IPS Management decision

[bgl]

For many years Allen Press has been very instrumental to the IPS. The IPS has had two major, and separate, agreements with Allen Press. One is for the printing of PALMS four times a year. The second contract is for Management, which includes (primarily) keeping track of membership payments and maintaining an up-to-date membership list. After proposals from both Allen Press (AP) and Stansfeld & Fairbrother Inc. (S&F) at the Board meeting in Costa Rica on May 3rd, the IPS Board has now voted to transfer the Management responsibility from AP to S&F. S&F is the company that's been responsible for the development of the new (i.e. current) IPS website, and improving the IPS website is part of the Management proposal from S&F. The most important component will be the addition of an IPS Members only section to the website, and with the Management decision now finally behind us, we should be able to make progress. This entire project has been on a temporary hold until the Management decision could be solved. And, incidentally, AP will continue to be responsible for the printing & distribution of PALMS.

[palmtreesforpleasure]

thanks for the info Bo

regards

colin

[joe_OC]

Well, just joined IPS and got a very quick greeting from Liz Stansfeld. Don't know how Allen Press was in the past, but Stansfeld & Fairbrother Inc. was right on top of it. Just thought you would like to know how the Management team was doing...

Joe

[bgl]

Joe,

Welcome to the IPS family, and thanks for the feedback! Always welcome. And I might add that the Management contract with Allen Press actually runs until 31 Dec 2008, and will officially transfer to Stansfeld (Liz) on 01 Jan 2009. However, since Liz has been responsible for the development of the current website, she's already involved with new members and the membership database.

Bo-Göran

[Jeff Searle]

Bo,

It sounds like a positive step in the right direction. And with Joe recieving a quick reply on his membership, the benefits are starting to pay off already.

And btw, I have been getting a couple of "feedbacks" about your leadership, and it's all good! Thanks.

Jeff

[Dave-Vero]

Printing and distributing journals for scientific societies is a very specialized business. It's always a big deal when a journal's transferred from one printer to another. Allen Press has been successful at it for a long time. The journal "business" (much of it is a nonprofit labor of love) has changed rapidly with the arrival of online publication. HighWire Press has become a hugely important online publisher (they don't do paper).

Stansfeld & Fairbrother looks like an interesting outfit. They're in Houston and have a Houston-looking client list.

So thanks to Bo and the Board for going to the effort to redo the Society's non-printing services. I take it that an effort's being made to ensure that a major benefit of membership will be full use of the expanding and improving website (presumably including the Principes and Palms archive).

[bgl]

Dave,

Yes, the "Members only" section of the IPS website is in the progress of being developed and will dramatically improve the site itself once it goes on line. Part of it will be all back-issues of Principes & Palms.

Bo-Göran

[alex_7b]

Lets's see; glitzy new website, journal name changed from Latin to English. What else is in the works? The bottom line is, the IPS has done nothing in the last ten years to boost interest or membership.

What does the IPS offer that will lure me back for $35 per year?

[palm student]

Gee, Alex 7_b,

If you haven't been a member for 10 years, you just don't have any idea what you have been missing.

Our Palm Journal has articles about new palms being discovered.

The International Palm Society has truly become Internatiional. Much credit has gone to the accessibility of palm information and conversations through our Website.

We have had some marvelous experiences around the world at our Biennials.

So, you need to catch up with the rest of us and join for a small price of $45.

Palm Student,

currently learning about conifers also.

[bgl]

Alex,

You make some valid points, even though I don't agree 100% with your statements. First of all the new website is just in its infancy, and once we get the Members Only section up and running, that should be a major incentive to sign up for IPS membership. And we had to get the management decision behind us before we could proceed with the Members Only section on the website.

And regarding Principes / Palms - I happen to believe that there's been a major improvement over the last ten years. We have many more horticultural and general interest articles today than we did ten years ago. But there's still room for improvement (read: more general interest articles), and as time goes by hopefully we will accomplish that goal. John Dransfield and Scott Zona, our co-editors, are only more than happy to receive more articles.

Bo-Göran

Edit: Palm Student added the post above while I was typing mine. One clarification; annual membership right now is $35 but it will go to $45 next year. This is the first increase in MORE THAN TEN YEARS!!

And, yes, we also have the Biennials, and even though only a small portion of IPS members attend, these are amazing events. Just check out the Costa Rica forum to get an idea of the excitement!

[Dypsisdean]

I would like to take a little different approach in responding to Alex.

There is another way to look at things when dealing with non-profits and charities. The bottom line may not be, "what's in it for me." By joining and donating to these types of organizations you are contributing to the purpose for which they were organized. In this case, you are contributing to the advancement of palm research, development, education, and good old fashion fun with others of the same ilk. For me, that is reason enough.

So to paraphrase a past United States president --- ask not what the IPS can do for you, ask what you can do for the IPS.

[Jeff Searle]

I would like to take a little different approach in responding to Alex.

There is another way to look at things when dealing with non-profits and charities. The bottom line may not be, "what's in it for me." By joining and donating to these types of organizations you are contributing to the purpose for which they were organized. In this case, you are contributing to the advancement of palm research, development, education, and good old fashion fun with others of the same ilk. For me, that is reason enough.

So to paraphrase a past United States president --- ask not what the IPS can do for you, ask what you can do for the IPS.

Couldn't agree with you anymore.The more of us that contribute, the more you can get out of it.

Jeff

[bgl]

Dean,

Thanks for pointing out what I forgot to mention!

Bo-Göran

[Don_Licuala]

C'mon Alex, it's not THAT bad.

I do understand some of your frustration, though. If the organisation wants to increase its membership, it needs to have wider appeal. More general interest articles, more landscape tips, more items of interest for the average gardener. If it only appeals to botanists and geneticists, it's not going to last for the long haul.

[joe_OC]

Hi Alex,

Why do you want to join? What are you looking to get from the IPS?

I joined the IPS because I wanted to learn more about palms for my own edification. There is a wealth of information with the IPS. If I can not find what I am looking for, I ask questions and seek help. As with any association/society, it's up to me to be an active participant. The more people participate, the more they get out of it. At this point in my life, I participate through Palmtalk, which is good enough for me. I hopefully will get a chance to be more active in the future. People who join with a sense of "Entitlement" will always be disappointed...

[Phil]

Hey Dean and Bo,

I'm a Life Member, but I'd join again if only to just support this Discussion Group. I know that the IPS foots the bill for this Site. If one is a fequent visitor to this Site, it's cheap fun for about a dime a day. And you get the Journal as well.

Phil

[joe_OC]

Back issues of the IPS Palm Journal for March and June came on Saturday, August 23rd... Less than three (3) weeks from joining the IPS. Not bad at all. Very nicely done. I have read both cover to cover.

[hulagalnz9]

a little nervous to broach this but...In my experience...most people want to make a difference. If you ask them they will come.

So if new membership is a concern, what experiences are we setting up for others to be exposed to our good deeds which is an influencing factor in 'them' wanting to join in? Iv'e read all the goofs in here on the 'box stores' but I bet if any of you who were "degreed" asked to partner with said companies that they would welcome 'us' volunteers in the trenches into their stores (with our little membership brochures) on perhaps designated days/ yearly events etc to give exposure to IPS. How could they lose... buy a palm and there's info on line with people who care if you are successful... not an 800- number recording. It only taks a few excited people to move mountains especially if the crowd wants to be there.

As an obvious underling in here if my area box store advertised ahead of time to let me know that a "palm expert" from the International Palm Society was in house on said day to answer questions i would be impressed.

Perhaps this takes partnering with university extension programs and local palm chapters and just like university master gardeners program, representatives who give advice would need to be pre-screened via education. I joined in here like Joe for me to expand my own knowledge and spread sunshine in anyway I can and I found you thru pure surfing for 411 on palms. I can't teach even palm basics yet but I can hand out pamphlets and assist an expert who can.

so, experiences could include donating trees to parks, libraries, schools, visible community areas and having us there at these events, each in our little corner of the world,educating those that will come after us. My company expects us to volunteer 20 hours a year. I definitely have a day or 2 as I'm sure many in here would... that I could donate to the IPS. Just some thoughts.

[bgl]

Hulagal,

Never hesitate to add your opinion, ideas and suggestions. Anyone who is interested in volunteering to promote palms, their local Palm Society affiliate, the IPS & the IPS website and the PalmTalk Forum is always welcome to speak up! Before the IPS Biennial in Costa Rica I actually asked for volunteers in a different thread here, to do more or less what you're suggesting. And this might be a good time for a quick update since it's been several months, and I'm sure some of the Forum members who stepped up to the plate in that thread are wondering what - if anything - is happening.

A new IPS brochure is currently being designed, and will hopefully be available soon. When it is available, the plan is to contact various local Palm Society affiliates and ask for volunteers to help distribute these brochures at suitable locations. There will also be an announcement here on PalmTalk, and it's not necessary to work through a local Affiliate. In some areas, there's none. But this all needs to be done on a local level, meaning that volunteers in various locations will have to use their own knowledge and imagination to seek out those places that might be most likely to attract potential Palm Society and Forum members. And we are not necessarily looking for people who're going to sign up for an IPS membership right away. Many times this is a gradual and multi-layered process. Get someone interested in palms in the first place. Inform them of a local Palm Society affiliate they can join (while obviously also letting them know that the IPS exists!) and explain what the PalmTalk Forum is all about. If someone wants to go for an IPS membership right away - great! But that's usually not how it works.

Bo-Göran

[hulagalnz9]

Hulagal,

Never hesitate to add your opinion, ideas and suggestions. Anyone who is interested in volunteering to promote palms, their local Palm Society affiliate, the IPS & the IPS website and the PalmTalk Forum is always welcome to speak up! Before the IPS Biennial in Costa Rica I actually asked for volunteers in a different thread here, to do more or less what you're suggesting. And this might be a good time for a quick update since it's been several months, and I'm sure some of the Forum members who stepped up to the plate in that thread are wondering what - if anything - is happening.

A new IPS brochure is currently being designed, and will hopefully be available soon. When it is available, the plan is to contact various local Palm Society affiliates and ask for volunteers to help distribute these brochures at suitable locations. There will also be an announcement here on PalmTalk, and it's not necessary to work through a local Affiliate. In some areas, there's none. But this all needs to be done on a local level, meaning that volunteers in various locations will have to use their own knowledge and imagination to seek out those places that might be most likely to attract potential Palm Society and Forum members. And we are not necessarily looking for people who're going to sign up for an IPS membership right away. Many times this is a gradual and multi-layered process. Get someone interested in palms in the first place. Inform them of a local Palm Society affiliate they can join (while obviously also letting them know that the IPS exists!) and explain what the PalmTalk Forum is all about. If someone wants to go for an IPS membership right away - great! But that's usually not how it works.

Bo-Göran

Gotcha boss. Just assign me when you are ready.