I am attempting to gather information regarding as many plant societies as possible in North America, Europe, Asia or South America. We are especially interested in the size of the membership as well as any special program the association or society may use to promote itself and increase membership. If you are a member of any plant group or aware of any organized society would you be kind enough to post the name and if possible a contact address? We have located several but would like to be aware of any and all. This information will be used at the board of directors meeting of the International Aroid Society at the Miami meeting to discover new ways we can assist and serve IAS members. If you are a member of the IAS I would also appreciate any comments how you feel the IAS can serve you better. Please don't be afraid to be frank! The goal is to make the International Aroid Society better as well as be in better contact with the membership. If you are an IAS member in Europe or Asia would you let us know if you would be willing to help form a local IAS chapter? There are quite a few members concentrated in western Europe and due to the recent meeting in Nancy, France regarding Araceae it would appear there may be an interest. Thanks!
Hi Steve, Iam a member of IAS, being from Australia the newsletters and Aroideana is what i get for my membership. Personally i would like to see Aroid-l changed to a forum format similar to here, as i find the mailbox notifications a pain, and more so when my wife complains about it flooding the inbox lol. I would have replied in Aroid-l but had issues with it working. Cheers Brad
I agree with Brad; Aroid-l is in an antiquated format and needs to be brought into the 21st century. Modern forums such as this one are so much more versatile and instant, and don't lead to piles of email. Each participant can then browse or read just what is of interest to them. The membership/renewal process needs to be upgraded as well. Paying by PayPal is great, but even after paying, a person is not a member until someone actually adds them manually to the membership roll. Obtaining the status of member should be automatic upon payment and should not be something that has to wait for a person to find time to do it (or to inadvertently forget to do it, as has happened to me in at least one instance). LariAnn
Thanks vary much! I have copied your posts verbatim to add to my presentation. Even though I personally agree there are problems to consider. Aroid l is not and has never been a project of the IAS. The IAS endorses the mail list but cannot demand any changes since it was privately created and is privately maintained. Another problem is the list is moderated since there are sometimes "nasty" posts that come through and it would appear to be in the best interest of everyone to have them read before the group reads them. A large percentage of subscribers to Aroid l are not members of IAS but have an interest in aroids. I believe we need to keep the forum open to anyone but sometimes that openness has problems. I have never understood some individual's compulsion to "yell" at people based on what they "assume" the original poster had said. A few months ago I watched as a very knowledgeable grower was completely chased away from another forum simply because he wanted to trade plants. Two or three users thought for certain the grower wanted to sell plants. There have been recognized members and true aroid experts including one botanist all but run off more than a few forums since a poster disagreed with something that was said. Disagreement is fine but needs to be well considered before it is blurted out. Sometimes "instant" communication isn't the best form of communication. I don't believe botanists are "gods" and I know they make mistakes, but still in a group that prides itself on scientific accuracy such nastiness should not be allowed to happen. One of the world's authorities in one particular genera was once deeply offended by such a remark so moderation is very important, but perhaps there are ways to work around all this and I'll gladly include them as well as send your notes to the private operator of Aroid l. I'm aware of similar problems right here on UBC but this forum does have moderators that can see the posts quickly and delete them if necessary. Since IAS has no paid staff we would need to rely on something to monitor the forum constantly to make sure such posts were carefully read before anyone saw them and getting people to volunteer for anything is tough! We all want everything to run perfectly but when that perfection requires our direct participation and the sacrifice of our own time it suddenly becomes unimportant. I know for a fact the membership information upon enrollment and renewal is being addressed but will send copies of these notes shortly to the individual that has accepted that responsibility. One thing I'm trying to get done which I think will happen is that every member will receive a response anytime payment is made for anything. I know people like to be acknowledged and I'm also recommending the issuance of membership cards with a note from an IAS officer. I am not an officer but I have volunteered to take care of that should the board wish. I really appreciate the input and will gladly take anything members, or people that have considered membership but had issues with the IAS processes to the board. So thanks! And one more thing. If anyone is willing to volunteer for any of the tasks that need to be addressed we would love to hear from you as well!
I am certainly willing to moderate a forum, especially if it entails mainly maintaining civil discourse and keeping threads on-topic. Of course, one way to help keep a forum civil is to require signup/membership to participate. That way all posters are at least known quantities to some degree. If someone violates the forum terms repeatedly, they can be banned. LariAnn
I've had two private notes asking if the IAS is planning to take over Aroid l or break away from the mail list. Neither of them came from the great folks that posted here today. The answer is NO and I am not making any such proposal! I know of several botanists that would drop out completely because they prefer to receive the emails from Aroid l and respond to those they wish. They don't have the time to log on to a forum so mail lists may well be a more antiquated form but still has those who find in preferable. My proposals have to do with ways of listening to members and communicating with them better in order to serve their needs. The IAS membership has been stable for many years but there is always room for growth. Some plant societies have members ranging from 2,500 to 10,000 members and my goal is to push IAS towards the upper end of that number. Am I overly optimistic? We'll see, but nothing ever gets done until people join together to make it happen. I am one that wants it to happen and am already in contact with othes that share the same goal.
I promise I will follow through with any suggestions regarding the improvement of the International Aroid Society such as the ones suggested here. I spent some time consulting with a former IAS President and think I can now answer some of the suggestions above with a better response. Regarding the request for a different form of on-line forum: That questions is asked and many recommendations made each and every year. The Aroid l format is very popular with many members, especially those that have been around for a long time. Newer members would like to see the back and forth that goes on with forums such as UBC. There are now at least two other forums besides UBC that have discussions regarding aroids. One is GardenWeb and the other is Dave's Garden. Each appears to fit the needs of the particular forum's members well. Of all, I prefer UBC due since it is monitored as well as instanteous. More important to me, the conversations tend to often be more scientific. I know many folks hate the "science" of plants and just want to know how to keep them alive so perhaps not any particular forum ir formatis best since we all have our preferences. As a result of these forums IAS has elected not to do one sponsored by the society. There is no funding to pay for or promote an IAS forum and even more imporant we don't have a moderator although LariAnn would appear to have offered that service. If IAS opened its own forum we would only be du;icating something that is already on the net. By supporting the current forums we may be able to make more people aware of aroids in general as well as what IAS can do for them. One major goal is to encourage new membrship and the fastes way to find those new members is through forums just like this one. LariAnn, I'd really like to talk with you personally in Miami since I have what I believe is a way to use your energy and brains that fits you perfectly. You are a recognized author on aroids and have a fantastic following on Dave's Garden. Brian Williams will be serving on the board and he is interested in hybridization just as you are. I would like to get all of us together and see what we can do to establish an IAS section devoted entirely to hybrids. I'd really like to see a section on the IAS website devoted to hybrids and the two of you can be a great source of information to get that done. Lots of people don't care about where the plant lives i nature, they just like the way it looks. By ignoring the folks that love hybrids we only shoot ourselves in the foot. Please grab me out of my chair and let's talk! Brad, I also have something I hope you will consider. I have already asked two IAS members in Australia if they would consider spearheading an IAS chapter. We want to establish new IAS chapters in your country, England, France, Germany, Indonesia, Central America, South America and in any U.S. city or state that has enough members to make one work. Each chapter can format itself to the needs of its own membership but make sure the board of directors at IAS knows what you need, want and recommend. IAS needs to become more personal and the best way I know to do that is get local members to share what their interest might be. Personally, I really don't care what a group grows, I just want them to enjoy Araceae. We want to make the board much more responsive to our membership and new things are being implemented at this very moment to mke sure that happens. ZI don't believe anyone on the IAS board is going to tell you how to form or run your group. If you'd be intereste please let me know. Steve@ExoticRainforest.com Now, if anyone else has a recommendation I really want to hear it. If you're not an IAS member but the idea is of interest, I'd love to know what we need to do to help you become a part of the society. I am determined to be of service to anyone intereste in aroids so please do send me a note or just publish your thoughts right here. For more info on the International Aroid Society please visit the society website: www.Aroid.org
