AGS On Line Show 2011

[Tim Ingram]

PS: the sort of survey you suggest is being carried out by Robert Amos and is mentioned on the AGS site.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Funny that this discussion arose so late !

I compete in the online show since the first edition and I still do :

1) Because it is great fun to do so    and the only opportunity I get to come this close to competing in a show of any kind !
2) Because it's great to get some (most of the time constructive) comments from the judges on any of my entries ! Much appreciated !
3) I'm also in favour of garden plants being shown, but that's personal.
4) I also hate to see the same (most of the time exquisite) plant (photograph) appearing in sometimes 3 or 4 classes.
5) I would loooooove to see more people compete !
6) And no.... we shouldn't take it too seriously ! 

[KenC]

I now realize I should have tempered my last reply by acknowledging I am an overseas member and as such, do not have the insight of local members.  In my haste, I chastised those who may be working to make the AGS a better organization.  I would like to offer my apologies to those individuals and declare that my dealings with the AGS have always been satisfactory.  Now if you are trying to duplicate the level of customer service Maggi provides, I’m afraid all others will fall short! 

[Tim Ingram]

Actually I think it is the overseas members that make this forum so exciting! I find the same, sort of in reverse, on the NARGS forum because it is so interesting to compare experiences in such disparate places. I'm surprised that Maggi is not overcome with chocolate arriving from all over!

[Lesley Cox]

Doreen, I promise my comment or rather the example I gave re photos in two or more classes, wasn't directed at you personally. Far from it. The SH and Australian classes along with Iris, are the only ones I've looked at so far. I'll get to the others time permitting. But i've felt the same in previous shows. It was just that in those two classes - with fine plants/photos - I had hoped maybe Steve and Doug and Toolie, all great photograpghers and growers might also have had entries. I don't do natives very well myself, or perhaps would have had a go. Anyway, so long as the two or more rule stands, why not make use of it? I still hope it may be changed though.

[Lesley Cox]

I doubt if there is a person on earth, or at least one with any ability to converse and discuss and even argue about any subject at all, who is fully comfortable having his/her thoughts and comments regimented into strictly controlled channels. It is for that reason that I gave up on Trillium-L and it is for this reason that so many of us spend time here on this Forum. Yes, we digress into "off-topic" subjects. We do it all the time just as we do in our everyday conversations with friends and family and because we're not made to feel contrained or even uncomfortable about it, the whole Forum is a place for free exchange of ideas, as in all the posts above. With all due respect to the AGS version, many people just don't feel so happy there. It's as simple as that. I believe that virtually always, comments made here even if diametrically opposed to comments made by others, are made with courtesy and respect so no-one is damaged but on the AGS discussion thingy, I doubt if much of what we say here would be tolerated at all.

I live with someone who, once he opens his mouth to speak absolutely insists I don't open mine, whether to agree, disagree, or even show the slightest interest. I am always made to feel as if I'm on the end of a lecture. In the finish I usually say nothing at all even afterwards. It's as if I live in the presence of a long and frequently irrelevant non sequitur for which there just IS no answer and all conversational leads are killed.

Last night I spoke on the phone with a fellow member of the local Fritillaria and Small Bulb Group. We chattered and laughed away for long over an hour about numerous subjects, interrupting each other and thoroughly enjoying it all. It's that same friendly interchange we get here that lets us discuss what are sometimes serious or controversial subjects, as well as all the plant talk and personal banter. This same friendly feeling just doesn't exist on the AGS site. I'm sorry, AGS people, but it doesn't.

[Lesley Cox]

Ken, never let the fact that you're an overseas member stop you from having a perfectly legitimate opinion about anything here on the Forum, any subject. As Maggi pointed out elsewhere, up to half the members are from overseas (from Scotland) and the wellbeing of the club and society affect us too. After all, we too pay our subs. And just look at the number of posts under my name! Maybe the further away we are, the more mouthy we are?

[Doreen Mear]

Doreen, I promise my comment or rather the example I gave re photos in two or more classes, wasn't directed at you personally. Far from it. The SH and Australian classes along with Iris, are the only ones I've looked at so far. I'll get to the others time permitting. But i've felt the same in previous shows. It was just that in those two classes - with fine plants/photos - I had hoped maybe Steve and Doug and Toolie, all great photograpghers and growers might also have had entries. I don't do natives very well myself, or perhaps would have had a go. Anyway, so long as the two or more rule stands, why not make use of it? I still hope it may be changed though.

That's OK, Lesley, but point taken, I'm watching my bed of Oxalis massoniana and will take its photo for the Southern Hemisphere class as soon as it puts its head above the parapet any time now! And if it's not up to scratch, I'll just photograph the Myosotis from two different angles for next year so it's not as obvious it's the same plant!  Now, what to substitute for my multiple entries of Androsace spinulifera ... 

Yes, would be good if you and the guys joined in and showcased some of our plants there too - and we don't have to stop at natives, we could aim for world domination (apart from dionysias maybe!)   

[ronm]

I haven't put any quotations in here, Lesley, because I would be quoting everything you just said! Absolutely 'hit the nail on the head', I couldn't agree with you more. Spoken from the heart,

[ranunculus]

I live with someone who, once he opens his mouth to speak absolutely insists I don't open mine, whether to agree, disagree, or even show the slightest interest. I am always made to feel as if I'm on the end of a lecture. In the finish I usually say nothing at all even afterwards. It's as if I live in the presence of a long and frequently irrelevant non sequitur for which there just IS no answer and all conversational leads are killed.

Spoken with love, irony or venom?  

[Lesley Cox]

Or all of the above.

[raydrew]

Many thanks to Martin Rogerson who, true to his word, brought this thread to
my attention.  I must start by saying that I don't like forums; the written
word can be interpreted in a number of different ways by a number of
different people, without the chance to explain any misconceptions perceived
- apologies in advance.

As AGS Director of Shows its down to me, amongst other things, to try to
make the 'On-line' show as enjoyable and accessible as possible - emphasis
on enjoyable - the sad thing is that I now feel I need to defend certain
rulings of the show, along with the AGS as a society because of one or two
postings from forumists who would have done better to contact me directly to
discuss their mostly valid comments -. Some extremely sweeping statements,
especially those concerning peoples 'views' of the AGS are being made
(serial AGS knockers, take note)  but again, I cannot counter those without
appearing aggressive on a shared forum site - without the 'heads-up' I too
would have been denied the basic 'right to reply' which seemed central to
one of the earlier postings.

Back to the main issue - One point which seems to stand out is the 'same
image in multiple classes', I know several people have said they don't like
it but why? No tangible reasons are given. Not only does it, in a totally
practical way, increases the number of images in the show ( I have to cater
for non-exhibitors and 'lurkers' as well) but why can't the best ' one pan
rock plant in flower', 'one pan bulbous plant', 'one pan from Australasia',
'one pan grown from seed'  be the same plant? - It's the practical
physicality of staging these exhibits together at a 'real' show that stops
it from happening there. The other stand out comment is the need to see the
whole plant - this is just one of those rules that became necessary. It's
very difficult /impossible to judge the quality of an 'exhibit' with less
than the whole thing being viewable. We all have lobp-sided plants, those
that flower in clumps rather than evenly, dead foliage etc. by showing as
much of the plant as possible it makes it easier (not precise) to tell a
well grown plant from a photographically pleasing one (you still have the
chance to hide the 'dead-bit' at the back!). Lighting used to enhance the
effect may be visually pleasing but doesn't make a very easily grown plant
any more difficult to cultivate and that is what should be the basis of the
judgement.

 

Please feel free to contact me directly if you wish to discuss any of the
points above.

 

 <mailto:Ray.drew@agsgroups.org> ray.drew@agsgroups.org

[Maggi Young]

A warm welcome  to you Ray: it is refreshing to have your authoritative input.

[Lesley Cox]

I have emailed Ray, mainly about the more then one class for a single image issue. It seems to me that the same image x 4 lessens the variety of the show even tho' it may enhance the numerical entries. Most of us take more than one image of a single plant so those could be used even if we can't find another suitable plant to photograph.

Good to have input from the Director of Shows, whose job surely is not an easy one.

[Maggi Young]

Re-posting this here for Lesley

I can't remember where we were discussing the AGS Online show some weeks ago but for some reason I associate it with this thread. Maybe they were running at the same time. Perhaps you could redirect this Maggi, if you think it's worth it.

During the course of the discussion, Ray Drew who was involved with the Online show, suggested that anyone who wished could get in touch with him personally and he gave his email link for this purpose. I had the impression that he didn't like that the show was being discussed at all. I did email him and wrote of my concerns, mainly to do with the inclusion of a single photo used as an entry in several classes. I wrote clearly, calmly and very politely. I have had no reply or any acknowledgment.