[pianotech] Same ol', same ol'....

[David Andersen]

Ladies and gentlemen---

What I got from attending the Pianotech Live class at KC: (BTW, where were y'all? Me, Pat Draine, and Jimi Aleggio were the only regular email list users to appear)

---this whole listserv, the entire Pianotech Forum, has existed SOLELY through the unpaid, unreimbursed, herculean efforts of Andy Rudoff---to the tune of at least 20 hours a week---constantly, 24/7/365, for the last 12 or 14 years. Add in Ron Berry's 10-12 hours per week---again COMPLETELY volunteer---and that's the bed upon which we've lain like pashas, and what has allowed our little list at its zenith to attract hundreds and hundreds
of interested, passionate lurkers, intelligent consumers, and possible future piano artisans. They have allowed us to fulfill part of our organization's mission statement: to continually provide education to the membership and to the public at large. Without Andy and Ron, no email Pianotech list, no digital community meeting house, no massive archive of thousands of pianistic wisdom nuggets, no structure, no spam control----nothin'.

And it was all for free. And now, thank God for him, Andy has moved on. Zeus has abandoned Olympus. Elvis has left the building. The engine dropped out of the car. Hiring a replacement, suffering through the learning curve, then paying current rates for a computer expert to do what apparently nobody in our membership has the chops OR the time to do, would be untenable and unworkable. and way, way too expensive.

Andy Rudoff was the goose that kept on laying golden eggs; now he's vanished in a puff of smoke, and if anything goes seriously sideways with the list, we're in serious trouble, technically and financially.

---this change was worked on, thought about, agonized over, and given massive amounts of energy by the past two presidents and their Boards.
They, however, apparently thought the listserv members were telepathic, and failed to adequately communicate or contextualize ANYTHING that was going on regarding pianotech and the entire migration/integration of our membership onto a database that's not a nightmare.  I heard two or three direct apologies to me as the representative, so to speak, of consistent list users---from Dale Probst, Phil Bondi, and Trevor Martin. BTW, all the PTG execs in the world were there: Chris Solliday, Alan Gilreath, Jim Coleman Jr., Norman Cantrell, members of the Electronic Communications Committee---about a dozen execs. They were listening, and listening hard, friends. They were open; they listened carefully to anything the listserv members had to say.

---Kent Swofford is one of the coolest guys in the world. As a consistent user AND and an executive, he was the moderator, and deeply understands the concerns of both the execs and the members. He did a great job facilitating authentic, honest communication, and clear, authentic communication, face-to-face, is like healing ointment, as several present were heard to say and affirm.

---That the execs are watching HL closely to see if they will actually do what they promised, which was provide us a seamless interface for the listserv and the web-based forum, and that they are ready to pull the plug and go a different way if HL doesn't produce what they committed to
in short order---weeks, I believe was said.

---that at the end of the day, this IS a volunteer deal---and that we're all on the same team. I would like everybody involved in this dialog to remember that. There are no enemies, no adversaries here. I am on a men's team that meets every week, for support, fun, relationship, and  to help each other honor our commitments and raise our game in all areas. Here is one of our team standards: "bring what you're missing."

It's so easy to bitch and moan from the sideline. I was missing clear communication from the executive side, so I took action. I went to the meeting. I began a personal dialogue with thre execs, Probst, Bondi, and Coleman, so that this failure to communicate won't happen again.
Yesterday I made my first halting attempts to hook up thru myptg.org; I had some issues; instead of swearing and asking enraged rhetorical questions as if I had a rapt audience---I'm really good at both, very entertaining---I reached out and asked for help, and got four replies with suggestions within hours. I got one reply in minutes. They heard us. They're acting.

---bitching just pisses people off and moves nothing forward.

---a LOT of messages that are accepted on our list would ever be said in person. They don't pass what I call the eyeball test: if you can say what you say on the List while looking at the other person's eyes, have at it. If you can't, or wouldn't, don't type it. Israel Stein, I'm thinking of you. Way to shoot PTG in the foot. And I WOULD say that to you, gladly, looking in your eyes.

---sarcasm doesn't play well via email; there are no mitigating circumstances, no comforting body language, to soften the sour blow.
Again, the eyeball test.

---the PTG has committed to preserve the email listserv, as it is now, for the foreseeable future---my take, until we can most of us be enrolled in a tweaked listserv/forum hybrid that comes from our demands and the execs' response.

Whew.

I don't know of the audio recording is listenable; our pal Duaine H. thought not; if it is, you can hear what went down.

Just my little bit to enable clarity and teamwork, kids-----

DA