Date: Sat, 9 Oct 1999 21:40:24 +0930 From: Brian Denton <bdenton@camtech.net.au> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg3496$foo@default> Subject: Re: ACPS
>> What's the word on the Australian CP Society? Is it worth
joining for >> someone living in the States? >> Thanks, >> Bryan >
>Excuse my bias but, VCPS is bigger, we produce a quarterly journal,
and we >have a number of overseas members including number of
Japanese members >(plus members as far away as England). Most of
our information centres on >growing plants in local conditions which
are very good for almost >everything, if you have a hot house, a
shade house and an open area, so it >may not always be relevant to
you. Our seed bank is usually well stocked >with local and foreign
seed and you get discount at Triffid Park (although >I don't know if
this applies to overseas orders).It all depends >on what you want to
get out of your membership. I do know that a lot of >their members
have been happier with VCPS, partly because we are a fairly >relaxed
bunch who have no love of politics and we have better shows (not
>that that is any help to you, unless like our Japanese members you
choose >to fly to Melbourne to attend it). > >Regards > >Mark T.
Bachelor
I'm perplexed that Mark Batchelor should be so bold as to quote as
fact, something which is grossly inaccurate and whilst not
suggesting bigger is better, it's difficult to determine what
criteria Mark used to establish that the VCPS is "bigger".
I submit the following data, current as of today.
The ACPS has 248 financial members which suggests it's larger than
the other three CP societies from this region combined and one of
the larger CP societies worldwide.
At present the ACPS has members from the following overseas
countries.
Argentina Belgium Bermuda Brazil Canada Czech Rep. England France
Germany Hong Kong Italy Japan Korea New Zealand Norway Singapore
South Africa Switzerland Taiwan Thailand The Netherlands USA Wales
In the most recent VCPS journal (June 1999) their President Peter
Anderson says "There are over 90 members in the V.C.P.S. and if
each one of us just wrote one small article\212\212."
Mark, a member of the VCPS Committee, must surely know how many
members they have, so I can only assume he knows little or nothing
about the ACPS.
The VCPS journal is a good product produced by a Society which
certainly has something to contribute. However, the ACPS also
produces a quality 'quarterly' journal and we are fortunate (as
quoted by Stefan Wolf) to frequently have contributions from people
like Charles Clarke and Allen Lowrie. We don't think it appropriate
to include summaries of our last three general meetings in each
issue as the VCPS does, although some members may prefer that type
of information. We do manage to get our quarterly journal out on
time which the VCPS has been struggling to do of late. They
included an apology in the latest issue which was some two months
late. Whilst we all appreciate the difficulty in getting suitable
information for publication the ACPS has not had to use repeat
articles from previous issues for several years. In contrast
(according to their editor) the VCPS had to resort to reprinting
quality articles from earlier editions in their most recent issue,
due to lack of material.
A few more points about the ACPS; The ACPS was the first CP society
anywhere to accept payment by credit card and we are still are the
only Australian CP Society with credit card facilities. Our range
of CP books although dwindling at present is almost as good as the
fantastic discounts we offer members and our Seed Bank always
carries as much seed as any of the other CP societies in this
hemisphere. Although always in need of updating, our Web Pages are
the only ones available from CP societies in this part of the world
at the present time. The ACPS sends copies of it's journal to all
of the major libraries in Australia and many media personalities and
magazines, free of charge, in order to promote CP as widely as
possible. The ACPS provides an index of journal articles (1982-96)
free of charge to all members. That index is currently being
updated and from January 99 all members will again receive a free
copy, covering 1982-99.
If you want to visit some of the largest producers and wholesalers
of CP in Australia then by all means go to Melbourne and visit
Triffid Park and Collectors Corner. If you want to see the best
range of CP available anywhere in the World visit south-west Western
Australia (we can supply some excellent contacts). If you can't
make it to either but want the best of what you can get out of
Australia then join the ACPS.
Each of the three Australian CP societies has something to offer its
members so before joining write to each of them and after receiving
their responses make up your mind if you want to belong to any, or
all of them.
Please Mark, let's not start a slanging match but focus on promoting
the plants we all love and admire and let's get our facts right
before making rash statements.
Best wishes
Brian
Brian Denton Secretary Australian Carnivorous Plant Society Tel/Fax
61-8-82645974 (International) Tel/Fax 08 82645974 (Australia) email
<bdenton@camtech.net.au> WWW http://www.camtech.net.au/acps
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