<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">Dear List,</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">Has anyone ever heard of or worked with
the Rockley Family Foundation? I got a phone call in a semi-"cold
call" style (he knew my name from some list) asking if we at UNL would
be interested in a loan program of pianos to be replenished every year.
I asked him to send me some information and he e-mailed me this morning.</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">In Seattle, several smaller colleges
have done this sort of thing with a couple of the piano stores in the area.
They would loan various pianos to them for a year at no charge and
then sell them a year later. The problem I saw in this was that the
stores would bring in many of their new pianos at that time, having a "SUNDAY,SUNDAY,
SUNDAY!!" sale and only the school pianos were sold at much of a discount.
Lots of advertisement on every media possible would be invested and
lots of people would show up, making it basically a warehouse sale. I'm
a bit leary of this and having been a store tech for many years, didn't
like the store's tactics in their selling styles. Bit my lip many
times from some of the crap the "used car salesmen" type folks
would say to potential victims, ahhh, customers I should say. On
a university end of it now, I would be faced with breaking in many new
pianos every year and just when I get them semi-stable, I'd have to start
over.</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">Any advise or testimony y'all can bring
to this subject is welcome!</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">Best,</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">Paul T. Williams RPT</font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">Piano Technician</font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">School of Music</font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">University of Nebraska</font>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">Lincoln, NE</font>
<br>