I hope that you all have had the opportunity to meet Joe Bergeson and tour his amazing set-up in Minnesota. It was great! If you haven’t gone on the tour, please check it out on the thread, “Video tour of some of my roses”.
We have kicked around the idea of having a presence on YouTube, perhaps even with an RHA YouTube Channel. Ideally, I would suggest having a webpage on RHA with an updatable index of videos available, with descriptions of their content. I am sure that we would need to explore possible problems, but I think that whatever problems exist, that they can be overcome.
I think that this could be very fun. What do you all think? What would be some of your concerns?
" I think that this could be very fun. What do you all think? What would be some of your concerns? "
My thoughts on this good idea are as follows,
Is there a cost, if so how much, to me if it is a resourse tool for experienced breeders or the total novice like myself, go for it
Archivies of it, a sort of library index thing
As I think YouTube is a public forum, how would breeders protect thier new prodgeny, would this stop registration or release type deals with the big nurseries.
These are thoughts off the top of the head, as said above I like the idea.
I think that this is a good idea. Having a presence where thousands of people are spending their time in the cyber-world can be very beneficial. Especially for the younger generations. You might also want to consider a FaceBook page for the RHA as well?
Andy, that is another good idea, but for those that are “Facebooked challenged” can we have lessons on a weekly basis( only joking) and that goes for any new technologies. It take me a long while to get my head around this new technology stuff
I know that Youtube has many “Howto” videos on every subject imaginable. I also know I have a 12 year old Grandson that spends a lot of time on Youtube. It might be something to consider. Could be we could encourage the growing of the types of roses that we hybridize and educate the public about how to grow landscape roses as opposed to Hybrid Teas which are not well suited for the novice gardener. Perhaps we could add a link on our Homepage for Member Videos similiar to the Forum. However, that would have to be addressed by those folks who maintain this website. I do believe the idea has merit but we probably need to have some discussion of the pros and cons.
We are looking for a YouTube manager - do you think that your grandson could do it?! Actually that would be asking too much of a 12 year old, however, the invitation is open to anyone who would be comfortable managing a YouTube channel. A test channel has already been created and I would be happy to put anyone interested in this idea, in contact with our webmaster.
I mentioned FB and twitter ages ago… there was little interest then. What you can do is open a hootsuite.com account that can link the forum’s rss feed to both FB and twitter so that as new posts are made teasers can be automatically published to each place with links back to the forum to read the full thread. I’ve closed my FB account down, however, as I have come to hate it. It dismays me that on closing my account the parting comment to me from FB was you are welcome to come back any time you want and your account will be just as you left it… rather like Hotel California. It causes so much trouble between the kids at school and I want no part of it and I’m encouraging as many people as I can to also close their accounts. Basically, IMO, FB=evil.
While I agree with you 100% that FB can be a very bad thing for many people (especially teens) as a time waster (and lost time can never be recovered), it is where an increasing number of people go to browse the internet. Our presence would not be to encourage a bad thing, but to perhaps entice some to choose a more active live style that would include gardening with roses.
Time wasting is the least of my issues with FB. Time spent doing something you enjoy is hardly time wasted whatever it may be (see: How to be Idle). My issues are more related to privacy, and the exploitation of young people; however, what I think is irrelevant as I’m not even a financial member of RHA atm.
Paul Zimmerman asked me to join FB and become a member of his FB group to help build his following. I quickly learned I do not like the invasion into my personal space and life FB attempts to be. I don’t spend much time there, usually only visiting when I am notified I have been specifically mentioned in someone’s post. I do find it rather irritating that people I have always encountered in my normal on line activities are no longer there. I find out about events and occurances I would have wanted to know about because they’ve taken it all to FB. It is most disconcerting to find out someone you respect and enjoy has been hospitalized for a rather serious situation because someone else tells you, “well, it’s ON FB!” My youngest sister’s husband posts about every restaurant dinner (9 nights a week!), complete with panoramic photos, they experience.
When I was a tot, my father had just discovered the old Regular 8 movies. He quickly jumped to Super 8 and later replacements, but my first “bathroom use” was filmed in unrealistic color and replayed for anyone who would sit through it for years. Everything I did as a kid had to be staged for the camera. I don’t DO photos and I don’t DO intrusive sites such as FB. I completely agree with you Simon. There is no privacy. No one needs their every belch or itch subject to world wide public scrutiny. Certainly NOT me.
As you know Simon, I am not a fan of FB or Twitter. You placed them on your old forum to ‘publise’ the forum , would this not be the way it would be used on here. Is there not levels of “parental control” or limitations.
Hi- I have very little personal stake in this issue, as I haven’t really been a member of this community. But I have been “lurking” a bit on this site for a while and learning a great deal from you, and it occurs to me that I might be one of those people you could reach out to using social media or other means.
And since I do communications planning for a living, I thought I’d chime in on a couple of points-
When considering reaching out with any new communcations initiative, the first question is, why? What are you hoping to accomplish? New membership? Increased revenue? Greater influence? Greater general public understanding of what you do? More people enjoying this hobby? More hybrids out there? More access to breeding stock? Greater support for independent breeders and independent suppliers?
Once you identify your goals, the next questions fall into place: Who are the people who can help you reach your goals? What are their habits? What do they read? What sites do they visit? What are their values? What is the way to their heart?
What do they know/believe about what you do now? What do you want them to know/believe about you?
All of the above leads you to your choice of media. Maybe the people you need to reach don’t hang out on Facebook. (I suspect they do- it is no longer the hangout of the very young). Maybe they don’t watch videos, or maybe the way to really grab them (the way to their heart) is not through videos, or maybe through a certain kind of video.
All of this might sound a bit complicated- but the point is to consider what these media might do for you in achieving your goals. While we all have opinions and emotions relating to Facebook and social media in general, it might be more productive to consider where you see this organization or this community in one year, two years, five years, then look at social media (or other communications venues) in that light.
Just a historical comment. In the “early days” Virgil Mitchel started a VHS video which was sent from hybridizer to hybridizer (honor system). It was my impression that it was popular as a video can demonstrate certain techniques better than words and/or still pictures.
I like the idea of having a site on YouTube. Many times when you look up something on YouTube you find many related but not quite what you were looking for videos. If say you looked up roses you might find several rose related videos and then maybe you find one of ours that showed you how to hybridize. This amazes you because you never even knew about rose hybridizing before. So then you click on the source of this video and find more. The point is you may not win over everybody but if you plant the seed it will grow. Those interested enough may just become members after awhile. And anything that can start making roses or outdoor activities like gardening popular is ok in my book. Also many personal pages are linked to web sites. So if someone likes your videos they can go to your website.
I do not like the idea of facebook but I also have issues with personal information. All my friends and family are on it except for my mom. Many call me and my wife amish because we resist this and a few other things. But like I said All my friends and family are on it. So I could see using it as a resource, but you will never see me there or on twitter which everybody I know is also on. I do not need to know when someone is in the bathroom or what they had for lunch. For a reference most people I know are 35 to 20 years of age.
I am no FaceBook king, not by any stretch. I know the medium has its faults which have been so eloquently put forth. However, it is like any other medium we encounter in our lives today. You always need to be on the lookout for inappropriate behavior(s), and take appropriate and necessary action(s) when necessary. I am also a firm believer in looking for the best in something rather than the worst. You get out of something what you put into it. If one takes a positive attitude towards something, usually something positive is returned. When one takes a negative attitude towards something, it will never meet your expectations. I will attest to FaceBook’s strength in bringing common-minded individuals together. I have posted no less than 60 pictures of my hybrids that bloomed this year. Most were the first blooms of the roses. It was my “thing” on FaceBook for a while until FaceBook picture postings required deleting the cookies to post additional pictures. These pictures were well received by noted rosarians and common folks alike.
I’ve also sprinkled a few pictures of my hybrids here and there on places like the American Rose Society’s FaceBook page. One picture I posted received 95 “likes,” twelve shares, and ten positive comments in less than 48 hours. This does not take into account any likes/comments, etc. from my personal page which received additional positive responses. One particular comment from an American Rose Society’s fan I particularly like is “And tell me Susan why are we involved in showing Springers instead of growing prize winning roses.” If there was a FaceBook page for the RHA present when that comment was made, I would have made sure that this individual would have known about it.
Since my postings on FaceBook, talks and presentations about hybridizing have occurred in three of the rose societies in my district. Many of my FaceBook “friends” belong to these local societies, are part of the boards of these societies, and I believe they are the catalysts for the renewed interest in hybridizing in the district. I have either presented or been present during the other presentations and can attest that there is a lot of interest in the audiences.
As for my “home” society, five years ago, I overhead one board member of my society state “I’m glad we don’t have to deal with people who are trying to hybridize roses, when their seeds don’t germinate.” This same individual is part of the planning committee that has embraced no less than three talks about hybridizing roses in the last three years.
I am enjoying the conversation here. I would add that our local Rose Society recently added a Facebook Page (Bastrop County Rose Society) mostly as a means to advertise our existence. Most of our member are in their 70’s and 80’s and we really need some younger members and we decided to go where the younger people hang out. We have info on our meetings and pictures of our members roses also pictures of roses hybridized by three of our members. I also have a Facebook page which my hubby was not in favor of. However, I now find him lurking on my page everyday to see what is going on. I enjoy keeping up with my kids and grandkids and renewing old friendships. I also use my facebook page as a sort of recordkeeping devise for my rose and daylily seedings. I post pictures and in the description add the seedling number and the cross, so I have that info handy. I also have a Facebook App. on my iphone and it was an invaluable tool this spring as I was making my crosses as I could carry my iphone in my pocket and not have to go in and out of the house to check my computer for the info I needed. I do agree however that some folks do put out much more personal info than needs to be, I try to limit my personal info such as address, birthdate, etc. and I am a bit selective about who I “friend”.
My oldest daughter uses Youtube to assist her boys with homework. She was not a wiz at math so whenever the boys have a math problem that stumps them she heads for Youtube where she can find instructions on solving the problem.
