Sometimes there are things that I would love to have gotten more of, but without knowing there is excess, I have no way of knowing to ask for more. Luminita - I know you do so much, and it's a lot on your shoulders, but would it possibly be easier to do a follow-up (at the same time that you send your "BX is closed" message) stating that there is surplus of X, Y, or Z, asking members to email privately if they want to take them. (With payment as usual, of course.) This way, you, Luminita, don't need to worry about planting, storing, etc. Another method could be, with the regular BX/SX's, if there is a lot of certain material, put in a little note after the name, saying, lots available - ask for more, or something like that? Just my thoughts. Most importantly, I hope you all are doing well as can be. Jude On Wed, Sep 15, 2021 at 1:46 PM Robert Lauf via pbs < pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote: > As we approach another exchange, perhaps it would be useful to think about > how we do this and, importantly, how we MIGHT do it to make it easier on > Luminita or whoever does it in the future. > Who decides how many exchanges to have per year? Is this decided by the > Board? Is the decision completely arbitrary or does someone actually > consult with Luminita to see what would be easier at her end? Would it be > better to have a few huge exchanges, or better to have more frequent > exchanges with fewer items in each? I have no idea, but I'd think Luminita > could tell us because she's actually doing the work, and her opinion should > carry a lot of weight. > What is the policy regarding disposition of excess material? If someone > donates a huge amount of something and there aren't many takers, do we > donate the excess to other societies with overlapping interests? If not, > why not? Has the membership ever been asked about this? Has Luminita ever > been asked? Do we expect her to plant, store, or otherwise keep excess > material alive until another exchange? That, to me, is unduly burdensome > and too much to ask. I for one would be happy to donate on the condition > that Luminita has complete discretion to dispose of leftovers as she sees > fit in any noncommercial way. Sharing with other societies seems like a > great way to build bridges if it doesn't add too much work. > All too often I've seen local societies waste away because the few > volunteers are treated so badly and worked so hard that they burn out and > leave. Patting someone on the back is necessary and needs to be done > often, but it isn't sufficient. The volunteer should be given the respect > and discretion to do the job their way because what worked for the last guy > might not work for the next. "That's how we've always done it" is rarely a > formula for good management when volunteers are involved. It implies that > we stopped learning or are just too arrogant to consider new ideas. There > is always room for new ideas and room for improvement. > For me, the SX/BX is about the single most valuable thing PBS does, so we > should always be thinking about how we do it and how we might do it better. > Bob E TN hoping for some rain tonight > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> > -- The Silent Seed Rare and Unusual plants from around the world. thesilentseed.com _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>