[CAUT] Steinway school info

[Chris Solliday]

Chris, 
Fred's post is right on. I only reply to your suggestion that 100 instruments cost 3-4 million. With some wheeeling and dealing, and  of course Bostons and Essexs, an "all Steinway" inventory of 100 pianos can easily be closer to one quarter of that. Also once the consulting begins this process can easily spiral out of your control without some preliminary education by you of the principles at your school. Prepare early.
Best of luck.
Chris Solliday rpt
Lehigh University
Lafayette College
East Stroudsburg University
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Christopher Purdy 
  To: College and University Technicians 
  Sent: Friday, May 02, 2008 3:55 PM
  Subject: Re: [CAUT] Steinway school info


  Thanks to everyone that has responded to my questions, on list and off.  I have received a lot of great insight and ideas.  Realistically, I don't see how this is ever going to happen here.  We would basically have to buy some 100 new Steinways and I just don't see us raising 3-4 million dollars.  However, I have really been enlightened with ideas of using this to get the ball rolling and start discussion.  Plus, the new director knows the program and is very interested in pursuing it.  If he's got the experience and the energy, I'd love to see where it takes us.


  Thanks again to everyone.  I've saved all the responses and I will really be able to use the info you provided.


  Chris




  On May 2, 2008, at 2:37 PM, Fred Sturm wrote:

    Hi Chris,
    I would advise using this as an opportunity. I think going through the workload formula is a good exercise, as a way of evaluating what you have and creating a basis for deciding what you want to or ought to do. You are right that the Steinway folks will essentially be saying that you need to replace most of the inventory, and will give a couple models (various proportions of Steinway versus Boston) for price - not terribly helpful, really, since you can easily look up MSRP and subtract the fairly standard 25% institutional discount without their help. I wouldn't put too much effort into their evaluation of your inventory (I went through this three times over the years, and what I did was to provide a spreadsheet or database printout of models, serial numbers and locations).
    But this does give an opportunity to raise the issue of the state of the inventory, and what needs to be done over a long term. I would suggest doing your utmost to be included in the meetings, providing your own input as the technician - emphasizing that the service component is just as important as what instruments the department has. I wouldn't comment too much on the all-Steinway concept (at least in public, maybe express reservations privately to individuals), but let it happen if it is going to. There could very well be many up sides for you and for the institution.
    But at the same time, I would develop a sustainable long term plan, based on on-going replacement, rebuilding (and possibly remanufacture), and general maintenance, with a rational annual budget attached. Or perhaps a couple of plans, one "ideal" and one "practical." And then, when and if they decide the all-Steinway option is too rich for their blood, you present an alternative. They are already thinking of making a change, attention is focused, take advantage.
    Where does the money for an all-Steinway switch come from? Well, part of the program is that Steinway provides free consultant help in raising money (it's part of their marketing budget). They will help develop a plan for raising money, working with the development office or with upper administration types. Even if it doesn't come to anything in terms of actually doing the all-Steinway thing, the process might set things in motion for your department/school to initiate a serious fund-raising/endowment program. UNM (and our department) has only started to get serious about that in the last decade or two, but it has begun to have very positive results. The university, though a state entity, actually only receives 20-25% of its funds from state allocations. It seems like this is a fairly common model for state schools these days. Our department has started to see real results from a sustained effort at building its own sources of money, especially in the area of scholarship endowment. And various student course fees give us the flexibility to do a number of very important practical things, including piano things.

    Regards,
    Fred Sturm
    University of New Mexico
    fssturm at unm.edu






    On May 1, 2008, at 8:07 AM, Christopher Purdy wrote:


      The piano faculty here have got the Steinway school bug and I need to learn more about this.  Could some of you who have experience with this designation please give me some advice on how to proceed?  What are the real benefits of going through this process?  What is the down side?


      We have some 80 practice rooms (115 total pianos).  The thought of 80 1098's or Bostons makes my stomach churn.  Of course, I would love to replace or upgrade our grands.  We currently have less than 20 Steinway grands.


      Which leads me to my main gripe, who is going to pay for this?  It seems to me that we should begin this process by starting with the budget.  Otherwise I think we're just window shopping at the Porsche dealership.  At this point I'm worried about my annual contract renewal.  And there just aren't that many music school alumni out there that can drop a check for 3-4 million.


      The local Steinway dealer says that the first step is for him to come down for 2-3 days and do a total inventory assessment.  Will spending this time building their data base be beneficial?  Or will we be wasting the Porsche salesman's time.  I have been meaning to download the CAUT data base and doing this myself. Would it still be beneficial, or better than the Steinway spread sheet.  In my pessimism, I can't imagine the Steinway data base isn't going to lean favorably toward spending as much money as possible. 


      I would be really interested in hearing others experience with this.  Thanks for your time.


      Chris






      Christopher D. Purdy R.P.T.
      Registered Piano Technician
      School of Music, Ohio University
      Rm. 311, Robt. Glidden Hall
      Athens, OH  45701
      Office (740) 593-1656
      Cell    (740) 590-3842
      fax      (740) 593-1429
      http://www.ohiou.edu/music








  Christopher D. Purdy R.P.T.

  Registered Piano Technician

  School of Music, Ohio University

  Rm. 311, Robt. Glidden Hall

  Athens, OH  45701

  Office (740) 593-1656

  Cell    (740) 590-3842

  fax      (740) 593-1429

  http://www.ohiou.edu/music




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