[Aroid-l] 2nd Annual Aroid show?

From: Steve at ExoticRainforest.com (ExoticRainforest) on 2007.10.10 at 07:07:32(16439) Boy, did my private mail box light up! And the idea seems to have some positive support here as well. I did receive one notice that it would be impossible for the Florida contingent to show plants in California due to state law preventing bringing in plants. That could severely limit the support. But of course, you guys in California might know a way around that one. Perhaps the sentiment is for moving the show from Miami, but I'd like to consider a show (or shows) in addition to Miami. What if we consider doing something totally different, but similar, to the International Aroid Show and Sale. Since the Indonesians are nuts about Anthurium and are driving all of us nuts let's take advantage of their money and enthusiasm. How about producing something that might be called the International Anthurium and Aroid Conference sponsored by the International Aroid Society. And do it in St. Louis with Tom's blessings (if he'll bless it). This afternoon I my checked my last 100 website hits and of those over 80 were looking up Anthurium. Almost everyone of those read my article on growing Anthurium! But the places they are in are not all Indonesia. Right now I'm receiving up to 1,700 hits daily (average is about 1,200) and the majority are for Anthurium. The hits are coming from all of the United States, Europe, Iran, Saudi Arabia and many places in the South Pacific as well as Indonesia and SE Asia. These people are begging to see and buy Anthurium, especially bird's nest forms. Right now Anthurium is hot! If we try to do this in the late spring all you guys that sell should have time to get some birds nest forms ready to sell. I think we should push the devil out of inviting people from all over the world to come and attend as well as show. Announce it on every garden board on the net! Invite the Hawaiian growers. Invite anyone! But do the thing somewhat different from the Miami show and sale in we'll also have some conference speakers telling how to grow, and hybridize, Anthurium. Either you have to be a member of IAS to attend any of these conferences or pay extra. Get Tom to show off his birds nest Anthurium collection and get MOBOT to sponsor it. Bring up Eduardo. Bring Joep. Bring whoever we can that knows about Anthurium and will share their knowledge. The garden will make money from the ticket sales, IAS will make money from booth sales and membership, and sellers will just make money. Especially if we can get the Asians to come and spend some of their cash. You can charge for each seminar or just use it to increase membership!! Sell seeds! (But not 10,000 seeds at a time!) Take advantage of the current hype. And of course, since the conference includes all aroids, not just Anthurium, we can still show off any aroid! Some aroid sellers have been selling a few Anthurium on eBay that will go for well over $600 each! I saw several sell in the past few weeks for over $500 each! Talk about an auction! These people ask me all the time if they can come and buy my plants. So let's give them a "plant sale" to come to! And let's push them to become members of IAS. Any ideas? I've had some success in helping to promote and sponsor similar conferences in other fields. One I was a co-producer of in Miami brought in 20,000 paid guests for several years. The fire marshalls almost shut us down because we over sold the Coconut Grove Exhibition Center in Miami. I'll donate my time. How about the rest of you? Steve Lucas +More www.ExoticRainforest.com Aloha. I would agree that the IAS would benefit from increased membership. I believe that the first step would be an affiliated chapter in other areas. Are there any affiliate chapters? I heard of two chapters in the past...but do not know if one exists today. These groups, the Southwest Florida and California chapters, were mentioned in the History of the IAS. If there is an affiliated society on the West Coast, it would be up to them to host a show...with the blessing of the parent organization. It sounds like alot of work for some dedicated group...but it would be wonderful. I think we need to hear from West Coast aroiders. From what I know...which is limited, it requires a passionate core group to organize and maintain a chapter. Who knows, it may be the Indonesians with that drive and passion to organize a chapter....after all, it is an International Aroid Society. Aloha, Leland --- ExoticRainforest wrote: > I'm probably going to get in trouble here, but I > thought the suggestion about an IAS show on the west > coast was a good one to consider. But before we > jump all the way to the other coast, perhaps there > is an alternative that will meet a lot of needs, > especially for the expansion of the International > Aroid Society. > > I had a discussion with Tricia Frank while she > visited my atrium in June of this year, and it is > obvious from some of her feelings as well as the > total attendance at the September show we all need > to do more to expand the IAS membership. There are > tons of people in this country that love some of the > base species in our plant group, Philodendron and > Anthurium. But most know very little about them. > We need to do a better job of educating the world. > How do we get into the schools? Can we include a > "junior" membership? Can we encourage new blood > into this organization? How? > > I see an incredible number of people each year who > want to see, tough and feel my aroids and travel > pretty fair distances to see our very small atrium > as a result of my website. Some people think the > "ExoticRainforest" is a tourist attraction in NW > Arkansas. Sorry, its only 600 square feet! But > I've had people drive 900 miles supposedly just to > see it! Since April we've had people from 13 states > call to arrange a visit! That amazes me. But what > if we got them excited about going somewhere (within > driving distance) where they could really see a lot > of aroids. And my two top choices would be MOBOT or > the Crystal Bridge in Oklahoma City. MOBOT would be > the top choice due to the enormous facilities they > have as well as the fact Dr. Croat is there. What a > place to have an aroid show! Many of you probably > don't know, but Tom has the largest collection of > section Pachynerium Anthurium in the world at MOBOT! > Those are the birds nest forms that the people in > Indonesia are so nuts about right now! > > I was at MOBOT last October when they were having a > glass show inside their enormous artificial rain > forest. The crowds were amazing. Thousands and > thousands of people. And they were there to see > both the glass and the plants. What if they were > there to see the International Aroid Show? Don't > you think the local television stations would > promote such an event? I have no idea how many > people came that weekend, but I've been told MOBOT > receives 870,000 visitors each year. Can we figure > out a way to take advantage of that? Can we work to > have two, or three, International Aroid Shows each > year? Since we can't get huge numbers to travel to > Miami, maybe we can arrange to deliver the plants to > the masses. And for those of you who sell aroids, > just think of the new customer possibilities! If > they are willing to spend $600 on an Anthurium in > Indonesia, will they spend a few hundred over here > if we present the plants to them right? > > I am one that is quite distressed with the constant > email from Indonesia wanting to buy Anthurium. But > maybe we should use that to our advantage. I see > more and more people visiting my website to learn > about Anthurium species (or at least the 50 or so I > grow). The single most often read article on my > website right now is the one about how to grow an > Anthurium. I'm now receiving 35,000 hits each month > and at least 1/3 of those read that page. There has > to be a reason! Can we use this interest in > Anthurium species to expand the IAS? How do we do > it? This is your organization, and I believe it > needs your help. So kick in some ideas! > > It saddens me, but I honestly expected triple the > attendance at the IAS show in September. I had not > attended the sale for about 8 years due to where we > now live (we used to live in Miami). I am not in > any way suggesting moving the show from Miami! We > lived there for over 20 years. But is it time to > figure out a way to expand into other areas? If you > can't get the people to the plants, can we get the > plants to the people? Maybe LA is a great idea. > Maybe both LA and St. Louis! > > Can we get some discussion going on how to expand > and grow the International Aroid Society? > > Steve Lucas > www.ExoticRainforest.com > > ************************************** > We collect and grow many rare and > exotic tropical plants and orchids. Take > the "Rainforest Tour" at: > http://www.exoticrainforest.com/atriumentrancelarge.htm> _______________________________________________ > Aroid-L mailing list > Aroid-L at www.gizmoworks.com > http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l > ____________________________________________________________________________________ Pinpoint customers who are looking for what you sell. http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/ _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L at www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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