Re: iris DIGEST V1 #37
iris@hort.net
  • Subject: Re: iris DIGEST V1 #37
  • From: s*@centurytel.net
  • Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2012 20:48:52 -0400
Quoting iris DIGEST <iris-owner@hort.net>:


iris DIGEST          Monday, August 20 2012          Volume 01 : Number 037



In this issue:

        Re: [iris] RE: oat straw
        RE: [iris] RE: oat straw
        [iris] speaking out about AIS matters
        Re: [iris] speaking out about AIS matters
        Re: [iris] RE: oat straw
        Re: [iris] speaking out about AIS matters
        RE: [iris] awards
        Re: [iris] speaking out about AIS matters
        Re: [iris] speaking out PARTIAL RESPONSE 1
        Re: [iris] speaking out about AIS matters
        [iris] Speaking out about AIS Matters

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2012 10:08:38 -0400 (EDT)
From: Connie Eggen <cseggen1@aol.com>
Subject: Re: [iris] RE: oat straw
I have had the experience of using oat straw and it happened to have a lot of 
seedb heads still in it. My DH picked it up for me and paid no attention  & I
did not assess it, we just spread it on some public beds. We had lots of
grassy stuff (oats) coming up in the beds.  Just make sure it has no seed
heads still in it. Otherwise it is just a good as wheat straw. 

CS Eggen
Zone 5
Nebraska


- -----Original Message-----
From: Betty Ann Gunther <bettyg@cybermesa.com>
To: iris <iris@hort.net>
Sent: Sun, Aug 19, 2012 10:47 pm
Subject: Re: [iris] RE: oat straw
I think the straw will help almost anything. Betty G. 
On 8/19/2012 9:20 PM, Char Holte wrote:
> Hi Betty,
> Thanks for your answers.  I have a opportunity to use the Oat Straw and it
> will be free.  I want to use it between plants and then over plants in the
> winter.  My Iris gardens a lot of plowed snow with salt blown off the road
> by plows. > 
> Char
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-iris@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On Behalf Of Betty
> Ann Gunther
> Sent: Sunday, August 19, 2012 5:39 PM
> To: iris@hort.net
> Subject: Re: [iris] RE: oat straw
>
> I have used straw.   I am not sure whether it came from oats or wheat or
> what, but I would think the effect would be the same. It works to keep
> the soil moist and to build up fertility.  It decays quickly.   We use
> newspaper underneath woodchips in our Santa Fe Iris Society public iris
> Garden to keep weeds down.  Incidently, they feed the soil and keep it
> healthier and they last longer than does oat straw.  Both methods need to
be
> replaced from time to time. > Betty Gunther 
>
> On 8/14/2012 11:52 AM, Char Holte wrote:
>> Hi,
>> Has anyone used oat straw for mulch?
>> Char
>>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the message
> text UNSUBSCRIBE IRIS
>

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2012 09:17:38 -0500
From: "Char Holte" <cholte@wi.rr.com>
Subject: RE: [iris] RE: oat straw

Thanks Connie.  This has already been harvested for the Oat and there are no
seed heads. The price is right too. Char 

- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-iris@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On Behalf Of Connie
Eggen
Sent: Monday, August 20, 2012 9:09 AM
To: iris@hort.net
Subject: Re: [iris] RE: oat straw

 I have had the experience of using oat straw and it happened to have a lot
of seedb heads still in it. My DH picked it up for me and paid no attention
& I did not assess it, we just spread it on some public beds. We had lots of
grassy stuff (oats) coming up in the beds.  Just make sure it has no seed
heads still in it. Otherwise it is just a good as wheat straw. 

CS Eggen
Zone 5
Nebraska


- -----Original Message-----
From: Betty Ann Gunther <bettyg@cybermesa.com>
To: iris <iris@hort.net>
Sent: Sun, Aug 19, 2012 10:47 pm
Subject: Re: [iris] RE: oat straw
I think the straw will help almost anything. Betty G. 
On 8/19/2012 9:20 PM, Char Holte wrote:
> Hi Betty,
> Thanks for your answers.  I have a opportunity to use the Oat Straw
> and it will be free.  I want to use it between plants and then over
> plants in the winter.  My Iris gardens a lot of plowed snow with salt
> blown off the road by plows. > 
> Char
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-iris@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On Behalf Of
> Betty Ann Gunther
> Sent: Sunday, August 19, 2012 5:39 PM
> To: iris@hort.net
> Subject: Re: [iris] RE: oat straw
>
> I have used straw.   I am not sure whether it came from oats or wheat or
> what, but I would think the effect would be the same. It works to keep
> the soil moist and to build up fertility.  It decays quickly.   We use
> newspaper underneath woodchips in our Santa Fe Iris Society public
> iris Garden to keep weeds down.  Incidently, they feed the soil and
> keep it healthier and they last longer than does oat straw.  Both
> methods need to
be
> replaced from time to time. > Betty Gunther 
>
> On 8/14/2012 11:52 AM, Char Holte wrote:
>> Hi,
>> Has anyone used oat straw for mulch?
>> Char
>>
>

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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2012 10:54:03 -0700 (PDT)
From: Eugene Baxley <baxleyeugene@yahoo.com>
Subject: [iris] speaking out about AIS matters

To Robert Pries:

Just where does one speak out about dissatisfaction with
the AIS? You can get on IRIS TALK and talk your head off. No results. You can
write letters to the President. No results and no answer. There should be a
place to complain and get an answer from someone instead of being ignored. We
are controlled by the members who attend the National meetings. That seems to
be between sixty and one hundred people. 
Concerning the votes for the Wister
Medal and the Dykes Medal, I believe the voting should be changed to require
that an iris gets a plurality of votes in two thirds of the AIS regions to
receive either award. This would prevent large regions, California etc, from
dominating the selection of Wister and Dykes candidates because they have more votes than any other region. 
Frankly, I am fed up with the AIS and the
recent changes in membership (emembership). You can't get a hard copy of the
bulletin unless you are a regular member. You can't have access to the online
check list unless you are an emember. So, if you want both a hard copy and
access to the online check list, you must have dual membership. I think that
in December when both membeships expire I shall become a NON MEMBER. I can get 
along very well without the AIS. I can register seedlings even if I am not a
member. 
For years the AIS let foreign hybridizers register their seedlings
free. Barry Blyth registered about 1300 iris free. The word finally got out
that the AIS was doing this while whining about budget deficits so it hit the
fan. And the AIS had to start charging foreign hybridizers the same as they do us. 
If every person in the world had the same brand computer system and
they all  worked the same, emembership might be made to work. Now, on my
computer, the online bulletin access is a mess. I can barely read the bulletin because it has such small print and i you enlarge the print the picture of the bulletin gets St. Vitas Dance. 
E. Baxley

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2012 15:58:03 -0400 (EDT)
From: Robert Pries  <robertpries@embarqmail.com>
Subject: Re: [iris] speaking out about AIS matters
You are correct, Iris chat groups are not the place to register complaints. They may voice complaints, but if one really wants to be heard, and not just heard by others, then The PR-Committee is the official ombudsman for AIS. I am public relations chair; If someone has dissatisfactions with AIS the buck stops here. Actually Susan Grigg and I are co-chairs of the PR committee and you can contact either or both of us. While I try to monitor Iris Talk and about 20 
other Iris chat groups, it is impossible for me to read every post and it is
much more effective to send an e-mail directly to me or Susan. I suspect I put in more hours of the week on Iris business than anyone else in the Iris society. But I try to answer every post and direct complaints to the proper people. It is always possible I may miss a post. If so resend it. You have several complaints, and I will be directing each to the proper person. I am sorry you are discouraged with AIS. Frankly I also get terribly discouraged at times. I try to remind myself of all the good work that is done and all the 
things our membership and organization accomplishes. But I have to admit that
sometimes the whole thing seems impossible, and then I just want to throw up my hands and crawl into my garden. It seems that if we have 4,000 members they are 
4,000 different ways in which they want things done. The world seems less and
less capable of finding win-win compromises. Recently a new history of Rome came 
out that attributes its collapse to the build-up of factions that were so
polarized they could not act and the Roman Civilization fell. Even though I
listen, I cannot always produce a remedy that one finds satisfactory.
I encourage everyone to explain what they would like from the Iris Society. Then help us figure out how we can pay for those benefits or volunteer to make them 
work. I have poured an enormous amount of sweat equity into this society so I
hope it will not fail. I have spent lots of my own money trying to make it work. Sometimes I feel the fiscal pain of being a director, when because I am spending 
a small fortune each year on travel and I cannot afford the latest Iris, and
even worse have to be gone from my garden when I could be enjoying it. 
We are mostly volunteers that make this society work. Few of us have the
professional or technical training to do our assigned jobs. We desperately need 
volunteers who have the skills to make us a viable plant society. I have to
admit I am resistant to much of the new technology. I do not have a smart phone. But to pass a viable plant society on to another generation I must find people who do embrace the current world and who can even position us for the future. It 
would be a tragedy to loose what we have created just to make ourselves
comfortable. Hopefully you will get some answers in the next week to each of
your questions. 

THE biggest thing that AIS can do for all is LISTEN, and answer do not IGNORE



- ----- Original Message -----
To Robert Pries:

Just where does one speak out about dissatisfaction with
the AIS? You can get on IRIS TALK and talk your head off. No results. You can
write letters to the President. No results and no answer. There should be a
place to complain and get an answer from someone instead of being ignored. We
are controlled by the members who attend the National meetings. That seems to
be between sixty and one hundred people. 
Concerning the votes for the Wister
Medal and the Dykes Medal, I believe the voting should be changed to require
that an iris gets a plurality of votes in two thirds of the AIS regions to
receive either award. This would prevent large regions, California etc, from
dominating the selection of Wister and Dykes candidates because they have more votes than any other region. 
Frankly, I am fed up with the AIS and the
recent changes in membership (emembership). You can't get a hard copy of the
bulletin unless you are a regular member. You can't have access to the online
check list unless you are an emember. So, if you want both a hard copy and
access to the online check list, you must have dual membership. I think that
in December when both membeships expire I shall become a NON MEMBER. I can get 
along very well without the AIS. I can register seedlings even if I am not a
member. 
For years the AIS let foreign hybridizers register their seedlings
free. Barry Blyth registered about 1300 iris free. The word finally got out
that the AIS was doing this while whining about budget deficits so it hit the
fan. And the AIS had to start charging foreign hybridizers the same as they do us. 
If every person in the world had the same brand computer system and
they all  worked the same, emembership might be made to work. Now, on my
computer, the online bulletin access is a mess. I can barely read the bulletin because it has such small print and i you enlarge the print the picture of the bulletin gets St. Vitas Dance. 
E. Baxley

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2012 16:39:12 -0600
From: Betty Ann Gunther <bettyg@cybermesa.com>
Subject: Re: [iris] RE: oat straw

I have used straw.   I am not sure whether it came from oats or wheat or
what, but I would think the effect would be the same. It works to keep
the soil moist and to build up fertility.  It decays quickly.   We use
newspaper underneath woodchips in our Santa Fe Iris Society public iris
Garden to keep weeds down.  Incidently, they feed the soil and keep it
healthier and they last longer than does oat straw.  Both methods need
to be replaced from time to time. Betty Gunther 

On 8/14/2012 11:52 AM, Char Holte wrote:
> Hi,
> Has anyone used oat straw for mulch?
> Char
>

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2012 14:19:22 -0400
From: Linda Mann <lmann@lock-net.com>
Subject: Re: [iris] speaking out about AIS matters

As I understand it, the method to get such a ballot change (i.e.,
regional awards in addition to/instead of national)  would be if someone
(or maybe a self-appointed committee) would get together a presentation
to take to a board meeting, agree to be in charge of making the changes,
get approval, then implement the changes. 
It would be time consuming and a lot of work, and so far, nobody has
offered to do it.  Lots of complaints but nobody taking a leadership
role to make it happen. 
------------------------------

Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2012 11:58:09 -0700
From: "Francelle Edwards" <fjmjedwards@q.com>
Subject: RE: [iris] awards

I don't like to bad talk an iris, but I've tried to grow Florentine Silk for
about five years.  In that time I have seen just two blossoms on about a 12
inch stalk.  My latest effort is still alive but barely.  My climate here in
the Phoenix area is arid enough, and most irises are suffering with this
month's temperatures above 110 F.  Many of Keppel's do well here.  I voted
for Wintry Skies. Francelle 

- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-iris@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On Behalf Of Eugene
Baxley
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 2:27 PM
To: iris@hort.net
Subject: [iris] awards
All of the awards are listed on the AIS web page if you click on awards. The increase on Florintine Silk kept rotting here in Alabama until it 
finally succumbed. This is pretty good evidence that many judges are living
in areas where it grows well, arid regions. We do not have many judges in
Region 24. I have other Keppel iris that have done well and I just purchased
eight from him. He sent four extras. I hope they all bloom and do well next
year. If not, I guess I will have some holes to fill in 2013. 
E. Baxley

- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
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text UNSUBSCRIBE IRIS

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2012 17:08:42 -0400 (EDT)
From: Robert Pries  <robertpries@embarqmail.com>
Subject: Re: [iris] speaking out about AIS matters

Let me share a neat trick that can answer lots of questions. If you check the
Iris Encyclopedia General Topics Index you can find lots of things like a list 
of all judges. See http://wiki.irises.org/bin/view/Main/IrisInfo
Hope this helps in finding answers. 
- ----- Original Message -----
How many AIS judges up here in Canada, Judy?

El, Ste Anne, Manitoba, Canada


> Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2012 17:55:12 -0700
> From: keisling@swbell.net
> Subject: Re: [iris] speaking out about AIS matters
> To: iris@hort.net
>
> Here's some interesting information. > 
> This year there were 545 accredited
> judges eligible to vote the ballot. 34
> judges did not vote. > 
> 110 eligible
> judges live in either California or Oregon, which means that 435
> judges live
> elsewhere in the country
>
> Of those 435 eligible judges, 119 live in the
> midwest, 74 in the northeast, and
> 158 in the south and southeastern states. > There are 16 judges who live 
> overseas. The remaining 68 judges live in Utah,
> Colorado, Montana, Idaho, or
> New Mexico. > > Just some food for thought. > Eugene 
> Baxley Wrote;
>
> Concerning the votes for the Wister Medal and the Dykes Medal,
> I believe the
> voting should be changed to require that an iris gets a
> plurality of votes in
> two thirds of the AIS regions to receive either award. > This would prevent large 
> regions, California etc, from dominating the
> selection of Wister and Dykes
> candidates because they have more votes than
> any other region. > 
>
> I will pass this messages on to AIS Discuss ( covers all
> board members, chairs
> and RVPSs);
>
> I do not know if this is the solution, but
> I think it is an interesting
> possibility. I totally agree that Irises do not
> perform well everywhere. I would
> love to do a scientific study on this but
> frankly it is very hard to get the
> cooperation and input to do so. I would
> love to see, at least at present, a
> breakdown of the number of judges within
> climactic regions, showing their votes. > 
>
> Sadly we think of AIS as somewhat
> impressive but in reality there are only I
> believe about 700 judges and they
> are concentrated in various parts of the
> country. We desperately need more
> members and more judges to have any statistic
> that is meaningful. > 
>
> I
> believe there are relatively few judges that get to see even 10% of the
irises
> on the ballot and the supposed requirements of being a good judge are
> constantly
> violated. It is only a few people that can possible fulfill seeing
> even 20% of
> the irises on the ballot over 2 years and even growing most. We
> need desperately
> to improve this system. > 
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> To
> Robert Pries:
>
> Just where does one speak out about dissatisfaction with
> the
> AIS? You can get on IRIS TALK and talk your head off. No results. You can
> write letters to the President. No results and no answer. There should be a
> place to complain and get an answer from someone instead of being ignored. We 
> are controlled by the members who attend the National meetings. That seems
to
> be between sixty and one hundred people. > 
> Concerning the votes for the Wister
> Medal and the Dykes Medal, I believe the voting should be changed to
require
> that an iris gets a plurality of votes in two thirds of the AIS regions to
> receive either award. This would prevent large regions, California etc,
from
> dominating the selection of Wister and Dykes candidates because they have
more
> votes than any other region. > 
> Frankly, I am fed up with the AIS and the
> recent changes in membership (emembership). You can't get a hard copy of
the
> bulletin unless you are a regular member. You can't have access to the
online
> check list unless you are an emember. So, if you want both a hard copy and
> access to the online check list, you must have dual membership. I think
that
> in December when both membeships expire I shall become a NON MEMBER. I can
get
> along very well without the AIS. I can register seedlings even if I am not
a
> member. > 
> For years the AIS let foreign hybridizers register their seedlings
> free. Barry Blyth registered about 1300 iris free. The word finally got out
> that the AIS was doing this while whining about budget deficits so it hit
the
> fan. And the AIS had to start charging foreign hybridizers the same as they
do
> us. > 
> If every person in the world had the same brand computer system and
> they
> all worked the same, emembership might be made to work. Now, on my
> computer,
> the online bulletin access is a mess. I can barely read the bulletin
> because
> it has such small print and i you enlarge the print the picture of the
> bulletin gets St. Vitas Dance. > 
> E. Baxley
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To
> sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
> message text
> UNSUBSCRIBE IRIS
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To
> sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
> message text
> UNSUBSCRIBE IRIS
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: Robert Pries
> <robertpries@embarqmail.com>
> To: iris@hort.net
> Sent: Sat, August 18, 2012
> 4:22:06 PM
> Subject: Re: [iris] speaking out about AIS matters
>

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2012 16:59:31 -0400 (EDT)
From: Robert Pries  <robertpries@embarqmail.com>
Subject: Re: [iris] speaking out PARTIAL RESPONSE 1

Eugene wrote;
There should be a
place to complain and get an answer from someone instead of being ignored. We
are controlled by the members who attend the National meetings. That seems to
be between sixty and one hundred people. 

I am answering a number of these comments individually;
There are usually at minimum 300-400 irisarians at convention. I would guess
that only maybe 10 go early enough to attend board meetings. Despite the fact
that that RVPs represent their region, usually only a handful attend board
meetings. Anyone in the room at a board meeting is welcome to participate in the 
discussion. Usually it is so boring that many people leave. No one cares it
seems about the minutia of running the society. But if present, any person can voice their opinion. 
It is sad that we really do not care enough to invest energy and time to make
the society work. But I do not expect that many people would want to spend the money or time that directors put in. I believe it is important that there be communication between 
the membership and the board. I have tried various ways of trying to produce
these communication. Many have been very weak in their results. Often club
presidents do not pay attention to questionnaires and do not pass them on to
their club members. I do not wish to single out any level of the AIS
organization. Everyone is guilty. Communication is poor all the way around. Mailings generally are too expensive, especially when we are running a deficit. I have been investigating a number of new ways to get feedback and 
communication. We may be using CONSTANT CONTACT very soon to provide headline
news in the Iris Society. I also plan to use SURVEY MONKEY to poll irisarians on various topics. Each of these services is expensive. They favor people online, but if clubs cooperate we can still get feedback from those who are not computer literate. I really do not want to leave those who have built the society behind. I also 
seem to be falling more and more into that cohort. But remember, I am as
computer challenged as many, and it is painful for me to learn how to do much of 
this. I would greatly appreciate some computer whizzes out there to volunteer
for the PR Committee. I am old and slow and really need some younger or quicker people to help. 

- ----- Original Message -----
To Robert Pries:

Just where does one speak out about dissatisfaction with
the AIS? You can get on IRIS TALK and talk your head off. No results. You can
write letters to the President. No results and no answer. There should be a
place to complain and get an answer from someone instead of being ignored. We
are controlled by the members who attend the National meetings. That seems to
be between sixty and one hundred people. 
Concerning the votes for the Wister
Medal and the Dykes Medal, I believe the voting should be changed to require
that an iris gets a plurality of votes in two thirds of the AIS regions to
receive either award. This would prevent large regions, California etc, from
dominating the selection of Wister and Dykes candidates because they have more votes than any other region. 
Frankly, I am fed up with the AIS and the
recent changes in membership (emembership). You can't get a hard copy of the
bulletin unless you are a regular member. You can't have access to the online
check list unless you are an emember. So, if you want both a hard copy and
access to the online check list, you must have dual membership. I think that
in December when both membeships expire I shall become a NON MEMBER. I can get 
along very well without the AIS. I can register seedlings even if I am not a
member. 
For years the AIS let foreign hybridizers register their seedlings
free. Barry Blyth registered about 1300 iris free. The word finally got out
that the AIS was doing this while whining about budget deficits so it hit the
fan. And the AIS had to start charging foreign hybridizers the same as they do us. 
If every person in the world had the same brand computer system and
they all  worked the same, emembership might be made to work. Now, on my
computer, the online bulletin access is a mess. I can barely read the bulletin because it has such small print and i you enlarge the print the picture of the bulletin gets St. Vitas Dance. 
E. Baxley

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2012 17:17:05 -0400 (EDT)
From: Robert Pries  <robertpries@embarqmail.com>
Subject: Re: [iris] speaking out about AIS matters

Eugene Baxley Wrote;

Concerning the votes for the Wister Medal and the Dykes Medal, I believe the
voting should be changed to require that an iris gets a plurality of votes in
two thirds of the AIS regions to receive either award. This would prevent large 
regions, California etc, from dominating the selection of Wister and Dykes
candidates because they have more votes than any other region.
I will pass this messages on to AIS Discuss ( covers all board members, chairs 
and RVPSs);

I do not know if this is the solution, but I think it is an interesting
possibility. I totally agree that Irises do not perform well everywhere. I would 
love to do a scientific study on this but frankly it is very hard to get the
cooperation and input to do so. I would love to see, at least at present, a
breakdown of the number of judges within climactic regions, showing their votes. 
Sadly we think of AIS as somewhat impressive but in reality there are only I
believe about 700 judges and they are concentrated in various parts of the
country. We desperately need more members and more judges to have any statistic that is meaningful. I believe there are relatively few judges that get to see even 10% of the irises on the ballot and the supposed requirements of being a good judge are constantly violated. It is only a few people that can possible fulfill seeing even 20% of the irises on the ballot over 2 years and even growing most. We need desperately to improve this system. 

- ----- Original Message -----
To Robert Pries:

Just where does one speak out about dissatisfaction with
the AIS? You can get on IRIS TALK and talk your head off. No results. You can
write letters to the President. No results and no answer. There should be a
place to complain and get an answer from someone instead of being ignored. We
are controlled by the members who attend the National meetings. That seems to
be between sixty and one hundred people. 
Concerning the votes for the Wister
Medal and the Dykes Medal, I believe the voting should be changed to require
that an iris gets a plurality of votes in two thirds of the AIS regions to
receive either award. This would prevent large regions, California etc, from
dominating the selection of Wister and Dykes candidates because they have more votes than any other region. 
Frankly, I am fed up with the AIS and the
recent changes in membership (emembership). You can't get a hard copy of the
bulletin unless you are a regular member. You can't have access to the online
check list unless you are an emember. So, if you want both a hard copy and
access to the online check list, you must have dual membership. I think that
in December when both membeships expire I shall become a NON MEMBER. I can get 
along very well without the AIS. I can register seedlings even if I am not a
member. 
For years the AIS let foreign hybridizers register their seedlings
free. Barry Blyth registered about 1300 iris free. The word finally got out
that the AIS was doing this while whining about budget deficits so it hit the
fan. And the AIS had to start charging foreign hybridizers the same as they do us. 
If every person in the world had the same brand computer system and
they all  worked the same, emembership might be made to work. Now, on my
computer, the online bulletin access is a mess. I can barely read the bulletin because it has such small print and i you enlarge the print the picture of the bulletin gets St. Vitas Dance. 
E. Baxley

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2012 10:11:46 -0600
From: Betty Ann Gunther <bettyg@cybermesa.com>
Subject: [iris] Speaking out about AIS Matters
I would like to speak out about another AIS matter. I agree that there are problems here and there in the AIS, but in 
general, I am a great fan of attending the society's conventions and
receiving the publications.   I haven't done very well with Florentine
Silk since the first year I bought it, but I always thought that was
just me.  Maybe not, but, in general, Dykes Medal winners and Wister
Medal Winners etc. grow like weeds for me.  I have a glorious bunch of
Queen's Circle and many others.  And I am from New Mexico which is far
from the ideal iris environment. And I admit the pricing of E-membership and AIS membership has 
caused a bit of a stink in my club.  I think it is, oddly enough, the
name E-membership, that caused all the trouble.  In the past I have
always joined both the AIS and the Iris Registration.  This year they
raised the price of the IR and included more.  I didn't really care much
about the electronic copy of the bulletin because the paper one is so
lovely, but I thought it was a good thing to not have to save the
bulletins for year after year. The problem comes from the name E-membership. That name made 
people think it was a reduced price membership which I don't believe it
was intended to be.   For instance, I am sure a judge must still be a
member of the AIS and that an E-Membership will not do.  But people
thought of E-membership as a membership and now want the E-Membership to
be everything the AIS membership is.  The real reason -- I am guessing--
for the E-Membership is to make a little more money for the expansion of
AIS's online presence which I believe is a good and even necessary
thing, if we are to survive as an organization. And as I understand it, reducing the price of AIS Membership was never what the society intended since it is having financial difficulties. I would like to commend AIS for thinking in a more modern way. Recently I have discovered that when I do a Google search, I often hit 
our Iris Wiki.  This is a very good thing because the information in it
is far more accurate than what I used to get when I did Google searches
for an iris. The wiki is completely free to all and is financed by money
we get from dues and E-membership I suspect. Why should I care about other people who aren't members getting 
free information about iris?  Well, because it could very well be a
source of new members which is the life blood of AIS.  Not everyone
knows there is an Iris Society.  The wiki makes that clear and it
mentions that it is built by members and tells people how to join the
society. It is great advertising for us as well as a useful tool. I speak as a person who came to the AIS because of its web 
presence.   I could not find my local iris society because it didn't
have much of a web presence and wasn't listed in the phone book so I
joined AIS and went to the Convention.  Not only was I bowled over by
the magnificent flowers, I met up with the members of my local iris
society, of which I am now a member.  I believe it is in our best
interests to reach as many possible members as we can.  This wiki, and
other AIS projects, are no doubt financed by both the E-Membership and
the AIS dues.  It seems to me starting the E-Membership was a far better
option than raising dues.  That way, people who don't want to spend the
extra money, don't have to, but those who do can.  And the price is only
$5 more than the old IR membership. The only problem I see with it is the name. It would probably be 
better to call it the Electronic society --like the Tall Bearded Society
- -- or the Research Branch or some such so people won't think it is a
membership. I have belonged to many membership run organizations and I think 
the AIS, with a few glitches here and there, does a wonderful job.  And
I don't do very well with some Dykes Medal winners either.  The solution
might be to recruit more members and judges in your area, though I can't
help but think people living where bearded irises grow best will always
dominate the AIS just because  of their numbers -- just as I suspect
most of the members of the Louisiana Iris Society live in or near
Louisiana.  And Louisiana irises don't grow for me in New Mexico, but I
don't mind that. Sorry to be so long winded, but I just thought the AIS needed to be given its due. Betty Gunther 
Los Alamos, New Mexico

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End of iris DIGEST V1 #37
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