aos membership redux
 

"Pat Brennan" wrote in message
g.com...

. . . Tennis, if you do not understand what I am trying to say, I highly
recommend that you hang out at a couple of shows from the time
registration opens until the start of the preview party.


Tenman, sorry about that.

aos membership redux
 

Pat Brennan wrote:
If we are talking ribbonned shows, I agree with Diana. I would even say
that you would be insane to attempt a ribbonned show without the support of
AOS judges. There is just too much learned knowledge about judging shows,
too many tried rules and schedules, and just too much raw man and woman
power that comes with the AOS judges. Tennis, if you do not understand what
I am trying to say, I highly recommend that you hang out at a couple of
shows from the time registration opens until the start of the preview party.
It will blow your mind; the work, the lost nights sleep, and the skill,
experience, and the dedication of the various people making it happen. I
think you would have more fun repeatedly hitting your thumb with a hammer
than producing a ribbonned show with out the support of AOS judging.

There is nothing that says you show has to be ribbonned, but it would not be
what most of us think of as an orchid show. That is not a bad thing.
Orchids shows are having a hard time right now and maybe a society thinking
outside of the box could come up with a very successful format.

Pat


Although I appreciate the input, my focus here is in trying to find out
from people who have actual experience with such shows and whether they
have been successful, rather than evaluating the possibility in a
theoretical fashion.

Of course, such a show would include ribbon judging, easily accomplished
by experienced orchidists as it is currently done at our second show of
the year, a smaller show than our annual AOS-judged affair. I have been
involved sufficiently with shows to be familiar with the mechanics
involved in the entire judging process, and, more importantly, the expense.

Our current set-up is a full-scale show in the spring and a
smaller-scale show in the fall which we have been ramping up in
preparation to making it a second full-scale AOS-judged show. Our chief
problem has been in getting willing volunteers to set-up, clerk, and man
the various operations involved. No-one seems to be willing to do
anything anymore, and we have scaled back our plans for the second full
show and decided for now to keep it as a smaller-scale non-AOS judged
show. It has brought the entire concept of AOS membership (as a society)
and AOS judging into question. As times are hard and belts
(includingthose of organizations such as ours) tighten, all expenses are
subjuect to new scrutiny.

'Contributions' to judging centers, Orchids, AQ - and the required
laptop, expenses associated with judging (photography, judges'
luncheons, judges' coupons, etc, add up to a sizeable portion of the
organizational budget. Revenue sources are becoiming less reliable and
budgets must be evaluated with an eye at ensuring solvency.

aos membership redux
 

On Dec 15, 12:15*pm, tenman wrote:


'Contributions' to judging centers, Orchids, AQ - and the required
laptop, expenses associated with judging (photography, judges'
luncheons, judges' coupons, etc, add up to a sizeable portion of the
organizational budget. Revenue sources are becoiming less reliable and
budgets must be evaluated with an eye at ensuring solvency.



roughly how much does all that end up adding up to?

--j_a

aos membership redux
 

Hi Tenman,

I do between 35 and 40 events a year and have been doing shows for almost 20
years now. I do both judged and token ribbon/unjudged shows, of those
judged some are judged by AOS judges and some are not. My comments were not
as theoretically based as you might think. In addition, I have more of a
dog in this fight than you might realize. In the last 18 months I have lost
my two biggest shows; one to financial problems and the other as best as I
can figure because no society member came forward and made the show happen.
As a vendor I do not really care about the format, my measure of success is
what's in the pouch at the end of the show. But what plants I do bring for
show is greatly influenced by the format.

As you said, times are hard and belts tighten. I just sent a table fee
check for an up coming show. To help recover from last years losses, this
show has increased table fees, increased show admission and added an
additional vendor. I trust that with the hits the vendors are taking some
of the perks have been removed from the judging budget. I expect I will see
a vendor revolt if not. I do a small gated show. A few years back the
society decided that to continue attracting good vendors they had to drop
their commission from 20% to 15%. (As a gated show they knew everyone's
take.) As you might guess all budgets got slashed, they even collect
unneeded ribbons at the end of the show for next year use. Judges perks at
this show are coffee and donuts in the morning and cold cuts and a can of
Coke at lunch. Everyone tries to bring really nice plants and getting the
judges to come has never been a problem. Most judges truly enjoy judging
plants and it is a fun show.

I could go on and on but why. Try the format and see if you guys can make
it work. If it has too many problems, meet with the local judging center to
see if there is not some sort of middle ground. Maybe you could do AOS
plant judging at some point during the show with just a small judging team.
Good luck with it and put your best people on advertising

Pat

aos membership redux
 

Janet,

I can't answer for Tennis, but I can tell you what our costs are, roughly.

Once a year, we volunteer to pay for a lunch for the judges at their WPB
center. Not all societies do it. We choose to. The cost is never more than
$100, and generally less. We don't even need to go down and deliver the
food.

As for the show, we do need to have a photographer in case of awards. I
think he got around $45/awarded plant last year. We also ask him to judge
our photo entries (we have a category for orchid photography).

I don't recall how much our hospitality budget was for the show last year,
but it was money well spent and IMO not a lot. We offer fruit & cheese,
along with soft drinks, on set up day. The other societies (not to mention
our own members) and the vendors need a break in the middle of the day. We
would do this whether the show was AOS sanctioned or not. Coffee, donuts,
bagels, fruit and whatever are available throughout the show, in the break
room. After the judges lunch, we provide the vendors with lunch on that one
day. This isn't fancy stuff, just sandwiches and side salads.

We are still getting AQ, but it is becoming less necessary with the advent
of OrchidWiz. As most now know, OW is not expensive to maintain. Anyhow,
that too is a minor expense in the grand scheme of things.

There is the cost of trophies, but we always have enough sponsors to cover
that. Many of our members sponsor trophies, and most of the vendors do as
well. Those sponsorships also pay for the AOS show trophy. If we were doing
a "society judged" show, we'd still have to pay for ribbons and rosettes.
And none of the above addresses the impartiality of the judges. I doubt that
the same could be said of lay people from the society.

Bottom line for me: the minor costs associated with having the AOS imprint
on the show are well worth it. And, it's good to remember that the judges
are UNPAID (sorry for shouting) volunteers who have spent years of
apprenticeship, again, unpaid. The least we can do is buy 'em lunch a couple
of times a year.

I know times are tough for lots of folks, and that spills over to some
societies. Fortunately, we have a steady influx of new members, and that
keeps us fresh and on our toes. It also means that many of the people who
volunteered for various jobs over the years can take a well deserved break.

Just my 2 cents, again. Well, make that a nickel.

Diana


wrote in message
...
On Dec 15, 12:15 pm, tenman wrote:


'Contributions' to judging centers, Orchids, AQ - and the required
laptop, expenses associated with judging (photography, judges'
luncheons, judges' coupons, etc, add up to a sizeable portion of the
organizational budget. Revenue sources are becoiming less reliable and
budgets must be evaluated with an eye at ensuring solvency.



roughly how much does all that end up adding up to?

--j_a

aos membership redux
 

i was all for taking our speakers out to dinner, or out for lunch
beforehand (our meetings are at three pm) but i don't know if anyone
did that....

--j_a

aos membership redux
 

Our meetings are at 1:00. We don't generally take the speakers out, but we
do have a break with refreshments, and that gives us a chance to chat.

Diana

wrote in message
...
i was all for taking our speakers out to dinner, or out for lunch
beforehand (our meetings are at three pm) but i don't know if anyone
did that....

--j_a

aos membership redux
 

aos membership redux
 

As an occasional speaker, I can tell you that it is a fairly common gesture.

--

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


wrote in message
...
i was all for taking our speakers out to dinner, or out for lunch
beforehand (our meetings are at three pm) but i don't know if anyone
did that....

--j_a