> Victor - you have waited only 5 weeks for your first issue? I sent a
> check in November - which apparently was lost. I sent another check in
> January for current dues and 2 years back issues - and all I've received
> is some computer printout saying I'm soon to be a member. I have no idea
> how many more months before issues begin arriving.
>
> To the new officers of the ICPS, Victor and I say - kindly get your act
> together!
I believe Kevin Snively that is on vacation (ICPS treasurer), so I will
respond in his place.
We have already significant streamlined the ICPS subscription/mailinglist
system. The business office was transferred from Fullerton to Kevin
around February of this year. Hopefully you sent your check directly to
Kevin. If not, then there will be a several week delay for Leo to bundle up
the letters and forward them. After Kevin processes your check, he
sends the updated mailing list to Steve Baker to do the mailing. I
apologize for any confusion or delay that has occurred as a result of
this reorganization. From this point on, we should be significantly
more responsive.
Back issues are handled by Tom Johnson, and may be delayed both by
forwarding, and by Tom's volunteer schedule. For fast turn-around, back
issue requests should be sent directly to Tom.
If you send your mail to the *wrong* place, it may take awhile to get
processed. For example, if you send Seedbank requests to Fullerton,
they will sit for a week until Leo sends a bundle off to Kevin. Kevin
will then take a week to send a bundle to Tom, whose P.O. box is actually
handled by Gordon Snelling. Gordon may take a few days to get it to
Tom. All told, you will incur several weeks of mailing and processing time.
This is all avoided if you send your mail to the *correct* address.
A notice in a future CPN will clarify where to send new mail. If in
doubt, look at the inside front cover of CPN for the current policy.
Here is a quick summary:
Back Issues: Send to Tom J.
Seedbank: Send to Tom J.
New Subs/Renewals: Send to Kevin S.
Children's Letters: Send to Marybeth Song at Fullerton
Editorial Submission: Send to ICPS c/o Fullerton Arboretum
Kevin has been working 20 hours a week to computerize the mailing list
and accounting ledger. Because our non-profit status does not allow us
to carry over money from year to year, we are forced to only offer
1-year subscriptions. At the beginning of each year, Kevin has to
process over 800 checks. As you can imagine, this takes a few weeks of
work. We will be looking into ways of legally offering multi-year
subscriptions to reduce Kevin's workload, if this is possible under our
non-profit status.
Our goal is to significantly decrease your confusion. The printout you
received is a new change in this direction. This is supposed to give
you *positive* verification that you have been processed. If you have
received a postcard, or printout, you are *definitely* in the membership
database. Sit tight, don't worry, you *will* receive the next issue
*when* it is printed.
Because the newsletter is a quarterly publication, it may be up to 4
months from the time you receive your postcard until the time you
receive your first newsletter. This is not our fault. This is simply
the fact that the newsletter is only published 3 or 4 times a year.
Please be patient.
Although the ICPS is run totally with volunteer labor, our committment
is to be as professional and as prompt as possible. If you have any
suggestions or complaints about the current system, we are happy to
receive (and act on) your comments.
Best regards,
-- Rick Walker (ICPS president)