Hi Richard, Once again, I'll repeat, this is not a PTG conversation, although our organization can decide to focus on raising awareness with dealers and manufacturers. And PTG can always do more to improve skill levels. Your suggestions with regard to that are good and I hope they are implemented. You are right.that conversation belongs on a different List. That is not what some of us have been addressing here. I have tried to keep the discussion away from PTG by looking at the broader picture. This has to do with the mindset of dealers and, in part manufacturers to allow qualified technicians to do the work that the pianos need. And, by "allowing" I mean adequately compensating technicians to do such work. There are plenty of technicians in most places who know how to do the work, especially in larger metropolitan areas. In many stores the dealers don't even hire PTG members, so what does it matter how well we train our members? This is not a training issue except that manufacturers can help by encouraging, asking, and expecting dealers to hire techs who have been trained by them. Different ways have been suggested for them to offer that training in a more financially viable way. It is a matter of economics and ethics first and foremost at the sales end of business, not merely adequate training. It relates to this List because all too often a similar attitude exists on the college & university level in not setting realistic wages and workloads for technicians despite the fact that there are plenty of techs who are qualified to do the work. How many times have we read here about a job opening in an academic setting and we are all amazed at the meager salary being offered? There is a lack of education there, but not in the skill level of technicians seeking or already doing such work. Would you promise to do a full regulation and voicing for a private client and then only do a quick and dirty minimum of work? The push not only needs to go towards a high skill level but a higher ethics level. That is a hard thing to change unless the motivation changes. In many areas the C & U techs are some of the most respected and skilled. They/we can be the most influential in changing attitudes. This involves many people on this list who are not even in PTG. The area where PTG might have influence is in working together with manufacturers to educate the dealers. If there was a different set of values and ethics in play we would be having a different conversation. jeannie _____ From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of rwest1 at unl.edu Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 6:21 AM To: caut at ptg.org Subject: Re: [CAUT] Jeanie's brain storm - was Boston changed to dealers... If a manufacturer doesn't care how their pianos are prepared once they ship them out, there won't be any changes at the dealer's end. Manufacturers do care, but their options and resources are limited. Same goes for dealers. I think we need to look closer to home, i.e., local PTG chapters. Conventions and regional seminars are great, but they will only reach a limited number of technicians. Local education is the neglected element in raising the education bar. I would like to see a curriculum of 12 monthly lessons, required to be taught by every chapter on a regular rotation and separate from regular meeting times. The standardized curriculum would cover all the elements of the PTG exam, at the minimum. Secondly I'd like to see a national campaign to highlight regulation as a part of regular piano service. We tell our customers to tune at least once a year. We need to also promote a regulation within the first 5 years of a piano's lifetime. People know that equipment needs to be maintained, so the promotion of regulation wouldn't be foreign. It would be nice if manufacturers and dealers would pick up the tab for piano prep before the piano goes out the door, but I can't see it happening. And expecting it would just give technicians more reason to bash the builders and retailers. It's the customers and the service technicians who need to be responsible once the piano is in the home. Finally we need to be patient. Concert technician level competency comes with good training, experience, and good mentors. If every piano owner not only had the piano tuned once a year, but regulated at least once in the piano's lifetime, there would be lots of work for everyone, and even beginners would get the experience they need to improve their skill level. One of the main aspects of the PTG exams in not only to test competency, but also to instill a quest for continuing education as a part of a community of professionals. Richard West PS I agree that this should be a PTG-L thread. Oh, well, if only we lived in a perfect world, universal health care included. _____ I am using the Free version of SPAMfighter <http://www.spamfighter.com/len> . We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam. SPAMfighter has removed 289 of my spam emails to date. The Professional version does not have this message. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.709 / Virus Database: 270.14.79/2522 - Release Date: 11/23/09 11:45:00 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut.php/attachments/20091124/433d8796/attachment-0001.htm>
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