On Thu, 03 Feb 2005 20:18:02 +1000, Dave Gillingham
wrote:

Welcome back! You must have earned at least one bar to your own
"Orchid Bug" medal from all that. Glad for your sake & the club's
sake that it was such a resounding success. One of the advantages of
Europe is the way you can get vendors from so many countries.


I just can not get over the size of the displays.

As to Judging. Get a group of knowledgeable members to "choose"
best 2 -3 in each category. Practice on your show and tell tables
at meetings. Choose the best Phal under lights, vs best in
another growing situation. Do best display and just set a
certificate out to educate the visiting public. Any education
generally is a hit with the public.

Get a group to do Education talks all day during the show. How
to grow Phal or Catt. OR try to get members to work on an
display of beginner orchids with lots of education thrown in.


Our sellers work from the same banquet tables usually 2 to a
vendor. Everything else is on the floor underneath or behind
them. They would love to have as much space as your talking
about.

At our spring show when we do the selling, it is just boxes set
with plants pot to pot down the table. We are trying to display
all the plants for sale (750 or so). Not much space between and
generally 300-400 are Phals, 200-300 Den hybrids. The rest are a
mix of things the vendors will sell for less than 10 (w/shipping)
that are easy to grow. This last 100 is for the grower in the
club. Some of the Phals are choice too. But a lot of the stock
is very basic 'pot plant' orchids. We are after the public and
have a group of faithful. They come and buy every year. They do
not join the club. And evidently don't manage to grow or
re-bloom the plants.

For catching the general public - our style of shopping mall is a
great location. For security it is usually the worst. The malls
will often sponsor a show. For the publicity they can make of
having an ORCHID SHOW on premises. Some with naturalized
planters will allow displays along and into the planter and will
even provide 'rope fence' to keep people out of the displays. We
had one in a mall the display on first floor in the center and
the vendors along the walls on second. Allowed visitors to look
down on the blooms - that was different. It provided the stores
upstairs some traffic as well as people sought out more flowers.
The general public will look over the vendor sales area as just
more displays of flowers as often as to shop.
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php