We should be careful, though, because how involved is Dave in SFBAAPS
these days? Dave and Tom don't have the best working relationship either.
I'm tempted to beleive Dave in this case based on what I know about Tom.
I know that. But I had heard from other sources too that SFBAAP had seen
some serious "down-sizing" in the past few years. From what Dave said, the
guy in charge now is a nice, mellow, low-key person who lets the club cook
along on an even keel, but is far from visionary. These are qualities that
could be good or bad, depending on where/how he is used.
Dave is concerned that SFAS is really in bad shape organizationally and in
terms of membership numbers at the moment. Of course, they have so much
money that they can afford to make a LOT of mistakes, and in the end they
will probably be OK. But Dave said that the current administration is far
from uniformly accepted by the members, and there is actually a
counter-current e-mail list called the "evolution" (because it felt "nicer"
than "revolution<g>) that chats regularly. Their biggest challenge seems to
be a MAJOR drop-off in membership due to a lack of a permanent meeting place
after the Aquarium closed. This is similar to the news I heard from Ray
about SFAS at the convention, though Ray was not so sure that they were
financially sound either. (I think Ray is probably wrong, there)
I don't know much about the other clubs Tom mentioned except that Dave said
the killie group knows (and has as much interest) about plants about as much
as most killie people do... that Java moss grows even under occasional flash
light use.<g>
I think I'm on exactly the same page as the rest of you, namely that Tom
may need to be shown that the convention chair must be able to follow lots
of threads simultaneously, can lead, and can organize. Not to mention
communicate effectively. There's a lot of good potential with these three
clubs, but it could be seriously !@*$'d up if not done right.
Monterey (a.k.a. "Money-terey") is not going to be a cheap or easy place
to hold a convention, btw. It's several hours' drive from the SF area on
a small road. But it's a great place to hold a day field trip where you
just drop people off and let them do what they want.
Actually, although the distance from SF is an obvious transportation problem
to be dealt with, Dave seems to feel (and he was actually quoting me rates
from some tour deals he's worked out for another group he's involved with)
that the rates in Monterey are considerably LOWER than SF, and that we will
likely be able to get room rates for less than we paid in DC. (though how
that translates into a total package, I know not) He has also been checking
into the cost of flights from various locations across the country right
into Monterey, to compare with going just to SF.
Karen
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