Cacti on TV

[spinesandrosettes]

I've been watching this thread with increasing interest, as it has become more interesting with many astute observations posted. Addressing the concern of how new members are attracted to the hobby, I'd like to pose the seemingly silly question - Does one find the hobby, or does the hobby find the individual? It makes a difference, because in the first case, efforts to recruit may be of limited effectiveness if it already takes an interested person to begin with. Someone already interested and motivated will seek resources available. Then, it comes down to making the resource user-friendly, interesting, and valuable.

In observation, very few of my circle of normal friends/acquaintances care much about plants, or the growing of them. I try to remedy this situation somewhat by sharing my passion with others if they inquire about what I like to do, and by giving gifts of cool/interesting plants if it seems to me the people might be receptive. Succulents are ideal, because there are many which require little care, other than for the most part a suitable location to reside, and occasional water. You'd be surprised how someone not particularly interested in plants might take on a different attitude receiving a cool looking Sansevieria with brief commentary that they actually help purify air in the home, by removing toxins, supported by an actual NASA study. I can literally see a spark light up in the gift receiver's eyes in that moment. I mean, who wouldn't want to breathe less toxic air in their home? One plant, can lead to another, and eventually to various increased degrees of interest in growing plants.

For me, I can mainly ascribe my love of plants to the fact that growing up, my Mom kept a house full of plants, everywhere. I grew up simply thinking it was "normal" to have plants all over. I suppose it's possible that without this exposure at my earliest age, I could have "found" this hobby anyway, but I think much less likely. I guess what I'm saying, is that I think it takes some sort of catalyst or exposure to spark an interest in the hobby, which then can subsequently lead to further involvement. For example, I found this site due to my pre-existing interest in the subject matter, such that I subsequently searched and found it.

To comment on TV vs YouTube, it's true that young folks are more likely to spend time on the internet rather than watching TV, but I think it's equally true the opinion offered that one might be more likely to watch something that one isn't necessarily looking for on TV, while the chance of viewership regarding specific subjects on YouTube likely require a pre-existing interest. Plenty of times have I been channel surfing, and wound up watching something I wouldn't have otherwise. For me, if checking out YouTube, I'm watching things I'm already seeking, and not the other way around. I think to attract the attention of someone not otherwise already interested, it takes exposure to the subject where they might spend time. A County Fair, an article in a magazine, a friend's mention, a TV show they happen across... something of that nature.

[DaveW]

When I joined the Society I cannot remember ever seeing cacti on TV. My interest was sparked by a local market stall selling cacti, which like most I then grew on my bedroom windowsill. The major step forward was seeing the Nottingham Branch Show advertised in the local press. In the past most new members were enrolled at local shows, either by displays put on at flower or agricultural shows, or dedicated cactus and succulent plant shows. These have diminished in the last decades due to increased costs to stage them, loss of branches and larger collections to put them on and far more exciting events to capture peoples interest. Our local agricultural show, a quite major event in the past, threw in the towel a couple of years ago due to increasing costs to stage, plus diminishing audiences.

TV was the new interest when I started and the cinema was suffering due to the change since people could now stay at home in the warm instead of queuing up waiting for a seat in the cinema and paying for it. I was told that just before universal TV people used to queue around the block, as with the cinema, waiting for the Nottingham Branch show to open, since apart from the cinema there was little other entertainment in the town.

We have a parallel situation now where youngsters can stay at home and read cactus journals online for free if they want, or go on other media like Facebook or this forum to discuss plants with others without needing to turn out in the cold to go to a branch and even pay a subscription. In the future more speakers will probably put their talks online (YouTube etc?) which will be available to anybody for free. We have to face the fact that most plant societies have declined from their peaks over the years and attracting many new members is now difficult, since what entertained or interested previous generations does not always interest the youngsters.

The problem we have is we are already members so our views are not necessarily typical of the section of the general public we are trying to attract. Maybe we need Market Research asking them what would make them join, the problem is that may mean a different type of society to what the older existing membership may want.

[IanW]

When I joined the Society I cannot remember ever seeing cacti on TV.

Had TV even been invented when you joined the society Dave?

[DaveW]

Yes TV was invented before the war, but only posh people like you could afford them Ian.

First one I saw, in monochrome or course, in the late 1940's was a friend of mine whose parents splashed out and instead of the usual 9 inch screen had bought a large 12 inch screen! Sounds ridiculously small now does it not, who would watch anything on screens that small - wait a minute aren't you all watching films on your even smaller smartphone screens when you have a decent sized TV or computer screen to do so, masochists!

After each programme there used to be a few minute interlude because the BBC (the only TV station then available) only had a couple of TV cameras and needed time to move them from studio to studio for the next programme. The interludes, though simple, were more mind stretching than most of todays mainstream programmes:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ4-hDKorQE#

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6tJCPb4H3o

And of course at around 5pm the all TV announcers dressed for dinner, the men in dinner suits and bow ties and the ladies in evening dresses, unlike all the "yobbo toe rags" you now get fronting programmes in jeans and open necked shirts without a tie!

Probably re-potting cacti on TV would make a good interlude?

[James Pickering]

Ah yes, I have memories (although very dim now) of that. I don't know how, but we bought into a car (a "Standard") with an Uncle and Auntie (my mother's sister) sometime in the late 1930s. We split the petrol and upkeep costs but my father did all the driving -- he was the only one who knew how.

In the summer of 1938? (or 1939) we -- my father & mother, me, my uncle & auntie, with their son (I don't know how we all fit!) took off from Burnley to visit another uncle & auntie living in Byfleet, Surrey (my uncle worked at Brooklands) via London (all at mostly 35MPH speed limit).

It was my first visit to London and I was very excited -- children from backwater places like Burnley didn't get to do that in those days!

My father was a non-drinker when he drove but my uncle was a a real "beer lover" so we made frequent stops to "freshen up" (my father went into the pub with my uncle -- the women and children usually got a snack of something like Smith's crisps and a Tizer at a nearby shop). Somewhere on the outskirts of London we stopped at a Pub and my father came out and said there was something he wanted the children to see -- Television! Children weren't allowed in Pubs in those days so my father had to sneak us in the back door. There in the Bar Parlor was a tiny TV set showing some kind of discussion program -- just like Dave described -- but I cannot remember any of it for I could not see much and it was so long ago. I do remember my father saying the presenter/announcer was Val Gielgud. the brother of Sir John Gielgud.

Edit add: I believe Television programming (which was a kind of BBC experiment then) was suspended for the duration of WWII.

James

[DaveW]

Not wanting to hijack the thread, but amplifying James comments just to show how different things were in the early days of conventional societies when it was easier to get members due to the limited technology and outlets then available. An old friend of mine took his average family car on the M1 motorway when it first opened and pulled up at a services station for more petrol. The attendant said the engines on the hot side when he checked the oil (no self service in those days and they actually checked the oil for you) what speed have you been doing? He was told they had averaged almost 70mph, to which he replied "if you want to go those type of speeds you should have bought an Aston Martin." We forget that 70mph was about the maximum speed of a family car in those days, now it is well over 100mph even for a Mini, largely as a result of wanting to cruise all day at 70 mph on motorways.

Unfortunately we are still often in that "70mph" maximum speed mind set with our thinking of how conventional societies now need to work and may have to come up with more modern configurations, methods and speeds in future whether existing members like change or not. Many are still in the nostalgic era of using fountain pens instead of ballpoints and typewriters instead of word processors, or printed journals instead of online. If we do not move into the present era conventional societies may end with us since the youngsters we need to attract are in the "100+mph" zone already.

[Greenlarry]

We need someone like David Attenborough but for plants (I have his series on plants in my collection so he could do a programme on cacti)
Someone like, oh I dunno, David Bellamy! Bonkers but passionate. I know a lot of people that dont keep cacti per se but find them cool. A little education in that direction would surely be great for this fascinating group of plants!