A World Orchid Conference (a WOC) is held every third year, each time in a different city, on a different continent or a different hemisphere, hosted and organised by local, regional or national orchid groups.  This series of Conferences has now reached its half-century, having run without interruption since 1954.

What is a World Orchid Conference ?

All the long and arduous work required to stage each WOC is undertaken wholly by local orchid groups and their supporters.  However, the final responsibility for the series of WOCs, and for the choice of venues, rests with the World Orchid Conference Trust (WOC Trust), set up by the American Orchid Society and the Royal Horticultural Society.

The purpose of the WOC Trust is to maintain the highest standards in successive World Orchid Conferences, to secure a degree of continuity and transfer of expertise from one event to the next, and to help ensure the availability of funds, if needed, to cover each event's start-up costs.

The principal aim of this small web site is to explain who runs the WOC Trust, what it does and how it works, and what is required to stage a WOC.  The site's main pages are -

Brief details of the Trust's activities, its Trustees, their responsibilities and activities, and how to contact them.

The Trust's guidelines for prospective hosts of a WOC.

A list of all WOCs, both scheduled and in the past.  It is intended to expand this to include some details of all past WOCs, developing into a comprehensive summary of the complete series of WOCs.

A short list of links to selected web sites.

Many thanks to those who have allowed the use of their photographs here.

Please note that all photographs on this Web Site are protected by copyright.  Always respect the owners' rights.  If you are not sure what this means, you can find out here . . .

For information . . .   The WOC Trust's logo features Phalaenopsis schilleriana Rchb.f.