Interest in bonsai societies?

[DaveNuts]

I find myself on the committee of my local bonsai society after just a few years in the hobby. Membership is declining and has been for a while, and I'd like to reverse the trend.
This starts with understanding what bonsai-minded people want out of a society, where societies can fit in with people's packed schedules and short attention spans, and what benefits a society brings that cannot be replicated online in forums such as this one.

Below are some questions which I hope, with enough response, will shed light on the situation. Maybe this can help more than just my local society!

1) how long have you been practicing bonsai?
2) is your tree collection growing, shrinking, non-existent, or revolving door?
3) are you currently a member of a bonsai society?
4) if you used to be a member, but no longer are, why not?
5) what do you dislike about bonsai society meetings?
6) if you are a member, what do you like about meetings?
7) what's stopping you being more involved in your bonsai society?

 

[DaveNuts]

I'll start...
1) I've been interested in bonsai for about 4 years
2) a rapidly growing collection of seedlings, cuttings, and experiments that might make decent bonsai one day
3) yes
4) n/a
5) meetings can feel very repetitive. After just two years I feel it, so some of the long time members must feel like it's groundhog day. There always seems to be one person that's utterly convinced about something, despite being wrong, and spreading incorrect information. Meetings also feel like they're stuck in the past, and based on tradition.
6) I like seeing other members trees, which tend to be far more refined than mine. The monthly raffle is always interesting, I'd love to see more unique items in there though. Sharing seedlings and cuttings among members is fun. I also enjoy workshops, especially those where everybody starts with similar nursery stock and creates something different.
7) I wish I had more time, running any kind of club takes a lot of dedication.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

This starts with understanding what bonsai-minded people want out of a society

You forgot to ask this single most important question

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

1) For about 7 years now.
2) growing.
3) I am not.
4) n/a
5) I've never been to a meeting because all bonsai clubs are too far out of my range.
6) I've been to the trophy, I like demonstrations and chitchat about trees.
7) Distance, mostly. And knowing if it's worth it, meaning that it can benefit me and my trees. If we're going to spend half a day discussing maples, I'll decline. I would like it if clubs posted a schedule saying something like "Every uneven month is conifer time, every even month is deciduous.". I'd happily pay a full year contribution and only visit the conifer meetings.
Clubs, from what I've seen are barely informing their audience and members about what they're doing and if they do, it's a members-only newsletter. That means you can walk into a club barbecue and not know that it was going on.
Get rid of the "We do this because we always do it like this" vibe and let members and the board acknowledge that the current workings aren't very welcoming to the public.
I remember walking into a bonsai club and getting a staredown as if I was walking around naked. I felt unwelcome and uneasy with 12 guys staring at me when I walked through the gate.

Fun activities for families would be one I want to suggest: propagation station, bring your wife and kids and plant a bunch of cuttings.
Bring your kid to bonsai, build a tree together.

But most of all: we have the internet nowadays, it tells me how to care and how to wire. Going to a club will have to have that extra dimension to it that makes me want to endure people. Getting the right people also makes all the difference. An old grumpy dude might make the best trees ever! But the interaction itself will just make me pack my stuff and never return. I'd much rather sit with a person who isn't as good, but softer on the teaching. Clubs can train people on how to give and receive feedback, give 'em a nice lil certificate for completing the training and allow them to teach. It should make the whole club a nice place to be. And if it's a nice place to be, it will attract more people and with more people the whole level of the club can elevate as a whole.

I've seen the discussion before where a choice had to be made: Go for the highest quality output but fewer members, or for the highest volume of output with more members.
People assume that a higher volume translates to a dent in quality, I don't believe that.

 

[Gabler]

1) how long have you been practicing bonsai?
2) is your tree collection growing, shrinking, non-existent, or revolving door?
3) are you currently a member of a bonsai society?
4) if you used to be a member, but no longer are, why not?
5) what do you dislike about bonsai society meetings?
6) if you are a member, what do you like about meetings?
7) what's stopping you being more involved in your bonsai society?

You forgot to ask this single most important question

1. That's a tough one to answer. I started killing trees by shoving them in pots when I was in middle school, but I've really only been "practicing bonsai" for about four years now.
2. My collection is growing, but I plan to cull a large number of plants grown from seed that lack potential.
3. Yes, I belong to a club.
4. Not applicable. I still belong to a club.
5. Most members of my club are practicing at a beginner level (myself included), and I'd like to see some higher-level discourse in order to advance my skill level.
6. Forums are a great source of information, but a club gives me a better idea of what people are doing locally.
7. I was asked to serve a term as club president, but I turned it down on account of my new baby at home.
8. Bonsai is not a team sport, but clubs add a social component.

 

[Michael P]

1) how long have you been practicing bonsai?
2) is your tree collection growing, shrinking, non-existent, or revolving door?
3) are you currently a member of a bonsai society?
4) if you used to be a member, but no longer are, why not?
5) what do you dislike about bonsai society meetings?
6) if you are a member, what do you like about meetings?
7) what's stopping you being more involved in your bonsai society?

1. 50 years, including many decades of abject ignorance.
2. Stable and shrinking slightly as I concentrate on my better trees.
3. Yes, Bonsai Society of Dallas (BSD) is an excellent club with a wide range of skill levels and interests.
4. NA
5. Amazingly almost nothing! BSD does a great job of keeping club business short and sweet. The programs are always well organized and interesting.
6. There are always members present who know so much more than I do and share their knowledge generously. There are always beginners who I love to encourage.
7. Life circumstances, I am sole caregiver for a disabled person.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

1) how long have you been practicing bonsai? 30 years.
2) is your tree collection growing, shrinking, non-existent, or revolving door? Steady and probably needs to shrink a little.
3) are you currently a member of a bonsai society? yes, but not active…used to be VP, show chair, main POC, very active.
4) if you used to be a member, but no longer are, why not? Time, and our priorities began to diverge.
5) what do you dislike about bonsai society meetings? Repetitive covering of elementary topics, petty mindset of a few members.
6) if you are a member, what do you like about meetings? Haven’t been to a meeting in a few years.
7) what's stopping you being more involved in your bonsai society? Don’t have time to contribute, but don’t get much from attending.

When I was involved, and at times was extremely involved, here are some of the biggest challenges I faced and addressed:

1. Topics that interest the full spectrum, from beginners to seasoned enthusiasts. Lowest-common-denominator items get worn out, such as seasonal work on pines, juniper care, feeding, pest control, repotting, soil, pinching/pruning/wiring. Best to limit those to every other month or once a quarter, and do them at seasonally-appropriate times. Repotting should be a March topic, for example.

2. Finding people willing to give their time and talent. A draft of sorts becomes necessary: directly approaching people and ask them to speak on the topic they’re most passionate about, and it shows. Avoid people who talk and don’t listen and have low-quality trees. They’re rampant in club settings. Peter Warren had a great saying: “There are people who practice bonsai for 30 years, and people who practice bonsai for 1 year, 30 times over”. Don’t enlist people who are in that latter category to teach, as eager as they often are to share.

3. Getting a clear vision and commitment from the board/leadership about club goals and objectives, and then budget accordingly. If they want to increase membership, set a number goal, and then do activities to attract new people. Do a mini-show at the garden center, have a few give-aways budgeted. If you want to keep the veterans engaged, you’ll probably need to bring the big names in for workshops. When I was active, I booked Bjorn, Peter Warren, Colin Lewis, Owen Reich, Rodney Clemons, and Bonsai Crazy. There are semi-local pros, which is fine for the new people, but the names will draw the new people and the experienced people.

4. Our club does lecture-type meetings, and then Saturday workshops where members gather to work on trees, usually getting help from the experienced people. As much as I enjoyed this, I ended up helping others and then wouldn’t get work done on my own trees. It is critical to have HANDS-ON work time.

5. You’ll need to have shows and show & tell events to give experienced people a chance to bring nice trees, and new people a chance to see “real” bonsai up close and personal. Encourage every member to bring trees monthly to a show & tell, maybe even create a theme for these.

6. Display concepts matter if your club is putting on an annual show; and it should. These shows give people something to work toward with their own trees. Spend time talking about prepping trees, pot pairing, accent plants, stands, spatial concepts. These two ideas perpetuate each other nicely.

7. Soil is a big deal. When a club in general shifts away from bad products and toward better media, the quality improves noticeably. It was evident in shows. Clubs can use purchasing power to buy in quantity and even raise a little money by purchasing pallets of akadama, lava, pumice, etc. at bulk prices and up charging a couple bucks a bag for the club coffers. That money can help offset the cost of bigger name artist workshops.

8. Swap meets are also great ways to engage members at all levels. New people are always wanting to buy, and experienced people always have something to sell.

9. Grappling with the “checkbook bonsai” mindset. Just like everywhere else, you experience people at a wide range of financial means. Don’t let it become a bitter point for those who can’t or choose not to spend $10k on a tree. You might have to set up a different classification in a judged show, but these highest quality trees should be encouraging to everyone. It’s really sad when that’s not the case.

10. If you’re investing your time and talent into a club, you should get some benefit from that as well. When I did get involved heavily, I had 3 goals, which enriched the club broadly and me personally: world-class artist workshops, bulk soil purchases, and professionally-judged shows.

Good luck, it’s a noble effort for which you’ll likely be criticized highly and thanked minimally.

 

[BrianBay9]

1) how long have you been practicing bonsai? 20 years.
2) is your tree collection growing, shrinking, non-existent, or revolving door? Shrinking. Letting go of crap, and squirrels culling the herd.
3) are you currently a member of a bonsai society? yes
4) if you used to be a member, but no longer are, why not? NA
5) what do you dislike about bonsai society meetings? Repetitive covering of elementary topics.
6) if you are a member, what do you like about meetings? see below
7) what's stopping you being more involved in your bonsai society?

What do I want out of a club/society?
Mostly I want to get regular critiques on my developing trees from experienced members. I find that a visiting professional doesn't have time to give critiques on more than a few trees so it ends up being a lottery for whose trees are critiqued.
I like club sales and auctions.
I like bulk supply purchases.
I like prepping for the club show.
I like workshops. Unlike @Brian Van Fleet I'm selfish enough to work on my own trees first, and help with others as I can.

I get a lot out of volunteering to help with the GSBF Clark collection, but I still try to get to most club meetings.

 

[coachspinks]

I find myself on the committee of my local bonsai society after just a few years in the hobby. Membership is declining and has been for a while, and I'd like to reverse the trend.
This starts with understanding what bonsai-minded people want out of a society, where societies can fit in with people's packed schedules and short attention spans, and what benefits a society brings that cannot be replicated online in forums such as this one.

Below are some questions which I hope, with enough response, will shed light on the situation. Maybe this can help more than just my local society!

1) how long have you been practicing bonsai?
2) is your tree collection growing, shrinking, non-existent, or revolving door?
3) are you currently a member of a bonsai society?
4) if you used to be a member, but no longer are, why not?
5) what do you dislike about bonsai society meetings?
6) if you are a member, what do you like about meetings?
7) what's stopping you being more involved in your bonsai society?

1) 7+ years this time, 5 years in the 80s too.
2) Shrinking but improving the quality at the same time
3) I am - Atlanta
4) N/A
5) nothing really
6) The chance to talk to other Bonsai practitioners and learn from them. I think this is one of the keys, giving new comers to the hobby the chance to learn from people like them who just happen to have a lot more experience.
7) Atlanta traffic!! With no traffic, meetings are about a 40 minute drive, with typical traffic, add 30+ minutes. I'm close to retirement so I'm hoping to become more involved regardless of travel time.

 

[DaveNuts]

You forgot to ask this single most important question

Of course!
I dont see a way to edit from my phone. Several of the replies have answered this, but it would be great if I can add it to the original post.

 

[DaveNuts]

1) For about 7 years now.
2) growing.
3) I am not.
4) n/a
5) I've never been to a meeting because all bonsai clubs are too far out of my range.
6) I've been to the trophy, I like demonstrations and chitchat about trees.
7) Distance, mostly. And knowing if it's worth it, meaning that it can benefit me and my trees. If we're going to spend half a day discussing maples, I'll decline. I would like it if clubs posted a schedule saying something like "Every uneven month is conifer time, every even month is deciduous.". I'd happily pay a full year contribution and only visit the conifer meetings.
Clubs, from what I've seen are barely informing their audience and members about what they're doing and if they do, it's a members-only newsletter. That means you can walk into a club barbecue and not know that it was going on.
Get rid of the "We do this because we always do it like this" vibe and let members and the board acknowledge that the current workings aren't very welcoming to the public.
I remember walking into a bonsai club and getting a staredown as if I was walking around naked. I felt unwelcome and uneasy with 12 guys staring at me when I walked through the gate.

Fun activities for families would be one I want to suggest: propagation station, bring your wife and kids and plant a bunch of cuttings.
Bring your kid to bonsai, build a tree together.

But most of all: we have the internet nowadays, it tells me how to care and how to wire. Going to a club will have to have that extra dimension to it that makes me want to endure people. Getting the right people also makes all the difference. An old grumpy dude might make the best trees ever! But the interaction itself will just make me pack my stuff and never return. I'd much rather sit with a person who isn't as good, but softer on the teaching. Clubs can train people on how to give and receive feedback, give 'em a nice lil certificate for completing the training and allow them to teach. It should make the whole club a nice place to be. And if it's a nice place to be, it will attract more people and with more people the whole level of the club can elevate as a whole.

I've seen the discussion before where a choice had to be made: Go for the highest quality output but fewer members, or for the highest volume of output with more members.
People assume that a higher volume translates to a dent in quality, I don't believe that.

Thanks for taking the time to answer. I think you've hit the nail on the head in that clubs need to adapt to the modern world and get the word out. With so much demand of our attention these days, people don't seem to seek out clubs like they used to.

We've been asked whether we could do a demonstration at a local school and that seems like a great way to get families and youngsters involved.

 

[DaveNuts]

1. That's a tough one to answer. I started killing trees by shoving them in pots when I was in middle school, but I've really only been "practicing bonsai" for about four years now.
2. My collection is growing, but I plan to cull a large number of plants grown from seed that lack potential.
3. Yes, I belong to a club.
4. Not applicable. I still belong to a club.
5. Most members of my club are practicing at a beginner level (myself included), and I'd like to see some higher-level discourse in order to advance my skill level.
6. Forums are a great source of information, but a club gives me a better idea of what people are doing locally.
7. I was asked to serve a term as club president, but I turned it down on account of my new baby at home.
8. Bonsai is not a team sport, but clubs add a social component.

It sounds like the social and climate aspects are important factors, for the intermediate.
Having the experienced members that understand the nuances of their climate can be of great value

 

[DaveNuts]

1. 50 years, including many decades of abject ignorance.
2. Stable and shrinking slightly as I concentrate on my better trees.
3. Yes, Bonsai Society of Dallas (BSD) is an excellent club with a wide range of skill levels and interests.
4. NA
5. Amazingly almost nothing! BSD does a great job of keeping club business short and sweet. The programs are always well organized and interesting.
6. There are always members present who know so much more than I do and share their knowledge generously. There are always beginners who I love to encourage.
7. Life circumstances, I am sole caregiver for a disabled person.

It's great to hear there are societies out there that are thriving. It would be great to hear about how else BSD keeps things fresh.

 

[DaveNuts]

1) how long have you been practicing bonsai? 30 years.
2) is your tree collection growing, shrinking, non-existent, or revolving door? Steady and probably needs to shrink a little.
3) are you currently a member of a bonsai society? yes, but not active…used to be VP, show chair, main POC, very active.
4) if you used to be a member, but no longer are, why not? Time, and our priorities began to diverge.
5) what do you dislike about bonsai society meetings? Repetitive covering of elementary topics, petty mindset of a few members.
6) if you are a member, what do you like about meetings? Haven’t been to a meeting in a few years.
7) what's stopping you being more involved in your bonsai society? Don’t have time to contribute, but don’t get much from attending.

When I was involved, and at times was extremely involved, here are some of the biggest challenges I faced and addressed:

1. Topics that interest the full spectrum, from beginners to seasoned enthusiasts. Lowest-common-denominator items get worn out, such as seasonal work on pines, juniper care, feeding, pest control, repotting, soil, pinching/pruning/wiring. Best to limit those to every other month or once a quarter, and do them at seasonally-appropriate times. Repotting should be a March topic, for example.

2. Finding people willing to give their time and talent. A draft of sorts becomes necessary: directly approaching people and ask them to speak on the topic they’re most passionate about, and it shows. Avoid people who talk and don’t listen and have low-quality trees. They’re rampant in club settings. Peter Warren had a great saying: “There are people who practice bonsai for 30 years, and people who practice bonsai for 1 year, 30 times over”. Don’t enlist people who are in that latter category to teach, as eager as they often are to share.

3. Getting a clear vision and commitment from the board/leadership about club goals and objectives, and then budget accordingly. If they want to increase membership, set a number goal, and then do activities to attract new people. Do a mini-show at the garden center, have a few give-aways budgeted. If you want to keep the veterans engaged, you’ll probably need to bring the big names in for workshops. When I was active, I booked Bjorn, Peter Warren, Colin Lewis, Owen Reich, Rodney Clemons, and Bonsai Crazy. There are semi-local pros, which is fine for the new people, but the names will draw the new people and the experienced people.

4. Our club does lecture-type meetings, and then Saturday workshops where members gather to work on trees, usually getting help from the experienced people. As much as I enjoyed this, I ended up helping others and then wouldn’t get work done on my own trees. It is critical to have HANDS-ON work time.

5. You’ll need to have shows and show & tell events to give experienced people a chance to bring nice trees, and new people a chance to see “real” bonsai up close and personal. Encourage every member to bring trees monthly to a show & tell, maybe even create a theme for these.

6. Display concepts matter if your club is putting on an annual show; and it should. These shows give people something to work toward with their own trees. Spend time talking about prepping trees, pot pairing, accent plants, stands, spatial concepts. These two ideas perpetuate each other nicely.

7. Soil is a big deal. When a club in general shifts away from bad products and toward better media, the quality improves noticeably. It was evident in shows. Clubs can use purchasing power to buy in quantity and even raise a little money by purchasing pallets of akadama, lava, pumice, etc. at bulk prices and up charging a couple bucks a bag for the club coffers. That money can help offset the cost of bigger name artist workshops.

8. Swap meets are also great ways to engage members at all levels. New people are always wanting to buy, and experienced people always have something to sell.

9. Grappling with the “checkbook bonsai” mindset. Just like everywhere else, you experience people at a wide range of financial means. Don’t let it become a bitter point for those who can’t or choose not to spend $10k on a tree. You might have to set up a different classification in a judged show, but these highest quality trees should be encouraging to everyone. It’s really sad when that’s not the case.

10. If you’re investing your time and talent into a club, you should get some benefit from that as well. When I did get involved heavily, I had 3 goals, which enriched the club broadly and me personally: world-class artist workshops, bulk soil purchases, and professionally-judged shows.

Good luck, it’s a noble effort for which you’ll likely be criticized highly and thanked minimally.

Thanks for being so generous with your advice Brian. Especially the comforting words at the end!
I'll share this thread with our committee, hopefully it generates some enthusiasm!

 

[DaveNuts]

1) how long have you been practicing bonsai? 20 years.
2) is your tree collection growing, shrinking, non-existent, or revolving door? Shrinking. Letting go of crap, and squirrels culling the herd.
3) are you currently a member of a bonsai society? yes
4) if you used to be a member, but no longer are, why not? NA
5) what do you dislike about bonsai society meetings? Repetitive covering of elementary topics.
6) if you are a member, what do you like about meetings? see below
7) what's stopping you being more involved in your bonsai society?

What do I want out of a club/society?
Mostly I want to get regular critiques on my developing trees from experienced members. I find that a visiting professional doesn't have time to give critiques on more than a few trees so it ends up being a lottery for whose trees are critiqued.
I like club sales and auctions.
I like bulk supply purchases.
I like prepping for the club show.
I like workshops. Unlike @Brian Van Fleet I'm selfish enough to work on my own trees first, and help with others as I can.

I get a lot out of volunteering to help with the GSBF Clark collection, but I still try to get to most club meetings.

Thanks Brian. You've taught me that everyone wants something slightly different. We would be wise to ask this question frequently!

 

[DaveNuts]

1) 7+ years this time, 5 years in the 80s too.
2) Shrinking but improving the quality at the same time
3) I am - Atlanta
4) N/A
5) nothing really
6) The chance to talk to other Bonsai practitioners and learn from them. I think this is one of the keys, giving new comers to the hobby the chance to learn from people like them who just happen to have a lot more experience.
7) Atlanta traffic!! With no traffic, meetings are about a 40 minute drive, with typical traffic, add 30+ minutes. I'm close to retirement so I'm hoping to become more involved regardless of travel time.

Thanks for taking the time to respond. It sounds like your club meets are worth driving 2.5 hours for!

 

[Paradox]

1) how long have you been practicing bonsai?
2) is your tree collection growing, shrinking, non-existent, or revolving door?
3) are you currently a member of a bonsai society?
4) if you used to be a member, but no longer are, why not?
5) what do you dislike about bonsai society meetings?
6) if you are a member, what do you like about meetings?
7) what's stopping you being more involved in your bonsai society?

1) 13 years
2) growing but trying to keep it somewhat constant by upgrading as a whole by getting better trees and giving away lesser ones. Im at the point I need to cull and lower the amount of trees I have and replace with fewer better trees.
3) Member of one club currently, was a member of a second one for two years
4) The second club, while larger was further from my house and was too far for after work meetings. Often wouldnt get home until 11PM which is problematic when having to get up at 5 AM some days
5) Ill agree with what Brian stated. The information is often repeated basic information while important for newer folks, doesnt leave much for more advanced folks to sink their teeth into. Im also one of the more advanced folks in my club in that Im the only one that has went through the expense and time to take classes. I often end up answering questions and helping others to the point I dont get work done on my own trees. I often dont bring a tree to work on because I know it will happen. Ive literally had to tell someone that they need to learn and get comfortable working on their own trees rather than someone else do it for them every time.
6) Seeing what other people are working on
7) The time commitment. I want the time to work on my own trees. They get neglected enough as it is already with day to day things that need to get done. Running a club is a thankless job and not enough people want to or cant commit to what is required.

The club I am in is very small and is more of a bonsai themed social club at this point. We dont have enough funds to bring in people to do demos and we just kind of try to learn from each other along the way.

We had two new people start with us this fall. One stayed and the other, after a couple of meetings said, "I just cant commit at this time".
We dont know if he balked at the annual membership fee which we contribute to pay for the insurance to cover our meetings at the place we meet, he discovered bonsai was a bigger time commitment and/or expense than he thought but I do think those issues are a bigger problem with lack of participation in the hobby. You need time and with everything else in life (job, children, family, house to take care of, etc) its hard to find the time. There has to be a bit of initial investment that costs money and that is also harder for people to find these days.

 

[TomP]

1) how long have you been practicing bonsai? 30 year but to be honest the first ten shouldn't really count
2) is your tree collection growing, shrinking, non-existent, or revolving door? Improving but roughly staying the same general number of finished trees.
3) are you currently a member of a bonsai society? Yes
4) if you used to be a member, but no longer are, why not?
5) what do you dislike about bonsai society meetings? The distance to get to them primarily. Our clubs regular meeting space is not near the center of the population area but it is free to use
6) if you are a member, what do you like about meetings? Camraderie. Always learning new things
7) what's stopping you being more involved in your bonsai society? Nothing now as I am the VP and in charge of programming. But after a few years of this I will need to step back as it is pretty time consuming

I think as other have mentioned from a programming perspective it is tough keep newbies and experienced folks engaged. We try not to rely too heavily on any one or two people to do most of the learning opportunities, and we try to bring in a mix of bigger names and local names for workshops to keep people engaged. We are growing, though not by a lot, but we are very active

 

[The Barber]

I find myself on the committee of my local bonsai society after just a few years in the hobby. Membership is declining and has been for a while, and I'd like to reverse the trend.
This starts with understanding what bonsai-minded people want out of a society, where societies can fit in with people's packed schedules and short attention spans, and what benefits a society brings that cannot be replicated online in forums such as this one.

Below are some questions which I hope, with enough response, will shed light on the situation. Maybe this can help more than just my local society!

1) how long have you been practicing bonsai?
2) is your tree collection growing, shrinking, non-existent, or revolving door?
3) are you currently a member of a bonsai society?
4) if you used to be a member, but no longer are, why not?
5) what do you dislike about bonsai society meetings?
6) if you are a member, what do you like about meetings?
7) what's stopping you being more involved in your bonsai society?

1) how long have you been practicing bonsai?
A year and a half
2) is your tree collection growing, shrinking, non-existent, or revolving door?
Collected 25ish trees so far in the last month, should explain a lot
3) are you currently a member of a bonsai society?
 Yes
4) if you used to be a member, but no longer are, why not?
N/A
5) what do you dislike about bonsai society meetings?
The number of younger members is low, would like to see more young members as they are the future of bonsai.
6) if you are a member, what do you like about meetings?
Our club brings in a lot of professionals, and has a lot of variety in meeting topics, presentations etc. Socializing with other folks who love bonsai, does it get any better than this?
7) what's stopping you being more involved in your bonsai society?
I am quite involved.