This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Wimblees@AOL.COM=20 To: pianotech@ptg.org=20 Sent: July 21, 2002 1:42 PM Subject: Re: no comp. was Re: Saying "No" (was Convention is focused) In a message dated 7/21/02 4:32:53 PM !!!First Boot!!!, = BobDavis88@AOL.COM writes:=20 Instructors teach at the most two classes. That's two periods out of = a=20 > possible 20. That 10%. ....Why should instructors get free = registration,=20 plus a >stipend of some sorts,=20 Because the attendees are getting the benefit of MUCH more than 1.5 = hours=20 (*2) of the instructor's time. The instructor doesn't just walk in = and start=20 talking. Even after teaching at many conventions, I still spend = NUMEROUS=20 hours revising the material to make it as clear and efficient as = possible,=20 and I can't count the hours before the first one I taught at. = Knowing the=20 subject is one thing, but preparing it to be useful to 100 people, = with=20 differing levels of experience and different learning styles, is = quite=20 another.=20 Bob=20 Everything you say is true. But everyone who teaches a class has spent = time prior to coming to a convention to prepare for it. That is what we = all do. But how do we get compensated for that? Is free registration = enough? Is one night's lodging enough? No, it is not. If we truly wanted = to get paid back, it would cost the PTG too much. And how do we = compensate for someone who has taught the same class five or six = times? There are classes I teach where I just have to get out my notes, = and I'm ready to go.=20 You're contradicting yourself here, Wim. You either spend time preparing = for a convention or you don't. If you don't, you should be. Don't you = see any problem with presenting exactly the same class five or six = times? How many times is that class going to help attract me--or anyone = else, for that?--back to a convention? I'll go to most classes once. = Some, I'll go to twice. But, Lew Herwig's classes were the only ones = I've gone to more than that and they were never the same twice running. = Nowadays, when the upcoming convention class schedule arrives in the = mail and I look down the list and see the same class offered by the same = instructor that I went to last year or five years ago--sorry--been = there, done that.=20 When I hear someone going on about how wonderful all of the great = classes are at the conventions, I have to wonder how many conventions = they have attended. Usually, it's not many. There are too many of our = members who no longer attend conventions regularly--if at all--because = they've been to most of classes that are offered on a regular basis and = they don't see enough new and interesting in the lineup whet the = appetite. These folks are simply not willing to invest the time and = spend the money each year for those few classes that are new enough or = different enough or advanced enough. So, they start skipping a year or = two here and there until finally they just don't bother at all.=20 There is only room for so much at each convention and with so much aimed = toward drawing in relatively new and inexperienced bodies, they are = going to increasingly leave out the very people who have worked hard to = raise them to the level they have now achieved.=20 Now this may be an ideal scenario for you and Richard. It is not for me, = nor is it for many others. The last I heard, PTG, and its annual = convention, is supposed to be serving all of the membership, not just = those who are beginners and those who find themselves at some = intermediate skill level. But that is what is gradually happening. I would suggest that most instructors who are presenting classes much = beyond the elementary level have been attending conventions somewhat = longer than average. Certainly they have been by the time they have = gained much experience at teaching. That means they have already had the = opportunity to attend your classes--you know, those you can repeat each = year without any preparation by using the same old handouts--at least = once or twice. Maybe five or six times if they didn't get it right the = first few times. And they've probably managed to attend most of the = other standards at least once or twice as well. Couple this history with = the inevitable and unavoidable scheduling conflicts and as each year = goes by there are fewer and fewer classes of interest to choose from.=20 This year there were four classes listed in the class schedule I found = of interest that I haven't already taken. Combined, these four may have = been enough to get me to Chicago. Probably not, but at least I'd have = considered making the trip. And this was a good year--there have been = some years when there haven't been that many. Now, in Chicago this year = I taught a total of 9 hours (every hour of which required more = preparation time than my partner or my family wants to even think about) = and all but one of those four classes was scheduled for a period during = which I also was teaching.=20 So, with that class schedule you and Richard would have happily pay for = my own air fare to Chicago, pay a full (or only slightly reduced) = registration fee, pay for four or five nights at an overpriced hotel = eating overpriced (but otherwise exceptionally forgettable) meals and = lose a weeks work, not to mention the work and family time I gave up to = prepare for the thing. Oh, yes, I was able to pick up a 'free' drink at = the Steinway reception. Now, with respect to Ron Nossaman, his class on bridges--while very = good--was simply not worth all that. It would have been cheaper and = taken far less time to simply have flown directly to Wichita and had him = give it to me personally. Much like the 1980s, our conventions seem to have reached something of a = plateau. (We can forgive Richard who, in spite of his rhetoric, wasn't = around PTG then and so can't really be expected to know much about those = days. But you were.) They are losing their attraction to an = unacceptable--and, I think, growing--number of long-term and highly = experienced members. And they are losing an unacceptable number of = capable and experienced instructors. These are some of the best people = we have. These are people who don't just grab last year's outline and = hop on a plane. True, there will always a fresh supply of newcomers = willing to be exploited, but unless we make begin now to make some = fundamental changes we are going to find ourselves locked into a = continually repeating downhill cycle. If the membership ultimately decides this cycle is actually desirable, = then so be it--I'll not be around all that much longer anyway. It won't = affect me all that much. However, don't you then be surprised as you = watch the vitality that has fueled and driven our organization and its = conventions toward excellence dwindle and ultimately slid into = mediocrity. Or will you even notice? Presenting the same class year = after year after year is mediocrity and I know you are capable of more = than that. Mediocrity is never acceptable, and we can't afford it. = Especially when the rest of our industry is already struggling under its = own ponderous mass of stagnation. And yet mediocrity seems to be just = what you are presenting as not only acceptable, but desirable. Our conventions do not offer much to the relatively advanced technician. = They can't really--there are no longer many instructors at that level = who are willing to bear the financial and personal cost themselves and = we've been letting them fade into the sunset. Sure, there are always = some bright folks coming up through the ranks, but we'll soon burned = them out just as those who have gone before.=20 We claim to value the kind of experience and knowledge these people are = working hard to attain--until it comes time to pay for it. And then we = say we don't need to. Our convention are great just the way they are. = And, yes, our conventions are a good educational value for some. Less = so, however, for a growing number of those who have worked and struggled = hard to raise themselves above the average. You may be willing to write = these folks off; I am not. At this point I'm not suggesting that PTG actually pay instructors--that = will have to wait for another day and probably another generation. A day = when we are willing go beyond just talking about being professionals and = become willing to pay whatever price is necessary to actually become = professionals. In the meantime this we can do: we can make it less = difficult for those who are willing to keep coming back each year to = educate us in the manner to which we've become accustomed. It is neither = reasonable nor fair for those who expect to profit from the experience, = knowledge, time and work of convention "volunteers" (of all varieties) = and instructors to demand that it be given to them free of charge. There = ain't no free lunch, folks. Especially at the hotels PTG typically = chooses for its convention sites. Del ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/67/88/28/c8/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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