Re: GWA Meeting Critique

**Tom Alexander t*@growingedge.com**

I too, want to thank those people, both on the national  
organizational level and on the local committee level, for their hard  
work to pull off, in my opinion, what was a very good meeting/ 
symposium/conference. In the past, for other organizations, I have  
organized conferences this size and it is a very large and thankless  
job. So thank you very much!

Again, in my opinion, people look at conferences and critique them  
with the view at what is the most they can get out of them and don't  
look at everybody else's needs. I think the conference planners tried  
their best to make what was in the best interest for the most people.

My other comments interspersed between Jeff's original points:

On Sep 1, 2006, at 3:58 PM, Jeff Ball <jeffball@usol.com> wrote:

> Assumption Number One - It is assumed that all members of GWA are 35
> years old, in tremendous physical condition and love to walk for
> three or more hours at a time.  Nancy and I, and quite a few others,
> missed the story tours on Monday morning because we were close to
> physical exhaustion.  I felt so tired on Sunday night that I didn?t
> really enjoy the Longwood festivities.

Jeff, I am sorry you have physical conditions that make it hard for  
you to keep up. I wish that weren't so but it is a reality as we all  
get older (I am about the same age as you.) I didn't hear that many  
complaints (other than the humidity and heat). But your concern is  
real and valid for our age group.

> The plan involved activities for 8 hours on Friday, 13 hours on Sat.,
> 16 hours on Sunday, and 16 hours again on Monday.  At no time could a
> member take a nap.  Many of us over 60 take naps on normal days at  
> home!

I took two naps on the bus. I had to decide if I wanted to talk with  
people or take naps. I took naps. I also blew off some of the  
seminars and took naps in my hotel room because I knew I could buy  
audio tapes of them later.

> We need 4 to 5 o?clock to be a rest hour at the hotel.  And we can?t
> be expected to walk the distances set up at the Wilmington garden  
> walk.

The Wilmington garden walk was definitely a long walk and hot and  
humid. My decision was the first three or four gardens weren't that  
great, the art gallery was air conditioned and so I chose to stay  
there and blow off the gardens.

>
> Assumption Number Two ? We are all beginners in our profession.
>
> In the past four or five years I have attended a number of skill
> based seminars such as the ?starting the web site? and the ?self book
> publishing? seminars offered last week.  My problem is that every
> time they dealt with what is needed by beginners.  I am all in favor
> of having such seminars for beginners; however there needs to be a
> simultaneous seminar for those of us at the advanced stage in a skill
> area.  75% of the group at the web site discussion already had web
> sites.

I have had a web site since 1993. I doubt even an advanced seminar on  
web sites would teach me much that I don't know. Your point of having  
both a beginners track and an advanced track is right on though.

> Assumption Number Three ? We must prefer to have speakers from our
> own organization.
>
> The GWA is blessed with a whole bunch of very talented, skilled, and
> successful members.  They have much to share with the rest of us.
> They are also apparently attractive as speakers because they are
> free.  Nancy and I feel that all speakers should be paid and that
> when possible even more skilled people be brought in to speak to us.
> The Google searching panel could have been replaced by someone from
> Google for example.

All speakers should be given an honorarium. The big Flower and Garden  
shows do that. The cost of the keynote speaker this year was $25,000.  
If we start bringing in highly skilled, professional speakers the  
cost of the conference will skyrocket, which many members have said  
they cannot afford.

> Assumption Number Four ? We as a group just love to sit for 45
> minutes and listen to four of our members talk.  There are two issues
> here.  One is that 45 minutes is not enough time for over half of the
> topics that were presented this past week.  Many seminars should be
> as much as an hour and a half.  The other issue is that the number
> four for the number of panel members is no longer a valid model for
> communicating anything.  A panel of two might work in some instances
> if it was assured that the two would have different positions on the
> topic at hand.  If we have a single speaker who gives a 30 minute
> talk, we in the audience are more than capable of bringing up
> additional points, eliminating the need for a panel.

I agree with everything Jeff says above.

> Other issues  ? We must really love to visit private gardens; lots of
> them.  I say let?s cut back on the number of private gardens we
> visit. Also, we were really annoyed to have to spend 8 hours on buses
> when we had only 9 hours of professional seminars.

I agree with what someone else has pointed out in an earlier email. I  
can go to public gardens anytime (I have been to Longwood four times  
now). I can't go to private gardens anytime I want. I like the  
private gardens more because they have the garden owner's personality  
and "heart and soul" in them but that is just my individual  
preference. Again, the meeting planners have to look at what is best  
for the most people. I, like someone else has noted, have made both  
professional and personal contacts on the bus ride that I wouldn't  
have made at a seminar (as long as I am not taking a nap.) So they  
are both important.

>
> The trade show gets better every year and most of the meals were very
> good, although the box lunches might have been improved.

I think the trend of more corporate sponsored parties will continue.  
The Novalis party was great (you know I am a party guy!) I think we  
will see more of these types of schmoozing events. So instead of less  
activity we will see more activity in the future. We will just have  
to individually decide what we can and cannot do.

At other conferences I go to, the main hotel is of high quality and  
higher rates with one or more other hotels nearby that are of lesser  
quality and lower cost for those that can't afford the main hotel.  
The Scanticon two room suite (at the $124 rate) that I had was very  
nice (which I have paid three or four times that at big city hotels  
for the same size of suite.)

One concern for the GWA administration was over 100 people signed up  
for an early morning photo shoot and only 19 showed up. I think the  
GWA should start breaking down the cost of everything and charging  
people for what they want to do. Extra buses that are empty cost the  
organization (and us) money.

When I joined the organization, it was just becoming what it is  
today: a very diverse group, both in age, skills, employment, and  
political views. When we joined in those days, long ago, we took it  
over from the blue haired, old ladies. Unfortunately, we are now  
becoming the blue haired old ladies (me included--except I have very  
little hair left to be blue!)

The organization is made up of very high quality people (both in  
their personal and professional lives and is one reason why I go  
every year.) It was good seeing everybody at this yearly event and  
best regards,

Tom Alexander
www.growingedge.com
tom@growingedge.com

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