<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> On 3/9/2011 7:32 AM, John Delacour wrote: <blockquote cite="mid:p06240816c99d3acc937e@%5B192.168.1.66%5D" type="cite"> You get no little grins from me, just plain cutting, disgraceful, unkind, undermining, inappropriate plain speaking. JD </blockquote> John, Mr. Gilreath, and the others who also volunteer their precious time to work with him, are interested in one thing: Making the PTG a more valuable organization for YOU. I believe that if you knew Allan personally, if you had ever worked with him, seen his kind, humble, yet strong leadership in action, and witnessed all that he does on your behalf (all for no pay), I think you would have a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach after realizing you just spewed such unkindness at the one person who probably deserves it the least in the PTG. I'm sure you're just upset about the change, but this can and SHOULD be discussed without unnecessary personal attacks or rudeness. Those things serve no good purpose and they go against the nature of this fine organization. In fact, they go against the Code of Ethics which we all have agreed to uphold, stating: "I will act honorably and in a professional manner." "I will promote, in any way that I can, good will toward my profession..." Maybe the format change isn't a good thing for the pianotech list. Maybe it should be the one exception that remains as a real-time listserv. Maybe we could have the best of both worlds, and continue with a traditional email listserv, while adding the functions and benefits offered by the website, like the ability to post larger photos, documents, and files for those who are interested in connecting and sharing information on those levels. This organization has many parts, and most of those parts are not very visible to the majority of members. We have committees full of people trying to find better ways to communicate and collaborate, share files, and serve the organization. The changes to the site come from a very real and important need. So much work goes on behind the scenes by members of the Home Office and the volunteers on the Board and elsewhere. This work demands a better system than what has been in place until now. Improving that system improves the whole of the PTG, and gives each member more value for their dues. But if the new system currently does not expressly fit the needs of pianotech, then a cordial, logical, thoughtful discussion should take place in the near future to determine what we can do to best serve the needs of members in the area of online technical discussion. I'm asking everyone to take a breath, relax, and remember that there are real humans on the other end of that ethernet cable, and those humans who have taken on the task of leading this organization DO care what you all think and feel. But they deserve to be treated with the same respect you would show them if they were standing in the same room, so please keep it reasonably polite. After all, it's our duty as members to promote good will toward each other. That's all I have to say - back to work I go. </body> </html>