them, there is no
impropriety,
as
they have no knowledge of the conflict. They end up killing the plant
anyway. In this case, the AOS has "gotten away with" their bad
behavior.

2. Then there's the grower who visits the AOS, buys a plant, and
ultimately gets hooked. They jump on the web, or join the AOS and
start
perusing the ads in "Orchids." To them, the issue isn't that the AOS
is
undercutting the commercial growers - the AOS is the "baseline" -
it's
the
fact that by contrast, everyone else appears to be gouging them on the
prices!

In both cases the AOS has, at best, done nothing to promote the
growing
of
orchids, and worse, has set expectations that damage the perceptions
about
commercial growers.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info!

. . . . . . . . . . .
"Rob Halgren" wrote in message
...
Kenni Judd wrote:

4 quick notes:

1. Orchid people in Florida _will travel_. I've had people come
[specifically, not as a side-trip] to my nursery from as far away
as
Gainesville [5 hours], Ocala [4+ hours], and Cocoa [4+ hours]; I
routinely
see people at shows that have travelled 3 or more hours to attend.



I myself travelled from Tampa to Kenni's nursery the last time I
was
in Florida... No idea how far that is, it seemed like forever. But
that
was many years ago and I believe we have both moved at least once
since
then...

4. I, too, am not a member [or at least not an active member, I
may
have
joined for insurance purposes] of FPOS, and I was fortunate enough
to
have a
very good show there. Would it have been better without the AOS'
competition? I can't even imagine any way to know for sure. That
being
the
case, I think AOS should "err" on the side of respect for its
affiliated
societies.


Well, I am an AOS member and will be attending at least one
committee meeting at the Trustees meeting (oh, wait, _members_
meeting)
in Sacramento next month. I won't get a chance to complain about
this
particular matter in person, I'm sure. However, I would like to say
that as an orchid judge (student judge, until I can finish my
homework)
we are supposed to avoid even the perception of impropriety. One
might
reasonably expect the AOS as an organization to follow that as well.
It
seems that the AOS headquarters, innocent or not, has managed to
enter
into a state of perceived impropriety. I for one am a little
disgusted
by what I have heard (admittedly only one side of the argument, but
not
the first time I've heard it, either), and to the public it must
look
a
little shady. That is not good. If _I_ were in charge I'd stop the
practice of selling plants at headquarters until some reasonable
accomodation could be made with the local vendors. But again, I'm
not
in charge... (and I don't want to be).

On the road again... Just can't wait to get back on the road
again... Wait, that isn't true, I'd rather be home watering my
plants.
Stupid song....

Rob (Long Island this week, Left Coast next week, and another trip
to
Thailand requested this evening... sheeesh).

--
Rob's Rules: http://www.msu.edu/~halgren
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a. See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to purchase
more orchids, obtain more credit