The decline and subsequent increase in AOS membership is not hockus pockus. If you talk to people in most societies, probably 80% that belong or have belonged to the AOS do so solely because of the AOS Bulletin/Orchids magazine. They see the membership as a freebie that comes with the subscription. A lot of people got fed up with the magazine while simultaneously being impressed with the photography and in depth articles found in Orchid Digest and jumped ship. A lot of this was going on at the time Orchids was featuring numerous articles trying to build enthusiasm for the new headquarters, the low point of which was the article about the guy (and his girlfriendO) that bought the old building. With the new format and the space to do longer articles with more impressive photography, people are rejoinging AOS. I have watched it happen in our lonely outpost in Nova Scotia. So I don't think that the membership increase is a blimp. People are voting with their pocketbook for the new format. It was a smart move. The rule of thumb if you talk to the average, non judge, non commercial orchid society member is that the current AOS Orchids magazine suits their purposes more because there are more culture and less what they see as super technical articles. Yet there have been lots of good 'technical' orchid articles in Orchids since the change for people who are interested in learning more. It would be interesting to chart AOS membership and Orchid Digest subscriptions by year and mark on the chart when the Digest upgraded their colour format, the inclusion of a lot of articles on the new headquarters in Orchids and the new format in Orchids. I suspect it would prove the point. There has been a lot of griping about staffing, but one new staff member that I turned to for help last December is the woman who has taken over management of the Emporium and book store. She came from a commercial management position and was a pleasure to deal with. But she desperately needed a new computer system---if you have ever tried to order books on the internet and fallen asleep during the process, you will know why. I hope she gets it. That being said, I was most disappointed with the latest book list--skimpy would be my best description. If AOS is going to just push the general books or coffee table books, the rest of us will have to go elsewhere. Yes, the membership cost has gone up but I for one think we are getting our money's worth with the new Orchids format. That there are some kinks in advertising is not surprising, but a little tweeking and time should fix it. I don't expect the AOS to get it right everytime, just to be able to look at it honestly and fix it. I suspect a lot of the unhappiness at the moment is because most of us cannot see that they are reevaluating successes and errors over the last 5 or 6 years--They may be but we don't know it. Jean Ikeson Windsor Greenhouse Falmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
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