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. 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