C. S. Newsletter

ScotTi

Esteemed Member
4,828
16/04/08
312
163
This may sound like a dumb question, but how many newsletters do you receive as a member yearly? Are they not quarterly?
 
Scott -
Yes, they are usually quarterly. But like most newsletters, they depend on volunteers - both for content and for production. ...and competent volunteers seem to be in short supply for many small societies right now. The Central Florida Palm & Cycad Society seems to be on life support right now and fading fast; I could also name several philatelic socities to which I belong that are also in deep kim chee.
 
Sure would be nice if Croton1 and/or Croton Bitch would post here once in awhile. :rolleyes:

Phil - I am seeing the same things with the different plant societies this way as well. Sometimes a new volunteer shows up all gung ho and gets burned out within a year, then disappears, never to be seen again.

No good deed ever goes unpunished. :eek:
 
Scott -
Yes, they are usually quarterly. But like most newsletters, they depend on volunteers - both for content and for production. ...and competent volunteers seem to be in short supply for many small societies right now. The Central Florida Palm & Cycad Society seems to be on life support right now and fading fast; I could also name several philatelic socities to which I belong that are also in deep kim chee.

Phil,

This seems to be a common scenario with smaller plant society's, and one of the reasons I set up this site. I have offered many of these smaller plant societies, including the Central Florida Palm & Cycad Society, a place here to gather and try to assemble and keep a core group to keep things going - like what I hope is happening here with the Croton Heads. This outreach has included various Palm Chapters, a Ti Plant group, Aroid people, Big Leaf Tropicals, etc. Yet the problem seems to be that they want to go it alone. Instead they set up their own "stock" website that nobody can find, or finds a reason to revisit, and it falls into disrepair and inactivity. They don't want to send me their newsletters, or their older publications to place online in a quality format as a means to create interest - even though I have offered to do it for free.

It really says something about their inability to get things done, or take action, when they can't even find the time or where with all to take advantage of free offers of promotion and web exposure.

If the membership momentum isn't moving in a positive direction, it works against them, and turns into a slow death spiral. IMO the synergy of having all of these smaller societies in the same place on the web may provide the "critical mass" to help them all stay alive. But I can only invite them.
 
Gosh, if we could have the older newsletters here that would be awesome! Ray even had copies of the old christian papers! Obviously we want to draw new blood but perhaps the wiki and pdfs just mentioned could be for paid society members. Help Dean recoup his costs. We have a free ride here. Heck at this point, i'd rather have my dues going for that versus a paper mailed copy. Save a tree if I opt out of mailers. Come on Lee. What is your vision? Let's do this! Tools and interest are in place. Crotons are popular again, let's pounce.
 
Dean -
This web site has been a life saver for small plant societies that take advantage of it. Volunteer web masters are in universal short supply. For all the lurkers out there, take the plunge and get involved a bit.

...and thanks again Dean for hosting us.
 
Gosh, if we could have the older newsletters here that would be awesome! Ray even had copies of the old christian papers! Obviously we want to draw new blood but perhaps the wiki and pdfs just mentioned could be for paid society members. Help Dean recoup his costs. We have a free ride here. Heck at this point, i'd rather have my dues going for that versus a paper mailed copy. Save a tree if I opt out of mailers. Come on Lee. What is your vision? Let's do this! Tools and interest are in place. Crotons are popular again, let's pounce.

Having a Society's old material on line is a no brainer IMO. However, I am opposed to making it available for members only. That is not the way the web really works. Unfortunately people are used to free. But a good compromise, again IMO, is to have the old (older than a year or two) available for all as teasers and reference, because we could possibly make them searchable, and make the newer ones for members only. If they are worth it, people would then pay to join and have the recent ones, attend the meetings, etc. Keep in mind that making things so that they can't be stolen is problematic - passwords can be shared, etc. But the advantages are that corrections can be made after publication, and the costs are greatly reduced. If done in a high enough quality, people can still print them out for a hard copy if desired. There are some really nice professional formats available now.

Check the Rose Society for a society that has spent a lot of time and money putting together a really nice site. But specifically, look at the Digital Publications for a really snazzy online publication. And note, they have a "trial membership" option, that could be a lure of sorts. http://www.ars.org/
 
In light of this recent post and some of the conversations I've had today, there are a few specific issues that need to be addressed.
If this Forum is to be successful, we need someone to write an article re-introducing the Forum to all of the current members.
Not all of the members (US and International) have email, not do they frequent the Forum. In an effort to bridge the gap, we need something in writing (hard copy) to start the ball rolling.
The newsletter will be going to print shortly, so a timely response is necessary. Email to choerstgen1@Tampabay.rr.com or Croton1 @tampabay.rr.com or there's always mailing to the Society's P O Box. Any takers?

As far as a member's only area, Dean has a great compromise going there.
 
I would like to suggest getting the "Re-Introduction" article together immediately. I plan to advertise the New Palmpedia format and include several new articles and features of my own within a week or two for a Grand Opening, along with a T-Shirt give-away. I would be pleased to have a Front Page article highlighting the Croton Society, with reasons and a link to join. Think of some irresistible teaser or offer to put in the mailed newsletter to get people to visit here. Once here, it will be up to us to keep them coming back.

In addition, I am still interested in offering a Croton Society T-Shirt if I can get some high enough quality photos with certain requirements, and some ideas of a design that you all might like. Single leafs are very easy to photograph on a bland background. And I could rearrange them in PhotoShop to form an acceptable and pleasing design if enough people would be interested. Or if someone wants to design an official Croton Society logo, that could be used on merchandise - any design artists out there, or in the family? I'm just throwing out ideas, take 'em or leave 'em. :)
 
Dave,
Feel free to contact me if there is anything you would like Palmpedia to help the CFPACS with. I can set up something similar to what you see for the So. Florida Chapter, with a forum, a private place to conduct Board discussions and/or votes. And a place to publish your Newsletters, past and present. In addition, if someone takes a bunch of photos at meetings, I can place them in a slideshow format, and even get on the phone and record a dialogue to go along with them as I have done with the presentations on the HIPS and the PSSC Palmpedia Pages.
 
Thanks for the offer! I'll let you know. I've only been on the job since June first so I'm still getting my feet wet. We have a webpage and I'm suppose to get admin rights on it soon. But, I'm looking for a plan b if that falls through.

Also, good luck to the Croton Society. I just realized i've never joined. duh...why not?
 
I submitted an article to Lee announcing the forum, wiki to those that may not be aware. I kept it short and sweet highlighting the major accolades of this site and how it could benefit them to join us. I hope others submitted too so he can choose the best input.
Lee,
Is there a specific deadline for submission?
 
I suggest all society members put together a little tutorial about the society. What you learned or a garden or Croton you saw. Maybe a plant you got at a auction or a plant given/traded to you from another member. Share the fun! Now is the time to make the society shine. Together we all can make it a new day for the society. I am working on a simple logo at this time. Here is one example that I am still working on.
 

Attachments

  • picresized_1309315549_001.jpg
    picresized_1309315549_001.jpg
    412.3 KB · Views: 90
I suggest all society members put together a little tutorial about the society. What you learned or a garden or Croton you saw. Maybe a plant you got at a auction or a plant given/traded to you from another member. Share the fun! Now is the time to make the society shine. Together we all can make it a new day for the society. I am working on a simple logo at this time. Here is one example that I am still working on.

Scott,

In order to have a design with resolutions high enough for printing, your finished design can be as large as 2700 pixels wide and 3300 pixels high - and must be at a minimum of 200 dpi with no enlargement of the original in order to avoid a blurry result. It should also be a .png with a transparent background. JPGs don't come out near as nice (since they are compressed) and will always have a colored rectangular background - looking like a snapshot put on a T-Shirt. A good design usually comes out between 7-11 MB, depending on detail.
 
Top