Help Cultivate the 16th Eastern Cactus & Succulent Conference - will
there be a 17th ?!? The 16th Eastern Cactus & Succulent
Conference, is planned for the weekend of Aug. 15 to 17, 2008 at the
Radisson Hotel in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Please visit our
Conference website, www.succulentplants.info
<http://www.succulentplants.info/> , for more information about this
great event. The conference is being sponsored by the
Massachusetts Cactus & Succulent Society (www.cssma.org
<http://www.cssma.org/> ) and we have spent the past year lining up a
stellar roster of internationally known speakers and vendors to make
this the premier Cactus & Succulent event in the east. Some of the
speakers, coming great distances for this event, include:
* Steven Hammer - of the Sphaeroid Institute, California,
international authority on Mesembryanthemums, Haworthia and other South
African succulents.
* Ernst van Jaarsveld - Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens, South Africa,
internationally known authority on Gasteria and the Flora of South
Africa.
* Panayoti Kelaidis - Denver Botanic Garden, intl. authority on
hardy succulents and alpines.
* Mark Dimmitt PhD - Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, Adenium,
Pachypodium, Trichocereus & more.
* Dennis Cathcart - of Tropiflora, Florida, explorer and grower of
bromeliads
Other featured speakers include some of the premiere succulent
cultivators in the North East:
* Chris Allen - from Connecticut, grower of magnificent caudiciforms
* Dr.Jerry Barad - from New Jersey, former CSSA president, Stapeliad
expert & more
* Fred Kattermann - from New Jersey, expert on Copiapoa, Eriosyce
and other South American cacti.
* Glen Lord - of Bonsai West in Massachusetts, grower of caudiciform
bonsai.
* Matt Mattus - of Massachusetts, authority on South African bulbs.
* Dr. Matt Opel - of the University of Connecticut, noted expert on
many succulents especially those of South Africa.
A lot of effort and time is being offered by this assemblage of
authorities on behalf of the C&S community. Unfortunately, the
response has been less than anticipated and with fewer and fewer people
attending each year this may be the last Eastern C&S conference. Unless
the conference is supported by the C&S community it will be more
difficult to attract quality speakers and vendors and the event will
become economically unfeasible. Our club, the Cactus & Succulent
Society of Massachusetts, had planned to underwrite the initial costs
ourselves but we find that those costs have increased quite a bit in
the past year. Air fares alone, for the speakers coming long
distances, are reaching the point where the ability to pay for all of
them at this point is a challenge. The increasing price of fuel
has obviously had a significant impact on this event and all other
aspects of life for all of us. However, we feel the cost of domestic
travel has not increased to the point where it should affect our
enjoyment of our hobby. The Radisson Chelmsford Hotel's
conference rate of $84 per room/night is unbeatable for the superb
quality of the accommodations provided by the hotel, and our
registrants will be provided a limited number of deluxe rooms depending
upon date of registration. We have decided to extend the
early-bird registration of $110 through Sat. July 12. The Sat. night
banquet, followed by an auction, will remain at $30 and the Super Duck
amphibious tour on 8/18 of Boston and its harbor is still $30. It
would be appreciated if you would immediately help publicize the
conference to your fellow hobbyists and hopefully convince some to come
with you to the conference. If each eastern club could help us get
a few more of their members to register for the conference, it would
help to make it a success. If this event, with its stellar roster
of international speakers, in an outstanding hotel, in a prime tourist
destination is not successful, then we must seriously question whether
any future Eastern Conferences will take place. Please contact us
for any details you may wish to discuss. We are counting on your help
in making this conference a success and thus ensure the possibility of
future Eastern Conferences. Thank you. Dan Downey
dand@... <mailto:dand@...>
Art Scarpa artscarpa@... <mailto:artscarpa@...>
Co-Chairmen
16th Eastern Cactus & Succulent Conference
Aug. 15 - 17, 2008 at the Radisson Hotel & Conference Center,
Chelmsford, Massachusetts
www.succulentplants.info <http://www.succulentplants.info/>


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