To all of the speakers / presenters that we have had over the past few years while I have been VP, and those that have volunteered to do so in the upcoming months.
My wife is an officer in a volunteer / non-profit organization.
We had a conversation last night about speakers...and she commented that it is so difficult for her group to get speakers because everyone wants to be paid lots of money to speak and their group cannot afford it.
It really made me think of how passionate the people in the herp world are. We can afford to pay some travel expenses for speakers, but that's about all. In the past 3 years, I've had a grand total of ONE person that I asked to speak demand a sizabele "speaker fee". We had to decline the talk, we simply don't have the budget.
Many of our speakers drive long distances to spend some time sharing their knowledge and experices with us, and leave only with some money to fill their gas tank and a memebership to the GCHS.
In this day and age...it says a lot about the quality of these people.
Anyway...my wife's experiences just really made me feel a wave of gratitude.
THANK YOU !!
