new formula, (long)

[Brassard, Denis]

Fred,

from my experience, the old formula did work quite well; B.U. has 65 pianos
= 1 full-time tech. However, I'm still interested to see the revisions that
will be adopted in Chicago.

As you've communicated over the past year Fred, developing the ultimate
formula isn't the goal, rather one that reflects "reality," so we can act
upon it.

In our case, the formula demonstrated 'climate' was our biggest enemy, such
that pitch corrections consumed an inordinate amount of service time. 

Acting on the data provided by the workload formula (1999), we devoted a
large percentage of budget to purchasing and upgrading Dampp-Chaser systems.


Honestly, it wasn't the easiest decision, considering the money spent
would've financed a juicy rebuilding project.

However, that one-time investment paved the way for a year like this one,
where pratice-studio tuning expense was cut in half, and the March tuning
session found ALL pianos within 3-4 cents of pitch!     
 
This decision, guided by the workload formula, not only helped finance the
current rebuilding project, but also affords a certain RPT the freedom to
pursue the ulitmate mirror finish on the notching chisel, without
interuption! :>)

Messages like Wim's are encouraging. They demonstrate a very 'current'
movement towards understanding and representing our workload factually. 

As Wim pointed out, facts alone make for very dull presentations. However,
they equip us with integrity and confidence, and that (IMHO) is the language
administration understands.     

best regards to all,
Mark Cramer,
Brandon University

and sessionally, like this month, 'live' from the
Banff Centre for the Arts.





 For my own situation, working the draft numbers
I have developed in cooperation and consultation with a number of fellow
cauts, I find I need one full time tech. This reflects reality pretty
well as I see it. I don't know that it works for conservatory
situations, though, and would really like to see some feedback from
those few caut list techs who work at conservatories.

Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico