Below is the text of a letter which is self-explanatory.

April 28^th, 2000

H.P. Norton
1018 Live Oak Avenue
Moncks Corner, SC
29461 USA

Re: IPA Resignation

Dear H.P.,

It is with regret that I am tendering my resignation as an IPA regional director and as a member effective April 30^th, 2000.

I can still remember the day when Carlos Fighetti approached me and asked for $50 to become a founding member of this organization that was supposed to promote phalaenopsis. I thought that it was a great idea and I immediately gave it to him. An interim board was named with Carlos Fighetti as president, Tom Harper as First Vice-President, etc.

Long before it was incorporated, I was excited about this organization that would have people working together for the advancement of phalaenopsis, from beginners through hobbyists at every stage to commercial people. The organization would serve in part as a conduit to gather and disseminate information, would hold symposiums for the sharing of information and do whatever else was necessary for the good of phalaenopsis.

The IPA provides several services to its members: it sends them a newsletter 4 times a year and it has held a few symposiums. In addition, because the members of the IPA executive have always been AOS committee members, a 3-hour IPA meeting is held in conjunction with every AOS Trustees’ meeting. Some Regional Directors hold local meetings. Recently, an e-mail journal has been added.

For some years now, I have repeated the complaints made to me by members of this "International" organization. These complaints have mainly come from Canadian members but many complaints were also voiced by Americans. Over the years, the executive has made it abundantly clear that "International" was only part of the name and the organization was never meant to be and never would be international in scope but would, like the AOS, send its journal to foreign members.

The main complaints made to me have been the following:

1. the newsletter is unreliable;
2. the content of the newsletter is either a rehash of the symposium discussions and/or old news and old articles;
3. the symposiums are held at a time when phalaenopsis are not in bloom;
4. the symposiums are held at a time when some people would prefer to spend time with their families;
5. the symposiums are held at a time when the airfares, particularly international ones, are at their peak; and
6. the symposiums are held in the USA exclusively.

I will try to address the points in the order they are listed.

1. As far as the newsletter goes, thanks are due to Peter Lin and Nancy Meares for the wonderful job that they have done in ensuring that the newsletter comes out in a timely manner;
2. As far as the content goes, the comments are not without merit. This is not the fault of either Peter Lin or Nancy Meares. They should be commended for taking the trouble to find the old articles and reprints. However, if content is not provided to them, this means that people are unable or unwilling to supply it. Perhaps the newsletter should either be scaled down or otherwise changed.
3. Now, for the major bone of contention. Phals bloom in the spring. Why hold a symposium in the summer?
4. Kids finish school and are off for the summer. Many people like to take vacations or otherwise spend time with their families;
5. Another truthful comment.
6. Another truthful comment, unless the AOS Trustees meeting is in Canada, in which case a 3-hour meeting is held. I have even offered to organize a symposium in Canada and was told by a member of the executive, "Get real!"

I look back and see the ideals that we had and what has been done. I am the type of person that likes to see a glass as half full rather than as half empty but, in the case of the IPA, the glass is gone. An organization is supposed to serve its members and not serve the needs of its executive. Here we have a symposium scheduled to fit the needs of the executive, as I have been told on several occasions by members of the executive. I have been told that the members of the executive are busy people and the IPA holds symposiums in the summer to avoid conflicts for them. Well, no matter when they are held, someone will have a conflict. The whole executive does not have to be at every symposium! Let us first think of the members and, lastly, of the needs of the executive.

Another example of the executive doing as it pleased occurred when the IPA Board refused a $1000 payment to the organizer of the symposiums because this was a volunteer organization and the Board of Directors felt that no one should be paid. The next day, the IPA president handed an envelope "containing a token of our appreciation" to the organizer of the symposiums in front of the assembled membership and the members of the Board who had just voted against such a payment. Money was found to make this payment but no money could be found to repay the expenses of Mark Rose, an IPA speaker. Mark, of Breckinridge Orchids, who is often referred to as Mr. Phalaenopsis, resigned completely from the IPA and has recently refused to even participate in the latest symposium because of the way he was treated by the IPA executive.

In the new e-mail journal, I expressed an opinion about the bylaws of the organization when they were up for amendment, stating that I believed that term limits are not simply a good idea but a necessity in an organization such as the IPA. Someone else supported my view. Peter Lin then (unilaterally, I presume) decided that we could not speak about such things in the IPA list and blackballed us, preventing us from saying anything in the e-list unless it went through him. It is a sad day when free speech and the expressing of one’s opinions are considered unacceptable behaviour and unilaterally banned by the powers that be.

H.P., when you took over as vice-president, you divided the Lake Ontario Region and took away approximately one-half of the members, telling me that the Toronto area should be separate. That is over one year ago and there is still no regional representative in Toronto. I can only presume that this is part of some master plan on your part that will soon kick into action.

H.P., you seem to believe that the IPA must serve the beginners. I agree with you but I believe that it must also serve all the other members as well. You cannot address one segment of the membership exclusively and simply ignore the rest of the membership. If the IPA is for beginners only, then whatever happened to the "raison d’être" of the organization?

I have been told that the way to effect change is from within. I have attempted to do this to no avail. In view of the fact that I have been regional rep for so long and for the other reasons expressed above, I believe that it is time for a change and I hereby submit my resignation as regional director and as a member of the IPA. My name can now be added to all the others that have resigned or are resigning from positions on the Board.

Howard Ginsberg