[CAUT] Jeanie's brain storm - was Boston changed to dealers...

[Jeff Stickney]

I agree with you on this, Richard.  I have had a number of key 
bushing/regulating jobs lately, and part of my selling point is to use 
the phrase "deferred maintenance".  My customers seem to catch on to the 
concept right away and see the wisdom/need for the work quite readily.  
However, most of these are pianos well beyond the 5 year range - if we 
could get piano owners to maintain their pianos at a reasonable interval 
rather than defer that maintenance, it would be better for them, the 
pianos, and us.  I think we can easily include the institutions so many 
of us work for in this broad category of "piano owners", so it's not 
entirely inappropriate for this list.

Jeff Stickney

rwest1 at unl.edu wrote:
>> If a manufacturer doesn’t care how their pianos are prepared once 
>> they ship them out, there won’t be any changes at the dealer’s end.
>
> Manufacturers do care, but their options and resources are limited. 
>  Same goes for dealers.  I think we need to look closer to home, i.e., 
> local PTG chapters.  Conventions and regional seminars are great, but 
> they will only reach a limited number of technicians.  Local education 
> is the neglected element in raising the education bar.
>
> I would like to see a curriculum of 12 monthly lessons, required to be 
> taught by every chapter on a regular rotation and separate from 
> regular meeting times. The standardized curriculum would cover all the 
> elements of the PTG exam, at the minimum.  
>
> Secondly I'd like to see a national campaign to highlight regulation 
> as a part of regular piano service.  We tell our customers to tune at 
> least once a year.  We need to also promote a regulation within the 
> first 5 years of a piano's lifetime.  People know that equipment needs 
> to be maintained, so the promotion of regulation wouldn't be foreign. 
>  It would be nice if manufacturers and dealers would pick up the tab 
> for piano prep before the piano goes out the door, but I can't see it 
> happening.  And expecting it would  just give technicians more reason 
> to bash the builders and retailers.  It's the customers and the 
> service technicians who need to be responsible once the piano is in 
> the home.    
>
> Finally we need to be patient.  Concert technician level competency 
> comes with good training, experience, and good mentors.  If every 
> piano owner not only had the piano tuned once a year, but regulated at 
> least once in the piano's lifetime, there would be lots of work for 
> everyone, and even beginners would get the experience they need to 
> improve their skill level.  One of the main aspects of the PTG exams 
> in not only to test competency, but also to instill a quest for 
> continuing education as a part of a community of professionals.
>
> Richard West
>
> PS I agree that this should be a PTG-L thread.  Oh, well, if only we 
> lived in a perfect world, universal health care included.