<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">I have been to quite a few conventions over the years.<div>Sure a lot of what I learned I never used, but any knowledge gain is always a plus.</div><div>I kind of look at them as being my vacation. My wife has gone to a couple. I enjoy meeting fellow technicians, and I have contacted some of them, who helped me when I ran into problems.</div><div>This list is a great help also. I even queried you when I was looking to electrify a player.</div><div>Just go with the flow and don't be so argumentative.</div><div>As far as it being expensive!</div><div>When I first went, I used to sleep in my van (a Dodge Minivan), when on the road. Arriving, on the morning of the convention.</div><div>I took a cooler that plugs in the cigarette lighter, it also had a transformer, so I would take it to my hotel room. I used to buy cold meat, cheese bread etc. cut down on the eating expense.</div><div>The furthest distance I have driven to a convention was when I went to Anaheim, CA and Las Vegas. Mind you now that i am older I stayed at a motel on the road. Still take the cooler though.</div><div>I have shared a room.</div><div>Now as to the classes.</div><div>They determine what classes to have by questionnaires from previous conventions and the availability of instructors. Remember the instructors are volunteers and pay a large part if not all of their expenses.</div><div>I have been to quite a few player classes over the years and always recommended that they be repeated.</div><div>When I work on players, I want the piano to also work well, otherwise the piano may not sound as good as the customer expects, when the player work is done.</div><div>Don't you think that if you had the expertise to tell the customer what the problem was with the piano, and that yes you could fix it that it would help your bottom line.</div><div>You might feel that you would lose the player work by pointing out the requirement for additional piano work. Let the customer decide for themselves.</div><div>Put the requirements that the customer has in their priority and tell them it can be done bit by bit as they can afford it.</div><div>Just my take on it.</div><div>Warm regards,</div><div>John Ross</div><div>Windsor, Nova Scotia.</div><div><br><div><div>On 24-07-2012, at 6:16 PM, Duaine Hechler wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div>Furthermore, visit my website of the restored player piano pictures and see how many aspects would be taught at conventions.<br><br><a href="http://www.hechlerpianoandorgan.com/rest_players.html">http://www.hechlerpianoandorgan.com/rest_players.html</a><br><br>Duaine<br><br>On 07/24/2012 04:13 PM, Duaine Hechler wrote:<br><blockquote type="cite">I swear - some of you are as dumb as a door nail - and - how many times do I have to say it - how many classes do I need to take that include player pianos and reed organs.<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">Voicing the Vertical Piano (Fred Sturm) - don't really need for antique players - the clientele just wants them to PLAY.<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">Vertical Regulation - Max Results in Minimum Time (Kawai with Don Mannino) - Possible - but - how many ways can you regulate the same items - and - more importantly, what kind of regulation would benefit the mechanical aspects of an antique player piano ?<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">Vertical Regulation Plus (Hailun / Keith Bowman and Mike Carraher) - Possible - but - what kind of regulation that would help antique players<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">Everything Upright (Paul Rea) - Possible - but - I've run into almost every possible problem with antique players<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">And we had a stellar offering of classes that were not specific to grands or verticals, on topics such as:<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">Business - Possible - although have been mentored by a 30+ year veteran of the business<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">Health - Possible - although my doctor takes priority<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">Tuning - use an ETD exclusively with some aural tuning checks<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">Refinishing - Not my line of work - farm it out - although I know enough for the basics.<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">Keytops - Possible - although how many ways can you accomplish the same thing - and - any classes for antique ivory keys ?<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">ETDs - Possible - although, I know the basics of Cybertuner to produce a very good tuning for my kind of clientele<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">Restringing - Already know the basics however will probably never be done for antique players<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">Exam Prep - Don't need - probably will never take the exams - what exams are geared to antique players<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">If you haven't noticed, there was a reoccurring type of piano listed.<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">So, PLEASE, everyone STOP telling me how to run my business - and - these almost useless conventions.<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">Thank you, Duaine<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">On 07/24/2012 12:11 PM, Mark Purney wrote:<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">On 7/17/2012 10:45 PM, Duaine Hechler wrote:<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">1) At least 95% of my profit goes back out in supplies.<br></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">Anything you spend on supplies can't be considered "profit" in the first place. But if you're saying 95% of the money you collect from clients is going back into supplies, then something is wrong. Somewhere along the line, you made the same mistake that many technicians make: You set aside continued education in order to focus on working, with the notion that later on it will somehow be easier to bring education back into the routine. It's like saying, "I've got to get to my destination, so there's no time to change the oil, stop for gas, or check the tire pressure." And then you find yourself stuck on the side of the road, working on the pianos nobody else in your area wants to touch, and making no profit. Don't blame the PTG. Don't blame the pianos. Don't blame the clients. Don't blame the other technicians in your area. If you aren't where you want to be, there is only one person responsible for that.<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">Continued education is critically important to the success of the piano technician. The PTG offers lots of great educational opportunities, but the National Convention & Technical Institute is the biggest B12 injection that you can get for your piano service career. It's not just the technical knowledge gained that makes it so worthwhile. The business classes, alone, can be life-changing. Just being able to spend a week socializing with some of the world's best and brightest technicians can positively impact the way you approach your own attitude and business methods. The Convention is also a retreat, where you can step back from the daily grind of running the business long enough to look at the big picture. This enables you to discover what you're doing right, what you're doing wrong, and see yourself and your business in a new light. It's recharging your batteries for another year, to go back to work with an excitement over how you're going to apply everything to achieve a new level of excellence in your work and reach a higher income.<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">Sometimes you need to spend money to make money. Some never go because they view the hotel, airfare and registration as simply too expensive. I view it as the best possible investment you can make in yourself and your business every year, with the highest returns. The regional conventions are fantastic, too. And it's silly to not attend chapter meetings, because the only cost is a little gasoline and one evening every month.<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">6) Finally, as I have said my times before, the organization is geared towards Grands - and - clients with lots of money to spend.<br></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">That statement is complete Nonsense! In case anyone thinks there is truth to Duaine's negativity and excuses for not continuing his own education, note the following information:<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">In Seattle we had five or six classes that you could say were specifically grand-oriented, but there is also a large demand for grand-oriented classes. In fact, most PTG members service both grands and uprights, and both are incredibly important to the work we do. This is why we also had four classes just for upright servicing:<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">Voicing the Vertical Piano (Fred Sturm)<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">Vertical Regulation - Max Results in Minimum Time (Kawai with Don Mannino)<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">Vertical Regulation Plus (Hailun / Keith Bowman and Mike Carraher)<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">Everything Upright (Paul Rea)<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">And we had a stellar offering of classes that were not specific to grands or verticals, on topics such as:<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">Business<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">Health<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">Tuning<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">Refinishing<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">Keytops<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">ETDs<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">Restringing<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">Exam Prep<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">And not to forget the dedicated crew of examiners who helped members achieve RPT or get much closer to doing so.<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><br><br>-- <br>Duaine Hechler<br>Piano, Player Piano, Pump Organ<br>Tuning, Servicing& Rebuilding<br>Reed Organ Society Member<br>Florissant, MO 63034<br>(314) 838-5587<br>dahechler@att.net<br>www.hechlerpianoandorgan.com<br>--<br>Home& Business user of Linux - 11 years<br><br></div></blockquote></div><br></div></body></html>