AOS Membership.

[Waldorbigbill]

There's a new story entry added:

AOS Membership.

Hello and Merry Christmas to all. I feel inspired to write this after Having Dinner with the new Vice Prez. of the AOS. We talked a lot about how Membership was down and how some things are changing at AOS. It sounds like they got a lot of great ideas to help raise membership and make AOS an even better society. I always love the magazine but hated the price. He told me about the cost that is involved in doing the two magazines and how they use the membership money for a lot of good causes. The support of the nonprofit membership organization through dues aids so many other important areas that the Society supports year round -- orchid research, conservation, education, Affiliated Societies, and the like.

[cb977]

I joined a few months ago and I love it! The Orchids magazine is full of very interesting articles...and of course there are gorgeous photos! Still waiting for my free plant, though It takes 8-12 weeks before that happens and it's just about at the end of that time frame. Guess I'll contact them...

for anybody even thinking they may want to join, just two words:
Do It!
You'll be glad you did

Thanks for the article, Bill
Merry Christmas and a safe, healthy Happy New Year!

[Ross]

Not wanting to throw cold water on anyones opinion, I was a member of AOS for many years and the only thing I got was an expensive magazine with very technical articles that were rarely useful to me personally. I would want to see a discussion on EXACTLY what the dues goes for (besides salaries) as the advertizing in the back of the magazine generally pays for the printing. I still have a few issues from the 1990's and I just looked to see what volume of pages are advertizing in the back. A little over 1/2 the pages! During my years of membership I wrote to AOS several times for help with plant ID and got no response! Zero. I would gladly join again if 1) the Society would advertize what my dues are going for, 2) articles of more general appeal (rather than scientific articles from someone who explored some jungle and tried to classify some plant), and lastly, I would hope the Society would consider a structured dues schedule that gives consideration to prospective members who live in remote areas where there are no other orchid hobbyists or no local chapter. Just my 2 cents. I really hope those that join get their moneys worth (however they choose to value that.)

[Gin]

With Ross I did belong to AOS. and found very little info. I could use .
Gin

[Bolero]

I used to be a member and I must admit that I love the magazine. The problem is that the price of membership is to high for me. When converting US Dollars to my local currency it costs me nearly $100 to join.

Having said that I subscribe to 3 other magazines that are much cheaper.........Orchid Review (superior magazine) costs me $45 a year, Orchids Australia costs me $50 a year including membership to the AOC. Then Orchid Digest which is the best of them all costs around $70 I think in my money.

So how do I justify buying it? I can't!!!

I think renewals are cheaper than the initial subscription but still I think the price is a bit to high at this stage. Maybe next year.........;-)

[Waldorbigbill]

I feel the same as a lot of you at the time. The price is way to much. Please feel free to add any input or comments I plan on sending anything that is written to the person I had dinner with. Like I said they want to make changes and they have already. The best way for them to do so is by your input.
Have Merry Christmas

[Ray]

I have been an AOS member since the late '70's. I am nowhere near HQ, so cannot take advantage of anything there, so must judge the worth of my membership solely upon the magazine, and have found the utility to be waning over the years.

For me, it's a case of too many "fluff" or "eye candy" articles, and not enough science, but I'll acknowledge that some of that has more to do with my level of experience and personality than with the magazine. I actually perceive a bit of improvement over the last year or so, but I'll admit that - for the very first time - when renewal came up recently, I considered not doing so, weighing the cost/benefit relationship.

In the end I did renew.

[terrestrial_man]

I have to agree that I found the AOS zines to be of no value and in having to choose between where I would put my subs money it went to Orchid Digest! The Digest is a much better presentation and a more interesting read!

[Heather]

I'm with Ray, though I did like the reciprocal botanical garden membership.
It's just gotten too pricey and the magazine has too much fluff for me. I prefer Orchid Digest immensely!

In the end, I did not renew.

[Ray]

I get Orchids, the Orchid Digest, and Phalaenopsis, but keep in mind I can write-off the cost to my business. If that was not the case, I'd likely limit myself to OD.

Here's another question to throw into the thinking: is the internet affecting membership and subscriptions?

Personally, I'd say "yes", and it is affecting them negatively. Think of this scenario: New grower, saw an orchid at the So-and-So Orchid Society show at the mall, and "had to" have one. Lack of experience and knowledge lead to almost killing the plant, so now there is a need to actually learn something. Where do they turn? The internet, of course. Why?

• Don't have to shell out extra bucks for a magazine for which you don't know the value (and as we have already acknowledged, will disappoint and not serve the new grower all that well).
• Don't have to leave home, go to a bookstore, search through the minimal array of orchid books to find one that might be what I need, AND shell out extra bucks to buy it.
  
• Don't have to join a a society, where your lack of knowledge will be obvious to others and embarrassing (it's unfortunate that one doesn't realize that everyone in the society has "been there" and many of us realize we still have a great deal to learn).
• If I DO have to join an online forum, it can be quite anonymous.

...and probably the "kicker" is:

• There is more pertinent information available via a reasonable Google search than will show up in a year's subscription to any orchid magazine out there.

So the challenge for the AOS, in this case, is to publish a magazine that has a true, valuable benefit over and above the information available on the internet, while being of use to those not "connected" as well.

It would be interesting and useful to know the statistics on internet use and membership - percentage of online members over time as well as online versus not.