PTG, to join or not to join ?

[Wimblees@aol.com]

Bob:

Joining the PTG should be for your own reasons, and not what others say about
it. I think joining any organization, such as the PTG or a church, should be
for what you think you can get out of it. For you there would be the
educational benefit. Chapter meetings, because of the nature of the
organization, do have some business that will have to be dealt with. But for
the most part, this is where you can pick people's brain about almost any
topic you can think of, from the basics, to the most advanced aspect of the
piano. If that is important to you, then I would recommend you join the PTG. 

It is kind of like attending a church. You have been talking with just the
minister, and he has aksed you to come to a service. When you go to church,
you will hear not only his sermon, but you will get a chance to talk to others
in the church about what you heard, and maybe even get a different opinion.
You have talked with just two other technicians. I am sure they gave you lots
of good ideas. But they don't know it all. The other members of the chapter
might give you the answer you are looking for, or another idea of how to do a
certain procedure. 

Although you could probably attend the meetings without belong to the PTG, and
you can subscribe to the Jounral, and even attend all the seminars and
conventions, you will pay a little more. But why join any organzation? For me
it is a sense of being part of a group of people who share the same interest.
That is why I belong to a church. I could go to church, and not pay my pledge,
and not do anything for the church. And that is why I belong to the PTG. I
want to feel like part of the group. 

Check it out. If $150 per year isn't going to hurt you financially, then I
would highly recommend it. You might even like it enough to give a program, or
even serve on a committee. And who knows, the next thing you know, you'll be
elected secretary. 

Willem Blees RPT
St. Louis