Please welcome new PBS Board members

[Robin Hansen]

Greetings, all PBS members,
 
The PBS board met on Sunday and is excited to announce the appointment of several board members. For the first time I recall, we have more volunteer applicants than positions available. Some time ago the board voted to increase the number of board members from 9 to 11. Although we've had 8-9 in the past, we decided to fill several positions. We can't say enough for the great response from PBS members who volunteered and the qualifications listed. It was a terrific turnout!
 
The positions of secretary and vice president were filled by Emil Friend (California), as secretary, and Bridget Wosczyna (currently Bulb Exchange Director) as vice president. Two other positions for members-at-large have also been filled: Kathleen Sayce from Washington state, and Kristen Henty from New Zealand.
 
In an effort to increase the geographical diversity and range of experience such as we have with PBS members, we are, for the first time, welcoming a southern hemisphere member. The time zone challenge has been met (who knew how significant that could be for countries down south) and we are excited to have such a range of board members with widely diverse gardening education and experience, and as all members are – crazy about bulbs!
 
Please join me in welcoming the new board members. We will in the coming months include brief biographical sketches of each new board member so that you can become acquainted with their various interests and experience. These will appear in the Bulb Garden so that all members can read them.
 
Best regards,
 
Robin Hansen, President
For the PBS Board

[Martin Bohnet]

Hi all,


I think Robin has posted a good overview of our goals for filling these positions - we went for diversity of background, area and age, not only in regard to the new people but also in relation to existing members. None of the candidates were "bad people", and none of them should feel bad for not being chosen. We're already "Europe heavy" in the board in relation to the member numbers and, as a none-native speaker, it was actually me (amongst others) who favored an English mother tongue person for secretary.


I have to admit we made some mistakes in the announcement of open positions, as not mentioning that native English is a plus for secretary, and  we realized during the candidate discussion that jumping from zero to vice president wasn't an ideal solution, so we're very happy to have Bridget volunteering for this extra work for now, while still adding two injections of "new blood" in addition to the secretary position, which may lead to a new arrangement when everyone has settled in.