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Go get 'em Ted! Your thought process is exactly like
mine, you just wrote down at least the majority of the list floating around in
my head.
I just received a nice note from Tricia Frank who I feel is
giving her personal blessings to such an effort. It is just a matter of
some of us taking the inititate and getting it done. Where? Right
now that is not as important as the fact we are talking about doing it!
But let's don't let these ideas get lost somewhere on the back
burner.
My private mail box has lit up! At least a few
people seem to believe I want to take the IAS show away from Miami.
Believe me, I don't! I just want to add more events. But this idea
seems to have some positive support around the country. I was delighted to
see the post today that it was possible to get plants into California.
That would make this effort much easier. Can someone out there who has
access find out what the restrictions might be?
What if we consider doing something totally different, but
similar, to the International Aroid Show and Sale. Something very much
like what Ted proposed today. Since the Indonesians are nuts about
Anthurium and are driving all of us nuts let's take advantage of their
money and enthusiasm. How about producing something that might be
called (this is only a suggestion) the International Anthurium and
Aroid Conference sponsored by the International Aroid Society. If we
consider doing one in St. Louis with Tom's blessings (if he'll bless it)
we'd have a great draw with the Missouri Botanical Garden along with easy access
from almost anywhere in the world. Yesterday and again today
I my checked my last 100 website hits and of those over 80 were looking up
Anthurium. Almost everyone of those read my article that Julius
and Leland helped write on growing Anthurium! But the places they
are visiting from are not all Indonesia. Right now I'm receiving up
to 1,700 hits daily (average is about 1,200) and the majority are for
Anthurium. The hits are coming from all of the United States,
Europe, Iran, Saudi Arabia and many places in the South Pacific as well as
Indonesia and SE Asia. These people are begging to see and buy
Anthurium, especially bird's nest forms. Right now Anthurium
is hot!
If we try to do this in the late spring all you guys that sell
should have time to get some birds nest forms ready to sell. I think
we should push the (sorry, almost used a bad word there) out of
inviting people from all over the world to come and attend as well as
show. Announce it on every garden board on the net! Invite the
Hawaiian growers. Invite anyone! But do the thing
somewhat different from the Miami show and sale in we'll also have some
conference speakers telling how to grow, and hybridize, Anthurium and
all the other species and topics Ted mentioned. Either
you have to be a member of IAS to attend any of these conferences or pay
extra. Obviosly, the goal is to increase membership!
Get Tom to show off his birds nest
Anthurium collection and get MOBOT to back it. Bring up
Eduardo. Bring Joep. Bring whoever we can that knows about
Anthurium and will share their knowledge. The garden
will make money from the ticket sales, IAS will make money from booth
sales, increased membership and a cut of the plant sales, and sellers will just
make money. Especially if we can get the Asians to come and spend some of
their cash. You can charge for each seminar or just use it to increase
membership!! Sell seeds! (But not 10,000 seeds at a time!)
Take advantage of the current hype. And of course, since the conference
includes all aroids, not just Anthurium, we can still show off any
aroid!
Some aroid sellers have been selling a few
Anthurium on eBay that will go for well over $600 to $700 each! I
saw several sell in the past few weeks for over $500 each! Talk about
an auction! These people ask me all the time if they can come and buy my
plants. So let's give them a "plant sale" to come to! And let's push
them to become members of IAS. And yes, I know the Indonesian
Anthurium fit could end suddenly. But let's grab a chunk before
it has time!
Any ideas? I've had some success in helping to promote
and sponsor conferences in other fields. One I was a co-producer of
in Miami brought in 20,000 paid guests for several years. The fire
marshalls almost shut us down because we over sold the Coconut Grove Exhibition
Center in Miami. I'll donate my time. How about the rest of
you?
Steve Lucas
Aloha.
I would agree that the IAS would
benefit from
increased membership. I believe that the first
step
would be an affiliated chapter in other areas. Are
there any
affiliate chapters? I heard of two chapters
in the past...but do not
know if one exists today.
These groups, the Southwest Florida and
California
chapters, were mentioned in the History of the IAS.
If there
is an affiliated society on the West Coast,
it would be up to them to host
a show...with the
blessing of the parent organization.
It sounds
like alot of work for some dedicated
group...but it would be
wonderful. I think we need to
hear from West Coast aroiders.
From what I
know...which is limited, it requires a passionate core
group
to organize and maintain a chapter. Who knows,
it may be the
Indonesians with that drive and passion
to organize a chapter....after all,
it is an
International Aroid
Society.
Aloha,
Leland
--- ExoticRainforest <S*@ExoticRainforest.com>
wrote:
>
I'm probably going to get in trouble here, but I
> thought the
suggestion about an IAS show on the west
> coast was a good one to
consider. But before we
> jump all the way to the other coast,
perhaps there
> is an alternative that will meet a lot of needs,
>
especially for the expansion of the International
> Aroid
Society.
>
> I had a discussion with Tricia Frank while
she
> visited my atrium in June of this year, and it is
> obvious
from some of her feelings as well as the
> total attendance at the
September show we all need
> to do more to expand the IAS
membership. There are
> tons of people in this country that love
some of the
> base species in our plant group, Philodendron and
>
Anthurium. But most know very little about them.
> We need to do
a better job of educating the world.
> How do we get into the
schools? Can we include a
> "junior" membership? Can we
encourage new blood
> into this organization? How?
>
> I see an incredible number of people each year who
> want to
see, tough and feel my aroids and travel
> pretty fair distances to see
our very small atrium
> as a result of my website. Some people
think the
> "ExoticRainforest" is a tourist attraction in NW
>
Arkansas. Sorry, its only 600 square feet! But
> I've had
people drive 900 miles supposedly just to
> see it! Since April
we've had people from 13 states
> call to arrange a visit! That
amazes me. But what
> if we got them excited about going somewhere
(within
> driving distance) where they could really see a lot
> of
aroids. And my two top choices would be MOBOT or
> the Crystal
Bridge in Oklahoma City. MOBOT would be
> the top choice due to
the enormous facilities they
> have as well as the fact Dr. Croat is
there. What a
> place to have an aroid show! Many of you
probably
> don't know, but Tom has the largest collection of
>
section Pachynerium Anthurium in the world at MOBOT!
> Those are
the birds nest forms that the people in
> Indonesia are so nuts about
right now!
>
> I was at MOBOT last October when they were having
a
> glass show inside their enormous artificial rain
>
forest. The crowds were amazing. Thousands and
> thousands
of people. And they were there to see
> both the glass and the
plants. What if they were
> there to see the International Aroid
Show? Don't
> you think the local television stations
would
> promote such an event? I have no idea how many
>
people came that weekend, but I've been told MOBOT
> receives 870,000
visitors each year. Can we figure
> out a way to take advantage of
that? Can we work to
> have two, or three, International Aroid
Shows each
> year? Since we can't get huge numbers to travel
to
> Miami, maybe we can arrange to deliver the plants to
> the
masses. And for those of you who sell aroids,
> just think of the
new customer possibilities! If
> they are willing to spend $600 on
an Anthurium in
> Indonesia, will they spend a few hundred over
here
> if we present the plants to them right?
>
> I am one
that is quite distressed with the constant
> email from Indonesia
wanting to buy Anthurium. But
> maybe we should use that to our
advantage. I see
> more and more people visiting my website to
learn
> about Anthurium species (or at least the 50 or so I
>
grow). The single most often read article on my
> website right
now is the one about how to grow an
> Anthurium. I'm now receiving
35,000 hits each month
> and at least 1/3 of those read that page.
There has
> to be a reason! Can we use this interest in
>
Anthurium species to expand the IAS? How do we do
> it? This
is your organization, and I believe it
> needs your help. So kick
in some ideas!
>
> It saddens me, but I honestly expected triple
the
> attendance at the IAS show in September. I had not
>
attended the sale for about 8 years due to where we
> now live (we used
to live in Miami). I am not in
> any way suggesting moving the
show from Miami! We
> lived there for over 20 years. But is
it time to
> figure out a way to expand into other areas? If
you
> can't get the people to the plants, can we get the
> plants
to the people? Maybe LA is a great idea.
> Maybe both LA and St.
Louis!
>
> Can we get some discussion going on how to
expand
> and grow the International Aroid Society?
>
>
Steve Lucas
> www.ExoticRainforest.com
>
> **************************************
> We collect and grow
many rare and
> exotic tropical plants and orchids. Take
>
the "Rainforest Tour" at:
>
http://www.exoticrainforest.com/atriumentrancelarge.htm>
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