Re: AIS:Symposium/Soap box #9


Iris Moose wrote:

>  Bill, one factor that is overlooked when it comes to popularity is
> the
> "regionalism" of the cultivars.  Picking a national popularity poll
> winner
> will not always be the cultivar that wins the highest number of votes
> nation
> wide.  It should be the cultivar that wins the most Regional  polls.
>
> Region 14 has 616 members or roughly 9.3% of the North American AIS
> membership.  Region 10 has 31 members or 0.04% of the North American
> AIS
> membership. This information is based on the AIS membership as of June
> 30,
> 2002.  Even if 100% of Region 10 voted for the same cultivar it would
> not be
> as popular at the 10th most popular cultivar in Region 14 based on
> actual
> votes instead of percent of votes.
>

Hi Iris Moose,

You bring up a good point about an iris Popularity Poll.  Someone a few
days ago asked that we make reasonable suggestions for improving the
Symposium (and possibly also about the AIS awards system??).  I would
make one suggestion that I believe would make things somewhat more
equitable.   My suggestion would be for awards similar to the Lennington
All American award that the American Hemerocallis Society uses.  In
order for a daylily to win that award, it must have been in commerce for
at least 10 years, and it must be an outstanding performer over a wide
geographic area.  Perhaps an award with somewhat similar rules for its
selection might result in iris winners which perform well across a much
wider geographic region than do some of the irises at the top of the
Symposium list and the Dykes winners list.  Of course, then you still
have the problem of TB versus other iris classes.  You would almost need
a winner for each class in order to avoid TB bias probably.

In a more realistic note, though, I don't believe that any award system
(whether it is voted by AIS accredited judges or a popularity poll voted
by all AIS members) can be totally fair.  And that is not to cast
aspersions on anyone, just the fact that there are so many different
classes of irises which all require differing cultural conditions, and
that there is such a wide variation in folks' likes and dislikes, as
well as huge population differences and variable climate conditions
throughout the continent.  I do believe, though, that the Symposium (and
probably the official awards process) can be improved.  I also would
like to see  the Symposium renamed to reflect what it really is:  A Tall
Bearded Iris Popularity Poll

An All American award system (or whatever you want to call it) though,
might result in a list of irises that would be more widely acceptable,
but there would still be disappointments and failures to deal with.
Just a couple thoughts, though probably not original.  Thanks for
listening.

Gary White
Lincoln, Nebraska  zone 5



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