Re: "Drawing People In"

At 11:43 PM 10/19/97 -0600, you wrote:
>TELL US WHAT MORE WE CAN DO TO DRAW PEOPLE IN AND WE WILL DO IT!!!
>Gerry
>gcsnyd@loop.com    AIS Region 15

This challenge should humble even the most opinionated of us on the list.:)
 When I first read this I wasn't sure whether you meant drawing people in
to observe the training on preparing entries for a show or whether you were
talking about drumming up general interest for irises.  Since you probably
won't get the first one without the second one, I would suggest that
everyone concentrate on what first attracted me to growing irises - the
friendly people.    

For sparking interest in how to show irises, you might try involving your
new members in clerking at their first show rather than having them put all
of their effort and adrenalin into exhibiting.  Being a new iris grower, I
had only one measly entry this past spring and I'm glad I had something
else to do (clerking) at the show besides holding out hope for that sad
little thing that I managed to save from the hail storm and bring to the
show.  I thoroughly enjoyed the clerking experience and listening to the
judges comments (my two judges did the species divisions and the medians).
This clerking thing was obviously a sneaky way to make me feel useful and
teach me about showing irises without me even realizing it.:)

For drumming up life long or sustained interest in irises, I really can't
say what would be the most effective.  Maybe developing a personality
profile for devoted irisarians would help societies target new members.  
Here are some Irisarian attributes that came to my mind.  Feel free to
contribute some more.

Someone who:

..loves to collect things/plants.
..likes plants that propagate at a furious rate.
..likes alfalfa tea.
..enjoys sharing plants with others.
..would rather have garden implements and plants than new clothes.
..likes to share chocolate (not indicative of a love of irises, but it
makes you really popular. Thus, I'm not always really popular:).
..is in denial and is convinced that they can fit one more plant into that
flower bed.
..has spent more money on gardening than they have saved for their own
retirement.
..always goes for the gardening magazines at the bookshops in the airport
terminals.
..gets very excited when they see a UPS truck in their neighborhood.
..wanders around the perennial section at the local garden center looking
for that something special to grow (until they try their first irises).
..marches to the sound of their own drum, which quickly wears out just
like their back after digging new iris beds.:)

-Donald (watching BILLIONAIRE (TB) finish up its fall display and dreaming
of next spring and summer)


Donald Mosser
Member of AIS, HIPS, SIGNA, SSI, SLI, SPCNI, and IRIS-L
dmosser@ibm.net

North Augusta, South Carolina, USA
On the South Carolina and Georgia Border
USDA Zone 7b-8
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