BX possibilities (was Re: Bulbs)

Jack and Val vkmyrick@pacbell.net
Tue, 03 Oct 2017 15:42:14 PDT
Wow!  Thank you Albert!

Gratefully,

Val
Sonora, CA
On Oct 3, 2017, at 9:17 AM, Albert Stella <amstella1017@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello fellow bulbophiles,
> 
> I am relatively new to this society but a major selling point was the BX and SX offerings. I don't know of any other organizations or societies with such a wonderfully managed member-sharing program. I'd be happy to take over and keep this program alive. Or at the very least help in any way I can. 
> 
> Make it a great one!
> -Albert
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Oct 3, 2017, at 11:59 AM, Cody H <plantboy@gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Regarding the BX, thank you Dell for all the time and effort you put into
>> it. I love receiving those little packages and I consider the BX to be a
>> major asset to this society. We should figure out a way to keep it alive
>> and thriving.
>> 
>> If nobody is interested and/or able to take over Dell’s work in its
>> entirety, another option might be to distribute the process. It seems like
>> the basic BX procedure is this (Dell, please add detail or corrections if
>> this description is lacking):
>> 
>> - - - -
>> 
>> 1. Receive bulb/seed donations from members on an ongoing basis.
>> 
>> 2. When a critical mass of bulb/seed donations have been received, make a
>> list of the available donations and send it to the group as a BX offering.
>> 
>> 3. Collect member responses to the BX offering.
>> 
>> 4. Divide the bulbs/seeds from each donation among the members interested
>> (bag and number each divided member-share appropriately).
>> 
>> 5. Package up each member’s set of divided shares and mail the packages.
>> 
>> - - - -
>> 
>> It seems to me that distributing this work among two or more members could
>> be done in a number of different way, e.g.
>> 
>> Volunteer A: steps 1,2 (coordinator)
>> Volunteer B: steps 3,4,5 (divider/packager)
>> 
>> Volunteer A: 1,2,3 (coordinator)
>> Volunteer B: 4,5 (divider/packager)
>> 
>> Volunteer A: 1,2 (coordinator)
>> Volunteer B: 3,4 (divider)
>> Volunteer C: 5 (packager)
>> 
>> ...there are obviously many more ways as well.
>> 
>> Some additional considerations:
>> 
>> If there were enough volunteers, it could make sense to have some steps
>> performed in parallel by multiple volunteers at once (e.g. dividing and
>> packing shares for shipment) or setting up rotations to alleviate the
>> constant pressure.
>> 
>> If we had geographically clustered volunteers, time and money could be
>> saved by people meeting in person to divide/package shares.
>> 
>> Going a little further out on the limb, if we had geographically-clustered
>> *sets* of volunteers (e.g. Portland area, Bay Area, etc.), we could even
>> consider having some kind of rotation set up where a given crew could meet
>> in person to divide and package up the shares for some interval of time.
>> But that is probably best viewed as a future “aspirational” goal rather
>> than a starting point.
>> 
>> Of course the drawback of this kind of system is the overhead associated
>> with coordination and the additional costs associated with mailing more
>> packages if the volunteers are distant enough geographically that meeting
>> in person doesn’t make sense. But if there are only a few volunteers
>> working at a time, the costs and overhead should be fairly low.
>> 
>> For what it’s worth, I can’t commit to taking over the entire BX alone, but
>> I’m certainly willing to participate in a system like what I’ve described
>> here. And I live in the Seattle area.
>> 
>>> On Mon, Oct 2, 2017 at 4:38 PM Jo&Greg <sun-coast-pearl@telus.net> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Dell-
>>> If you need help, there might be a seed savers group in your area. The
>>> folks in our area are amazing ... they clean, sort and package soooo fast!
>>> Many sees savers groups deal with all types of seeds, not only veggies.
>>> Just an idea.
>>> Jo-Ann Canning
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: pbs [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net] On Behalf Of
>>> ds429
>>> Sent: Sunday, October 1, 2017 1:01 PM
>>> To: Pacific Bulb Society <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>
>>> Subject: Re: [pbs] Bulbs
>>> 
>>> Thanks again, Kipp. How about a robot who could sort and package bulbs and
>>> shortlived seeds and then fill orders and prepare the parcels for shipping.
>>> Those are the real time consumers for me.
>>> 
>>> Dell
>>> --------------------------------------------
>>> On Sun, 10/1/17, Kipp McMichael <kimcmich@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Subject: Re: [pbs] Bulbs
>>> To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>
>>> Date: Sunday, October 1, 2017, 3:41 PM
>>> 
>>> Greetings,
>>> 
>>> 
>>>  I've previously offered
>>> to help in updating the tech side of the BX - but I think  Dell, already
>>> at the limit of his capacity for this  enormous, ongoing effort, preferred
>>> to keep things as they  are. Here are a few ideas:
>>> 
>>> 
>>>  1) I presume Dell keeps an
>>> inventory document (such a spreadsheet). We could use this  document to
>>> populate an online ordering page where, rather  than sending emails to
>>> place orders, people could instead  place their orders online. That system
>>> could track inventory  and automatically remove items that were spoken-for.
>>> 
>>> 
>>>  2) The
>>> online ordering system would intake shipping address info  and, with
>>> paypal support, could also process payments. In  such a system, orders
>>> would not go-out until they had been  paid. This would eliminate the need
>>> for Dell (or another) to  track outstanding balances and copy/paste
>>> shipping info from  emails. Likewise, non-PBS-members would not be able to
>>> submit orders at all.
>>> 
>>> 
>>>  3) When completing an order, the ordering  website could also provide
>>> the shipping info as a printable  address label.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> As outlined above, I think this system could  reduce the work of
>>> supporting the BX/SX.
>>> 
>>>  *   Those who ordered would be responsible  for supplying their
>>> correct, current shipping address.
>>>  *   Payment through the ordering website  would eliminate the need to
>>> manage unpaid balances  separately.
>>>  *   Member verification at
>>> ordering would eliminate the need to track membership  status.
>>>  *   Inventory would update
>>> automatically as orders were made. Adding new  donations/offerings would
>>> still require manual work -but  these would then appear automatically
>>> without the need to  draft new emails.
>>>  *   Ordering through
>>> the site could be turned on and off as needed (or we could  move to a
>>> continuous offering system)
>>> 
>>> There would still be *plenty* of work left to  do even with an ordering
>>> website. But that work would be the  unavoidable stuff like packing seeds
>>> in envelopes and, when  new donations arrive, deciding how many "lots"
>>> of  given offering will be added to the website.
>>> 
>>> I would be happy to help
>>> engineer a system like this.
>>> 
>>> -|<ipp
>>> 
>>> 
>>> ________________________________
>>> From: pbs <pbs-bounces@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>
>>> on behalf of Jack and Val <vkmyrick@pacbell.net>
>>> Sent: Sunday, October 1, 2017 11:51 AM
>>> To: Pacific Bulb Society
>>> Subject: Re: [pbs] Bulbs
>>> 
>>> Dell, Robin and All,
>>> 
>>> Dell does a very efficient and prompt job as  far as I can tell from the
>>> receiving end.  He lets me know  that my order has been received, for
>>> example.  That puts  my mind at ease each time.  Then the order is
>>> received about a week later.  I figure Dell has made the  process as
>>> streamlined as possible under his current  operating conditions.
>>> The only thing I could
>>> guess that could be done to help is to have different  responsible
>>> parties do the seeds and bulbs.  Dell may  already be doing that.  Dell,
>>> are your helpers also  PBS members?  I think I’m the only one in my  area
>>> but am not sure.
>>> 
>>> Thanks to Dell and all of you who make the PBS  such a great
>>> organization.  You all put so much time and  dedication into this group.
>>> 
>>> Val
>>> Sonora, CA , N. CA near
>>> Yosemite
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Sep 30, 2017, at 1:50 PM, Hansen Nursery  <robin@hansennursery.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Dell,
>>>> 
>>>> On just one BX you
>>> send out 150 shares?  And SXs are bigger than that?  What  an incredible
>>> job!  And I think you do this on average once  a week year-round.  You've
>>> also been doing this for 14  years or more, if I'm correct?  You have a
>>> right to  retire or step back.  PBS Folks, I think it's time Dell  had some
>>> more and reliable help or at least allow him to  retire....
>>>> 
>>>> May I
>>> put forth a request for ideas on how to streamline this  process to make
>>> it less onerous?  I'm sure this has  been brought up for discussion before,
>>> and it's time to  get serious about this situation.  Dell has done this
>>> without pay as an incredibly generous donation of time and  probably money,
>>> too for a very long time.  Please, folks,  step forward and offer ideas,
>>> help or whatever you can.  We  owe this to Dell in particular but to all
>>> volunteers who  keep this organization running.
>>>> 
>>>> My best regards,
>>>> 
>>>> Robin
>>>> Hansen
>>> Nursery
>>>> robin@hansennursery.com
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> pbs mailing list
>>>> pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net
>>>> http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…
>>> pbs Info Page - pbs -- Pacific Bulb
>>> Society<http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…>
>>> lists.pacificbulbsociety.net
>>> Your email address: Your name (optional): You  may enter a privacy
>>> password below. This provides only mild  security, but should prevent
>>> others from messing with ...
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> pbs mailing list
>>> pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net
>>> http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…
>>> pbs Info Page - pbs -- Pacific Bulb
>>> Society<http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…>
>>> lists.pacificbulbsociety.net
>>> Your email address: Your name (optional): You  may enter a privacy
>>> password below. This provides only mild  security, but should prevent
>>> others from messing with  ...
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> pbs mailing list
>>> pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net
>>> http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> pbs mailing list
>>> pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net
>>> http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…
>>> 
>>> 
>>> ---
>>> This email has been checked for viruses by AVG.
>>> http://www.avg.com/
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> pbs mailing list
>>> pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net
>>> http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…
>>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> pbs mailing list
>> pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net
>> http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…
> _______________________________________________
> pbs mailing list
> pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net
> http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…

_______________________________________________
pbs mailing list
pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net
http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…


More information about the pbs mailing list