Page 3 - BSAM 2016 Q4

President’s Message
Whilst writing this message I am travelling to Japan to attend the 8th World Bonsai Convention. Around 1,200 Bonsai and Stone enthusiasts from all over the world are expected in Saitama to attend this event. World Bonsai Friendship Federation hosts an International convention every four years. WBFF is represented by nine world regions. Japan, China, India, Europe, Asia Paci c, Africa, Australia/New Zealand, North America and South America. Each region has a Director. e Conventions are moved around the world regions each four years. Around 300 Bonsai and 200 Suiseki will be on display. Each region will have a demonstrator represented along with Japan’s top masters and some young Japanese talent. Social functions will include an opening ceremony and welcome reception which will be attended by their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Akishino. I attended the rst world Bonsai convention in Japan back in 1989 where I met lots of bonsai friends many of whom will be back in a Japan and it will be great to catch up. We will report on this event in the next issue of our magazine.
Thinking back even before the last WBC in Japan whilst conducting business in a Japan and China, we had to send all of our correspondence to our agents regarding pot and tool purchases via post. I remember the rst time I sent through an order to Japan via a fax machine! I was in awe of the technology. Yuji Yoshimura would post his notes and drawings from the US, with his new ideas, to Lindsay. is would take weeks before we received them. (I know I am showing my age!)
Fast forward 30-plus years and I marvel at how much technology has advanced. We have instant contact via the internet. If someone does not reply within two days we are likely to think they have died! Unfortunately, not all of the bonsai and stone information available on line and on forums has been good or accurate. Fortunately, we are now seeing more live streaming of bonsai events and several talented people o ering online bonsai teaching. We feature a couple of these websites in this issue. Oscar Jonker from Bonsai Empire is spreading the bonsai word across the world with live videos and is also conducting online bonsai courses with tutors including Bjorn Bjorholm, Michael Hagedorn, Bill Valavanis and Boon Manakitivipart. Ryan Neil has introduced “Mirai Live” and is live streaming every week featuring himself and other talented artists from around the world. Although some content is free, these have fees, but are no doubt spreading good and accurate bonsai knowledge world wide and taking bonsai teaching to a whole new level.
BCI’s Annual Convention is fast approaching. The host is the Taiwan Bonsai Association. is year’s event will be held in Taichung, Taiwan, from the 4th to 7th November followed by a four-day optional tour. e convention will feature 26 demonstrators representing 21 countries. You can find more information and register via the website www.bcibonsai2017.com
Our web team Bonnie Moore and Joe Grande have been busy making changes to the BCI website. Bonnie, our tech guru, initiated
BCI’s Annual Convention is fast approaching. The host is the Taiwan Bonsai Association.
This year’s event will be held in Taichung, Taiwan, from the 4th to 7th November followed by a four-day optional tour. The convention will feature 26 demonstrators representing
21 countries . You can nd more information and register via the convention website
www.bcibonsai2017.com.
the move to a new template and as a result the BCI website is getting a new look that is more legible and responds to di erent screen sizes more e ciently. It also behaves more predictably when content is added, better code than the current, but compatible in the positions of the modules that make up each page. e BCI store will be more prominently positioned on the home page. e store that Bonnie is completing has much improved navigation and product management. e shopping cart will be easy to nd. Adding new products to the store, above and beyond the magazine back issues, will be easy. e store will grow with more o ers from BCI in the future.
e BCI website has features where member clubs that do not have a website, can be assigned a Facebook-like page on the BCI website so they can manage their local club. We don’t know how popular this will be but it might o er a few clubs an a ordable way to stay connected and bene t from their BCI membership. e club’s page would be password protected and only those invited (i.e., your local members) can see what’s going on. Please let us know if your club is interested.
As the site is migrated to the new look, we’ll take the opportunity to clean house and tidy things up. Currently Bonnie is migrating content to the new template and making the necessary adjustments. Joe is contributing the images for the store upgrade. is should all be completed by the time you receive this issue. If you haven’t visited the website recently please log on and check it out. www.bonsai-bci. com. Let us know what you think.
Cheers from Down Under, Glenis Bebb
April/May/June 2017 | BCI | 1