[TheForge] ABANA conference problems

Fri Jul 14 12:09:10 EDT 2006

I too am a member of the NWBA,  we wanted very much to be involved in the 
putting on of the ABABA conference,  there would have been many of us 
working to make it a better conference that sadly chose to not even attend.

Yes, as mentioned by another NWBA member earlier, the fact that a few years 
back an ABANA board member who happened to be the same person coordinating 
the conference sued the NWBA and all of it's board members, threatening them 
with total financial ruin and made things uglier than ugly resulted in a 
situation where certain people simply could not work with him.   It is sad 
that ABANA did not turn the planning and running of the conference over to 
the NWBA which had an army of volunteers from director / co-coordinator on 
down.

oh well,  sounds like it came off pretty good in the end.

Roger Olsen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ralph Sproul" <brhlbsmt at mcttelecom.com>
To: "'Sponsored by ABANA'" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, July 14, 2006 4:36 AM
Subject: RE: [TheForge] ABANA conference program problems

> Pete, if it's anything like our meets and conferences - the demonstrator 
> is
> usually putting stuff into his truck the morning of the demo and trying to
> figure out what he's doing for a demo on the way to the demo......  :-)
>
> Having volunteer to do it twice and in putting over 600 hours into the
> planning of the Kentucky conference with Dave Koenig I can say two things
> that should be mandatory to improve the current hap hazard method of
> scheduling equipment, tools, gear, demos, promotion, and signage at a
> conference (which appears to be everyone's view of what could be improved
> mostly)
> .
> 1) A conference should never be put on without the support of good local
> help/chapters/affiliates.
>
> 2) Getting a list of tools, materials, and what a demonstrator plans to
> demonstrate should accompany the signed contract for the demonstrator when
> he is signed on for a demo. (this is common sense but seems to get 
> ignored)
>
> You don't need a book, nor an operations and procedures manual - just add
> those two items in your mandatory planning criteria and you'll take half 
> the
> work out of the task at hand.
>
> I was receiving requests for tools and materials (from demonstrators) the
> day before demos in Kentucky (and being the 4th of July weekend - let's 
> just
> say one must improvise...:-)     .............and politely tell them they
> are dreaming in Technicolor.  We had wisely ordered large round stocks and
> wide flats ....just so we could torch or forge things to size to meet 
> those
> late requests, but we had seen it coming due to the amount of planning we
> tried to do - but some things just don't go as smoothly as you'd hope with 
> a
> slew of volunteers and a list of demonstrators who really don't know what
> they're doing until the last minute (from what I've experienced).  2/3 of
> the demonstrators had turned in tool request and stock needed three months
> ahead of the conference...........those folks were a pleasure to deal with
> and had no complaints in the tools provided and stock they had to use.
> Those who refused to answer e-mails, didn't know what they were doing,
> didn't have a plan, and left things to the last minute seemed to be the 
> most
> scattered and complain the most............. (big surprise ehh).
>
> This just follows the golden rule:  "Improper Prior Maintenance, Leeds to
> Piss Poor Performance"
>
> Oh, and I have already signed on to help do the set up and take down in 
> NY.
>
> Ralph
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Peter Fels And 
> Phoebe
> Palmer
> Sent: Friday, July 14, 2006 4:10 AM
> To: Sponsored by ABANA
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] ABANA conference program problems
>
> Judging from our CBA conferences, the demonstrators and available
>  facilities keep changing till the last second..the presentation
> is a juggling act.
> All the players are either volunteers or minimally compensated.
> Printing accurate schedules is difficult..but posting the info in
> conspicuous locations would help.
> No, I don't volunteer to do it next time....PF
>
> 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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