<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 14 (filtered medium)"><style></style></head><body bgcolor=white lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>Dear Phil:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>Thank you so very much for taking the time to bring some clarity to this discussion.  Your effort is much appreciated.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>Will Truitt<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowtext'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowtext'> pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Phil Bondi<br><b>Sent:</b> Monday, July 04, 2011 11:27 PM<br><b>To:</b> pianotech@ptg.org<br><b>Subject:</b> [pianotech] Pianotech list and web forum stuff<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><pre>Hi All.<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>Never in my tenure with this organization has there been such passion<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>about the way we communicate. Bravo. Honestly.<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>Grab a beverage - this may take awhile.<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>To those who have written privately recently..there is no us vs. them<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>going on here. If it appears a subject is being avoided, I am <o:p></o:p></pre><pre>respecting the on going discussion I am in regarding this list in<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>particular. It's called "not violating a trust." My apologies if that<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>appears to be negative or mysterious in any way. There is no intention of<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>that. Ever. Not from me. Those that know me know me to be a straight<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>shooter - you know what I'm thinking. Those same people also know they can<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>trust me with any private discussion, and that is exactly what has been<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>going on - private discussion.<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>Since I've become the face of this on going discussion, I feel it is my<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>place, with permission, that I speak as freely about this<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>subject.<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>You all have heard about why we are moving into the 21st century with<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>office software and tying it into community/web forums/etc. While we were<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>exploring new software for the HO, we also saw the possibility of tying<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>everything together..which we still can, and keep pianotech the place to<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>discuss piano maintenance, not what Phil Bondi said.<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>There's a big picture that some of you see and understand, some don't, and<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>some don't care. There is no way that one piece of software, be it<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><a href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</a> from the list serve or pianotech at the Higher Logic web<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>forum that is going to please everyone. What we're after is content -<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>positive content, and ease of operation. Have we made mistakes in getting<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>the info to all of you? Blame me. I am the face. I'll take the hit for<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>this one. I took on the role to ease the Home Office of the real<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>possibility that this turnover might be an awful lot of work while they<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>get comfortable with their side of the transition, Member Max. For those<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>following all this, Jim Moy has said it best to date. The whole idea of<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>this changeover is to have Member Max and Higher Logic locked into each<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>other. They do. They actually do it well. I can hear some of you laughing<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>now, that's ok. You're entitled. Again, I'm the face telling you that this<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>list as you know and love it is here, and is going to stay here.<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>One of my concerns from the start was ease of operation. Mistakes were<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>made by me in getting the word out to as many as possible. Some got it in<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>the beginning, some didn't, got help, and are a part of that community,<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>and some didn't want to believe that we<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>disrupted this seamless(hardly, but thank you) way of communication. It<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>has become more seamless over the years with the tireless work of Andy<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>Rudoff and Ron Berry. These two have worked hard at making pianotech and<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>every mailing list on the present server easy. Please thank Ron when you<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>see him in KC. Truly he deserves it. I regress..back to the subject:<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>Ease of operation for some was not a problem. Those people actually have<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>been a great help to us on the Higher Logic side..again the spirit of<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>volunteerism alive and well. Unfortunately, that did not satisfy the<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>people who didn't understand or did not want to change,etc. I have always<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>been here to help, as have others. As others make the transition to HL, I<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>will be there to assist as needed. I don't have all the answers to your<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>questions, but I will tell you what I know. We can keep <a href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</a><o:p></o:p></pre><pre>right here, continued to be sponsored by the PTG. It has become much less<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>of a labor intensive job over the last 3 years. We can also have a<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>pianotech list at Higher Logic. I am convinced where there's content,<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>there will be discussion, and when I say content, I mean pianos, not<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>anything to do with me. I need to fade into the sunset as quickly as<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>possible and go back to being the behind-the-scenes volunteer I've always wanted to be.<o:p></o:p></pre><pre> Nothing would please me more than to see  <o:p></o:p></pre><pre>as many of you to be as happy as possible, and keeping pianotech here is<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>the best way to make that happen. Those that want to use, explore, utilize<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>the pianotech list at Higher Logic are encouraged to do so. You may find<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>it to your liking. Many do. Personally, I have no email coming to my inbox<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>from HL except for the Board Of Directors list. I find that a huge<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>improvement to my way of life. Logging on to a web site is not a big<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>deal for me, and contrary to popular belief, I am no where near as computer<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>savvy as some of my comrades on the ECC. I just have a bigger mouth!<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>Where there's content, there's discussion, be it here or on Higher Logic.<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>Higher Logic is going through a big upgrade right now, scheduled for<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>release at the end of July. One of the enhancements is the speed in which<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>the site loads, a concern of many, and my biggest beef with them. If it<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>takes too long, people get dis-interested. Improvements are being done to<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>the library portion also. There are other items on their plate scheduled<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>for release by the end of the year. One of them I am told is a vBulletin<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>type feel to the site. That has been another concern of many of you. I<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>wish I could make it all happen tomorrow.  I wish I could tell you that the ease of<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>loading pictures is high on their list. It's there, but they feel they have bigger fish to fry at the moment.<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>There's a mobile app that a few people have expressed an interest in. All of this is in our future with Higher Logic.<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>I know my NYer has been tested!, and your continued patience for the <o:p></o:p></pre><pre>improvements we all want is appreciated. They are being heard and communicated.<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>Again, where there's content, there's discussion. Let's get this list back to what we <o:p></o:p></pre><pre>all know it can be. The rug is not going to be pulled out from under you. Frankly, the<o:p></o:p></pre><pre>passion is back - let's direct it to the pianos.<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre>-Phil<o:p></o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><pre><o:p> </o:p></pre><div><div><div><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>