AOS Decline

[mormodes]

I think Ron McHatton accesses AQ+ via his iPad while judging. I think via the web page, but I'm not 100% sure about that. I think another student accesses the info that way too (iPad and webpage).

I'd like the index on the web page as a member benefit, but understand the ownership of the Bulletin Index isn't owned by the AOS but by the authors. However the index to 'Orchids' could be online - heck it might be - I rearley go to the web page to look.

I'm a member the same way Dot is. Not all the articles are to my taste but I'm always amazed how going back I find stuff of interest I never noticed before.

 

[DavidCampen]

I hope to encourage this not just for AQPlus but for AOS Bulletin back issues as well! I think the trick is to outsource this project to someone who is a professional...the data's all there - building the interface should be pretty straightforward and not too expensive. It is so irritating to not be able to browse AQ images on my ipad...

I like getting the print magazine but I don't want to dedicate space to storing back issues so I would really like to see back issues available online as a membership benefit.

I would belong to AOS even if only just to support one of the few orchid hobbyist organizations . I also subscribe to Orchid Digest and prefer Orchid Digest magazine over Orchids. I find Orchids to be too basic for my tastes - lots of "I just got my first orchid and now what do I do with it" type articles.

 

[nikv]

I was a member of the AOS for about twenty years. I just recently realized that my membership must have run out as I no longer receive the magazine each month. I haven't been in a hurry to rejoin. I don't belong to a local society as I'm unable to attend the meetings on Monday nights. I've never had a single plant judged. I grow orchids simply for my own pleasure and to share with my coworkers on occasion. I do find it frustrating that the AOS didn't bother to contact me when my membership ran out. A reminder would have been nice. Oh, well. As for the usefulness, it has diminished over the years. I used to look forward to receiving my AOS Bulletin each month and would turn immediately to the ads. They used to be my primary source of orchids for sale. No longer. I now shop online or on eBay. Another point of irritation to me was the as the years rolled by, my issue would arrive later and later in the month. It wasn't unusual for a the March issue to arrive during the first week of April, for instance. No fun if the orchid deals were already expired. Complaining to the AOS wouldn't help much. And I found it insulting to have to pay extra postage and handling just to receive my magazine in a timely fashion. As far as I'm concerned, I no longer need the AOS. I do enjoy the articles in the old issues. I hold onto them and re-read them from time to time.

 

[Shiva]

The one thing I'd like AOS to do is to make AQ available to members through the internet, as part of being a member -- not for extra cost.

If I could get the electronic monthly edition at a much lower cost, whitout having to pay to get the printed copy, I might very well return. I suscribe to the electronic edition of New Scientist Magazine for less than $40 a year, with a new edition every week. I can also look through every magazine content they ever produced and read old articles. If the AOS could do as much, it would be fantastic.

 

[The Orchid Boy]

I'd really like a closer judging center. The closest one to me (that I know of) is over 10 hours away. Also more technical articles for free online would help attract more people. There is always basic care and habitat info online, it is not always detailed. Like subgenus and alliance, temperatures, range maps, habitat pictures, ect. And convince more people that orchids aren't just for women! There are plenty of orchids that aren't exactly frilly and pretty.

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Sounds like the job of setting standards for judging is one of its primary roles these days. Printed materials for relatively obscure hobbies is mostly a thing of the past as the world turns more to electronic media. If you want technical reports they can be had in pdf format online or by contacting folks who are willing to share information. Tough days to be in the paper printed magazine biz anymore.

BTW, I was a member on and off in the 80s and 90s. As a kid I remember fondly going into my dad's closet full of back issues (to the late 60s, uninterrupted) and digging out jewels. So in the end I owe my interest in orchids to AOS and my dad.

 

[SlipperKing]

Dudes! AOS Mag is on line. You just have to be member to access it April was the first month I believe. I did fine it difficult to use on-line. In order to enlarge the print enough for me to read I had to do a lot of panning back and forth along with scrolling. That was a pain and distracting.

See here
https://www.aos.org/default.aspx?id=1

 

[Shiva]

Dudes! AOS Mag is on line. You just have to be member to access it April was the first month I believe. I did fine it difficult to use on-line. In order to enlarge the print enough for me to read I had to do a lot of panning back and forth along with scrolling. That was a pain and distracting.

I think you still have to pay full price for membership including delivery of the printed magazine at home. I was talking of an electronic version of the magazine at a lower cost without delivery of the printed version. I'll have to check if there has been changes.

 

[The Orchid Boy]

I really don't like e-books, online magazines, ect. I really, really prefer to have it printed out and have a hard copy.

The AOS does have an option for online only. It is the same price as the paper magazine, unless you live in another country, then it's cheaper.

 

[Shiva]

I see there is a digital only Orchid magazine for $65 US and the same thing for students for $40. I don't think it should cost more to make a digital edition for non students. So why not set the price at $40 for everyone? As for the coupons, they're useless to people living outside the US because most américan sellers don't ship to Canada or elsewhere, and those who do charge for phytosanitary certificates and CITEs papers. Which end up costing more than the subscritpion itself.

In fact, the AOS would save tremendous amount of money by going mostly digital and the subscription rate may increase, especially if we had access to older issues of the magazine.

 

[SlipperKing]

I think you still have to pay full price for membership including delivery of the printed magazine at home. I was talking of an electronic version of the magazine at a lower cost without delivery of the printed version. I'll have to check if there has been changes.

That has been suggested and I think they're working on that.

 

[Trithor]

Exactly, the only benifit to out-of-USA members is the mag. Currently it is a bit expensive and correcting issues with connectivity is not user friendly from out of the USA. It does not help if you have to phone in working hours from the other side of the world. I know we are a small percentage of the membership, but we still pay for it and being ignored is .... offensive?

 

[slippertalker]

Tim,

I have been growing orchids for almost 40 years and have been an AOS member since 1978. During that period of time I have seen the large growth and ensuing diminished AOS. The reason are really pretty simple.

1) loss of large orchid nurseries with big scale hybridizing programs
2) advent of the pot plant market starting out of Taiwan and expanding to cheap, disposable mericlones.
3) internet cut advertising revenue and made it easier to circumvent the AOS as a provider of orchid sources and information.
4) social interaction is diminished from 20 or 30 years ago, all social groups are struggling including floral groups and fraternal organizations. People interact via email, facebook and twitter rather than face to face discussions.
5) expense.....the membership fee is $65., basically for a magazine.
6) people don't buy newspapers or magazines as they previously did....internet.

I am an AOS judge and have been involved nationally for several years. The AOS, in my opinion will contract until it reaches a stable point of existence. We can all cry about mistakes made with the facilities in Florida and the politics of that, but in the end it will survive due to the energy and desire of some to have that as a goal.

Bill Zimmerman

 

[chrismende]

My perspective on all of this:
I joined the AOS as soon as I realized how important orchids were to me. I felt the need to support the national organization and learn from it what I could. When I began to have some awardable plants and wanted to get awards, it was a no-brainer to continue to support the organization that makes those awards.

Since I am relatively new in orchids, I want to continue my AOS membership, because I feel strongly that a national organization should exist and without enough members it clearly cannot do what we all want it to do. I don't know numbers, but I do know that an all volunteer organization needs lots of strong volunteers -from exactly which pool do we expect these to come if not from the membership who care about the future of the organization?

The AOS magazine is often frustratingly uninformative. Certain articles are wonderful, but many seem to address their topics too superficially. The expertise level it addresses is lower than I'd like. However, I do enjoy the magazine enough to want to keep them and reread them later, since my own interests change and later may not be at all what they were when the issue first arrived! I will always love to lie in bed reading a magazine. I also love lying in bed reading on a smart device. I can spend lots of time on the smart device throughout the day both in the greenhouse and at home or at a meeting, looking up many orchids and other topics. Pictures aren't as beautiful on a magazine as on a digital screen, though -

My main beefs with the AOS are three:
1. I am not sure the judging system can be fair to species when they get judged by the standards of fashion. I feel that species should be judged on their own merits without the artificiality of
exaggerated line breeding. Bigger is not always better. Flatter is not always preferable, etc.
2. The website is unbelievably cumbersome in design Some good hearted volunteer made it, and I honor his efforts. However, it needs to work more intuitively. I am generally very good at finding things on websites. On the AOS site, I can go round and round and finally end up calling the office. That should not have to happen!
3. AQ Plus should be designed to work on Macs without a workaround needed.I have three separate Macs and had to buy a PC just for AQ and OrchidWiz. That sucks! Ease of use in the digital world is essential. The AOS must get more thoroughly on board with that.

 

[Trithor]

Chris, you have made a number of good points. I would just like to point out that as a USA based member you have the benifit of the mag, web, awards, and the adverts being aplicable. As an overseas member we have the benifit of the mag only. The web does not work as you cannot simply phone if you need to sort out a problem. Balance all this against the cost as an overseas member and see what each mag costs then. I would rather buy back issues from a second hand dealer on the web (as the delay in reading is neither here nor there if the mag takes 2-3 months to arrive in any case. A point of interest is that last year I purchased a pack of back issues which happened to have the most recent issue as part of the pack, and the pack arrived before the actual most recent issue from AOS). Having said all this, I too would like to continue supporting a cornerstone organisation of my favourite obsession.

 

[mormodes]

As to number 3 have you tried logging on to the AOS website via the iPad or other mac device? When I log on I get 3 tabs in that same small box. One says 'edit profile' one says 'social' one says 'JC program'. Since you subscribe to the AQ+ you should be able to access award data via clicking on the 'JC Program' tab. That'll bring up a sceond page with 4 tabs. One of which is 'Orchid Search'. Hovering over that shows a drop down menu, one selection of which is 'Search Awards'. You should be able to fill out the information about the orchid you want to look at. Yes that interface is clunky to use too.

Remember you always need a genus in the genus blank. and you always have to hit 'search'. Just hitting 'enter' doesn't start the search. You don't necessarily have to capitalize any names anymore. Or fill in the complete name either.

You will have to noodle around with the program and learn the way it thinks. It doesn't think the way we do. Or maybe I should say it doesn't think the way I do. My friend who access awards via her iPad discovered sometimes you have to scroll left and right to find the results of the search - whereas they show up just fine on a computer monitor.

I still get frustrated when trying to compare and contrast between awards, but I think that's my problem, not one I'd continue to experience once I got the knack of the program.

Again, this assumes you subscribe to AQ+ If you aren't a subscriber you won't get the data.

Just for my information and education can someone try this so I can learn if it works for members and subscribers teh same way it works for me? I enter data for my center so I have different access than regular people do. And if I'm wrong I'd like to know it so I can shut up about this thing.

As to number one above - every judge that I know feels the same way you do. Even those at the Pacific Central, LOL! They trained me so I know. We've had some pretty good fights over the years. *G* But generally when looking at published awards I admit I have a 'what were they thinking' moment when I see an award to something like a Paph gratrixianum with smeared blurred dorsal sepal with streaks of color instead of defined spots, but I assume the judges were looking at something I'm not looking for. Maybe they like the intense color, I dunno. But I listen to the discussion and then score my heart's desire.

As to #2, yes the website sux. I double dog dare you to find an entry form on teh webpage. After noodling around you can find it. I usually go to the sitemap in order to find what I'm looking for. Having said that the article about illegal paphs is right on the front page. Where it belongs. *G*

Kathy Barrett

 

[mormodes]

Chris, it works as I said. I just logged in to the webpage and accessed the award data using a macbook. Dang the images are so much better with this video card than my HP laptop, LOL!

 

[mormodes]

The web does not work as you cannot simply phone if you need to sort out a problem.

I thought you said you couldn't remember your passwords nor could you remember the answers to your security questions. That's why the webpage didn't work for you.

As far as I know if you email the webmaster (Greg Allikas) you can get help via email or directions to someone who can help you.

 

[Trithor]

I thought you said you couldn't remember your passwords nor could you remember the answers to your security questions. That's why the webpage didn't work for you.

As far as I know if you email the webmaster (Greg Allikas) you can get help via email or directions to someone who can help you.

Thank you, I will try that

 

[mormodes]

Thank you, I will try that

[email protected] That's the email address that should go directly to Greg. Even tho your question isn't about publications. Tell him your trouble and see if he as web master can help. He may have to take it to teh technical people like Howard Bronstein - I doubt it, but he may.