What makes a good bonsai club?

[sorce]

Where's @Coach ?

It's no harder to form a plan for a good club meeting, than it is to plan a good practice....not everyone is a superstar.

It takes strong honest leaders.....

Right now.....we're fighting some more theifs on the youth baseball circuit....
Allegedly running off with $600 of our money. Already police and lawyers involved.

I might go to Jail over this one!

Sorce

 

[Andrew Robson]

Hmmm, nobody mentioned putting on shows.

A good club not only shares what bonsai is to their members, they share bonsai with the general public. Putting on a show is a lot of work, but can be really beneficial if done right. Bonsai shows can be really successful in high traffic areas. The Cup was a great success for the non-bonsai crowd because it was held in a popular downtown venue. Most clubs that I can think of have an annual show. A great club tries to make that show better every year.

My father is president of the Bonsai Society of Greater St. Louis. Every year they put on a bonsai show at the Missouri Botanical Garden during their annual Japanese Festival. Because it is lined up with a very popular event in St. Louis, they get tens of thousands of people moving through the show each year. This year, about 40 new people attended the meeting after the show.

 

[Ironbeaver]

Mentored / guided nursery trips. Show people what to look for. Stop them from buying cheap crap before they buy it,

 

[jk_lewis]

mainly answering questions that people have.

Like . . . How old is that tree?

 

[JudyB]

This year, about 40 new people attended the meeting after the show.

Member numbers are not all important. Quality is. Too many clubs I think focus on getting member numbers up instead of improvement. I suppose it's good for the coffers... but sometimes, these become social clubs more than bonsai clubs.

 

[sorce]

How bout starting with a good motto....

Like.....

Saving you from the Mistakes we've made.

Or....

We kill shitty trees!

This all hinges on a lot of BS.
Gotta figure out individuals.

Gotta determine the meetings outcome....
What you wish to ACCOMPLISH....
not just what you will do.

Sorce

 

[sorce]

This all hinges on a lot of BS.

By this I mean....

Interestingly, the French bonzo boys have really dabbled in this stuff differently. They have actually codified the teaching of bonsai within French Federation of Bonsai. There are tested level you must reach (Levels 1-3) to be able to "coach" --this is a whole system, while still quite Japanified, that is rigorous and unique. These are serious folks and I am sure that nothing like this could exist in the US due to capitalistic and egotistic forces.

Good point worth cross posting!
Thanks Crust!

Sorce

 

[Andrew Legg]

L

That reminds me, a "New Member Liason" type person to talk to new members before the weird person does.

LOL. That's gold, ha ha.

 

[jriddell88]

Did someone say beer ......lots of beer

 

[grouper52]

Others' milage may vary, but I've not been impressed with the several bonsai clubs I've attended or belonged to over the years. Politics trump most everything else, and the ranking of positions within the hierarchy seem to correlate with mediocrity more than anything else.

For me, what has worked is periodically getting together for an afternoon with a few friends of talent and open-mindedness, at their place or mine, focusing in perhaps on some choice inspirational beverages, and working on or merely shooting the sh*t over whatever trees they have or that others brought, or even just sitting among or walking amidst the trees while we enjoy topics completely unrelated to bonsai. Probably too simply enjoyable for many who take it all much more seriously, but it works for me.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

Booze and loose chicks...

You want them to be a little hard to get. Right?
Least now I know to bring some with me to the meetings. I'll have to start wearing low cut shirts and drop the wire a couple times.

 

[Dav4]

You want them to be a little hard to get. Right?
Least now I know to bring some with me to the meetings. I'll have to start wearing low cut shirts and drop the wire a couple times.

Now we're getting somewhere if you ask me...

 

[sorce]

Maybe a club dance?

drop the wire

I thought that was a dance...

Like....
Hit the Quan!

Sorce

 

[amcoffeegirl]

Maybe a club dance?



I thought that was a dance...

Like....
Hit the Quan!

Sorce

I know I'll tell my girlfriends come on we're going to the club.
They will be like - where the hell are we?

 

[sorce]

They will be like - where the hell are we?

Lol. Short skirts and short trees....

Unfortunately(for yall).....that list Probly goes on!

Sorce

 

[amcoffeegirl]

Lol. Short skirts and short trees....

Unfortunately(for yall).....that list Probly goes on!

Sorce

Then the wives won't let em go to bonsai club anymore.
It'll just be us girls.
That would be bad.
Better just stick to wearing turtlenecks

 

[sorce]

It'll just be us girls.

And Dav4! Lol.....

Sorce

 

[Adair M]

You want them to be a little hard to get. Right?
Least now I know to bring some with me to the meetings. I'll have to start wearing low cut shirts and drop the wire a couple times.

If you drop the wire, make sure it's not copper wire! You can drop all the aluminum you want.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

If you drop the wire, make sure it's not copper wire! You can drop all the aluminum you want.

I know- Just the little pieces.

 

[jk_lewis]

Our club's new Pres. will be using this as a text for classes and DIY workshops: http://www.bonsai-bsf.com/magazine/intermediate_bonsai.pdf

It is well worth the time to download and print. I've used it for years.