If i wasn't such a botany geek I would have probably been put off by some of the older members, who I've heard come off as snotty. and let's not say that it's not true in the slightest, some people tend to get a little proud of their collections that they've been tending for years, that attitude can be obnoxious to some.

basically as far as this kind of thing goes, It's all about how you market your organization, there are hundreds of people under thirty who have an interest in orchids, next time your society hosts a show try for a more open theme
and try to get some of the more affable members as the spokes people for those shows, and sooner or later you'll have the desired demographic attending

Image is possibly the most important aspect in your campaign, Orchids don't have to be the hippest new fad but also they don't have to be Victorian relics, brain storm a little and I'm sure your societies Board of directors will come up with ideas, besides I'm only twenty five and have already served as the progenitor of our societies web page and as a member of the board.

I guess the most important thing is to always keep your options open.

Gaston

One question to ask yourself is do all the older members sit and talk together? Does a visitor stand around without being greeted? There is some reason that people don't return, and most of it has to do with how friendly they perceive the society to be.

At the show and sale the same thing applies. Are there members on the floor to chat with visitors and answer questions, or do they form little groups and talk among themselves?

Here's what we've done-we have our show in the busiest place possible...a mall if we can swing it. We set up an education table with at least 2 members and a lot of free information and try to get people talking about their roses/orchids. We have a newsletter so we try to sell them on the newletter/membership. The next meeting after the show we gear it to new members and everyone makes an effort to make them feel welcome...especially the BOD.
It does seem to be a game of numbers though. You get a lot of dud memberships but you may get a couple of gems in there.

What you are experiencing is happening pretty much around the country. We have been very fortunate here to keep our numbers fairly stable. It might also help that there are no grudges and no pomp going on. Our experienced growers are delighted to help hook a newbie. And we have a lot of pot luck dinners...food and orchids complement each other, especially desserts.

As another idea, why not have a few hundred business cards printed up for the society with the meeting information -- when, where -- and give all the members a handful so that when they see a customer caressing a new orchid plant at Lowe's or HD or wherever, they can just smile and give the person a card. Be friendly, write your first name down and invite them to the next meeting as your 'personal' guest. That's the icebreaker; they don't have to walk in cold not knowing anyone.

Do not have any special secret for getting new members though having a web page these days might be an essential.

Unfriendly/strange orchid societies. There are some where the members are not friendly. You go to a meeting and you are ignored. To stop this happening you need to appoint a host or hostess with the job of greeting/looking after visitors and making sure they are introduced to the President or whatever the Chief Honcho is called over there.

Critical mass. Here it might be something like 25 members. Over there???

Then there is the I do not want to show my orchids attitude that surfaces here from time to time. I know some people with fairly large collections who have never belonged to an orchid society. No amount of pleading will ever get these people to a meeting.

Back to getting Ron some more members. Carol mentioned Business Cards. Add to that some one or two page cultivation notes that can be handed out at shows and one day stalls and the like.

Unlike a few areas of the country which have proportionately larger orchid-growing populations and therefor higher membership, like South Florida, most local societies are small, maybe 25-50 members at the max. It's all we can do to get a Pres, VP, Treasurer, Secretary and Program Director to volunteer out of such a small bunch, let alone an independent committee or board of directors. We find taking a few minutes at the beginning of the meeting to discuss what's going on is no big hardship and includes all the members so that there isn't just one group making decisions for the rest. If I had to venture an opinion, all of our members here are genuinely interested in the business decisions and have a great wealth of opinions to contribute that can be voted on immediately. And we seem to have lots of time to direct our attention to the plants as well. Bigger societies with hundreds of members maybe can separate responsibilities.

The Greater Pensacola Orchid Society has members from Biloxi, MS to the west, southern Alabama, all the way east to Ft Walton Beach, FL (Egland AFB). There are also two other wonderful societies in that swath; the Mobile AL society and the Gulf Coast society around Biloxi MS. Many of our members belong to all three. If anyone here needs information about them, e-mail me and I will get you set up.

I find these comments interesting. I have never seen that happen at any of our meetings, where everyone, and I do mean everyone, goes out of their way to be welcoming and attentive to guests and new members. And new members are encouraged to pull aside more experienced growers and ask their questions privately if they are kind of shy at the beginning. We all wear magnetic name tags so they will know who we are. That is also an icebreaker, to walk cold into the room and immediately know everyone's name.

Our own president seems to have a habit of hilariously butchering the pronounciation of orchid names; whether he actually can't pronounce them or is acting to make others more comfortable, I really can't say although I have my suspicions. Generally, any little groups that form occur in the parking lot of the hospital after the meeting is over, and even then new members are encouraged to hang out with us and chat.

How many people are in your society, Ron? We don't seem to have enough members to form unwelcoming cliques, I guess, although many of us are friends away from the meetings. The average meeting has from 20-30 members at most.

I would definitely suggest that you explore moving your meetings to a Saturday or Sunday afternoon if evenings are a problem for so many. I have heard of many societies where they meet on weekend afternoons, but have never been involved with them.

Have you asked people if a once-a-month weekend meeting would be so very inconvenient? I am of course aware that working people use their weekends for shopping, laundry, running errands, etc. But you are only asking for a few hours once a month. Hobbies (like growing orchids) are leisure time activities, too.

Our society is mostly in the 40-60 age range. But we have some super seniors over that, and some younger people in their 20s.

Have a pot-luck orchid meeting, and tell all the members to bring a big covered dish and a friend or neighbor or coworker or a classmate (butcher, baker candlestick maker, doctor, lawyer, traffic cop -- I dragged my mailman once) whoever they think might be susceptible to orchids. Not all of us are immediately smitten. Some kind of need orchids to 'grow' on them a bit, if you know what I mean. And excitement is contagious, and good eats are irrestible.

When this thread is done, print it all out and read it at your next meeting. It just might jar some other ideas out of the membership.

Funds were a bit low a couple of years ago and the President said we will have a supper roster where one or two different members would provide the goodies for supper each month. I thought she was bonkers and would get nil volunteers, but i was horribly wrong. Again. Yummy tea break stuff every month.

I think every Society has its up and downs. There was one Society here that fell into that Snobby Uppity class. Then it got a human president and there was a transformation.

There is another Society (Not the parent body NSW Orchid Society) that is reputed to have 600 members. They have four day meetings a year on a Monday to cater for some of their members who do not drive at night.

600 members. Yikes! Our Society has 80 members and i would not like it to get much larger than that.

One activity not mentioned is the annual orchid crawl. A weekend activity that is always well attended. We visit and view three members collections and finish off with lunch. Always interesting to see how other growers house their plants and see conditions for various types of orchid.

Are there other orchid societies, say within 50-60 miles of yours? Maybe a merger can save both if they are having the same recruitment problems.

Sounds like you’re exhausting yourself doing the seniors groups and gardening clubs with little results. My one suggestion would be that you expand the scope of the audiences you’re hitting, not just with the aim of increasing membership but also to stimulate an interest in growing orchids that may eventually translate into more memberships. What about a presentation geared towards kids, talking about Darwin’s orchid (Ang. sesquipedale) and other cool things like stinky orchids (Bulbo’s) and ghost orchids? Or a presentation to high school or college students in science or botany courses? And there’s the "Joe Blow" orchid buying public. Let’s face it, lots of people are buying their orchids from grocery stores, Lowe’s or even Walmart. These last couple of years, we’ve partnered with a Canadian grocery store that regularly offers cooking or lifestyle classes to offer beginner workshops, usually around the time of our show. They do the marketing, often through their floral counter. Participants pay a registration fee and they get a "free" orchid from the grocery store out of the deal. We’ve also done a couple of local morning TV shows, where they’ll visit a member who has a greenhouse and who will give a repotting demo.

Gaston (lunaticvulpine) also mentioned marketing and I agree that it’s very important. We’ve been very successful at getting walk-ins by putting ads in our paper’s weekly gardening section the weekend of our show and the weekend before. But our show remains our best recruiting tool. We hold it a sports arena, in the curling rink (without the ice), which gives us lots of rooms for large displays and many vendors. We get 2,000-3,000 people and still only get 10 or so of them to take out a membership, which usually only compensates for the members who don’t renew.

You also want to make the meetings as fun as possible and it sounds like you’re doing it. Since I became program chair, I’ve worked on having better speakers (we share costs with three or four other societies, which means we can easily have 3-4 speakers from outside the country per year), more diverse topics that still cover the gamut from beginners to advanced, extra activities like daytrips to a botanical garden a couple of hours away for a behind the scenes tour, and group orders (you’re in the States, though, with access to more vendors - the previous program chair thought it was too much work so didn't bother), etc. We’ve actually gained more members from the outlying areas around Ottawa, even enticing some from a smaller society a couple of hours away (they likely have double memberships, but still).

It’s a tough question without easy answers. It could just be that you’ve hit your level of saturation, sad as that may be. Best of luck.

Julie

The grocery stores are also usually really up for it, since each orchid probably costs them $10 or so and they charge a $20 registration fee. Guess whose pocket the profits go in? We have tracked though (we hand out different coloured discount tickets) and know that most of those who attend these classes then come to our show, which is the main goal, the show being our main moneymaker. To actually organize it, go for the really large chain stores that have a floral department. Approach that counter's manager. Or if they offer cooking classes or the like, approach that coordinator, since she knows how to market these kinds of things. And the sooner the better.

As for our meetings, it might make you feel better to know that we meet in a city-managed community room... above a hockey rink. Makes me feel so Canadian.

Julie

In addition to fostering their interest in orchids, small responsibilities and tasks like website management, membership management, or writing newsletter articles should not only be made available to new members, but *encouraged*. I've been trying to get more involved recently and I've found it surprisingly difficult; I don't know when elections take place...I don't know what subcommittees there are in our OS...I don't know who makes decisions. I think I have skills that would help improve the way things are run, but I have no idea where they are needed, or whether they're even needed at all. Maybe there isn't enough work to go around - who knows.

(That said, most young people do have responsibilities that older folk might not have, so I'm not sure whether or not this is a realistic aspiration.)

One hindrance is that the generation gap makes social interactions difficult. What does a 23 year old chat about to a 63 year old about at a potluck (besides plants)? I'm not sure if this issue can be averted, but maybe if a more diverse range of social activities were planned, people would get to know one another better.

-Cal

A few additional points:
* How much do you charge for membership? Our dues are very low, still under $20. The strategy here is to make it financially attractive to join so you get a larger pool of members, and then identify those who are willing to be more active in the society.

* What are your talks on? If they are on subjects like "taxonomic reclassification of oncidiums" rather than "how to bloom oncidiums on your windowsill" you' won't get as much interest. Make sure you have a good mix of topics over the year geared to different levels of interest.

* Assume you have speaker sales at your meetings as well? If not, how about a member sales/trade table? If you can get someone to donate a plant as a door prize that is always an incventive

*If you have to change your by-laws to reflect changing preferences etc, then do it. In my experience, orchid societies get bogged down in doing things a certain way because " that's how its always been done." Not a good enough reason. For example, our society has recently switched to a Sunday afternoon format, after meeting on a weeknight for probably more than 25 years!

argusdc, I presume that you are referring to the NCOS (National Capital Orchid Society) based in Washington, DC. I just mailed my membership dues last week for $25. MY dues have been $20 for several years until 2009.

That's a big part of it, I would think, Judy. It sounds like everyone had fun. And that is what our orchid hobby is supposed to be: fun. When it stops being fun and becomes just more 'work,' that's when a person quits.

Same is true for any hobby society; when it starts becoming uncomfortable, when it starts becoming 'work,' people start to drop out no matter what their ages are. This is especially true with small-sized orchid societies who try to do so much that it becomes a lot less fun and more resembles drudgery. Ultimately, we are there to enjoy the camaraderie and share our love of orchids.

Factor in the attitude of the society members' as well: happy and positive or snooty, rigid and negative. That will drive people away as well.

When you come home saying, "Wow, that was a great meeting!" then the society is doing well.

We meet on the 3rd Sat. from 1-3 with an hour of business, including results of the judging, a break with coffee and non-homemade cookies, then often a speaker from the outside who's usually selling their own plants, then plant raffle results.

There's no meeting during one of the summer months - forget which.

Most members are local, but one hobby Paph breeder and his wife drive 6 hours round trip to be there. Another active member lives at least an hour away.

When an outside speaker isn't selling plants, members can sell theirs. Some people join just for inexpensive plants. Dues are about $25.

Visitors and new members are introduced during the business part and receive a free copy of AOS's basic orchid handbook.

Our current space is the community room in the main store of a local, upscale garden center chain. It has a nice deli, with the eating area out in the indoor plant section. Most people walk through the indoor plant area to get to the meeting room. Before and after the meeting, you see members having coffee in the dining area and browsing and buying indoor/outdoor garden supplies. The store sells orchids, too, although nothing exotic.

It's a feast for the senses, esp. in MN winter. If we move to a library, say, it won't be the same.

There are 6 main events during the year:
- a holiday meal at a local restaurant, and people go home w/ a free plant. This serves as the Dec. meeting, I think.

- a big display and AOS judging during the St. Paul Winter Carnival. The display is in a well-known conservatory in St. Paul, and the last few years, we've had vendors there.

- an all-day, spring symposium at an arboretum. Experienced society members talk about various aspects of orchid culture.

- a display during the State Fair. Society members are generous in their judging, and the numerous ribbons look impressive. Some members who are vendors have their own displays in the same room, but no sales.

- the September orchid sale to the public. It's at a garden center on a Sat. Of course, society members who are selling plants get first choice before the show opens. There's a business meeting just before, and this is the Sept. meeting - I think.

- the September bus tour during the Chicagoland orchid festival, or whatever it's called. There are a couple of commercial growers between Minneapolis and Chicago, and all the growers roll out the red carpet and offer our members good deals. The trip goes from a Friday afternoon to the following Sunday evening, and people come back loaded with plants to replace those they just sold!

I'm not aware of any specific recruiting/marketing efforts. It could be that the 1 million people in the 7-county "Metro area" kind of "yield" a society with about 300 members.

But - with the economy what it is, the MN society may be having hard times, too.

If there's a current MN society member here, chime in.

Whitecat8

I have pretty much stopped doing selling that way.

Commission charged on member sales at outside shows and stalls is 15%.

Not mentioned in any of the above posts is limiting the term of the president to say 5 years. Not sure that this is a good or a bad thing. Sometimes new blood might be good.

Then there is my pet peeve, Societies with a zillion dollars in kitty. Saving up for that rainy day rather than disbursing $$$$ on the current members who are building that surplus.

We elect new officers every year but our society limits office holders to two consecutive years (they need a break). Only our treasurer is permitted to stay past the two years; she is genuinely appreciated by all. Sometimes we have to beg members to volunteer for these positions when outright threats don't work.

We would be one of your pet peeves, Arthur, although we are shaking loose some of the money more often.