SSE member catalog

[nctomatoman]

I got my yearbook at least a few weeks ago.

[chancethegardener]

I received my catalog last month as well. I believe that I also received an email saying that I will be asked to pay $8.00 next year, if I would like the yearbook. I am a younger generation, listed member and (despite certain issues that I think need to be resolved to make it more user-friendly) I love the online system but I love the yearbook as well. So I hope they keep both options available. I am willing to pay for the cost.

[Andrey_BY]

I've got my printed 2017 Yearbook as well, but they've made a big mistake by including all my listings from all the years even those which are unavailable right now...

[chancethegardener]

I think that the online system needs some improvement. I couldn't update my listings properly as well.

Originally Posted by Andrey_BY

I've got my printed 2017 Yearbook as well, but they've made a big mistake by including all my listings from all the years even those which are unavailable right now...

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Andrey_BY

I've got my printed 2017 Yearbook as well, but they've made a big mistake by including all my listings from all the years even those which are unavailable right now...

What???

You joined here in 2006, I've been getting seeds from you for I can't tell you how long, and ALL of them were listed in the 2017?

Much worse than the year they forgot to list 18 of my varieties, Joanne apologized, but what was,was.

I do like your new picture,if that helps a bit.

Carolyn

[Andrey_BY]

No, Carolyn. You can find in 2017 Yearbook not all vegetable varieties from my total seed collection, but only from all SSE Yearbooks since I've been started to list there. I've already asked SSE stuff to make all the nessesary changes at least in online base.
I really miss Joanne Thuente times. She was much more accurate with database and a really nice person sheself Do you know where is she now?

Carolyn, I like this photo from our forest as well. But there are no tomatoes, home pets or famous persons on it like people like to use on avatars

Originally Posted by carolyn137

What???

You joined here in 2006, I've been getting seeds from you for I can't tell you how long, and ALL of them were listed in the 2017?

Much worse than the year they forgot to list 18 of my varieties, Joanne apologized, but what was,was.

I do like your new picture,if that helps a bit.

Carolyn

[Zeedman]

My 2 c's on this, for what its worth...

The first thing is that the Yearbook is not a catalog - it is a membership publication. Paperwork reduction is sensible in business, but the Exchange side of SSE is not a business - it is a service that the non-profit is obligated to provide to its members. In the case of Carolyn & other Life Members, this is a service they have already paid for in advance, and they deserve to be treated in good faith.

There was a lot of initial confusion regarding the policy change. The Fall notice stated that members would only receive a print copy of the Yearbook if they specifically requested it - and then only if they had subscribed at the $50.00 level. Another notice (I think it was an email) stated that Listed Members would still automatically receive a print Yearbook. I too contacted SSE, they verified that I would be receiving a copy (which arrived last month).

Comparing the print Yearbook to the online exchange is problematic, because it is not an apples-to-apples comparison. To me, the print version is a permanent record of past exchanges, to which I often refer when researching the history of a particular variety. Thus far, the online version has proven to be unreliable in that aspect... wish that were not the case. As has been demonstrated in recent years, print is permanent, digital is too vulnerable to sudden & complete loss. To resolve this issue, SSE should offer the Yearbook as a .pdf (or some other downloadable format) which would remain regardless of any IT issues SSE may have in the future.

There are other problems with the Yearbook this year. Much of the previously-entered source info has simply disappeared. It appears that the 'source' field in the online exchange is now absent - and the print version derives from the digital version. SSE has also decided to change its listings from the crop type which has always been used (TOMATO 1234) to accession numbers, which will create an added wrinkle when following chain of custody.

But,in addition when I was told that last year there were about 700 listed members and for this year only 400,that raised alarm bells for me and for other members who are still good friends and always will be .

Fact is that SSE has changed considerably in recent years,I enumerated those changes in another thread here at Tville.

Jaw dropping. The older founding members have been slowly dropping out, but that doesn't account for such a steep decline. The constant instability, and loss of rapport with the membership, are obviously having an impact.

[carolyn137]

Thanks for an excellent post.

What really bothered me,which I alluded to above and said I'd posted about it elsewhere was this

(Much of the previously-entered source info has simply disappeared)

What is meant by that is that in ALL previous yearbooks there was kind of indication of whose hands the seeds had passed through so that if the current lister got it and it was wrong,one could trace back and see where a not true variety probably happened.

It would go like this

John,who got seeds from...give SSE code, in which year, who got it from Samantha,who got it from....SSE code in X year,and on and on.

Until now I've had SSE friends who do have their 2017 yearbooks check for me, both the paper as well as the online. And in the other thread I posted even more.

MY 2017 is supposed to come this week so I won't have to ask others to check this and that for me.

Carolyn

[KarenO]

I wonder how it`s working out for growers of the hundreds of other plants listed besides tomatoes. I believe there are in the range of 13000 members.

KarenO

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Andrey_BY

No, Carolyn. You can find in 2017 Yearbook not all vegetable varieties from my total seed collection, but only from all SSE Yearbooks since I've been started to list there. I've already asked SSE stuff to make all the nessesary changes at least in online base.
I really miss Joanne Thuente times. She was much more accurate with database and a really nice person sheself Do you know where is she now?

Carolyn, I like this photo from our forest as well. But there are no tomatoes, home pets or famous persons on it like people like to use on avatars

Just answering the question about Joanne. I think it was two years ago when she retired but when I asked the person at SSE about my yearbook, I asked about her and she said that she still comes in several days /week to help where needed.

I'm telling you now that she knew more about tomatoes than anyone elseat SSE,probably other crops as well and that was when every one had to send their sheets in for one per variety.
She would then have to upload from those sheets to what would go in the Yearbook.


With the tomatoes if she saw something that didn't look right to her,she would send me an e-mail asking about it and most of the time I was able to help.

Lastly, expect an e-mail which I'll send out later today.

Carolyn

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Thanks for an excellent post.

What really bothered me,which I alluded to above and said I'd posted about it elsewhere was this

(Much of the previously-entered source info has simply disappeared)

What is meant by that is that in ALL previous yearbooks there was kind of indication of whose hands the seeds had passed through so that if the current lister got it and it was wrong,one could trace back and see where a not true variety probably happened.

It would go like this

John,who got seeds from...give SSE code, in which year, who got it from Samantha,who got it from....SSE code in X year,and on and on.

Until now I've had SSE friends who do have their 2017 yearbooks check for me, both the paper as well as the online. And in the other thread I posted even more.

MY 2017 is supposed to come this week so I won't have to ask others to check this and that for me.

Carolyn

And my yearbook came today,priority mail and was sent by the person who tried to talk me out of deleting all my listings, then kept asking me if I would consider donating my seeds to SSE.

The yearbook is HALF the size of all the yearbooks I've received in the past maybe 20 years.

I read just a bit and some real surprises,for me primarily,none that would interest most folks in this thread.

I don't know when I'll get a chance to read more since my seed producers are after me to get the newest seeds onto a spreadsheet so they could each chose which ones they wanted.

No, I don't create the various spreadsheets we use, that's beyond me, but then I'm supposed to fill in the lines,but was told if I just sent a list of the varieties someone else would do that.So that was another couple of hours I spent looking for info from the envelopes that had been sent, but luckily they are all in one place to the right of my computer.And that for growout this summer.

Then a neighbor stopped by whom I haven't seen at all since last early Fall,she has had, still does,some problems to deal with, that I knew, bearing a bowl of fresh fruit as an apology.Then we talked,oh how we talked,lots to catch up on.

So goes the day.

Carolyn