<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1106" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: =
Verdana"
bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=rol=
e_document
face=Verdana color=#000000 size=3>
<DIV>
<DIV>David,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Well thought out post. FWIW, didn't seem like a rant to me. =
You
just brought up some important points regarding our profession, and asked fo=
r
professionalism therein. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Most of the people on this list are looking to gain more knowledge and
skill, or to share what they know with those less-informed--or else we would=
n't
be here. What I really resent is "technician-tooners" who have no inte=
rest
in learning anything or sharing their piano wisdom with the world at
large. As David says, they tune it, take the check, hit the road. =
;
Sort of like gardners doing the mow-blow-go routine.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Has the PTG as an organization been good to me? Yes, I'd have to =
say
so. My experience has been with individuals who care about what they d=
o,
not with the politics surrounding the organization. I've learned a hel=
luva
lot in my 3 years of membership.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I don't know what happened between John Hartman and the PTG, but whatev=
er
it was, we all lost in the deal. I guess it's up to all of us to make =
it a
better organization: one that doesn't just accept the status quo, but
instead, looks for ways to improve both on the technical AND business end of=
it.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>A kickass PR guy...interesting idea. People need someone to tell =
them
that they need their pianos serviced besides the people who are going t=
o
make money off of it. A TV ad during the Super Bowl....:-}</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Respectfully,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Dave Stahl</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 4/8/05 7:17:03 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
david@davidandersenpianos.com writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><=
FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2><BR>Exactly true, Roger. Thank you.<BR><BR>Now: can I=
rant
a bit? What I see when I look at us as a profession, and<BR>PTG as a=
n
organization, is hesitancy, and doubt, and low self-esteem, and<BR>resista=
nce
to change, and suspicion of vibrant creativity, and the<BR>willingness and=
eagerness to blame someone or something else for
our<BR>discontent.<BR><BR>I've been a piano technician for 30 years; in th=
at
time, I would say that<BR>at LEAST 95% of the pianos I've come across for =
the
first time, having<BR>been "maintained" by another tech, have been in
horrific, unacceptable<BR>condition regarding anything other than tuning, =
and
most times the tuning<BR>sucked. What does that say about our
profession as a whole?<BR>What if the vast majority of car mechanics did t=
hat?
Plumbers that just<BR>changed washers; doctors that just took temperatures=
and
gave pills?<BR><BR>It would be a joke---a dangerous, cruel, absurdist joke=
.
And that's how I<BR>see our profession as a whole, based on the evidence I=
've
seen.<BR><BR>We have failed----failed---to educate teachers and artists an=
d
venues and<BR>schools about service. Despite the excuses that are flooding=
your head<BR>right now, that is the truth. We have accepted their excuses
and<BR>poor-mouthing and ignorance, and just not cared enough to change
the<BR>paradigm.<BR><BR>We have failed to reach out to the many, many,
fantastic technicians that<BR>are working on some of the best pianos, for =
some
of the best players, and<BR>welcome them to our lives, and beg them to tea=
ch
us, simply because they<BR>choose not to join PTG.<BR><BR>If you look at
magazines other than our Journal that are dedicated to the<BR>piano---from=
Keyboard Magazine to the national music teacher's<BR>publication---it's as=
if
piano service, piano tuners, piano restoration, <BR>literally doesn't exis=
t.
No articles. No ads. No recognition. No mention.<BR><BR>This is trul=
y
pitiful; we have no power as a Guild in our little world; we<BR>are
consistently undervalued and dismissed unless we, as individuals,
are<BR>agressive enough to demand respect, money, and recognition. Our Gui=
ld
does<BR>NOT demand or lobby for it. We should hire, at a whopping
retainer each<BR>year, a kick-ass PR firm to GET US IN FRONT OF THE PIANO
WORLD.<BR><BR>Where is our liaison to the manufacturers, the artist commun=
ity,
the music<BR>schools, the teacher's organizations? Where is our VP of
Education? How<BR>many schools of music at American universities are train=
ed
and challenged<BR>to truly service their instruments? In LA, there's 3 out=
of
dozens.<BR><BR>Each one of us needs to look long and hard at our personal
reasons for<BR>accepting this miserable staus quo.<BR><BR>I was speaking t=
o a
colleague this AM; he used to be in the field a lot,<BR>maintaining most o=
f
the performance pianos in his area, making his clients<BR>happy because he=
knew how to tune really well, and he knew how to repair,<BR>regulate and
voice, and he was really good at it. He demanded that his<BR>clients keep
their pianos in good shape because he didn't want to work on<BR>a bunch of=
doggy, lame pianos; his customers were so happy that he was<BR>strong, and=
demanded excellence. Now he's pretty much full-time in the<BR>shop, =
and
in an area where there's a million or so people, and plenty of<BR>studios =
and
schools and money and work, there's just not anybody else<BR>around who wa=
nts
to, or CAN, do the work. There the work is, just waiting<BR>to be
done. His clients are calling and begging for a good
replacement;<BR>$100K a year is waiting; and nobody there, no technician i=
s
willing to get<BR>up off his ass and be a small business owner and serve
his<BR>community----they just wanna keep pumpin' gas--- tune it in 45
minutes,<BR>get the check and go.<BR><BR>Where's our residency programs wi=
th
great, successful practices?<BR><BR>Where's our support of the exististing=
quality piano technology training<BR>(North Bennett Street and Western Ont=
ario
come to mind)?<BR><BR>Why should I become an RPT when the requirements are=
so
incredibly,<BR>stupidly low in the face of the reality of what real-world
pianos actually<BR>need?<BR><BR>Medocrity indeed, Roger.<BR><BR>So---pleas=
e
excuse me; I'm tired, and I'm angry that we treat ourselves so<BR>poorly a=
s a
group.<BR>I guess it's up to me to keep saying this, and to get
involved. Stay<BR>tuned. No pun intended.<BR><BR>All the
best,<BR><BR>David Andersen<BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>