Volunteers for Conference committee #2

In consideration of those on dial-up, let's start a new thread. This where we came from:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/791952/#top

This message was edited Dec 12, 2007 1:25 PM

Thank you for starting number two!

Thanks not so slow loading now *S*

Dave stock & willie nelson? someone in TX has to know him? And he is a part of farm aid?

Well, yes he is. Looks as though there will a pretty good number of folks to help bring us together. As if we ourselves were not enough.

I've just been reading through this thread and all the wonderful ideas. My husband belongs to an organization which holds a convention called the Jim Smith FunFest. People named Jim Smith get together once a year in a selected state to have "Fun" so I thought you might consider "Dave's Garden FunFest!"

I also suggest that this first get together be run by and for only DG members. It might be easier if venders came only from our ranks. The Committee could set the fee for them as opposed to a big convention center or Market.
Some members might volunteer to be presenters of workshops or discussion groups and that would save money. Hiring experts is always costly and DG has plenty of its own. It has already been suggested that the member Master Gardeners be called upon to offer their expertise.
For me personally the goal of this big meeting should be to get together with other DG'ers in person (as opposed to our website), share experiences, ideas, and our love of gardening. Opportunities to socialize with each other would be very important to me besides listening to formal presentations.
So I would ask the committee to keep that goal in mind. Workshops are great but a lot of work to plan. In place of workshops per se, consider using the Forums as your base. Pick a few of the really popular Forums (maybe 7-8 or less) and plan meeting times for members interested in those Forums to get together, maybe have a presentation, ask questions, socialize and generally get to know each other. Forums selected should be a combination of Geographical (i.e. Northeastern Gardening) and Special Interest (i.e. Tomatoes). Plan 50 min to an hour for each Forum meeting. Run them concurrently throughout a morning, afternoon or day and repeat them so that members can attend more than one and not miss out. I'm sure it wouldn't be difficult to find people already very active in specific Forums willing to volunteer to run and organize a Forum get together. If this takes off then the next year different Forums could be selected. You could even schedule an "Open Forum" where participants come with topics they would like to discuss with other gardeners.
Another "Workshop" could be panel discussions about key topics that interest all of us such as our Favorite Heirloom Tomatoes, Favorite Composting Techniques, Favorite Sources for Vegetable Seeds, with audience participation. Members can suggest topics to the Committee and hopefully volunteer to lead it.
A Seed Exchange Booth could be fun where we all bring samples and can exchange if we have brought something. One would have to pre-register what was being brought so that the committee could organize the info ahead of time.
Anyway, just some food for thought as I sit here brainstorming away. My best advice is to "keep it simple" the first time because it is an overwhelming task getting something like this off the ground. The bottom line is that we would love to meet each other in an atmosphere of mutual interest! Jessica

Jessica, you are reading my mind. My personal love of people is what started my quest. We will be continually adding these ideas to the list. A "Jim Smith" funfest is great. A meeting with no agenda. How does that work?

Christi

I would love to hear how it works - sounds like we can really use some of the ideas - thanks for posting. Mitch

Dave's has become a family in all of the best connotations. Think like a family reunion without all the baggage.

See I love the family reunion way of looking at it.. it is one big family.

Now we're gettin' somewhere.

I hear ya.

Ok, people, Listen up. The vision is becoming more clear as more and more of you post your ideas, your preferences...just what you are willing to spend travel money on to participate. The how much is still out there. Goal is to keep it very, very low. This is not meant to be a Las Vegas fandango. No way to accomplish it but picture sitting around the fireplace just visiting with your best friends. But then, I have been in hotel lobbies that have multiple fireplaces and conversation areas just everywhere. Or as our family is prone to do, around the table with a good cup of coffee or tea. No rush. No intimidation. Friends passionate about our gardens first off and then all of the other interests that make up who we all are.

Keep those cards and letters comin'.

Lou... Have ya found a field yet? I'll bring a BBQ grill and some charcoal if you'll supply some of them big Texas t-bones from of f the Longhorn cows. : )

Now there is an idea - early spring in Texas outdoors? ummmm but the mud... mind thinking.

I echo Gardadore's thoughts on having Master Gardeners present, but a word on experience. I have been a certified Master Gardener for three years, and prior to that my corporate career actually was in Learning & Development (I have over 4,500 hours of presentations and classes under my belt, all with adults as audiences). From DG experience I can tell you that there are MANY DG people with way more practical knowledge in specific areas than you might find from someone just because they've taken the classes and do the volunteer work for the MG certification. I would be hesitant to offer my knowledge when stacked against some of the practical experience other DG members have, although honored to help them prepare the materials.

I very much like Gardadore's suggestion to use the Forums as the basis for any breakouts we do. We have instant interest, as well as expertise.

dry, I agree with you. Practical knowledge is worth a great deal. Applied knowledge proves what works and what doesn't. But as you also point out, those who have the practical knowledge are often want as to how to share it. I believe this is being played out now in the writers group. Many know what they want to say but need help with those who are proficient as writers to help prepare the articles. More of the examples of the basis of DG. "By Gardeners..for Gardeners"..extrapolated to "By Gardeners..with Gardeners".
I personally have always been stunned by the fact that so many can grow plants of Blue Ribbon quality and yet they are not in competition, more than ready to share any small procedure they used to help others. In that spirit there is no doubt that DG WILL HAVE A GET-TOGETHER of whatever description by XXXX (fooled you, thought I was going to give a date).

Those of you who are lurking and think...oh, my idea is too small to consider...not so. Every single little sentence is worthy and being listened to with great interest.

Keep those cards and letters coming. We are getting closer all the time. Today has presented several revelations.

Dry, you make an excellent point that simply having the "Master Gardener" title does not necessarily make you any more expert than many of the active gardening DG'ers. Then the solution might be to have some of the Forum workshops run in "Teams". Let a Master Gardener team up with another DG'er recognized in that forum as having expertise but perhaps little experience in formal presentations. They could work up a program together with the Master Gardener doing the presentation after they have organized their material! I never meant to infer that only Master Gardeners were qualified to be presenters. Believe me, unfortunately, I know some in this area who have received the title with VERY little practical knowledge. So all DG'ers should be welcome to step forward if they have a topic they would like to present or lead a discussion on! Jessica

Oh Jessica, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that was your intent. I wholeheartedly agree that certification doesn't mean bupkiss without experience and common sense (I'm reminded of some of my classmates........good intentions, but it just plain didn't sink in - like the guy who took a reciprocating saw to one of the three support roots of a mature tree because he thought that since it wasn't a feeder root it wasn't important and he could put that path there anyway!) I really like the idea of team presentations - I have done both solo and team in the past, and the team ones are always much easier to prepare for and conduct. And one of my mantras when I ran those "train the trainer" sessions was there's nothing like teaching that will get you to learn!

Another thing we might consider is a "Brain Bank Discussion" - pick a specific topic and round out 5 or so DG experts and have them sit up on a dais, and have a moderator work the room for questions and to help manage the discussion.

Another thing that might help the presenters is if there is a pool of experienced folk who would be willing to "peer review" their materials, sort of like an intense fact-checking. Odds are the fact-checkers won't find much as the presenters will be very excited about it and detailed on their research, but knowing that safety net is there may help.

Robin

I'm sooooo excited.

Robin,
No problem about the "intent" issue. I just didn't want other readers to get the wrong impression. I love your ideas. You have managed to summarize beautifully and add more detail to my original suggestions. The "Brain Bank Discussion" is very much the kind of thing I had in mind with the panel discussion workshop. That should be very popular and relatively easy to set up. I'm sure there won't be too much trouble finding DG members willing to give input and do peer reviews.
You are on a roll with some very practical ideas for presentations! Jessica

As always, we have had many discussions about the difficulty of *no voice inflection or body language*. Almost always two posters are in full agreement but it is hard to put it in black and white words...and not all words are defined the same from one person to the other. You two keep up the discussion, so much good information is flowing. The committee is all atwitter. hahahaha

Keep those cards and letters coming!

LouC

May I make a suggestion for a possible location? This may sound nuts, but St. Louis is a nice central spot, has great tourist stuff (caves nearby, river stuff, frozen custard, Route 66 - even baseball depending on when this is held), and a fabulous botanical garden. It's within range of a number of DGers, and we may even be able to chat with MOBOT to see if they would be interested in presenting at the First DG US Roundup, or whatever it ends up being called....that would be a feather in their cap!!
Robin

Robin, please suggest any and everything. This is a member driven event. Planned by members for members. All ideas are being considered and are welcomed. Don't ever hesitate to add anything. So thrilled that the enthusiasm is building. Everyone is important. Thank you for the things you have already contributed...and that goes for everyone else as well. There is so much to be done it takes a great number of us. We are all *US*.

Company this weekend and have been really busy. Just taking a look and seems everyone is busy.

Don't forget...

Keep those cards and letters comin'.

bump

Hi LouC :P ... not ignoring you, just digging out! While we're still on the topic of presentations, another thing to consider is handouts. How many of us have been to things where we couldn't get to all the sessions we wanted, but were thankful they had "extra" handouts of their presentation? (And I'm not talking about the PowerPoint slide presentations with pictures and no guts - we would want to have some of those guts from the session in the handouts.) We may want to consider how those will be handled, as well as any kind of a "gimme" that the attendees will get (I know we have tons of cloth bags, but they come in so darned handy to tote notes and stuff - and I am SO TIRED of lugging 3-ring binders around, no matter how small their spine!)

We may also want to set aside a place on DG where folks who couldn't attend would be able to access or download the presentations. There's also a distinct possibility that will then trigger some threads from people who couldn't attend - which may all be directed at the presenter, who might get overwhelmed after the shindig is over. Perhaps we could help those folks by re-directing them to stickies or pre-existing (well-known) posts?

I just now started to think of what kind of activity the event would trigger on DG after it was all over...my head is spinning and I can only imagine how you guys are feeling!

Digging out can be an extreme task and will of course present a challenge - hope all are safe as that is the most important thing.

I think all the ideas have been great!!! Good luck to the team that is sorting thru these ideas!!!

Jeri

Here is another thing to consider. Many are suggesting that we start really small, as in 50-100. Considering the average RU draws 20-50, that seems a little too small to me. I have confidence that more members out of over 330,000 people will be interested in attending. We have 6600+ paid subscribers. Now think small as in only 1%. See where we're going?


Keep those cards and letters coming. The more we discuss, the closer we are to just what it is the majority would like to see come about.

Dave's Garden...By Gardeners for Gardeners....I know it is turned around...that's the very point.

Lou, just a thought, even if 10 thousand are interested in attending (as I am & would want the bring my blushing bride) how many would actually be able to get get there for med or fin limits? We seem to be all for it, but I think the majority are not able to and it could be better used as an enlarged round up, a meet and greet, with people of like minds meeting in face for the first time to discuss ideas and goals that are common in interest.

I don't know - just a ramble.

Hey, rambling is where some of the very best ideas come from. Keep it up.
Have talked to a convention bureau this morning just for some ideas. The how many effects the how much by a great deal. If it were to be the dream of 1000, the price would be very, very low with many amenities from the hotels. Only 50 would something altogether different.

I don't think numbers should be limited. Esp the first year. I think they will limit themselves. Out of 6000 paid subscribers, the majority will not/cannot attend for whatever reason.

I'm a member of the big green egg bbq forum which holds regional events and a national event once a year. I recently attended the national event in Georgia which has been going on 10 years. They had 200 cooks and 1500 attendees. (They cut it off after 1500 signed up.) The vast majority are from the Georgia area and are not even members of the BGE forum.

This past September I organized the first Pacific Northwest Fest for eggers in our area. We had 250 people come from 7 states, including Alaska and Florida. We held it in Washington, semi near to the Seattle area.

Because it's a food oriented event (draws a lot of freeloaders) and is not restricted to paid subscribers, it's not really comparing apples to apples, but given 6000 paid subscribers, I think you could be looking at 500-700 people maximum coming to a first-time DG event.

For a first-time event, like DG is planning, consider being restricted in size according to the limitations of where you plan to hold it. Personally, I don't think you'll be overwhelmed with attendees. I think if it's done right, you'll get a good number of people attending that will end up being just right.

Besides there being the cost of airfare and lodging, there will also be conference costs involved to attend, so there are many things to keep in mind!

Also, I agree that St. Louis is a good central location. It wouldn't be my first choice, but it seems to be a reasonable place cost-wise to fly into.

My first choice, at least as far as looking into things, would be Las Vegas. The reason is one, the cost; and two, it's sort of like a vacation spot, which would attract people. Those who wanted to bring spouses and guests could do so and there would be things there for those nongardening guests to do. It's also mostly warm there, even in winter! Las Vegas is not what it used to be - there are many many things to do besides gamble. Several years ago I attented a meet-up there for another group (very small, tiny, teensy tiny) and it was central enough and attractive enough that we had people from France and Australia attend as well as from all across the U.S. I hadn't been there for a really long time and was surprised the casinos had allowed so many nongambling attractions to come in. You could walk around all day and never even enter a casino! There are cons, tho, as there would be for any city chosen.


Gwen

Thanks again, Gwen. We need everyone to help think of all the pluses and minuses. The more of you participating the better.

Want to be extremely careful in this very first ever event. If we do it right, there will many more to come. If we mess it up, that's the end at the beginning.

Listening.

We are working to get this in Texas for several reasons - Mitch

This message was edited Dec 17, 2007 4:42 PM

250 people is not that many people. If you limit it to that number or less, I think you're doing yourself a huge disfavor and I also think the event won't be as successful.

I personally wouldn't be interested in paying a bunch of money to come and just meet a few people and especially if DGers I wanted to meet didn't get included because of a cut-off.

But try and attend an event that has 250 or 300 people at it and you'll see that that is really not that many people.

This is just my 2 cents. For the people who are organizing this, you won't be able to please everyone on every issue and will make yourself crazy if you try. :)

Gwen

Thanks Gwen - and yes I can see your point but the dream is to start out slow and let it build. We dont want to be so overwelmed with people that we lack that special appeal that is Daves Garden.

Dyson, just reading over some of todays posts. I didn't answer about medical or financial. Medical meaning wheelchairs or other physical aids is no problem.
All public transportation makes way for that with more amenities than the usual traveler. Same with the hotels, etc. We are working to keep the financial as bare minimal as possible. And working on it we are. Soon after the New Year there will be a vote offered on the voting booth. That will be our hint at where to start. Remember...small numbers...big expense..large numbers..very little. Room rates go down with large numbers of rooms blocked and guaranteed. The mechanics of all that are to come later.

Right - we need to start looking at how many people really want this, and what you all are really wanting! LouC is the best lady on Daves and she is really reading and taking all this down so we can give you what will have the Daves feel and not just another meeting.

Thank you Mitch. I don't work outside of the home and have more time to devote to my passion...Dave's Garden. Mitch mentioned 250 limit. We have since discussed that and think there should be no cut off. Talk it up guys. On all the other forums you go to...help us. There are just a few of us at this time. After the vote that will change drastically. Hopefully. I have faith that this is the time and place for a Dave's Garden FunFest...or something. Another contest...name the Dave's Garden xxxxxxx. Remember, we will be setting history.

First ever cyber convention. First ever Dave's Garden XXXX. And *first* means there are more to come. No doubt this will be the most difficult with no set precedent. It will probably be rearranged the next time and the next. With your help, it may just be perfect first crack out of the box. Please know up front that is what we all want. *we all* being you and me.