Re: AHS & membership

ooops, sorry. my intent was to insult neither you nor you mother--only the 
board of ahs.


At 09:53 AM 1/24/03 -0500, you wrote:

>All right, Jim, usually I find your sarcasm quite amusing, but this time 
>you're insulting my mother as well as me.
>
>Do you REALLY think the ONLY activity AHS members participate in is this 
>listserv?  Guess again!  This listserv, which for me is an extremely 
>important connection to this community of people I now think of as my 
>friends, is accessible only to those people who have a computer and 
>internet access, and who prioritize enough time to spend reading through 
>anywhere from 5 to 150 messages a day.  Obviously 26,900 people either 
>don't know about it, think of it as Q&A they don't want, or just simply 
>aren't interested.
>
>I have been a member of AHS for a lot of years - put it this way, my 
>member number is in the low 4000's and they're up to 27,000 and 
>counting.  I have given a membership to my mom for the past 5 years or so, 
>simply because she really likes the magazine.
>
>We don't attend balls, we didn't inherit millions, we are not 
>"society".  We are gardeners.  I think a lot of people are probably 
>members just to get the magazine subscription.
>
>AHS is an organization that does research, publishes references, does 
>education and training, sponsors conferences and symposioms, organizes the 
>seed exchange.  They also sponsor some very interesting garden trips; I 
>will probably never be able to go on one, but I can read about them and 
>imagine.  They have a working horticultural farm and sponsor internships 
>there to get people started in careers in horticulture.  That's what I can 
>think of off the top of my head; I'm certain they do a LOT more of which I 
>am unaware.
>
>My mother usually likes to read through the listserv postings I have saved 
>when she visits once a year from Michigan, but she has no interest in 
>re-prioritizing her very busy life to make room to be a member of this 
>list.  I will spare you the details of the organizations she volunteers 
>for, as well as the gardening activities and certifications she has worked 
>for.  Suffice it to say she is not moribund.
>
>Perhaps if the name chosen had been AHA (let's make it the American 
>Horticultural Association, with an grin and an exclamation mark as the 
>symbol) you would find less to make fun of?
>
>I think AHS is making a short-sighted mistake cancelling the listserv, but 
>I don't think they deserve the knee-jerk remarks that have been posted 
>since the decision was announced.
>
>I have to get back to work now.
>
>Libby
>Maryland zone 6
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Island Jim
>To: AHS_GARDENING@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM
>Sent: 1/23/2003 5:04 PM
>Subject: Re: [AHS_GARDENING] We are so sorry to announce ......
>
>not bad numbers, sue. 26,900 moribund members and 100 active ones. gotta
>wonder what the real purpose of the society is--aside from the annual
>ball,
>that is.
>
>At 09:48 AM 1/23/03 -0500, you wrote:
> >We ARE sorry, but with an AHS membership of over 27,000 members and
>only 97
> >people involved on the list serve, it does seem to make sense to put
>our
> >resources in other programs and projects.
> >- Sue
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Marge Talt [<m*@HORT.NET>m*@HORT.NET]
> >Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2003 5:42 PM
> >You know, Sue, this is a decision I can hardly believe.  I find the
>"due to
> >low participation" sentence a tad hard to swallow.

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