<font color='black' size='2' face='Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif'><br> <div style="FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> <BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 3px"><PRE><TT>So, PLEASE, everyone STOP telling me how to run my business - and - these almost useless conventions. Thank you, Duaine</PRE></TT></BLOCKQUOTE></div> <div>By the same token, Duaine, PLEASE stop telling the PTG how to run our web server, or how to correct e-mail problems, etc. etc.</div> <div>And while your at it. PLEASE get off this site. You apparently don't need us, because you know it all. So why bother to read what us dummies have to say. Just stick to your player piano stuff, and leave us the hell alone.</div> <div> </div> <div>Wim  <br> <br> </div> <div style="CLEAR: both"> <div> </div> </div> <br> <br> <div style="FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">-----Original Message-----<br> From: Duaine Hechler <dahechler@att.net><br> To: pianotech <pianotech@ptg.org><br> Sent: Tue, Jul 24, 2012 11:19 am<br> Subject: Re: [pianotech] Conventions ( was Pianotech? )<br> <br> <div style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; MARGIN: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, Sans-Serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12px" id=AOLMsgPart_0_3d6f67e1-6ae8-4bda-acca-a9725cd236ee><PRE style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt"><TT>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. Voicing the Vertical Piano (Fred Sturm) - don't really need for antique players - the clientele just wants them to PLAY. 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 ? Vertical Regulation Plus (Hailun / Keith Bowman and Mike Carraher) - Possible - but - what kind of regulation that would help antique players Everything Upright (Paul Rea) - Possible - but - I've run into almost every possible problem with antique players And we had a stellar offering of classes that were not specific to grands or verticals, on topics such as: Business - Possible - although have been mentored by a 30+ year veteran of the business Health - Possible - although my doctor takes priority Tuning - use an ETD exclusively with some aural tuning checks Refinishing - Not my line of work - farm it out - although I know enough for the basics. Keytops - Possible - although how many ways can you accomplish the same thing - and - any classes for antique ivory keys ? ETDs - Possible - although, I know the basics of Cybertuner to produce a very good tuning for my kind of clientele Restringing - Already know the basics however will probably never be done for antique players Exam Prep - Don't need - probably will never take the exams - what exams are geared to antique players If you haven't noticed, there was a reoccurring type of piano listed. So, PLEASE, everyone STOP telling me how to run my business - and - these almost useless conventions. Thank you, Duaine On 07/24/2012 12:11 PM, Mark Purney wrote: > On 7/17/2012 10:45 PM, Duaine Hechler wrote: >> 1) At least 95% of my profit goes back out in supplies. > > 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. > > 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. > > 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. > > > > >> 6) Finally, as I have said my times before, the organization is geared towards Grands - and - clients with lots of >> money to spend. > > > 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: > > 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: > > Voicing the Vertical Piano (Fred Sturm) > Vertical Regulation - Max Results in Minimum Time (Kawai with Don Mannino) > Vertical Regulation Plus (Hailun / Keith Bowman and Mike Carraher) > Everything Upright (Paul Rea) > > And we had a stellar offering of classes that were not specific to grands or verticals, on topics such as: > Business > Health > Tuning > Refinishing > Keytops > ETDs > Restringing > Exam Prep > > And not to forget the dedicated crew of examiners who helped members achieve RPT or get much closer to doing so. > > > > > > -- Duaine Hechler Piano, Player Piano, Pump Organ Tuning, Servicing& Rebuilding Reed Organ Society Member Florissant, MO 63034 (314) 838-5587 <A href="mailto:dahechler@att.net">dahechler@att.net</A> <A href="http://www.hechlerpianoandorgan.com/" target=_blank>www.hechlerpianoandorgan.com</A> -- Home& Business user of Linux - 11 years </TT></PRE></div> </div> </font>