[TheForge] from abana.org

[Jerry Smith]

I have a spare room and a van, 2 to 3 people could
stay with me and we could split the gasoline cost.

Jerry

--- Saint Phlip <phlip at 99main.com> wrote:

> Yeah, wouldn't be too surprised if Cooper's Lake,
> home of the SCA's
> Pennsic War, would be willing to host an ABANA
> conference. Plenty of
> room for camping, plenty of facilities, and we
> wouldn't even hafta
> rent the whole campground. Certainly woud be plenty
> of room. Motels
> nearby, and Pittsburgh available for shopping. Could
> likely handle
> everything for $100 a head for a week.
> 
> On 2/17/07, Jerry Smith
> <jerry_smith at anvilsandinkstudios.com> wrote:
> > Why not some place like Wheeling W.V.? The hotels
> are
> > a little cheaper, the Highlands has great shopping
> and
> > a Carbellas. Lots of steel in Wheeling waiting to
> be
> > heat up and beat into shape.
> >
> > I would prefer Somerton, Ohio, but most people
> would
> > be staying in Wheeling if we had it in Somerton.
> >
> > What is in Somerton, a lot of nice people. A Fire
> > department that would help out. Lots of steel just
> up
> > the hill at Buddy's.
> >
> > Make these conferences an economical home town
> venue,
> > instead of a city thing.
> >
> > Jerry
> >
> > --- April & Bill Clemens <newky2 at dejazzd.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > Roger,
> > >
> > > It's under Latest News on the main page.  Here's
> the
> > > text:
> > >
> > > February 17, 2007
> > >
> > > Updated President's Message - 2008 Conference
> > >
> > >     Whoever said "the more things change . the
> more
> > > they stay the same"
> > > doesn't know the plights of non-profit
> > > organizations. Because what I want to
> > > talk about is this - ABANA must change its focus
> to
> > > be relevant for another
> > > 34 years. ABANA has come to that fork in the
> road -
> > > where do we go from
> > > here? Or as Yogi Berra would say - "When you
> come to
> > > a fork in the road,
> > > take it." We are taking it, grasping it and
> coming
> > > up with some difficult
> > > decisions.
> > >
> > >     ABANA has been producing conferences every
> other
> > > year for decades now.
> > > Well the time has come to reevaluate how we do
> these
> > > events. We, the ABANA
> > > Board, have decided not to have a conference for
> > > 2008. This decision did not
> > > come overnight. After months of discussions and
> > > negotiating a formal motion
> > > was made on February 9 "that ABANA not have its
> > > biennial conference in
> > > 2008." On February 13, the motion passed by a
> vote
> > > of 14-0.
> > >
> > >     As painful as this decision was I know it
> cannot
> > > compare to the
> > > disappointment of individuals of the Northeast
> > > Blacksmith Association (NBA).
> > > Since the Fall of 2004 the NBA put a great deal
> of
> > > time and energy into the
> > > possibility of having the conference at the
> State
> > > University of New York at
> > > New Paltz. Jonathan Nedbor and the Steering
> > > Committee of NBA are to be
> > > commended for all the work they have done.
> > >
> > >     So why aren't we having a Conference? What's
> the
> > > deal? Is ABANA going
> > > bankrupt? Let me start by answering the last
> > > question first - NO. Though I
> > > wish the financial situation were stronger, we
> are
> > > not going bankrupt. To
> > > put things in a simple nutshell here is a quick
> > > summary of the conferences.
> > > They have become too expensive. They cost
> hundreds
> > > of thousands of dollars,
> > > which is too much! That doesn't even include the
> > > thousands of hours from all
> > > of the volunteers. For many years ABANA has
> > > supplemented its budget by
> > > living off the profit from previous Conferences.
> We
> > > can no longer do that.
> > > The Seattle Conference was not the financial
> success
> > > of previous
> > > Conferences. It probably lost money. We still do
> not
> > > know the final tally,
> > > because there is an outstanding invoice from the
> > > University of Washington.
> > > When we do know the accounting figures, they
> will be
> > > posted on the ABANA
> > > website.
> > >
> > >     So why no Conference.
> > >
> > >     First there is the Money -
> > >     The costs to put on a Conference have
> > > skyrocketed to somewhere in the
> > > vicinity of $400,000. With those figures the
> average
> > > conference expense
> > > including transportation would be in the $1,000
> per
> > > person range. The
> > > majority of our members cannot afford to pay
> that.
> > > Of course we all agree
> > > that costs must be trimmed. We need to look at
> other
> > > locations such as
> > > fairgrounds. The college campus environment has
> > > gotten too expensive. The
> > > number of demonstrators has gone through the
> roof.
> > >
> > >     Second there is the Conference Chair -
> > >     Every Conference needs to have someone in
> charge
> > > to do the negotiations,
> > > troubleshoot, make decisions, etc. This is a
> > > full-time job! Past Chairs who
> > > have held this position have burned out - just
> ask
> > > Dave Koenig and Bill
> > > Callaway. And did I mention that this job pays
> > > nothing?! No one wanted to
> > > step up and be Chairman for the 2008 Conference.
> > >
> > >     Third there is the Membership -
> > >     The membership has declined in recent
> months. A
> > > year ago the number
> > > totaled 4815. Today it is 4468. Our budget
> figures
> > > are based on a membership
> > > of approximately 5000. Without that number there
> > > would be practically no
> > > funds to pay for seed money or pre-conference
> > > expenses. Another factor to
> > > consider regarding membership is the number of
> > > attendees to our biennial
> > > Conferences. Seattle had 575 paid attendees,
> which
> > > equates to less than 14%
> > > of our membership. This has been a consistent
> > > percentage over the last
> > > several Conferences. That low figure is another
> > > indication that we are
> > > definitely not meeting the needs of our members.
> > >
> > >     Fourth there is the Central Office -
> > >     LeeAnn Mitchell performed many duties on the
> > > three previous conferences
> > > - La Crosse, Richmond, and Seattle. She worked
> > > tirelessly at each of these
> > > events putting in many hours of "volunteer"
> work.
> > > Much was asked of her and
> > > she did it - beautifully. There is new a Central
> > > Office Administrator,
> 
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