ASHS has its own version of March Madness, with a lot of behind the scenes activities taking place, and volunteers and staff working very hard so that everything is ready for the annual conference. Just to give a few examples, the Technical Program Committee, one of our hardest-working committees this time of year, has reviewed and assigned to sessions the abstracts submitted to this year’s conference. The outstanding paper award committees are reading all the articles published in the journals in the previous year to pick a winner. The ASHS Fellows Selection committee has read all the nominations and is deliberating on the final selections.

Jonathan Moore, our legislative consultant, has also been keeping us up to date on the legislative “March Madness” with the Farm Bill, Specialty Crops Research Initiative, and other Federal programs impacting horticulturalists. See Jonathan’s Legislative Update column in this newsletter for the latest, if not necessarily the greatest, news!

Other events in the ASHS March calendar included the call for volunteers, which was online this year. Each year, all ASHS Members receive an email from the ASHS Executive Director that gives all the details of all ASHS Committees and the number of available positions for each committee that the President-elect and the Division Vice Presidents need to appoint. I have heard from Mike Neff that the response of ASHS Members to volunteer was once again fantastic, with more than 85 Members volunteering this year! As President of ASHS (and on behalf of President-elect John Clark, who will be making these appointments), I thank you! If you volunteered this year and weren’t selected, try again! With the number of volunteers exceeding the number of available positions, we’re not always able to honor every request. The online volunteer form is now closed, but if you wish to put your name in the hat early for next year, just e-mail Executive Director Neff at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Why should you make volunteering and renewing your ASHS membership part of your “March Madness”?

• First of all: Value!
  Recession or not, we all need to get the most from our hard-earned personal or project funds! What you pay for ASHS membership has not increased for many years, and actually doesn’t even cover the costs of the member services your Society provides to you. Our membership and subscription charges are comparable to, and in some cases lower than, those of our sister societies. New member services include a redesigned website, online access to most activities, meeting podcasts available through iTunes, and a very successful press release program. Meeting registration cost is also reduced for members.
• Second: Access!
  Only members can access the online directory, newsletter, HortEducator interviews, and Video Biographies. Only members are eligible for national and regional awards! Members receive discounted rates to publish in our journals and attend our annual conference. Speaking of journals, visibility has increased since moving to Highwire Press, and citation indices are up. Time from submission to decision and publication waits are at an all-time low following reorganization of the editorial process and the move to Sheridan Press. We have a new Public Gardens section in HortTechnology. So you are getting more value for your publishing fee dollars, which also haven’t gone up in years! Although we do charge for publication in our journals, you retain many more rights to use your publications for teaching and publish them in scholarly repositories or on your website than is the case with “free” publication with for profit publishers such as Elsevier.
• Third: Identity!
  Are you a horticultural researcher educator, or extension worker? Is your focus applied, transitional, or commodity-based? Then ASHS speaks for you to the public through our website and other outreach activities and at the Federal level through our legislative consultant and the ASHS National Issues Task Force! We need to be your home society for publishing, conferences, contact with the public and advocacy at the Federal level to stay active in the highly competitive area of professional societies. There are many groups clamoring for public attention and federal dollars.

Only ASHS offers a public face for your contributions and that of all the industries we represent. ASHS is also the only organization active in recruiting young horticulturalists, through new free membership offers and support of collegiate and graduate activities at regional and national meetings. We work to secure funding for programs that will benefit our members and industries, to publicize them in our newsletters and to bring CSREES program leaders to our meetings to help you apply successfully.

So in conclusion, it would be “madness” not to support your Society at this time and all year round!

Mary Peet
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