2025 Aroid Society of Australia Annual General Meeting Minutes

Date:          04th September 2025, 6:00pm

Location:   Mt Coot-tha Botanical Gardens Auditorium

Attendees:

Barry Kable

Bruce Dunstan

Harrison Schell

Laura Schell

Steven Hay

Greg Ure

Alexia Loader

Yvonne Patterson

Stephen Bartlett

Stan Walkley

Jordan Patterson

Alec Newman

Jerome Yee

Jody Harrison

Samuel Harrison

Andrew Baker

Lee Thorneycroft

Leanne Bennett

Stephen Flood

Peter Starkey

Cat Bennett

Alex Muddle

Shantela Brisbane

Liam Krieger

Trevor Perry

Suzy Perry

General Meetup:

Welcome by the President  - Andrew Baker

-   References to the emailed apologies to secretary@aroids.net email and opened to the floor for any more apologies

Suspend General Meetup at 1906 and AGM Commenced.

For those in attendance you may notice that no-one is taking notes; the meeting is being recorded and to be transcribed at a later date and emailed to all committee members.

List of apologies presented and acknowledged:

-   Ian Stugges

-   Jenny Watts

-   Sandra Kane

-   Thulasi Rajah

Previous minutes presented and members reminded that they were emailed to all financial members 12 months ago and available on website.

-   No objections were made and the motion was moved by Barry Kable and seconded by Yvonne Paterson.

Presidents Report

Those who are not aware I’m Andy Baker and I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved with the ASA committee since mid 2021 where I functioned as a general committee member, vice president, interim president and president since 2022.

Over the last 12 months the society continues to experience growth and activity and as of this time we have 461 financial members, which is about 40 less than last year which considering the tailing off of the “Aroid hype”, is a feat not to be understated. The Committee has again been focused on regular in person meet ups with there being a total of 18 in person events Australia wide. Some of these events included field trips to botanic gardens, members plant collections and regular in person meet ups to name a few.

Recently the society held it’s first ever dedicated plant sale in Brisbane early February at the Belmont shooting complex titled Floresta de Tropical or mostly referred to as Floresta. The concept of Floresta is to act a as traveling plant fair in visiting different location around the country for each instalment. Floresta was attended by well over 450 ticket holders comprising of local community members and ASA members. There was over 14 vendors and 15 volunteers who helped make the day possible which we all thank those involved. We look forward to watching Floresta flourish and can’t wait for the upcoming instalment in Melbourne happening in mid-October this year.

We have continued to receive great feedback RE the content featured in our biannual publication “Aroida Australis” however we still require articles from our members to add to it’s content. If you have any ideas for content or would like to contribute, please us know by reaching out by email to editor@aroids.net.

The society has invested significant time and finances in technology over the past 12 months with the updated website and new members only area section a great success. The members only section is your one stop shop for all your ASA member benefit perks as it contains all our Aroida and archived newsletter copies, IAS articles, our ASA official merch shop and Youtube links to talks and presentations from events country wide. This is something which provides a great tool for members who may not be able to attend regular meetings.

The society has also invested in physical technology which has allowed us to capture presentations to a high quality toad to our members only area. These include a new video recording camera, projector and additional wireless microphones.

I would also like to thank you, our members, who continue to engage with the society, be that renewing membership, attending events and even contributing to our Facebook pages. The society is always looking for ways to engage members and encourages you all to participate in any way you can. At the end of the day; the Aroid Society is YOUR society!

A massive thanks and congratulations go out to all of our previous Office Bearers, State Representatives and general committee members for all their contributions over the last 12 months in continuing to grow our Society from humble beginnings to the nation wide club we are today and I wish the 2025-2026committee the best for the year ahead.

No objections were made and the motion was moved by Alexia Loader  and seconded by Greg Ure.

Treasurer's Report -  Financial Year 2024/2025

Last financial year, we made a profit of $1,146.97.

Our largest Income source comes from memberships, with a total collected of

$11074.50. This is down fractionally from last year by 4.6% but is still impressive given the Cost of Living Crisis and the overall downturn in the value of, and enthusiasm for, aroids.

Our second largest source of income is from the leasing of tables to sellers at Floresta (Brisbane and the upcoming Melbourne Floresta), which comes in at $4215.00.

Our third largest source of income is from raffles and fundraising, which contributed $3787.65, so please keep up the good work!

Plant sales are not particularly profitable to the ASA, but offer a valuable resource in both giving our members a chance to buy and sell.

Our largest Expense was on events of $5676.41, which includes venue hire, speaker fees and the like. We also spent $3628.47 on upgrading audiovisual equipment and the like. Other expenses include catering, advertising, printing, stationery and various subscriptions to cover our online platforms and insurance.

Our Society remains in a strong position financially. Our closing Bank Balance on June 30th 2025, was $37,942.10 with a term deposit of $10,000. Leaving our society with Financial assets of $47,942.10.

It is great to see that we are bringing value to members through events, plant sales, our website and newsletters, as well as a connection to the greater aroid community.

Liz Showniruk.