[TheForge] ABANA conference program problems

[Gladish Family]

Just a note: this was NOT organized by the local people, though there 
was some great participation by a couple. We were looking forward to 
hosting it but were not allowed that opportunity.
The demonstrators were wonderful- I was especially impressed by the 
great attitude and philosophy of the people from Japan, Chile, Mexico, 
Holland, England, and Australia.
It would be difficult to convey even a taste of what was passed on 
there, but I really enjoyed the Design and Business seminars- lots of 
info in a very short time.
For me, Medwedeff's statement that "we are not our customers' banker" 
was worth the price of entry just by itself- a light went on when I 
thought of how many times I've bought materials and provided labor as an 
interest-free loan to the customer- not to mention design work done on 
faith...but there were many moments like that.
You can go and just learn techniques, but the attitude of the presenters 
was the greatest part, for me.

Complaints: It was difficult to figure out where demos and events were 
and what was being presented- the signage was scanty and not very 
helpful, and there was only one very late demo on Friday eve, though I 
don't know if that's usual practice- it's just that it was the only 
night I could be there and it pretty much shut down by 6. Maybe they're 
all like that, this was my first ABANA. Also, we make a practice of 
feeding everyone at least one meal at every local conference, and at 
this one that wasn't done- you bought a meal ticket in advance or you 
didn't eat, and to make it worse the food was served right in front of a 
lot of hungry folks who didn't have and couldn't get a ticket. I feel 
strongly that there should be at least one catered meal for ALL 
attendees, so everyone feels welcomed and included- there's something 
about eating together that brings people closer. Maybe that happened the 
first night- anyone know?


Bruce Freeman wrote:

>I realize these conferences are organized largely by the local section,
>but REALLY it's about time these organizational problems were fixed.  It
>really should be up to ABANA to evaluate and log these problems, and to
>come up with better ways of doing things.
>
> I attended the 1998 conference, and missed SO MUCH because the
>available information was so poorly presented that I found it difficult
>to get to the demos most interesting to me.  
>
>Since then I've attended as many of the local conferences and demos as
>I've been able to, and find they provide much more bang for the buck
>(counting ALL the bucks - travel, lodging, conference fees, food).
>
> I have not been tempted to go to another ABANA conference.  I'll go to
>the New Paltz one (2008?) because it's so close by, but maybe my
>contribution (time permitting) will be to present the program in a
>manner to allow people to actually attend the demos they most want to
>see, instead of spending megahours figuring out what will be where, then
>finding the schedule was changed anyway.
>
>Bruce
>NJ
>
>  
>
>>>>mpaietta at iglide.net 7/13/2006 1:20:31 AM >>>
>>>>        
>>>>
><snip>
>I really enjoyed the classes, but it was not organized well. They had
>four different lists that seamed hidden on the website. The demo list
>with
>times, locations, and demonstrator did not say what they were
>demonstrating,
>that was on another list. The list changed and was not updated very
>well. My
>friend wanted to go on the UW metal lab tour the people who were
>volunteering their time were not informed of the different tours. There
>had
>been an issue long before with the local chapter and the person in
>charge of
>the conference.  <snip>
>
>Regards
>Martin
>
>
>
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