At the monumental first Bonsai Society of Portland Rendezvous, Ryan Neil, Bobby Curttright, Matt Reel, and Michael Hagedorn participated in a groundbreaking critique of selected trees from the Rendezvous exhibition. These four practicing bonsai professionals dove deep into the nuances of what makes a truly superior tree from an exhibition perspective. In their careful consideration of a large juniper, cypress, a hemlock, a Japanese maple, and other remarkable specimens from the exhibition, these practitioners discuss North American bonsai at a level thus far unexplored, adding their vast variety of professional insights to the dialogue. This is perhaps the highest level of critical discussion of bonsai in North America to date; the conversation of the evolution of American bonsai has truly been opened to the next level with this dialogue between artists.