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  #16   Report Post  
Old 15-10-2003, 05:02 PM
William Hill
 
Posts: n/a
Default A.O.S. Selling Plants

(William Hill) wrote in message . com...
Hi All, Has anyone noticed that The A.O.S. headquarters in DelRay
Beach is selling orchid plants at wholesale prices??? This to the
detriment of any commercial growers in the area. This passed weekend
they held a blowout sale!! They sent notices to all south Florida
Orchid Societies to the effect that on 10/11-12 they would sell plants
to society members at greatly reduced prices. (how much lower can they
go????) What makes this especially disgusting is that they timed their
sale to coincide with the Fort Pierce Orchid Society's Show. This show
was A.O.S. sanctioned and judged--so they can't say they didn't know.
Was this an attempt to hurt the Fort Pierce Show???? You can bet on
it!!! Are they slapping commercial growers in the area, in the face???
You can bet on it!! Another thing that is unethical AND illegal is
that they are using their TAX EXEMPT status to advertise all of this.
Orchid Societies and commercial growers account for most of the A.O.S.
membership. (not only do all of the above pay dues, but they
distribute more membership applications than anyone else!!!!! I am
told that Lee Cook is primarily responsable for this. TRY TO GET HIM
ON THE PHONE, OR TRY TO GET HIM TO RETURN PHONE CALLS!!!!! They are



Hi All, I AM OPTING OUT OF THIS DISCUSSION, BUT YOU ALL GO AHEAD. I
HAVE ALWAYS RESPECTED LEE COOK & THINK HE DOES A GREAT JOB---BUT I DO
NOT THINK AOS SHOULD BE SELLING ORCHID PLANTS WHEN FLORIDA CALIFORNIA
HAWAII & LOTS OF FOLKS IN BETWEEN (who are all dues paying members of
AOS) Have plenty to offer. I have personally looked at every plant in
the gift shop--THOSE ARE WHOLESALE PRICES. If AOS wants to have a
sale---let it be from Tues. to Thurs. (no conflict with any society
show!!!!)I meant no disrespect to LEE --Just wanted to be as emphatic
as possible about AOS DOES NOT NEED TO BE SELLING PLANTS!!!(NOR SHOULD
THEY) Bill
laying themselves wide open for a class-action lawsuit. I hope this
can be stopped, but so far the "Powers that be" seem to be thumbing
their noses at us "Little Folks" who are so dumb--that every election
time we blindly send in our proxies so that "THE BIG WHEELS" stay in
power & pretty much do as they please. If you want to contact Lee
---just tell the operator who answers the phone that you want to make
a large donation---He'll respond to that !!!!! Bill

  #18   Report Post  
Old 16-10-2003, 01:12 PM
Bolero
 
Posts: n/a
Default A.O.S. Selling Plants

Can I ask?

What kind of class action would be successful in this case? Whether or not
the prices are fair they are entitled to sell the plants for whatever they
like.

I can't see how they can be sued for this.

"William Hill" wrote in message
om...
Hi All, Has anyone noticed that The A.O.S. headquarters in DelRay
Beach is selling orchid plants at wholesale prices??? This to the
detriment of any commercial growers in the area. This passed weekend
they held a blowout sale!! They sent notices to all south Florida
Orchid Societies to the effect that on 10/11-12 they would sell plants
to society members at greatly reduced prices. (how much lower can they
go????) What makes this especially disgusting is that they timed their
sale to coincide with the Fort Pierce Orchid Society's Show. This show
was A.O.S. sanctioned and judged--so they can't say they didn't know.
Was this an attempt to hurt the Fort Pierce Show???? You can bet on
it!!! Are they slapping commercial growers in the area, in the face???
You can bet on it!! Another thing that is unethical AND illegal is
that they are using their TAX EXEMPT status to advertise all of this.
Orchid Societies and commercial growers account for most of the A.O.S.
membership. (not only do all of the above pay dues, but they
distribute more membership applications than anyone else!!!!! I am
told that Lee Cook is primarily responsable for this. TRY TO GET HIM
ON THE PHONE, OR TRY TO GET HIM TO RETURN PHONE CALLS!!!!! They are
laying themselves wide open for a class-action lawsuit. I hope this
can be stopped, but so far the "Powers that be" seem to be thumbing
their noses at us "Little Folks" who are so dumb--that every election
time we blindly send in our proxies so that "THE BIG WHEELS" stay in
power & pretty much do as they please. If you want to contact Lee
---just tell the operator who answers the phone that you want to make
a large donation---He'll respond to that !!!!! Bill



  #20   Report Post  
Old 16-10-2003, 11:32 PM
House of Paisley
 
Posts: n/a
Default A.O.S. Selling Plants

Xref: kermit rec.gardens.orchids:50990

I don't know... I find this whole conversation silly. If you
do not like the AOS practices, don't pay the dues. If enough
vendors feel as you do they will change their business
model. If there aren't enough, you can either lower your
prices, or demonstrate you have over the top fabulous plants
for the price. Orchid sales are a cut-throat business. I'm
betting you have a lot more to worry about then the AOS
selling plants. There is a *ton* of competition, obviously. And
things will probably only get worse for the orchid vendor.
With all the complaints I read about the AOS, I'm surprised
more people don't opt out of AOS dues. Money talks...
and it doesn't do much good to just complain and keep
rewarding them for bad behavior.

Crystal

--
http://home.comcast.net/~xtals/orchid.htm
"William Hill" wrote in message
om...
(William Hill) wrote in message

. com...
Hi All, Has anyone noticed that The A.O.S. headquarters in DelRay
Beach is selling orchid plants at wholesale prices??? This to the
detriment of any commercial growers in the area. This passed weekend
they held a blowout sale!! They sent notices to all south Florida
Orchid Societies to the effect that on 10/11-12 they would sell plants
to society members at greatly reduced prices. (how much lower can they
go????) What makes this especially disgusting is that they timed their
sale to coincide with the Fort Pierce Orchid Society's Show. This show
was A.O.S. sanctioned and judged--so they can't say they didn't know.
Was this an attempt to hurt the Fort Pierce Show???? You can bet on
it!!! Are they slapping commercial growers in the area, in the face???
You can bet on it!! Another thing that is unethical AND illegal is
that they are using their TAX EXEMPT status to advertise all of this.
Orchid Societies and commercial growers account for most of the A.O.S.
membership. (not only do all of the above pay dues, but they
distribute more membership applications than anyone else!!!!! I am
told that Lee Cook is primarily responsable for this. TRY TO GET HIM
ON THE PHONE, OR TRY TO GET HIM TO RETURN PHONE CALLS!!!!! They are



Hi All, I AM OPTING OUT OF THIS DISCUSSION, BUT YOU ALL GO AHEAD. I
HAVE ALWAYS RESPECTED LEE COOK & THINK HE DOES A GREAT JOB---BUT I DO
NOT THINK AOS SHOULD BE SELLING ORCHID PLANTS WHEN FLORIDA CALIFORNIA
HAWAII & LOTS OF FOLKS IN BETWEEN (who are all dues paying members of
AOS) Have plenty to offer. I have personally looked at every plant in
the gift shop--THOSE ARE WHOLESALE PRICES. If AOS wants to have a
sale---let it be from Tues. to Thurs. (no conflict with any society
show!!!!)I meant no disrespect to LEE --Just wanted to be as emphatic
as possible about AOS DOES NOT NEED TO BE SELLING PLANTS!!!(NOR SHOULD
THEY) Bill
laying themselves wide open for a class-action lawsuit. I hope this
can be stopped, but so far the "Powers that be" seem to be thumbing
their noses at us "Little Folks" who are so dumb--that every election
time we blindly send in our proxies so that "THE BIG WHEELS" stay in
power & pretty much do as they please. If you want to contact Lee
---just tell the operator who answers the phone that you want to make
a large donation---He'll respond to that !!!!! Bill





  #21   Report Post  
Old 17-10-2003, 05:02 PM
Andrew
 
Posts: n/a
Default A.O.S. Selling Plants

"Bolero" wrote:
Can I ask?

What kind of class action would be successful in this case? Whether or not
the prices are fair they are entitled to sell the plants for whatever they
like.

I can't see how they can be sued for this.


Being largely unaffected by all this (not a member, not not an
American) I'll chime in on the discussion. I think problem has more to
do with the conflict of interest regarding a tax-exempt not-for-profit
organisation setting up what may appear to be a commercial endevour. I
can't say the gripe regarding low prices would have any legal bearing
but the alleged abuse of a tax exempt status may cause problems for
the society should an auditor disagree with their practices.
  #22   Report Post  
Old 17-10-2003, 07:32 PM
Gene Schurg
 
Posts: n/a
Default A.O.S. Selling Plants

There seems to be some confusion here....A not-for-profit and/or tax-exempt
organization can sell products. Look at the Girl Scouts and those pricey
cookies!

Non profits just have to account for all the money at the end of the year
and spend it upon their non-profit activity.

I am an AOS member and not a vendor. I haven't seen the plants they are
selling so I can't speak for the value for the price. There are enough of
us out there buying plants that I doubt the AOS is serious competition for
anyone except their nearest neighbors.

If they are able to sell some plants and keep the costs down for the entire
organization I think this is a good thing. If I were in Florida I would
check out their plants as well as other vendors in the area.

Good Growing,
Gene


  #24   Report Post  
Old 18-10-2003, 01:02 AM
Kenni Judd
 
Posts: n/a
Default A.O.S. Selling Plants

The 2 things are, I think, inextricably intertwined. Without the low
overhead afforded by its non-profit status ["free" facility, volunteer
labor, discounts on everything from bank fees to corporate filing fees to
advertising, etc.], AOS would be losing money, rather than making any, on
the plants it is selling.

In answer to Gene: of course non-profits can sell products. Every
non-profit entity has to raise funds somehow. The Girl Scouts have a cookie
drive once a year [in which, as you noted, they're not exactly undercutting
Sara Lee G]; schools do a magazine-sales blitz to fund their proms;
churches sometimes hold annual "flea market," craft or bake sales; local
orchid societies have their shows, raffles, auctions, etc. In fact, the
Tropical Orchid Society has a "members plant table" at each of its 2 annual
workshops where its members sell their own plants in competition with the
vendors at the same event [the OS gets a commission]. I'm one of those
vendors, and I don't particularly mind -- this is the type of "collection
reducing" activity mentioned in a previous post, and an "occasional"
fundraiser, not an ongoing business activity.

But there has to be some kind of line between a non-profit doing the
occasional fund-raiser and a full-time business operation, and it looks to
me like the AOS has become the latter. It isn't reducing its collection or
having occasional fundraisers, it's buying in plants specifically for
re-sale on a daily, year-round basis. If AOS' current operations qualify it
as a 501(c)(3) non-profit, then I should apply for that status for my own
nursery! I spend lots of time teaching people about orchids ...


--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids

http://www.jborchids.com

"Andrew" wrote in message
om...
Being largely unaffected by all this (not a member, not not an
American) I'll chime in on the discussion. I think problem has more to
do with the conflict of interest regarding a tax-exempt not-for-profit
organisation setting up what may appear to be a commercial endevour. I
can't say the gripe regarding low prices would have any legal bearing
but the alleged abuse of a tax exempt status may cause problems for
the society should an auditor disagree with their practices.



  #25   Report Post  
Old 19-10-2003, 01:12 AM
Jerry Hoffmeister
 
Posts: n/a
Default A.O.S. Selling Plants

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









  #26   Report Post  
Old 19-10-2003, 02:02 AM
K Barrett
 
Posts: n/a
Default A.O.S. Selling Plants

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









  #27   Report Post  
Old 19-10-2003, 03:32 AM
Kenni Judd
 
Posts: n/a
Default A.O.S. Selling Plants

Lee's post does _not_ contain the examples that these folks are requesting.
I can't provide an _exact_ one either, as I did not take notes as to
specific plants and prices when I was there but on the whole can say that on
that day [which was not advertised as a clearance sale], their prices were
from $5 to even $10 lower per plant than what I see plants routinely going
for at area shows, both from my tables and from those of my competitors.
And at today's event, I heard from several customers that my prices on the
vandaceous selections I was offering were considerably lower than Home
Depot's ...

Perhaps I should also mention that the selections at AOS, on the last day
that I was there, included things like cool-growing Miltoniopsis, obviously
unsuitable for south-Florida growing, particularly by the novice AOS claim
to be targeting.

But I also wish to remind everyone, before we go too far down this tangent,
that the original point of my post was AOS' scheduling of an open house and
clearance sale in competition with one of its own affiliated chapters [Ft.
Pierce OS] which I, at least, consider close enough to be considered local,
and is also within the AOS' own "90-minute drive" definition of local. The
notices for both events that I saw was in the Jupiter-Tequesta OS
newsletter; the members of that society are mostly located about halfway
between the 2 events.
--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids

http://www.jborchids.com
"K Barrett" wrote in message
news:nqkkb.585208$Oz4.568536@rwcrnsc54...
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











  #29   Report Post  
Old 21-10-2003, 12:12 AM
Kenni Judd
 
Posts: n/a
Default A.O.S. Selling Plants

This post was sent to me by a friend and former employee, Sandy Greeman, who
is having "technical difficulties" posting here directly, and so asked me to
post it on her behalf:

"fwiw - I am not renewing my AOS membership this year. The magazine has
amazingly shrunk but carries many more ads than it used to. I'm sick of
their attitude towards the novice grower in general, especially because they
are supposed to be a non-profit educational organization. Did you catch
their tax return for last year?? Salaries are outrageous. Grants are
miniscule compared to their expenses for awards and shows - where only a
vendor will attempt to honestly answer a newbie's question. Judges just act
like pompous snobs. I believe the AOS only exists to promote_themselves_and
the_large_growers. I would love to see the percentage of hobbyist awards
against the total awards granted.

I grow orchids for my own amusement and to share with other hobbyists. The
AOS no longer offers me any benefit for the amount of my dues. I can get
more information about growing orchids from the internet than I can from
their slick monthly advertisement publication. The behavior of their
officers in this most recent controversy assures me that I have made the
correct decision to discontinue my contribution to their salaries."

Sandy Greeman


--
Posted for Sandy by Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids

http://www.jborchids.com

"Larry Dighera" wrote in message
...
On 13 Oct 2003 06:36:13 -0700, (William Hill)
wrote in Message-Id:
:

... so far the "Powers that be" seem to be thumbing
their noses at us "Little Folks" who are so dumb--that ...


You know what they say: It starts at the top. That attitude seems to
perfectly mirror junior Bush's administration's attitude.


--

Irrational beliefs ultimately lead to irrational acts.
-- Larry Dighera,



  #30   Report Post  
Old 21-10-2003, 01:02 AM
House of Paisley
 
Posts: n/a
Default A.O.S. Selling Plants

Good! I am a firm believer of voting with my wallet. I am
not naive enough to think that the pittance I contribute to
any company will make any real difference, but the pittance
that then goes to a smaller mom and pop shop, or small
vendor could make a difference. Funny... smaller outlets
actually seem to want my money, rather than expect it.
Perhaps this will allow a smaller outlet to make a larger
contribution when it comes to conservation they might not
have otherwise had the chance for due to funding
automatically going to the AOS. FWIW, I really have no
beef with the AOS, but generally see a lot of unhappy
people talking about them. When there is only one game
in town, they have no incentive to listen to the very people
who fund them.

Crystal

--
http://home.comcast.net/~xtals/orchid.htm
"Kenni Judd" wrote in message
. ..
This post was sent to me by a friend and former employee, Sandy Greeman,

who
is having "technical difficulties" posting here directly, and so asked me

to
post it on her behalf:

"fwiw - I am not renewing my AOS membership this year. The magazine has
amazingly shrunk but carries many more ads than it used to. I'm sick of
their attitude towards the novice grower in general, especially because

they
are supposed to be a non-profit educational organization. Did you catch
their tax return for last year?? Salaries are outrageous. Grants are
miniscule compared to their expenses for awards and shows - where only a
vendor will attempt to honestly answer a newbie's question. Judges just

act
like pompous snobs. I believe the AOS only exists to

promote_themselves_and
the_large_growers. I would love to see the percentage of hobbyist awards
against the total awards granted.

I grow orchids for my own amusement and to share with other hobbyists. The
AOS no longer offers me any benefit for the amount of my dues. I can get
more information about growing orchids from the internet than I can from
their slick monthly advertisement publication. The behavior of their
officers in this most recent controversy assures me that I have made the
correct decision to discontinue my contribution to their salaries."

Sandy Greeman


--
Posted for Sandy by Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids

http://www.jborchids.com

"Larry Dighera" wrote in message
...
On 13 Oct 2003 06:36:13 -0700, (William Hill)
wrote in Message-Id:
:

... so far the "Powers that be" seem to be thumbing
their noses at us "Little Folks" who are so dumb--that ...


You know what they say: It starts at the top. That attitude seems to
perfectly mirror junior Bush's administration's attitude.


--

Irrational beliefs ultimately lead to irrational acts.
-- Larry Dighera,





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