Page 3 - BSAM 2017 Q4

As I write this report in late October, BCI still has several activities this year. Prior to attending the BCI Annual Convention in Taiwan in November, Helen Su and I will travel to China to present the BCI China Group Instructors their Certifcates. Tey had a difcult job deciding on the top 20, so we agreed to increase their number to 25. As I explained in a previous report, the selection process was very strict in China. BCI is very fortunate to have such representation from China available for your club Events. We will also present 12 Taiwanese Certifcates at our Convention in Taiwan. We are still in the selection process for the rest of the world and you can still apply via the BCI website providing you are an Individual BCI Member and meet the criteria. The Taiwan Convention is shaping up to be a great Event and we will have a full report in Q1, 2018. BCI Magazine Editor, Joe Grande will be in attendance to report frst hand. I would like to thank Mr Chen and his team for all their hard work in putting on this event. I know that Mr Chen has travelled extensively, often with a large group, to Bonsai Events promoting BCI 2017 and inviting many people to help celebrate BCI 55th Anniversary. As a result, 500 delegates from 59 countries will be participating. If you haven’t visited our redesigned website as yet, please do. Lots of new content and very easy to navigate. Te next area to be renovated is the BCI Club listings page. We will integrate club listings with an interactive map to help you fnd a bonsai club nearby or to contact a club when visiting another part of the world. (When I say “we” of course you realize that I mean our web team, Joe and Bonnie.)Our recent Board Members election has seen a record response from the BCI Member Clubs, due I feel, to the ease of a new voting system, which allows a link to the form, which you fll and send without having to log on the website. Tank you to all of the clubs who responded and exercised their right to vote. Te results are announced at the BCI Annual General Meeting in Taiwan on the 6th November.2018 is shaping up to be a great year for BCI. Our frst Event will be in April 24-29 with a BCI International Friendship Tour and Exhibition in Malaysia. You will get the opportunity to see some great Bonsai, Stone and Wood along with sightseeing, including a trip to Malacca. More details and registra-tion available at www.bonsaistone.com.myOur main Event in 2018 is BCI’s Annual Convention which will be held in Mulhouse, France from October 12–14. Details will be available on the BCI website. Te Convention will be followed with a BCI tour ending in Paris. Details of the tour will also be available on the BCI website. We can’t confrm the tour price until February 2018.My buzz word when I took on the Presidency of BCI was education, and we at BCI are striving to achieve this. BCI Bonsai & Stone Appreciation magazine has continued to produce educational articles thanks to our Editor and our many Authors. I thank all who have contributed. Without your support this would not be possible. Another area of education I have seen a great increase in over in the past couple of years is the teaching of children. Our BCI China Group is very proactive in this area and we saw many children participating in workshops at WBC in Japan last April. Crespi Cup in Italy also holds children’s workshops at their biannual event. One of our board members Frank Mihalic is passionate about this. He runs workshops for kids at many conventions throughout the US and recently conducted a workshop for 28 kids at the ABFF Convention in Korea. Frank has written a book especially for kids and had the book translated into several languages. He presented all of the kids in Korea with a copy of his book, which he had translated into Korean. He also recently held a workshop for around 40 kids at an Annual Bonsai Exhibition in Chicago. You can read about it in this issue.As 2017 draws to a close I would like to take this opportunity to thank BCI Magazine Editor and Web Master, Joe Grande; BCI Business Manager, Larry Stephan; BCI Tech guru Bonnie Moore; BCI Secretary David DeGroot; Treasurer Roger Snipes and the BCI Directors for their continued support. A special thanks to BCI Vice President Helen Su, with whom I work very closely. I would also like to thank our many authors for your wonderful articles and our advertisers for their faith in us. Last, but not least thank you, our BCI Members and Member Clubs. You are what BCI is all about. Without your membership and continued support we would not be able to continue to provide the service that we do.We have a great working team in place at BCI and on behalf of all of us, we wish those who celebrate Christmas a Merry One, Happy Holidays and especially to those who have sufered with mother nature’s extremes this past year, a Safe, Healthy and Prosperous New Year. Cheers from Down Under,Glenis BebbPresident’s Message2018 is shaping up to be a great year for BCI. Our frst Event will be in April 24-29 with a BCI International Friendship Tour and Exhibition in Malaysia. You will get the opportunity to see some great Bonsai, Stones and Wood along with sightseeing, including a trip to Malacca. More details and registration available at www.bonsaistone.com.my