[TheForge] ABANA conference problems

Fri Jul 14 20:47:18 EDT 2006

Thank you guys for the explanation. Not a pleasant situation.

Steve

roger olsen wrote:

> 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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