RE: Decline is not innevitable

[cheryl deaton <region15kids@hotmail.com>]

One of the most 'recurring' comments I hear is that the AIS (Board) is too
elite and separate from the membership, that they are not accessible.  How
wonderful if we had a magazine that appealed to everyone interested in irises,
not just AIS members; a magazine with advertising/articles from other plant
groups, gardens, commercial growers, (in color?).  One of the most interesting
additions of late (to me) has been the 'culture corner'.  I don't have scorch,
nor borers, but it is interesting to see how different areas handle garden
problems.



On the affiliate level, nearly half of my local clubs are NOT AIS members, nor
do they intend to become one no matter how often I extole the virtues of
belonging to AIS. Getting them to become a clerk, enter a show, or sometimes
even attend a meeting is like pulling teeth!  However, as iris enthusiasts, I
would hazard a guess that at least half of them just might subscribe to a
magazine about irises.  And who is to say that the magazine remains @120
pages?  If we gain @ 30 pages by eliminating the white border, wouldn't it be
true that fewer pages = less expense? Two issues (April & July) could be
larger, and the other two (January & October) could be smaller.



My mother in law subscribes to 15 magazines, Country Living being one of them,
Bird & Blooms being another.  Neither one is that large, but both are full of
interesting articles, ideas & comments from around the country.  I receive
most affiliate newsletters online, and I usually delete them as soon as I read
them.  The ones I receive in the mail are looked at more than once, and kept
around for a few weeks.



Clarence, I am glad you have a large collection of Bulletins that you can
refer to at will, but I for one do not have that kind of space - I keep the
Bulletins that have interesting articles or suggestions, and give the rest to
my club members.  Only one or two has joined AIS after receiving a copy of the
Bulletin, but we do get new members at the Home & Garden Show and our annual
Iris Show & Sale.  Some become active members, but most never attend a meeting
no matter what we do to encourage them.  I think a magazine that the general
public could subscribe to would help generate interest.



Cheryl

> Date: Sun, 2 Aug 2009 14:14:22 -0400
> From: robertpries@embarqmail.com
> To: aisdiscuss@aisboard.org
> Subject: Re: [AISdiscuss] Decline is not innevitable
>
> Clarence; Whether we agree on paper size or not I fully agree with you
point
> about local clubs. I would say they are ten times more important. Somehow
we
> seem to have lost the art or the motivation within the local clubs that was
> present 20 years ago. I suppose that if we could somehow encourage local
clubs
> once again all would be better but I can only easily effect my own local
club.
> I was very proud of Susan Grigg a couple of weeks ago when she signed up 3
new
> AIS members at the ENCIS plant sale. She has been a stalwart for ENCIS. I
was
> struck by the fact that even though she showed each new member the AIS
> bulletin their reply was essentially they could care less. they were
joining
> because they wanted contact with local Iris growers. As I say I believe the
> Affiliates are ten times more effective than the national organization in
> getting new members. I would value input on how the national could help the
> affiliates achieve gains in membership. If the society is failing it is not
> only from the top down but from the ground up.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: cemahan@aol.com
> To: aisdiscuss@aisboard.org
> Sent: Sunday, August 2, 2009 9:08:29 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
> Subject: Re: [AISdiscuss] Decline is not innevitable
>
> Changing the size of the Bulletin or the designation from month of issue to
> the season will neither attract not one new member. Nor will it prompt any
> member to renew his/her membership. The?most effective approaches?to
gaining
> new members?are organizing more local societies, having iris shows and
rhizome
> sales at places that attract large crowds, having fall iris shows, and
getting
> garden writers for local papers to write article about irises and AIS.
After
> you gain a new member, ask him/her to be a clerk at a show or do another
job
> at a show or sale...i.e. involve them. All written, in my humble opinion,
of
> course.:)
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Robert Pries <robertpries@embarqmail.com>
> To: AISdiscuss <aisdiscuss@aisboard.org>
> Sent: Sat, Aug 1, 2009 5:13 pm
> Subject: [AISdiscuss] Decline is not innevitable
>
>
>
> I hear too often that plant societies are in decline as if this were just
the
> innevitable situation in todays present economy. Of course this is not
true.
> The plant societies that have refused to change are in decline, yes,B and
> this
> is a majority. but there are many examples of where plant or gardening
> societies have made changes and are beginning to show growth again. Of
course
> some have made shanges but they still have problems, perhaps because they
> haven't changed enough and others have seemed to get much right quickly and
> are really growing rapidly. And then there are those who refused to change
> but
> balme their failure on society not caring anymore. I don't believe we
should
> view ourselves as in competition with any of these groups. I do think that
> paying attention to their successes and failuresB can help us analyze our
own
> situation. I am afraid the desire to keep everything the same may try to
> justify that position by saying that all is hopeless. it is not. It may not
> be
> easy, but we really have no excuse for own present situation than our own
> lack
> of determination to be all that we can be as they say in the army ads.
>
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