|
|---|
| 
| 
| 
| 
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 
| 
| 
| 
|
The group meets on Wednesday and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. Central, that's two hours earlier on the west coast of the United States, and one hour later in New York and Miami. There is no set time for the chat session to close, most run about two hours.
OrchidSafari's official start was February 7, 1996, having originated with seven charter members who had been posting to the Virtual Gardens AOS Bulletin Board and using that forum as a means to converse. Desiring a more immediate dialog interchange, one member (Lois Greer) volunteered to explore some of the internet exchanges for a suitable private site and rented a room at ICS (Intercontinental Conferencing Services) for a three-month trial period, and the OrchidSafari name was chosen for the chat room. During that first session, there were 3 new people who posted messages.
The February 26, 1996 synopsis remarks: "The IOC (Internet Orchid Club) is really starting to take shape. It is hard to believe that Rob Shepherd planted this little seed a few months ago, on AOS Orchid Talk." Since a group with the name"IOC" was already on line, the newly formed group became known by their room name: "OrchidSafari".
Within a month four needs became apparent: ICS was an acceptable site and would necessitate collecting "dues" from members at a rate of $5 per annum to offset the room rental charge (ICS later negated room charges as well as annual membership fees for that service); a second site was needed for a backup and to reach the prospective members who would not have private room access; meeting two nights a week was preferred to one night a week, and a one-hour session at ICS should be set aside as a "study group" with a pre-announced discussion topic.
The Webchat Broadcasting System (now Infoseek) offered a non-private room also entitled "OrchidSafari". This was a boon as the room could be advertised and accessed by any interested party.
Establishing a perfect time to meet proves impossible. In February 1997 there was a series of "Reorganization" sessions wherein members both voiced opinions and sent confidential emails. The result? - we continued to march under the same guidelines: first hour WBS, second hour ICS. With the many time zones concerned, any time chosen is bad for someone. From time to time someone wants change to 7 p.m. CST because 8 p.m. is so late in the NE (where it is already 9 p.m.)...but then it is 5 p.m. on the California coast! And only changes our off-shore problem from 3 a.m. to 2 a.m. Continuing inability in reaching ICS by numbers of people, caused holding all sessions at WBS. ICS is held as a "second home" should WBS be inaccessible at some time.
The transcripts from each session are captured by Steve Moss, Gail Levy and Kathy Barrett. The chat moderators parenthetically add information and provide answers for any unanswered questions. The transcripts are thus edited along the way but, usually, what you read is what you said. Synopses of Open Chat are distributed along with newsletter items to all active and interested members. Topic transcripts are posted to the OrchidSafari Archives. We are fortunate to have Ed Wright as a mentor, and he provides editing assistance along the way.
Wednesday sessions have a pre-announced topic for discussion, and the topic is usually presented by a guest "speaker". At these times, the guest speaker does the final editing. A lot is learned just by listening in on the exchanges, and the topic synopses are invaluable to those studying orchids. The Wednesday evening topics cover a wide range of subjects: Orchid Flower Pollination; Orchid Photography; Fertilizers; Greenhouses and their Construction; 15th WOC; Repotting Orchids; Orchid Species; Orchid Culture; Orchid Hybrids; Orchid Potting Media; Windowsill Growing; Orchid Books; Stem Propagation; AOS Judging; the list goes on. The first topic in February 1996 was "A Good Phalaenopsis?", based on a presentation by Dr John Martin, a noted phalaenopsis hybridizer and accredited AOS judge. His business is known as Evergreen Hill Orchids, Duncanville TX.
Saturday sessions are a more free-flowing dialog about a myriad subject matters, running the gamut from current news to personal experiences, but mostly it is about orchid related happenings.
As you can see, the members have a wide range of interests, on which one member or another has knowledge to impart to others wishing to learn. The experience levels of the membership ranges from those just starting to grow orchids on up to some that have grown orchids for over 30 years. A few are commercial orchid growers and/or AOS judges, and several are, or have become, students in the AOS, South African, or Tasmanian orchid judging systems.
An international membership representing Tasmania (an Australian island south of the continent), Great Britain, South Africa, Canada, and of course the United States -- Maine, Florida, New York, West Virginia, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, West Virginia, New York, Oregon, Louisiana, California and Oregon --compose a "core membership" of 18 - 36 who seldom miss a chat; there is much coming and going during the chat due to time zone differences. The South African and Great Britain members are up at 3:00 AM (their time) to take part in the sessions, but usually call it a night (more rightly a morning) after about the first hour. The Australian members have it much easier as they get online at a more reasonable time, 11:00 AM -- tomorrow!
One thing you may notice if you drop in for a visit is that there appears to be another language being spoken. There is a liberal use of abbreviations and symbols to speed up the dialog in conveying messages or feelings -- it takes very little time to learn what this is all about and all members are anxious to help newcomers with room operation and anything not understood, including that universal chatroom interchange in getting one another's computers upgraded.
If you to just pay a visit to the OrchidSafari, a good place to start is the WBS website . You can register as a member from this page, or log on as a guest.
*prepared from the files of OrchidSafari
by John Yates, Jim Kawasaki and Lois Greer.
|
|
|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|