That was a grand idea Mr. Coleman. And I'm so glad it was recorded. I think those naysayers (very much including yours truly) who were present were turned 180 degrees in their thinking. Now I look at the whole thing as being a sort of minor natural disaster that caught us somewhat unprepared. Now it's time to roll up our sleeves, dig through the rubble, and see what we can make out of this new situation. In the end we will be stronger for it, and I'm sure the best is yet to come. David: I'm SO glad you were there, my friend. Thank you for your thoughtful and passionate contributions to the dialog. They were invaluable. Respectfully, and with growing optimism, Ryan On Fri, Jul 22, 2011 at 11:25 AM, Jim Coleman <jcpanoman at colemantools.com>wrote: > David, > > Thank you for your well written comments regarding the Pianotech Live > meeting. > I made a slight change in the Board schedule so that all your elected > officers could be there to listen to what needed to be said. > I was a bit disappointed at the low turnout, however, the discussion was > good, healthy and enlightening for all in attendance. > > The conversations you and I had...eyeball to eyeball...during the rest of > the week were greatly appreciated. > Please feel free to call as needed. > > We are* all* in this together. > > In His service, > > Jim Coleman, Jr RPT > > > > > > *-------Original Message-------* > > *From:* David Andersen <david at davidandersenpianos.com> > *Date:* 7/20/2011 9:47:07 PM > *To:* Pianotech Pianotech <pianotech at ptg.org> > *Subject:* [pianotech] Same ol', same ol'.... > > 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 > > [image: FREE Animations for your email - by IncrediMail! Click Here!]<http://www.incredimail.com/?id=606430&did=10500&ppd=2514,201106260000,9,[TypeID],[IM_UPN2]&rui=119956824&sd=20110722> > -- Ryan Sowers, RPT Puget Sound Chapter Olympia, WA www.pianova.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20110722/b9c39cf8/attachment-0001.htm> -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/gif Size: 46417 bytes Desc: not available URL: <https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20110722/b9c39cf8/attachment-0001.gif>
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