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RE: [GWL]: GWAA Symposium Report--Short Version


Adding to Doreen's GWAA meeting report
Of course I didn't participate in any of the unseemly debauchery, attended
every workshop on time, and didn't eat any of the fatty foods........right.
One observation having attended 16 or 17 of those meetings, there was very
little evidence that there is an Internet.  In past years we at least had
Internet sites with booths in the trade show.  Unless I was into too much
wine, there were no exhibits for Internet sites.  Many of the companies
exhibiting had Internet sites but no sites had booths in their own right.
In addition, there were no workshops or presentations dealing with the
Internet.  There was a terrible presentation on radio and television, that
gave not one mention of the Internet as a backup for those two areas of
work.
Roger Hines got an award for Etera's printed catalog which was well
deserved, but sad since Etera no longer exists.  Poetic though since the
incredible amount of money they spent on their web site contributed greatly
to their financial demise.
It was fun getting together with other list members, I suspect there were
more at the meeting but for whatever reason didn't make the meeting in the
bar; yes in the bar...always in the bar.
Doug and I had a couple of really good conversations about our experiences
and thoughts about the net.
But in the end, GWAA has always been a bit slow in embracing new technology.
Jeff Lowenfels and I were reminiscing about how back in the mid 80's he and
I had brought our laptops (weighing about 12 pounds each) to the Milwaukee
meeting and set up a special room to allow members to come in and see how
the gardening bulletin board worked on CompuServe.  It was like throwing a
party and no one comes.  We had a few timid souls come in for the demo, but
for the most part we failed to insight much enthusiasm.
In the past we have had trade show appearances from Virtual Garden,
Garden.Com, Etera, and several I can't recall.  When we get right down to
brass tacks however, who is out there to appear.  Carol was at the meeting
but Suite 101 did not get any play.  PlanetGarden.com seems to be in a quiet
phase and not telling anyone what they are about.  There were several awards
for web site work, but that was about all the attention the Internet had.
I'm not suggesting that the omission was a problem; just notable.  I can't
imagine writing a column for a newspaper today on any subject without
hitting the net for something.  The same goes for writing a book, but
Barbara Pleasant's presentation gave the net little attention; though she
did emphasize the importance of good research.
Another sad observation for me was the lack of any significant presence of
the publishing world.  Timber Press, Fulcrum, and Cool Springs Press had one
each to accept an award and Timber did have a booth.  But we normally had
good representation from Storey (now defunct and sold to Workman), and
Rodale ( over 100 laid off two weeks ago). Taunton may have had a rep or two
but I missed them.  Lone Pine in Edmonton didn't have any reps.  On the
magazine side, no one from Rodale that I spotted, and if Southern Living and
Better Homes and Gardens was there, I missed them.
With all that it was a good meeting.  It is one of the huggingest groups
I've ever belonged to.
Later,
Jeff Ball

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