While reading the results of Tony Tickles' latest poll, I wondered what the experience of others here has been.

I voted for I'm a member. Thought it would have been nice to have another choice.... I belong, My club is good but could use improvement.
At present I belong to Green Mountain Bonsai Society (disclamer....I am co-chairperson). It is the only active club in Vermont. We have a mix a both old and young members. Our meetings are good, not great but they sure are helpful. Plus it is fun to get together with others with like interests.
In the past I was a member of Great Swamp Bonsai in NJ, enjoy my time there and learned alot from the group.

Jay

I guess what should be asked, is after you see how to wire, transplant, prune and explore some design of trees in nature / imagination, what more do you expect from the club?

If it were Art, the next stage would some sort of Art School or Master painter, and if the desire were strong enough so many years of study, before you had the confidence to go it alone.

You guys are lucky, you have Mr.Boon.

So perhaps it is not a case of tea / beer / biscuits and potato chips, but maybe the expectations from a club just went the wrong way.
If you are planning to get to be any good in Bonsai, an excellent teacher for so many years is very necessary.
Good Morning.
Anthony

 I am pretty new to Bonsai a beginner at best, I have been to two meetings so far. I joined at the first meeting ,maybe that was a mistake, the jury is still out on that. There are some good people there but mostly I would never know because the only ones I have talked to are the ones I approached. It makes you feel pretty out of place when you are not recognized. I know I have to be more assertive but I as a new be  am just trying to fit in and get some guidance on my new found hobby. Their web site is really lacking, few pictures and no information on any up coming meetings or other events. It would be nice to be able to log on and see what if anything will be going on at the next meeting. And that brings up the worst part so far and that is there is no structure to the meetings at all that I have seen. Tonights meeting was just every one setting around working on their own trees. No start to the meeting no speaker of any find so I just wondered around a bit trying to get to know some of the folks there. I tried watching some of them work but did not know what they were actually doing to the tree, remember I'm a beginner. I finally over heard something about a library. So, I was taken out side to a cabinet and allowed to look at the books.  It was mostly Bonsai Today magazines so I grabbed a couple of them and a beginners guide to Bonsai. Grabbed my little pathetic tree and went home.  I have not given up on them yet and I'll go to the next meeting to see if any thing is different or better. If not then I will just go there to check out the magazines. The Bonsai Today magazines are great. If the club would put a small percentage of that kind of effort into the club, that is put into that magazine it would be a great experience. No sour grapes and no new knowledge about Bonsai. I enjoyed the other replies.

Hey Done4,

You live in the land of American Bonsai, no disrespect to Portland. John Thompson is in San Jose, Johnny Uchida is in Hayward, Boon is in Hayward.  And many, many, others. Try the  BIB club show in Oakland next month, I will be there, Yenling will be there, we can introduce you to folks. You need to find a club that does what you want. I am in two clubs, BIB which is all about bonsai and the development of trees for exhibition and the Hartford Connecticut club where there are many interesting presentations, but the dominant activity seems to be raffles and auctions. Different strategies that produce different results but meet the needs of the members.

John
I figured there  must be a lot of Bonsai people in the Bay Area with such a history of Asian influence. I am a little surprised that there are so few if any places that sell pots or other Bonsai material. We used to have a Bonsai Nursery not far from my house but several years ago it went out of business and now is a Trader Joes. We have Yamagamis Nursery but they just don't have much. That show in Oakland sounds interesting, I'll try to look it up for times and location. I will check out these other Clubs web sites and see what they are like. Driving as you know in the evening is getting to be such a head ache so location comes into play. You guys have been very helpful I appreciate that a lot.
Oh yeah, my name is Don and my last name is Dunn so I used my standby unanimous site name. That does not work to good for this site. Maybe I can go back and change it to just Don.

Don Dunn,

I live in Georgia, and go to Hayward CA to attend Boon's intensives.  Don't tell me that a little traffic is going to prevent you from learning from one of the best teachers of bonsai!

I have just re-joined the Atlanta Bonsai Society.  Previously, I was a member back in the 1980's.  Vice-President in 1984.  They do bring in the big names for workshops, etc.  I'm joining up so I can attend them.

Adair
 I get your point and am interested in Boon's programs. I am just retiring and am not to sure of my budget yet,  the other thing is I am very big on my family and they come first in my life. The amount of time I spend away is important to me, am I whopped ,Maybe. Am I very married and in love for 37 years most definitely. I am trying to be practical about what I am doing, two trips a month say 15 miles verses 45 miles is a lot of time I could be spending reading about or working on my Bonsai. more money for tools and plants. Our gas prices here are about the highest in the nation and I am not a computer multimillionaire like so many others here , just a blue collar worker. If I can justify my actions I would go where the best help would be. I do want to learn as fast and from as knowledgeable people as I can. I have a lot to do just to keep op with my garden at home, Koi pond,cactus, Orchids and Bromeliads. I also want to give this club more of a chance I don't know who these people are yet maybe there are some Boons or Ryan Niels here. If I'm not getting the help I need then I will go some where else. I do plan on getting to as many events as I can and what I can afford. Thank you Adair for your help and  encouragement. I am impressed with all the help I get from this site.