[TheForge] Re: The Hammer's Blow, ABANA publications (long)

Mon Jul 8 02:04:00 2002

At 12:57 PM 7/7/02, you wrote:

With all this hot air directed to preheating our forges we should be  all 
ready to work  iron..If we are not, then we are making an inexcusable 
contribution to global warming.
When I saw George D  demo, it changed my smithing world immensely for the 
better. When he took over the ABANANA publications, I really liked the 
stylish product  and the excellent density of useful information. It was 
what I wanted from Abana. I never noticed that it may not have been 
timely...we are anachronists by definition in this profession. I was 
unhappy when he quit doing it.
When I heard Rob Edwards say that he was going to work with  the 
HB..I  signed back up for ABANANA membership . That seems to have been 
justified.
No body is on the board to make the big bucks or get famous.  It is a 
volunteer job that demands huge amounts of time and work, gratis. I'm
F'kn-A  grateful to them for all they've put in for us!  It would be hard 
to find much malice working here.
But look,  we are all hard-headed, opinionated, self-motivated folks who 
are accustomed to  making all the decisions and working with a recalcitrant 
medium on our own and for our own reasons. This is an inherently uphill 
proposition. We are not joiners by nature. Few of us belong to the 
Nice-nice and Fluffy club .
To expect such characters to form a board and agree on almost anything 
,is  way too optimistic...that they do manage to agree now and then 
is  near amazing.
We get along by recognizing the sort of people the rest of us are ( except 
me ) and allowing a whole lot of extra room for it.
That not all of us play well together, is to be expected.
Sorry it worked out that way. Too bad. Time to take it out on some innocent 
piece of steel.........Pete F

>Everyone:
>
>The Hammer's Blow (and Anvils Ring) is made up entirely of member
>submissions... neither publication pays for articles. Also, it's very true
>that the budget does not allow for me or Rob to travel to do interviews or
>get articles. I am able to go to a few conferences, but that's on my own, I
>pay for those. Neither publication is a big budget operation.
>
>I'd like to ask EVERYONE to consider submitting articles to the Hammer's
>Blow. If anyone has an article idea, I'll work with you to develop it,
>drawings, photos, whatever you need. Of course, it's easiest if I just come
>by your place and start taking pictures, but unless you live in east
>Tennessee, I can't afford the travel. But I'm sure through email, faxes, and
>phones, we can come up with something good.
>
>I need everyone's help to make the HB a useful, high quality publication.
>Right now, I've got three weeks to finish the next issue, and I've received
>one submission. (I'll probably put a lot about the Conference demos that I
>saw)
>
>Also, against my better judgement, I'm going to make one (and only one)
>comment on the recent email debate about ABANA publication finances.  I
>don't know if $25,000.00 was saved by switching editors from Jim to Rob.
>But what I DO know is that our publications have greatly improved over the
>last three years, and you need to make sure you're not comparing apples to
>oranges.
>
>For example, take The Anvil's Ring. Vol28, #1. Summer of 2000. Edited by
>Jim. Sixty pages, all black and white, with a color cover. Vol 28#2, same
>thing. If I remember correctly, that was pretty much the standard format.
>
>Now let's jump ahead to the most recent Anvil's Ring, Vol 30#3. First off,
>it's larger, at sixty-four pages rather than sixty. Twenty-four pages are in
>full color. In the publishing world, that's a HUGE difference, since color
>is MUCH lore expensive to print. Yet Rob was able to have this printed for
>LESS than what we were paying for our old magazines.
>
>And what about the Hammer's Blow? It used to be 20 pages long, with no
>advertising. Now it's 28 pages long. Of course, we now have ads in the HB,
>usually a little over four pages. Still, that's five additional pages of
>content for the membership.
>
>Things like this don't just happen, folks. It takes a lot of work. Rob
>Edwards and the Publications committee have put in long hours to make these
>improvements... I've seen this on a weekly basis. And he's made my life much
>easier by handling all the technical aspects of printing and advertising,
>which frees me up to work on content. There's more, but you get the picture.
>
>Don't get me wrong, I have the deepest admiration and respect for Jim
>McCarty. I'd never have been able to become the editor of the HB if it
>wasn't for him, and I was greatly saddened when his contract wasn't renewed.
>BUT... that doesn't change the fact that giving the contract to Rob was the
>right thing to do for ABANA. The improvement in quality is obvious, and the
>costs are significantly lower.
>
>I would encourage anyone who thinks the ABANA board is "up to no good" or is
>otherwise less than dedicated to this organization to come and attend an
>ABANA board meeting. They are open to the public, and meetings are conducted
>in accordance with Robert's Rules of Order. I have attended the last three
>as a result of my position, (and I've often been the only non-board member
>there) and I can assure you that everyone there gives 110% of their energies
>and efforts to this organization. I can't speak for every member of the
>board... one member has never attended a meeting that I've been present at,
>but those who are there work hard. They bust their ass, folks, and they
>don't get much in return.
>
>Folks on the board aren't likely to engage in email debates on the forge for
>the same reasons that I don't... it takes too much time and energy, and
>you're rarely able to change people's minds. It's not a productive use of my
>time. I don't like to speak for others, but I'd be willing to bet that most
>of the board members will take the time to speak with any member by phone,
>or will talk to you face-to-face about any ABANA related subject... but not
>emails on theforge or other BBS. Email is convenient, but resolving
>conflicts takes face-to-face communication.
>
>So don't think that "the ball is in The Board's court..." The board doesn't
>play this game. If you have a grievance, put it in writing and submit it to
>the central office to be included in the next board meeting agenda. If you
>want extensive details, then present your petition in person.
>
>I hope this helps
>BG
>
>
>Brian Gilbert
>Editor, The Hammer's Blow
>--
>
> > From: [email protected]
> > Reply-To: [email protected]
> > Date: Sun,  7 Jul 2002 11:20:01 -0400 (EDT)
> > To: [email protected]
> > Subject: TheForge digest, Vol 1 #464 - 14 msgs
> >
> > Yes I agree with you.  I know what Bruce used to go through to
> > get issues out, and I'm sure you're experiencing the same thing.
> >
> > I just had a little exchange with another member of this forum
> > who shall remain anonymous unless he chooses to ID himself.  He
> > also pointed out to me that perhaps the submissions are not
> > coming in.  I don't recall precisely, but my vague notion of the
> > budget for the Ring is that it's not what I would call "large"
> > (of course I no longer consider $20M development projects large
> > either, so perhaps the flaw lay in my skull).  I doubt the
> > editors of the Ring have the funds to fly all over the USA to
> > conduct interviews with smiths here and there.  I don't know
> > where they are getting their material from, but perhaps the
> > membership needs to belly up to the bar and start contributing
> > a bit more to the production.  Please take this as no criticism.
> > I am speaking purely speculatively here as I have NO idea what
> > criteria are used to determine content or how many of us might
> > be sending in material for the Ring.  But if by chance that
> > content is not hitting the mark, it is up to  us to let the
> > editors know what's up.  I can only assume they would be
> > pleased    to make any changes they can to suit our desires.
> >
> > ABANA is an association, not a taxpayer funded affair, meaning
> > that the content source is US and not some mysterious grey
> > cloud out of which the goodies miraculously pop.  We've been
> > complaining about the board, and it seems rightly so in some
> > measure, because they are responsible to the membership.
> > Likewise, we also have to act to keep things interesting if
> > the association is to add value to our lives as blacksmiths.
> > Content that is of interest and value to us may not keep coming
> > if we do not throw in a little something here and there.  This
> > is an association OF US, ABOUT US, FOR US, and not the least of
> > which BY US.
> >
> > Remember that we are all mere mortals here and I believe
> > that we all may have something to contribute.  I'm no Peter Ross, but
> > I do decent work now and again.  Why can I not take a few photos and
> > send them in?  I suspect I'm not the only one who has been remiss in
> > not giving something to share with my fellow black smiths. It's nothing
> > of the bad, but usually of short time or not thinking one's work is
> > good enough.  I'm sure it would be a hoot to see something of one's own
> > hand appearing, as if by magic, in the pages of the Ring.
> >
> > Just my plugged kopek's worth.
> >
> > --__--__--
>
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