Being incoming President of the American Society for Horticultural Science is a great honor and I look forward to working with the Board, headquarters staff, and my fellow ASHS members in the coming year. In 1973, as a very nervous grad student from Cornell, I presented my very first ASHS oral session paper in Raleigh, N.C. A lot has changed for the better since then: the ease of slide and poster preparation, the dress code, and the diversity of the membership!

Although I’m still a little nervous about the challenges over the next year, I can’t remember a time when there has been a more energized and involved membership, a more dedicated and talented staff, or more exciting initiatives. The National Issues Task Force, online publishing with HighWire Press, and the Certified Horticultural Advisor Program in particular, have the potential to not only benefit members, but also reshape the organization and enhance the practice and science of horticulture. As your President over the next year, I look forward to working with all of you to make ASHS not only bigger, but, more important, better than ever!

In this, my first column as your President, I would like to reflect on the ASHS 2007 Annual Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The good news: Attendance was up 200 from the New Orleans meeting. Although there is sometimes ‘sticker shock’ on professional meeting registration costs for some, the ASHS Annual Conferences are budgeted as a ‘break-even’ service to members, and Scottsdale is on target to pay for itself despite the pricey costs for food and beverage at such a resort. There were even enough sandwiches to go around at the all-delegates lunches—a credit to attendee restraint and Tracy Shawn’s creative negotiating skills with the catering staff! Better still were the many very positive comments on the rooms and facility, the Westin staff, the technical program, and the conference overall. I want to thank ASHS Headquarters Staff for making everything run smoothly, the Technical Program Committee for their organizational efforts, and all the many working groups for great workshops, colloquia, and symposia. Rooms were filled, but not overcrowded, thanks to the scheduling skills of Tracy and Mike, Dennis Ray, and Carl Sams. Members also deserve credit for resisting the temptations of adult and adventure pools with cocktail service, a lazy river, the spa, yoga classes, a golf course and driving range, a jogging track, and adjacent upscale shops and restaurants. Of course near-record-breaking high temperatures may have also kept people in the nice, cool dark meeting rooms!

The bad news: One thing hasn’t changed since 1973, which is complaints about conflicting sessions, but that is diversity of horticulture! Several improvements have been made since the 1970s: My Planner software can organize and print out your schedule before the meeting, complete with room numbers! Posters are up for the entire meeting. Conference centers make it easier to get to the next session. The layout in the Westin Kierland seemed particularly conducive to session hopping, as well as catching up with colleagues between sessions.

Another improvement from the 1970s is that some of the oral sessions and workshops you missed may be available as podcasts!

Go to the Video Workshop Series and follow the iTunes link at the bottom of the page to subscribe to HortTalks, ‘presentations on demand’ from the 2006 conference and soon the 2007 conference. You can also subscribe to Horticulture Pods, which showcases selected member programs and ASHS products.

Another bad part: Not everyone could make it this year, but I hope to see all of you for another successful conference in Orlando in 2008!

Mary Peet
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Originally published in ASHS Newsletter July 2007.