Member Resources for Orchid Shows
This page has everything you need to participate, from how to enter your plants in the show, to information on selling as an IOS member and volunteer information.
This same page will be updated for every show, so bookmark it for quick access.
The Illinois Orchid Society is 100% volunteer run. This is your show, and it is the participation of our members that makes all of our events and programs fun and successful.
Your experience matters to us. For feedback, questions, or concerns, contact your Show Chair David Kirk at illinoisorchidsocietyshows@gmail.com.
Enter Your Orchids in the Show
Share your passion for orchids with the world by entering your blooming plants in the show. In the Spring we encourage you to enter your plants in the group display. For the Fall show, if you have three plants or more, we encourage you to make your own mini display or create a display with others. IOS group display for the show. No orchid is too small, we want them all!
To enter an orchid for the IOS display, follow these easy steps:
Step 1. Fill out the Exhibitor Identification Form using the number 1 for the exhibit number.
Step 2. Find your orchids’ entry class in the Show Schedule, and fill out the Plant Registration Form.
Step 3. Email both of these to dianemulkerin@gmail.com by 5:00 pm on Thursday March 6th.
Step 4. Bring your orchid to the Chicago Botanic Garden by 3pm Friday March 7th, and retrieve it Sunday March 9th from 4pm-5pm.
If you need help, email illinoisorchidsocietyshows@gmail.com, or contact your Show Chair, David Kirk, in your directory.
Forms and Reference Documents for Plant Registration
Register Your Own Display
For the spring show, we encourage members to enter their plants in the IOS group display. However, if you are entering photographs, collectibles, or artwork, you can register a display of your own by Monday February 17.
Sell Your Orchids and Supplies at the Show
If you would like to sell orchid plants or supplies, we provide a venue at our shows. In order to sell any items at the show, each item requires a NEW bar-coded label, which enables the IOS to track members’ sales and later send a check to you for your sold items (less the 27% retained by the IOS). All plants must be healthy and bug-free.
Download the sales label request form and forward your list to iosplantsales@gmail.com by Friday, February 21st.
Volunteer
Orchid shows are a major part of how the Illinois Orchid Society fulfills our mission to both educate the public about orchids and promote orchid cultivation.
We are a 100% volunteer organization. Everything we do is made possible through the involvement of our members.
We break the work into 3-hour shifts. Volunteers earn 5 points for every hour worked, so one shift = 15 points.
Every year in June, the society issues prizes based on points from volunteering, and entering plants for judging at meetings and shows.
We need four volunteers at our booth during the Orchid Marketplace weekends to answer questions about the orchid society and questions about orchids, repot orchids for visitors, and bring our supplies up from the lock Saturday morning at 8:30 am saturday, and back down to the locker at 4pm Sunday.
During our show weekend, March 7th-8th-9th, we need volunteers to help get everything ready on Friday, from skirting tables to moving supplies and offering help to our guest exhibitors and vendors.
The Illinois Orchid Society has an agreement with the Chicago Judging Center that they will administer ribbon judging for the competition, but that means we need 24 IOS volunteers to clerk with them in order to help things move quickly. Please consider helping with this process. It can be an interesting chance to listen to the judges talk about the plants.
For our weekend, we also have an IOS membership table. This is an important chance to talk to the public about joining, which is also a very important function of our orchid shows, and how we can keep the society going.
Spring Show Volunteer Schedule
Friday Mar. 7
Setup/Plant Movers
12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Diana Ametchenia
Hend Herman
Cathy Bloome
Russell Brand
Laura Brand
Karen Roth
Lili Nishimura
Diane Mulkerin
Setup/Plant Movers
3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m
Jim Ault
Sally And Nick Horne-Badovinac
Plant Registration
3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Diane Mulkerin
Plant Sales Setup
3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Diana Ameltchenia
Karen Roth
Lili Nishimura
Saturday Mar. 8
Clerking (need 24)
7:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
Loren Pollock
Monica Penny
Steve Robinson
Toby Green
Noris D’Agostino
Marcy Goldman
William Wrate
Kai Last
Elena Last
John Hockberger
Karen Hunter
Sareena Denis
Sherry Maloney
Hend Herman
Kristen Kristek
Anne Kotowski
Liz Koenig
Ernesto Gagarin
Carley Trout
Tiffany Tawzer
Lisa Cognianese
George Titterton
Joan Goodman
Cathleen Dagestani
IOS Membership
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Marcy Goldman
Toby Green
Jane Stastny
Kristen Kristek
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Tiffany Tawzer
Joan Goodman
Plant Sales
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Kevin O’Rourke
Karen Hunter
Hend Herman
Joan Goodman
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Diana Ameltchenia
Karen Scheid Wagner
Jeannette Buerk
Repotting
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Ernesto Gagarin
Liz Koenig
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m
-
Hospitality
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Karen Roth
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Karen Roth
A.O.S. Membership
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Monica Penny
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
-
Sunday Mar. 9
IOS Membership
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
-
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Sherry Maloney
Cathy Bloome
Kristen Kristek
Plant Sales
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Judy Doll
Jim Ault
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Diana Ameltchenia
Karen Scheid Wagner
Anne Kotowski
Melissa Spencer
Ali Pai
Lili Nishimura
Sally and Nick Hone-Badovinac
Repotting
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Kay P.
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Blake Wilcox
Lisa Coglianese
Hospitality
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Karen Roth
Lili Nishimura
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Karen Roth
A.O.S. Membership
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
-
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
-
Teardown
4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Marcy Goldman
Diana Ametchenia
Anne Kotowski
Deb Altman
Karen Roth
Ali Pai
Joan Goodman
Jim Ault
Jeanette Burger
Rick Burger
Kristen Kristek
Diane Mulkerin
Orchid Marketplace Volunteer Schedule
Saturday Feb. 8
Point Person: David Kirk
Morning
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Marcy Goldman
Afternoon
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Sunday Feb. 9
Point Person: Robbi Shew
Morning
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Afternoon
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Marcy Goldman
Saturday Feb. 15
Point Person: Diane Mulkerin
Morning
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Afternoon
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Sunday Feb. 16
Point Person: Robbi Shew
Morning
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Joan Goodman
Afternoon
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Marcy Goldman
Fred Horn
Saturday Feb. 22
Point Person: Marcy Goldman & Anna Westine
Morning
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Joan Goodman
Jane Stastny
Afternoon
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Toby Green
Sunday Feb. 23
Point Person: Robbi Shew
Morning
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Afternoon
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Lili Nishimura
Saturday Mar. 1
Point Person:
George Titterton
Morning
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Judy Doll
Afternoon
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Lili Nishimura
Sunday Mar. 2
Point Person: Robbi Shew
Morning
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Afternoon
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.