IAS News

From: Dan Levin <levin at pixar.com> on 2007.01.09 at 02:04:15(15069) Important Reminder: Membership Dues are >now due< for 2007-!!The board has again opted to not increase membership rates for '07.Renewal can be easily accomplished on-line via PayPal by clickinghere http://www.aroid.org/society/joinias.html or by mailing a check toIAS at our trusty PO Box 43-1853, South Miami, FL 33143, USA.Rates and further details can be found at the above link.Your timely responsiveness will be hugely appreciated by Enid, ourMembership Chairperson (who otherwise will have to send individualreminders). This is especially true now that Enid's new baby is poisedto take his very first steps... as most of Enid's free "IAS time" is about tobecome history ($20 says baby J heads straight for the Lasia spinosa)For those of you who are not yet members of IAS, I encourage you toplease consider supporting the society! It's inexpensive (i.e. a relativebargain for those with Euros or Pounds Sterling in their pockets) andeasy to do- and helps both sustain and improve the aroid resourcesavailable to us all; not to mention this forum and the aroid.org web site.Some of the more direct/ tangible benefits of membership include: - Aroideana (1 issue per year)An incredibly diverse publication which taken in its entirety holds avast amount of today's current aroid knowledge, aroid history & lore.Speaking of which... Aroideana v. 19 the "Amorphophallus Issue" has been beautifully reprinted (it previously sold out) and is onceagain available for purchase along with all other back-issues at http://www.aroid.org/society/bk-issue.html- Newsletter (4 issues per year)If you've never checked out the newsletter before, I highly encourageyou to do so now. It's a great venue for staying abreast of current aroidevents & publications, for learning of new faces in the study of Araceae,as well as for following the exploits of the inimitable Dr. Tom Croat- ourvery own Indiana Jones of the South/ Central American aroid realm...(remember that giant rolling boulder in the first Indiana Jones movie?Tom supposedly used it for pressing his plants).Click here http://www.aroid.org/society/newsletr.html for a free sample.We're now e-publishing in stunningly brilliant Aroid-i-Color by the way;unlike the above examples or the snail mailed paper copies whichcontinue to be printed/ distributed (in the US) in Cenozoic black & white.That said, the e-Newsletter is readily available to -all- IAS membersvia the website. You can sign up and have it delivered to your emailInbox or you can access both current and archival issues via the leftcolumn link from the IAS Home Page, with a password(details can be found on the Members page in the event you haveany questions or difficulties). From the Members page you will findfurther links and special members-only items. Don't miss out!---So me final words of perspective, if I may:The IAS is strictly an all-volunteer group. As such we have no hiredstaff, no central office. Every single thing which happens in this society:the ongoing development and management of our web site (aroid.org);each issue of Aroideana published; 4 annual issues of the Newsletter;the writing and scholarship of all those wonderful articles submitted tosaid publications; the annual Aroid Show & Sale at Fairchild (from set-upto donating auction plants to working the cash registers to working thesales floor to preparing and serving the banquet food to the final showtear-down & clean up...); the administration of this very forum; keepingtrack of membership and the creation/ management of data bases; theongoing sale & distribution of Aroideana back-issues; the meticulousaccounting, reporting and oversight of the Society' +More s fiscal records... Folks, all of these tasks and more are accomplished essentially in thebackground by people who lead very full and very busy "other lives".This bears mentioning and repeating from time to time, lest we takeany of these things or the individuals behind this society, for granted.Your renewal or joining as a new member or making an additional tax-deductible donation is a great way to show your support for the myriadthings this society does. Your additional involvement and your positivecontributions in other ways are what further keep IAS alive, relevant andmoving forward. My sincere thanks to all of you who have both kept and continue tokeep the IAS going so far. I look forward to many more of you steppingup to keep the body of information and knowledge of Araceae flowing. -DanDan LevinPresident, IASwww.aroid.org_______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

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