19th
AOC Conference & Show
Perth, Western Australia
11th to 16th September 2012
"Wild About Orchids"
About Us
The Members of the 19th AOC Conference Committee, have all had previous experience in organizing and presenting orchid conferences, shows, displays etc, and, coming from varied and diverse backgrounds with much individual expertise, are confident that they can produce an AOC Conference that will set the benchmark for all future events of this kind.
The Committee's views are progressive and innovative. They plan to produce an event that will be inventive, original and groundbreaking.
So who are these hard working folk who have given up their spare time for free?
Bruce Larson is Chair of the 19th AOC Conference & Show 2012 Organising Committee and the WOC Bid Team.
Bruce became interested in growing and flowering orchids about 30 years
ago and became a founding member of the Northern Districts Orchid Society
of which he is currently President, making this the 10th occasion he has
been elected as President. He is currently Vice President of the Wanneroo
Orchid Society (4 yrs). Bruce is also the Northern Districts Orchid Society
delegate to the Western Australian Regional Orchid Organisation, the peak
orchid body in WA.
Bruce's interest and level of participation has increased significantly
since 2006 with his retirement from full time work.
He has played an active part in the development and staging of the successful
2008 WAOS held in Perth (Belmont) during September of that year.
Bruce fully organised, complete with sponsors, a successfully orchid spectacular
complete with all local clubs and societies held in Midland in 2001
His other related conference experiences undertaken during his 21 years
at Rio Tinto as a senior executive across various product groups and corporate
roles, include; responsibility for Rio Tinto's involvement in the Sydney
Olympics (2000), which involved setting up fully serviced accommodation
and office facility for some 100 international guests and managing their
participation at the Games along with business and social functions. The
task took over 18 months to bring together and required being fully involved
(24/7) for 3 weeks prior to and during the Games in Sydney. This task
coincided with responsibilities associated with the take over of two significant
ASX /international listed mining businesses.
He also had responsibility for Rio Tinto's involvement in the 2005 World
Expo in Japan including managing activities associated with numerous international
guests and attendance of the CEO at Australia's Opening Day at the Expo
attended by the Prime Minister of Australia. The task required participation
on Australia's World Expo Board run within the Department of Foreign Affairs
and Trade.
Bruce has also been responsible for numerous other business conferences
including staging a mining industry week of activities. He chaired the
industry organising committee which included most of Australia's major
mining houses.
Bruce currently provides strategic and negotiation services, via his consultancy,
to the mining sector across Australia and is Chairman of two companies'.
He is also President of the Western Australia Golf Club.
Merle Arrah is the Secretary of the 19th AOC Conference & Show 2012. Merle has had extensive experience as a past Treasurer, Secretary, Registrar and Show Marshall of Northern Districts Orchid Society and has been instrumental in planning and executing orchid shows and displays over many years.
Merle is a Life Member of Northern Districts Orchid Society and has attended numerous conferences over the past 30 years. Together with her husband, Bernie they were instrumental in organising two coach tours of orchid enthusiasts from Perth to AOC Conferences in Darwin and Brisbane.
Together, Bernie & Merle have been growing orchids since 1975 across a wide spectrum of varieties, but having particular success with Paphiopedilums and Australian Natives. Over the years they have won many major prizes at shows and have also received a number of AOC awards. Merle is a foundation member of The Paphiopedilum Study Group of Western Australia and has been Treasurer for the past six years.
Before retirement beckoned Merle spent
many years employed in Account Administration and Human Resources field
within the automotive and mining resources industries. Her roles covered
all aspects of accounting, computerisation, payrolls and budgetary considerations.
Stephanie Clarke is the Treasurer of
the 19th AOC Conference & Show 2012.
She is also the Representative on the AOC Committee for the Western Australian
Regional Orchid Organisation. Stephanie joined the Northern Districts
Orchid Society in 1984, and within six months, became the Society Treasurer,
a position which she held for the next seven and a half years.
After a break for a year or two, Steph become the Secretary of the Northern
Districts Orchid Society, a position she held until 2008. During this
time, she was the Show Marshal for the Northern Districts Orchid Society,
and also Show Marshal for the first Western Australian Orchid Spectacular
& Conference in 2005.
In recognition of the many years of distinguished service she has contributed to the society, Stephanie was recently made a life member of the Northern Districts Orchid Society.
With her husband Ken, she has, for many years, grown and shown a huge variety of orchid genera with great success, garnering a large number of awards along the way.
Steph worked in a local orchid nursery for 22 years, where she honed her orchid skills, which she has passed on to others orchid growers, as a sought after speaker at many orchid society and garden club meetings. She has done work in her own laboratory on orchids, cloning and sowing seeds very successfully.
After many years as the Northern Districts Orchid Society Delegate to the Western Australian Regional Orchid Organisation, Stephanie was elected as the delegate from that body to the Australian Orchid Council, a position that she holds to this day.
Norm Martin is the Show Marshal/Registrar
for the 19th AOC Conference & Show 2012. Norm and his wife Jenny,
first started growing orchids in 1976 and have an extensive and varied
orchid collection which they have nurtured over the years. Norm has been
an active committee member of the Bunbury Orchid Society since 1978 and
was the Society President for four years.
He has extensive experience with Orchid Conference's as he was coordinator
for the two Bunbury Regional Conferences in 1987 & 1999, and Chairman
of both the 2005 and the 2008 WAOS Conferences' held in Perth. As Show
Marshal/Registrar for the 2008 WAOS Conference, Norm devised a computerised
Show Management System that compiled the show entries, thus providing
a revolutionary, simplified, computerised system, that will be used to
assist the judges and registrars at the AOC Conference & Show 2012.
Norm has been an AOC Judge for the last 23 years.
Jenny Martin is the Show Secretary for
the 19th AOC Conference & Show 2012. She was the Secretary for the
2008 WAOS Show Committee and has been the Secretary of Bunbury Orchid
Society for 5 years. She has had vast experience with the computerised
Show Management System which will be used at the 19th AOC Conference &
Show 2012. Jenny and husband Norm have shared their love of orchids since
1976.
Tony Watkinson has responsibility for the 19th AOC Conference Lecture Program, a position he held in both the 2005 & 2008 WAOS Conferences. The success of both these Conferences was due in no small part to the quality of the lecturers that were persuaded to visit Perth from many parts of the world. Tony has promised to better his past achievements for the 19th AOC Conference in 2012.
Tony is also our Webmaster and will be responsible for keeping you up to date on all the happenings via email. Tony already has a large email database and if you would like your email address added to it, please contact Tony at EMAIL
Tony has served as the President of the Wanneroo Orchid Society (7 years) and also the Secretary (2 years). He was also the President of the Species Orchid Society of Western Australia serving two, two year terms and has been a Committee member since 1996. As the Webmaster for the Species Orchid Society of WA, Tony converted all of the orchid slides of the late Ron Heberle's WA native orchids to a digital format and constructed a web site of over 1000 pages for them.
Over the last ten years, Tony has been instumental in organising a number of successful tours for orchid growers to see orchids in southeast Asia, including a trip to the 17th WOC in Malaysia.
He has authored a number of orchid related articles which have been seen in orchid magazines world wide.
Tony has been growing orchids since 1990 with some success and has a varied collection which includes Phalaenopsis, Hardcane Dendrobiums, and a wide range of species orchids. He has recently been invited to become a member of the Australia Orchid Foundation.
Mavis Watkinson is the 19th AOC Conference Volunteer Coordinator. Mavis was the Secretary of the 2008 WAOS Conference and Seniors Coordinator for the 2005 WAOS Conference Committee. Many visitors and Registrants to both the 2005 and 2008 WAOS Conferences will remember Mavis's smiling face, as she was the "Go To" person who was available to sort out any problems that arose.
Mavis has been a member of the Committee for the Species Orchid Society of Western Australia since 1996 in a variety of roles. She has been the the Membership Officer of the Wanneroo Orchid Society for the last 10 years and has served on their Committee since 1997.
Mavis is the current Secretary/Treasurer of the Western Australian Regional Orchid Organisation
