CD ROM Project Rant

[Ken Jankura]

>1)  Estimated cost for 20 years of PT Journal on CD, for PTG members about 
>$100
>non-members slightly more, but I would imagine still a bargain!

Prepare for a little ranting and raving:
A bargain you say. Better yet, why not give the CD away cheaper to
non-members, so they can compete more effectively with we who involve
ourselves and contribute to this organization. Then they'll really want to
join up.  I'm surprised we haven't passed a bylaw requiring that we give
out brochures touting the benefits of being piano technicians as well as
the PACE booklets to all our customers so that they can better repair their
pianos themselves, as well as make a little money on the side from their
neighbors. The Guild makes it very easy and beneficial to not belong to the
Guild sometimes.
Excuse my overly sarcastic venting, but I do get a little upset when I
continually see this organization giving away the efforts of its members
for 'slightly more' than what I consider to be the incredibly inexpensive
price we as members pay. It seems to me that this is an indication of how
we undervalue ourselves as an organization. If for some reason a technician
chooses not to be a member of the Guild, to me that means that we are less
likely to ever receive the benefits of that technician's knowledge and
experience, so the least we can do is extract money every time that person
takes advantage of what we as members bring into being by our
contributions. That means tacking on at least the price of yearly dues to
every convention registration, with hefty price increases for instructional
materials, daily seminars, etc., over and above the members price. And I do
mean at least. No instructor is going to get rich volunteering their time
and expertise preparing a class and teaching at a convention, and yet any
hobbyist or dilettante, for only 'slightly more' money, can reap the
benefits. Where is the incentive to join? If someone can attend a few
conventions a year, and purchase educational items and enough great
promotional materials to increase the effectiveness of their business (and
that means better competing against Guild members!) for less money in
non-member 'extra cost' than the price of annual dues, there is something
wrong. Let's shoot our other foot while we're at it. As an organization, we
lose out. Monetarily we lose, and more importantly we lose part of the pool
of resourses of our collective experience. The first line of the current
Mission Statement reads, 'In order to promote the highest professional,
ethical, and economic standards for its members'.... Not, 'In order to
provide cheap educational resources for anyone with an avocational interest
in pianos'...
Imagine seeing an advertisement for the annual BAR Association convention,
4-1/2 days of classes with many of the top experts in their fields,
teaching the finer points of organizational efficiency, courtroom strategy,
pricing philosophies, etc.  BAR Association members cost- $1000, general
public cost- $1100. Is anybody's imagination that good? Is anybody smiling?
You shouldn't be. We seem to do it every chance we get. 
The chapter I am proud to be a member of, a few years ago, proposed a 5 to
1 non-member to member price structure for the state convention. It started
when  a non-member who goes to conventions yearly with no intention of ever
joining, called up a chapter member after the previous years convention and
said that the convention just wasn't up to par with other years and what
was the Guild gonna do about it. Talk about the straw that broke it. The
idea that a non member who contributes nothing to the organization would
have the gall to complain that he wasn't getting his moneys worth from
those volunteering their expertise led us, as a chapter, to discuss our
worth and value in more serious terms. We figured that the teachers and
everyone else were giving up more than  the earning power of a tuning for
every class taught or attended, and this seemed like a fair price to charge
those who have no connection to the organization.  15 hours of classes over
2-1/2 days X $50 (this was a few years ago, and we were being nice). The
proposal didn't pass at 5 to 1, but it passed at members fee + annual dues
fee. Some members balked at losing revenue. Go figure. But it's a start. I
personally think this should be the minimum price difference for any size
convention. Minimum. But then again, I'm the guy on the survey that put as
a write-in name for Associates who are not (in essence) Allied
Craftspersons or Apprentices, the category of Non-Member.
If the CD  project goes through, and I truly hope it does, let's at least
charge a 'reasonable' amount to members and non members for it, and may
there be a wide price difference. I know that the Journal is of all piano
technicians, but would it exist without the Guild? How much effort of
non-members is going into the planning and production, not to mention the
content, of the CD? I want to thank Bill Springer and the other members of
the ECC for their effort and fine work. I don't mean to pick on the CD
project in any way, but the pricing structure casually mentioned just
struck me as one more place where we undervalue the extreme worth of this
organization.
As an aside, I realise that I may never achieve half the prestige,
expertise, or experience of some non-members, but, you know, that really
doesn't matter a whit.


Ken Jankura, RPT
South Central Pennsylvania Chapter
Piano Technicians Guild
Newburg, PA

Conrad, can I borrow one of your double-strength flame suits?