Thanks guys. I really appreciate the kind words!
I really appreciate when you suggest the site to others that share the same interest. If it weren't for kind people telling others about the site, we wouldn't be where we are at now.
To give some insight about my personal background as you asked, I have a diverse background; work history in things ranging from: pets, veterinary medicine, agriculture, aquaculture, websites, domain names, real estate, construction, sales, and financing, and I'm probably forgetting some things!
I've been growing plants my entire life, but first started caring for my own banana plants in the mid 90's. I still have descendants of that first plant. When I had the opportunity to start the Society, I gave it my all. I had the knowledge of what it entailed and it made sense to press forward with the idea. The first obstacle was getting the domain name Bananas.org. It took a lot of determination and persistence but I was able to lock it up and from there forward I put the website together, made many additions and adjustments to it along the way, and it's been growing well ever since.
In four months it'll be three years since I sprouted Bananas.org - sometimes it feels like its been longer and sometimes it feels like it was just a year or two. I think we've got an amazing bunch of people that contribute here and stop by on a regular basis, and for that I'm grateful. It's turned into what I envisioned, so far the first phase of it was definitely a goal that was set and reached. I wanted to form a community of people that shared a love of banana plants and appreciated the plant's history, use, and overall benefit to our race (not to even mention the other animals in the Kingdom that use the plant). The plant has a big part in the history of civilization, and its an amazing thing to cultivate the land, grow the plant, distribute, and consume it. I think its an amazing thing and I enjoy and appreciate every aspect of it, and wanted to share this with other people that feel the same. And I wanted to give them the capability to do the same, as well. The official mission statement has always been: "IBS is dedicated to increasing awareness of the banana plant as a food source as well as it's ornamental use in the landscape."
The next goals are more long term goals but I would love to produce a print journal, something nice for folks to reflect on when they're away from the computer. I would also like to have localized arms of the Society and more regular meetups happening. There's already been a few, though. The journal will come when the time is right (or should I say ripe)
, and the meetups are inevitable, the more members we have, the more frequent and possible the meetups will be.
If you have any questions about anything, I'd be more than happy to talk some more about it! Best regards and thanks for reading!
Jarred