Programs for celebrations on completion of 15 years of efloraofindia on 17.6.22

Programs for celebrations on completion of 15 years of efloraofindia on 17.6.22:
I am listing the points as suggested/ discussed among our Moderators. Pl. come forward to take up a volunteer job as vacant below in some of the serial nos.:
1. Print just one colour “efloraofindia” on: 1) cap 2) waist pouch 3) plain t-shirt. I feel a T-shirt would be a better option. We require a volunteer who can organise this activity of liaising with some vendors etc. for printing, dispatch and collection of money from willing members and moderators. Prashant ji too liked the suggestion from Dinesh ji to have a T-shirt designed for this occasion with the logo of our group. During the virtual meet, we all can wear the same. It will look like a team event.

2. Contribute a writeup on “My journey with efloraofindia”. All such writeups will be collected and published on efi site on a page and circulated widely through social media by all our moderators and members. I have already started a new thread in this regard and response has been excellent and  “My journey with efloraofindia” & “Stories of efloraofindia” published so far are available at ‘Story of efloraofindia‘.
 
3. Can someone deliver some lecture somewhere on efloraofindia, in a place or audience of their choice?  Anil ji has suggested ‘An online lecture about efloraofindia through FB efloraofindia page’. Anil ji will further explore. Myself, Nidhan ji and maybe some other members willing to give a lecture over here.
4. We will confer some title on anyone of the members, whom we feel has contributed most (but still not been conferred any title except for me). Each of the moderators may confidentially send a mail to me and based on max. no. of votes from the moderators, we can decide on the person. I will send a mail in this regard to all the moderators and collect their opinions. We will announce the name in the virtual meeting.
5. Posters to be made as has been done in the past (It will be done by Ritesh ji), along with some short of write up for circulations in different forums/ social media, for creating awareness. One volunteer is required for making the initial small draft and subsequently it will be circulated among moderators for further modifications.
6. Some members can take exploratory treks etc. to celebrate completion of 15 year of efi and post their observations in the group, as has been done in the past. No inputs received so far. 
 
7. We can try to get hold of somebody who can publish a story on the 15th year of completion. I have got permission from one online website and Pankaj ji has succeeded with another. Anil ji has suggested ‘News in some leading newspapers about efloraofindia’ and ‘News about achievements of efloraofindia in national news channels’. Getting the story/ news in Print media/ News channels is still required.

8. We can do a small story on our own and share widely on social media. Any of the moderators can do this on behalf of efloraofindia. We will provide any assistance, if required by them. Anybody among us can do this small story and we will all circulate it widely on social media. In fact, anyone can write a story and we will publish ourselves on our site and then subsequently it can be circulated in the social media. I have already started a new thread in this regard and response has been excellent and stories published so far are available at ‘Story of efloraofindia‘ (which may be of a page or more).

9. a) We can have the 1st ever get together of all the moderators in a virtual meeting (as once suggested by Pankaj ji) on 12.6.22 (Sunday) from 3 to 5 pm IST for the moderators (Anil ji has suggested ‘Virtual meeting of all the moderators, pillars, experts and contributors’. I personally feel that let us start with moderators first and see the results). It may be structured with all joinees saying whatever they want to say about them, about life, about efi etc. say for 5 minutes each and others may ask any questions from him or her afterwards.
b) A virtual meet should be arranged, with 2-3 keynote talks, centred around the journey and accomplishments of this forum. Members who wish to, can share their experiences regarding eFI briefly. If it works well, we can have it regularly as an annual summit of eFI. It may start this year as “1st Annual Summit of EfloraofIndia-Celebrating 15th Foundation Year“. The awards or honours which have been decided, may be announced during the same… If possible, we can invite any eminent Botanist to deliver a talk of 10-15 minutes, mainly about eFI or similar flora around the globe… Nidhan ji has volunteered to organise this, preferably on Google Meet. Others will help in whatever way possible.

10. We can also probably organize a photo contest for choosing the best plant photos, maybe in different categories, award the winners based on votes, and publish the winning photos on eFI webpage. This can be done annually from now on.
To start with, we will shortly be having the Best Flora Photograph Contest, as suggested earlier, to celebrate 15 years among our members. A special page will be created and hosted on efloraofindia with the story associated with the photograph. A jury will be appointed from among us to select the 1st, 2nd and 3rd among these and will be hosted in efloraofindia and circulated in social media. Balkar ji has agreed to select from these entries for ‘Wildlife and Nature Photography Exhibition’ on 21-22 May 2022 in Panipat and get them printed for the exhibition (to further give a boost to the Best Flora Photograph Contest event). I will start a new thread in this regard and collect the entries from the members. I have already started a new thread in this regard and response has been excellent and Photographs and stories behind these have been published so far, are available at ‘Best Flora Photograph‘.
11. Recognize one most distinguished contributor with an “efloraofindia member of the year” award or something like that, annually from now on.
We are always doing this as per details at Stars of the month. However, from now onwards it will be published in the efi site on a separate page and widely circulated in Social media.

12. We can also recognize students and budding botanists by encouraging a deserving member with an “efloraofindia young explorer award” or something similar, each year.
We will start this from the year 2022 itself. 

13. We can form a eFI checklist project team and work towards publishing a checklist of Indian plants. Further feedback awaited.
14. Let us also give a title to one of our best outside experts (if they agree). I think the top most contributor is Manoj Chandran ji on Poaceae. He can be given a title of ‘Grassman of efloraofindia’. I am seeking his consent.