Updated Bylaws Report for those of you who are delegates

[Dean May]

Thank you and amen, David and Andrew. 

 

Might I add that we also don't build up the guild by using pejorative and
derogatory terms like tooner for those in the trade. When I first started
out I was basically self taught but still a ways ahead of the guy who had
been taking care of my piano. Two weeks of studying every book that my local
libraries had led me to the quick conclusion that the guy who had been
working on my piano knew very little about pianos. He was a good tuner and
could change parts. There are many just like him out there who don't need
the condescension of being called a tooner by those in the guild. I
desperately needed what the guild had to offer as I was starting out, but
scarred to death to subject myself to ridicule, perceived or real. If I
would have joined this list back then it would have only lasted until the
first time I saw the term being used. It wouldn't take long to make the
application to me and I'm outta here. I propose we make every effort to
avoid categorizing or passing judgment on those who are at a different
place, who maybe haven't progressed as far as we would have liked them to.

 

I have met many techs who are all too much like my first tech, good tuners
with little understanding of pianos. They don't need to be called tooners
and ostracized. They do need the encouragement of the people on this list,
and they won't stay here long if they feel like they are being called names.


 

Dean

Dean May             cell 812.239.3359 

PianoRebuilders.com   812.235.5272 

Terre Haute IN  47802

  _____  

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Andrew and Rebeca Anderson
Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 3:09 PM
To: Pianotech List
Subject: Re: Updated Bylaws Report for those of you who are delegates

 

Amen David,
I might add that if licensing is given over to the states that it will have
a chilling effect on the Guild.  It will also start a separate and
practically independent system where people may be licensed but not guild
members or guild members and licensed.  Which will be more important? Why
state licensing of-course!

If the Philadelphia Chapter continues hurtling down that road it may
eventually succeed in marginalizing itself.  After all, who needs Guild
association if they can just get a government license.  Don't kid
yourselves, the government license will be even more ridiculously easy to
obtain.  It will only take a few trips to court to ensure that.  The Guild
does not have sufficient resources to control the political process that
will develop around licensing like a medical association can.  This means
that the license will eventually degenerate into a revenue item in the eyes
of a state.  A state license will naturally carry more influence than a
Guild designation with the general public and the last nail will be driven
home to the proverbial coffin.  The resort to force of law to achieve an
organization's goals is always a sign of fatal weakness (growing
irrelevance) within that organization.  The push to make the organization
irrelevant is sadly amusing.  Sad because it is not necessary and there is
plenty of strength within the Guild as it is now constituted.

I was brought into the Guild by my late mentor Guy Nichols.  I've been
intending to pass the testing regime simply to put arrogant naysayers in
their place.  Problem is, it is hard to arrange for testing regionally and
my store has kept me locked-down here in south Texas.  I enjoy the
camaraderie of like minded individuals I encounter in the guild and the push
to attack that is one I hope faces resounding defeat.  We don't build the
guild up by cutting people off.  It really is that simple.

Bemused in Texas,
Andrew Anderson  (no relation of David's)
  
At 12:43 PM 6/13/2007, you wrote:




On Jun 13, 2007, at 7:53 AM, Ron Berry wrote:




I received an updated Bylaws report which I have posted on the web. There
is a directory of late and updated submissions at
http://www.ptg.org/members/docs/2007/Council/

ron


As an apparently endangered and, in some quarters, reviled "associate," I'm
not sure if I can post to, or go on, PTG-L.

Let's see: 4,300 members of PTG; less than 400 at the National Convention;
to me, if I was active and "owned-in" to  an organization's well-being,
those numbers suck. And reveal some deep disconnect between leadership and
membership. And now a portion of our membership is actively pursuing more
judgement, more exclusion. 

Makes me feel respected and appreciated. (Irony alert.)

The RPT test standards, IMO, are ridiculously low. I have followed RPTs and
their work for 25 years. The good ones are awesome, and deeply inspirational
to me---but that's several.  The others---the majority---are just tune & run
guys, with no real interest in piano service.

Inspiration feels vastly different than exclusion and judgement.

This is offered with humility; I am one of a big (relative to our
discussion---in the hundreds) number of gifted and hard-working men and
women who work on some of the greatest pianos in the world on a daily basis,
for some of the greatest artists that ever lived---and have made a decision,
for whatever considered and no doubt intentional reason, to either not use
or not pursue the RPT designation. If I was leading a non-profit service
organization based on a highly personalized, difficult, and prized
skillset---maintaining great pianos at their highest level---I would
literally fall over myself extending hands to those of our profession who
have risen to the top of their game, whether members or not. I would welcome
and treasure their real-world, hard-won input. I would ask them, in an
atmosphere of collegiality, equality, and respect, why they have chosen not
to support our fantastic PTG and its best-in-the-world continuing education
programs. I would ask them what we can do as a Guild to feel like and be an
organization that attracts more than 6 or 7% of its total membership to its
national conference.

This is written and sent with respect and gratitude that PTG exists and that
it provides me with an excellent teaching platform, among many other
tangible and ethereal benefits; we have a sacred obligation to pass on our
hard-won skills to the next generation. I write this because I love our work
and our Guild, and as a positive force, willing to work towards
understanding and unafraid of genuine, authentic, and respectful
communication, confrontation, and resolution---another " highly
personalized, difficult, and prized skillset...."

My best to you----and see some of you in Kansas City. Please feel free to
buttonhole me about this subject.

David Andersen
Malibu, CA


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