The Cactus Explorers Club Meeting 2011

Post details of any upcoming events, meets or newsworthy stories about our hobby.
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Graham_Charles
BCSS Bradleya Editor
Posts: 7
https://www.behance.net/kuchnie-warszawa
Joined: 04 Aug 2010
Branch: PETERBOROUGH
Country: UK
Role within the BCSS: Advertising Manager
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The Cactus Explorers Club Meeting 2011

Post by Graham_Charles »

Some of you may have heard wisperings about the Cactus Explorers Club. Perhaps you thought it was a secret group and you needed to be invited to participate. Well, the truth is that anyone could attend, but until now, the numbers have been limited by the venue to just 35 so I wanted to avoid disappointment by not advertising it widely. It is not a BCSS event so does not appear on their calendar.
It all began 5 years ago when the Chileans stopped their annual get together and I missed seeing all those pictures of plants in habitat and the in-depth discussions. I thought there might be a demand for a residential weekend where experienced cactus enthusiasts could share experiences and plot their next trips to cactus wonderland. So, we have had six meetings, all fully subscribed, and everyone appears to have a great time, no doubt helped by generous amounts of wine with dinner (included in the price) and a barrel or two of real ale.
Most of the talks are given by paying participants, but we usually have an overseas speaker to present a couple of talks. The aim is to have talks about unusual plants or unusual places, historical insights, and also about connected activities like digital photography or gene sequencing.
The weekend is always the one after ELK, so next year it will be the 16th to 18th September, from Friday evening meal until Sunday afternoon. The venue will be Beaumont Hall at the University of Leicester Halls of Residence (near the BCSS 2010 Convention venue). The price is £180 which includes all meals, morning and afternoon coffee/tea, 2 nights accommodation in single rooms, wine with dinners and the costs associated with transport and accommodation for our overseas speakers, and of course VAT at 20%!
For this meeting we shall have two overseas speakers. Marlon Machado from Brazil and Zlatko Janeba from Czech Rpublic, as well as our 'own' Paul Klaassen who will tell us about his adventures. The talks will be aimed at an experienced audience, so will be more in-depth than those at branch meetings. There will be plants, literature etc. for sale and anyone can bring things to sell. There is no charge, its part of the entertainment.
I will send out the full details early next year to regular attendees and anyone else who asks, so if you would like to receive an 'invitation' to attend, please E-mail me with your postal address. There will be about 15 extra places available this year because of the bigger venue, on a first to ask...basis.
Graham
Graham Charles
Peterborough Branch BCSS
Speciality: South American Cacti
E-mail: graham.charles@btinternet.com
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