ISA HK/China --- Station Membership just passed 1,400 no.

Dear Station Members,

ISA HK/China is very pleased to inform you that our Station Membership has just passed 1,400+ no. this morning. This includes taking care of anybody whose e-mail could not be reached anymore to give ourselves an accurate number. The public non-disclosure of Station Membership policy has been proven a successfully strategy in growing ISA HK/China in the past 5 years. We shall continue with that.

Our Station Mail & Station Blog are also widely circulated among the public. We have noticed that about 25% of the readers are in the "unknown" category. This may be a local characteristic in our territory of HK, Macau, Taiwan & China.

Current education level in the Station Membership remains about the same with 70+% are Degree Holders, & 40+% with Master Degrees or above. Roughly 1/3 come from 20+ Govt Depts, & the rest from all walks of life with politicians, media, doctors, lawyers, professors & any profession you can imagine joining in. Approx 80% of our Station Members are not working in the Arborist Profession, making us perhaps the most inclusive arboricultural organization in the global ISA Community.

ISA exams are also expanding in our territory. We shall hold the biggest Certified Arborist exam around the world this October in HK, with 200+ seats to meet public demand in our territory. The venue is under discussion & will be announced ASAP. Our Certified Tree Worker exam may hold 40+ candidates this October, which is also to become a record.

Our media exposure remains high with regular interviews every month from various groups. One TV Station is planning to produce a drama series on the adventure of Tree Climbing & Rigging, with a bit of romance thrown into it. They are studying to find which beauty & handsome to put on rope.

On the China Front, the SM & one Deputy Station Manager has been invited to meet Provincial Landscape Bureau seniors in Guangzhou on Aug 18 & 19 to promote ISA Arboriculture. The SM has prepared a power point in Mandarin so convincing that even the blind would open their eyes to check it out. The SM has been mingling with our China brothers & sisters for business in China since 1984, that he can speak Mandarin with a local China accent. Over the phone, one would find it hard to tell that he comes from.

In the past few months, ISA HK/China has also been putting up some very useful proposals to the HKSAR Govt HQ on local Tree Management. A lot of our comments are now under due consideration by relevant authorities. Our relationship with the local Tree Experts are also friendly & understanding.

Thank you all again for your continuous support to develop ISA HK/China. We are now a rising sun in our territory to shine for ISA. We are also highly respected to be the genuine professionals to insist on Integrity, Professionalism, Participation, Fact-finding & Truth-telling in our attitude. We shall continue to do good to our society by installing quality Tree Planting, & to follow the ISA Mission.

For these we shall work hard.

best regards,

Sammy Au
Station Manager