LA Times article

[Tom Servinsky]

Mark,
Which leads back to my original statement about the role of the journalist. 
There are plenty of nut cases getting headline news due to journalist not 
checking the facts before printing and creating a story. Everyone is 
entitled to their opinions, no matter how off base and ill-conceived they 
might be. But it's another thing when a journalist takes this to print and 
prints this as truth. And that, I believe, is the real story. How many 
readers out there read that story and now are convinced this is the way the 
other 99% of techs operate their businesses.
I still think this would be the perfect opportunity to contact the LA Times 
and get an additional perspective on this interview.

Tom Servinsky

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Schecter" <schecter at pacbell.net>
To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, September 04, 2006 10:28 AM
Subject: Re: LA Times article


> Hi, Tom.
>
> You probably came close to the real story, but look how long it took us
> as a group of people with inside knowledge of the realities to dredge
> that up from the swamp. Meanwhile, the story as reported by the tech &
> the story writer has done its job of skewing the public's idea of how a
> professional tech works, and appointed himself and his ways as the
> keepers of the flame and the One True Way. Nobody made him adjust his
> story-telling from honest to blowhard. I would be eternally embarassed
> to have ever once treated the artist, the hall, and/or my employer with
> the profound disrespect implicit in his story as he told it. To proudly
> trumpet it as a war story representative of one's capabilities is beyond
> my understanding. Somebody in a position of such responsibility ought to
> have better sense than to telegraph to his future clients how he might
> take care of their needs.
>
> -Mark Schecter
>
>
> Tom Servinsky wrote:
>> Sounds like a rebuttal letter or interview should be the next move for 
>> the LA Times to print.  Get going LA techs, here's your opportunity to 
>> take a stance to create some  fair and balance informational reporting.
>> Although I too found some pretty big tall-tail, story telling issues in 
>> this story, I'm going give Mr. Elliot a small pass.  First of all , I 
>> doubt if he called the Times and asked for an interview. Probably it was 
>> a writer who happened to be in the stage area, needed a story, ran into 
>> Mr. Elliot, and before you know it, there's a story. Factual or not.... a 
>> story. And if you do have that type of position taking care of important 
>> halls, your skill aren't too shabby! And   like it or not, die-hard aural 
>> tuners still find the use of ETD as a sign of artistic void. Anyone who 
>> uses doesn't deserve to be in this position.
>> To Mr. Elliot's defense, I have been interviewed dozens of times for 
>> feature articles by our Tri- county newspapers. Each and every time, the 
>> journalist ended up getting the message wrong....way wrong.  It is as 
>> though they never got it from me in the first place.
>> That being said, I found it humorous to walk through the logic on his 10 
>> min. interlude as he blessed the piano and pronounced it fit for the 
>> artist. In all actuallality the series of events went more like this.
>> Blessed tech raced through his first tuning earlier that day. Tech 
>> probably not on top of his game(that day). Been there done that.
>> Artist banged the hell out of it during rehearsal
>> Artist expected a follow up touch up of tuning prior to concert
>> No Tech returns
>> Artist is getting nervous
>> Artist calls to complain
>> Tech summoned to get the hell over here pronto
>> Tech arrives 10 mins. prior to concert
>> Tech has sweat running down both eye brows hoping this doesn't issue 
>> doesn't get back Steinway
>> Tech cleans up some unisons
>> Tech gets an evil stare from the Artist and Carnegie staff
>> Carnegie staff informs him this better not happen again
>> 5 yrs later, Tech rewrites the events of the day....fails to include why 
>> things went wrong, who was wrong, and includes more heroics to dress up 
>> story.
>> 6 yrs later, article appears in newspaper.
>> Tom Servinsky
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Love" 
>> <davidlovepianos at comcast.net>
>> To: <schecter at pacbell.net>; "'Pianotech List'" <pianotech at ptg.org>
>> Sent: Monday, September 04, 2006 1:01 AM
>> Subject: RE: LA Times article
>>
>>
>>> Couldn't have said it better.
>>>
>>> David Love
>>> davidlovepianos at comcast.net
>>> www.davidlovepianos.com
>>>
>