[Arisaema-l] AEG in danger

Wed Apr 20 09:48:59 CEST 2022

Op 19-4-2022 om 18:54 schreef Paige Woodward:

> Hi, Eric.
>
> Agree that the AEG list is not being used.
>
> I know about the AEG site but it cannot be a “first reference” because it is incomplete — of course partly because seldom used.

Hi Paige,

Thank you for your reply (I will cc it to the group, because it is 
relevant here). I got several replies personally about the disadvantages 
of Facebook and I know it is not ideal, but seems to be (really) used by 
many of our AEG group. The website and sources (literature etc.) on 
Arisaema-L.nl (including the domain aroids.nl) are owned by the AEG and 
we have additionally our own FloraPix gallery with 550 pictures of 
Arisaemas (with discussion possibilities). So I do not understand why 
you say it can not be a “first reference”. Sure, it is far from complete 
and maybe outdated if we are not taking care of it, like the discussion 
list.

It is a tendency in many groups that used email or bulletin boards for 
discussions, these were abandoned and replaced by Facebook groups. I 
must say, I use FB restrictively and I am not very active on it, but for 
example my Bromeliad activities I use it for the Bromeliad Society 
International (BSI) and the Encyclopaedia of Bromeliads 
(https://bromeliad.nl/encyclopedia) to advertise news, and it has a 
reach of 1000 up to 3000 followers! All those people are on FB, whether 
I like it or not, and I can not reach them without it.

Although I'm quite active with Bromeliads, the Brom-L discussion list 
faces the same problem and recently the Brom-L FloraPix gallery became 
part of the BSI website, which revived activity on it.

We have to make a choice I suppose, use the existing FB group, keep the 
email list, create a new FB group for AEG or maybe choose for something 
else???

Eric

>
> On reflection, however, rather than a hub website, an active group where questions can be answered with current information might be ideal.
>
> Sounds like the Facebook group!
>
> But I cannot join FB — it has done too much harm, and continues to do too much harm.
>
> If FB were the only place people could exchange information, I might join, with regret.
>
> But FB is not the only place.  It is not even specially convenient. It is just so *easy*, and many participants don’t think about what’s happening. Frogs in pot of water heating on the stove. From the moment I understood that my personal information would be harvested and sold, I stood back. FB’s harmful role in politics came into the spotlight with the US election, but that was not the only election, not the only politics, not the only manipulative, unmentioned algorithms. I am interested, but not surprised, that so many people just don’t want to know, or care. The internet did not cause this. It just highlights a common human trait.
>
> This particular spring, it turns out that I have lost many Arisaema spp that I grew for years. They came through a cold winter and seemed fine, but then the temperature dropped unexpectedly. The tubers had emerged from dormancy and could not readjust. This happened not only to arisaemas, of course. I regret the losses, but — this simplifies my plans!
>
> Thank you for the energy you have put into the AEG and other groups over the years.
>
> With best wishes,
>
> Paige
>
>
>
>> On Apr 14, 2022, at 6:01 AM, Gouda, E.J. (Eric)<e.j.gouda at uu.nl>  wrote:
>>
>> Hi Page,
>>
>> We do have a website:https://arisaema-l.nl/  including a picture gallery, but people seems not to be interested in that any more.
>>
>> And if all AEG members are discussing and posting photos on FB, what is the use of our discussion email list?
>> Eric
>> Op 14-4-2022 om 00:52 schreef Paige Woodward:
>>> Hello, Eric. Like some others on this list I greatly valued the AEG when it was more active, and I still value the seedex; I am just re-entering the plant world after a pause for family reasons.
>>>
>>> I did wonder why the AEG was so silent. If the group completely vanishes into Facebook, I will be so sorry, because I have sworn not to support Facebook. (I’m not here to argue, won’t go into my reasons, all of them widely known.)
>>>
>>> Messages are useful, of course, but what I want above all is a hub of reliable information about Arisaema spp and aroids in general.  Is there a way to have a reference website outside Facebook?
>>>
>>> Paige Woodward
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> On Apr 13, 2022, at 1:02 AM, Gouda, E.J. (Eric) via Arisaema-L<arisaema-l at lists.science.uu.nl>
>>>>   wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Thanks Keith,
>>>>
>>>> I think your conclusions are right. I already contacted Pascal, one of the FB managers, but used an old email address which bounced, but try an other one.
>>>>
>>>> I will let you all know what the outcome would be. I just attended the FB group myself, although not very active on FB.
>>>>
>>>> If FB is working for all of you, we can abandon this discussion list (I have closed down several of  the -L lists already). The only problem with FB is that is does not interact well with an other mail service (you can not post from email to FB).
>>>>
>>>> Interesting question to all of you: who is not on FB Arisaema Enthusiats? Because we have to choose!
>>>> All the best,
>>>>
>>>> Eric
>>>> Op 12-4-2022 om 13:25 schreef Keith B via Arisaema-L:
>>>>
>>>>> Dear Eric and group members,
>>>>>
>>>>> Here’s my perspective, as someone relatively new to the AEG and growing Arisaema.
>>>>>
>>>>> 1. The group resources were a great help when I first began five or six years ago. Firstly the seed exchange, but also the online articles and pictures. I have read the mailing list but, as Eric points out, without someone actively running this it will decline. So far there have been 10 responses to Eric’s appeal for help for the AEG: such a limited response to an existential crisis suggests to me that very few of the AEG members are reading the mailing list.
>>>>> 2. There’s a lot that I don’t like about Facebook, but it is easy to use, the ‘Arisaema Enthusiasts’ Facebook group has 3800 members and a regular stream of contributions. Many of the contributions (including most of mine) are ‘here’s a picture of my Arisaema …’, but there is also some more in-depth botanical discussion.
>>>>> 3. Combining the above two points, in my opinion, the ‘Arisaema Enthusiasts’ Facebook group has become the de facto discussion group for Arisaema. Perhaps it is time to encourage AEG members to use the Facebook group for discussion.
>>>>> 4. The AEG seed exchange is a very worthwhile, and unique, activity. I would go further and suggest that there is a need for an Arisaema tuber exchange (I’ve just finished repotting my Arisaema and I have more A. fargesii offsets than I know what to do with). However, appeals for seed from Eric seem to have gone largely unheeded this year, and I fear that this is because of the low readership of the mailing list. In the past I have used the Facebook group to encourage people to contribute seeds to the AEG seedex, and suggested it as a source for seeds, but this has been in response to people asking questions so has limited visibility. The next stage would be to liaise with the Facebook group owners so that the AEG seedex can be publicised on Facebook in a more direct way (there is no/very little selling/swapping of seeds and tubers on the Facebook group, in fact I think it is discouraged, so the AEG seedex wouldn't be in competition with anyone).
>>>>> 5. That leaves the picture gallery, the articles and the other resources on the AEG website. Again, they are very worthwhile but I fear they are little used. I am afraid that I am at a loss for ideas about how to make these better known.
>>>>>
>>>>> In summary, I think that the future efforts of the group should be focussed on the website resources and the seed exchange.
>>>>>
>>>>> best regards
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Keith
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> -- 
>>>>
>>>> All the best, / Met vriendelijke groet,
>>>> Eric
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Drs. E.J. (Eric) Gouda | Curator Utrecht Botanic Gardens | Utrecht University | Address Gardens: Budapestlaan 17, 3584 CD Utrecht | Postal Address: P.O. Box 80162, 3508 TD Utrecht, The Netherlands | +31(0)30 253 9281 |
>>>> e.jgouda at uu.nl  |botanische.tuinen at uu.nl
>>>>   | uu.nl/botanischetuinen | Follow us on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Arisaema-L mailing list
>>>> Gallery:
>>>> http://botu07.bio.uu.nl/temperate/?gal=arisaema
>>>>
>>>> Site:
>>>> http://botu07.bio.uu.nl/Arisaema-L
>> -- 
>>
>> All the best, / Met vriendelijke groet,
>> Eric
>>
>> --
>> Drs. E.J. (Eric) Gouda | Curator Utrecht Botanic Gardens | Utrecht University | Address Gardens: Budapestlaan 17, 3584 CD Utrecht | Postal Address: P.O. Box 80162, 3508 TD Utrecht, The Netherlands | +31(0)30 253 9281 |e.jgouda at uu.nl  |botanische.tuinen at uu.nl  | uu.nl/botanischetuinen | Follow us on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
-- 

All the best, / Met vriendelijke groet,
Eric

--
*Drs. E.J. (Eric) Gouda* | Curator Utrecht Botanic Gardens | Utrecht 
University | Address Gardens: Budapestlaan 17, 3584 CD Utrecht | Postal 
Address: P.O. Box 80162, 3508 TD Utrecht, The Netherlands | +31(0)30 253 
9281 | e.jgouda at uu.nl | botanische.tuinen at uu.nl | uu.nl/botanischetuinen 
<http://uu.nl/botanischetuinen> | Follow us on Facebook 
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