[TheForge] NJ Fairgrounds - Attn: Phlip

[Dave Mudge]

On 2/28/07, Saint Phlip <phlip at 99main.com> wrote:
> On 2/28/07, Peter Fels And Phoebe Palmer <artgawk at thegrid.net> wrote:
> > Hey Dan;
> > Respectfully. the board got boxed. If they could have solved all
> > the problems as in the past, there would be no discussion.
> > These are smart, sincere, well meaning folks  who have given us
> > years off their lives. Cut them some slack please.
> > They honestly asked for our help. We asked for more info.
> > Dave offered a taste, indicating that it isn't as simple as we
> > have presumed.
>
> I realize that, too. Thing is, if Dave's negative attitude is typical
> of the Board, then that's a prime reason why we aren't having a
> conference in 2008. "No way we can do it, so no way it can be done".

..........'scuse me? how many board members have you actually talked
to? All of their contact info is on the web site. How many have given
you any feed back? enough said.
The "prime reason " as you put it that we are not having a conference
is that we made no money from the last conference. period.

> Well, despite this, I am going forward, and seeing if I, knowing
> little of the specific details they seem to be bogged down in, can
> find a way to do it.

..........We are not bogged down in any small details. The ingredients
for a conference are money, time and local support. We ran out of all
of those.

>Yes, I'm quite well aware of Tom Clark's efforts-
> I'd like to meet that man, because he's got the sort of "can do"
> attitude this effort needs.

.......... Rather than re-inventing the wheel (as the board is so
often accused of) You would probably do better to offer your support
to Tom Clark and Bill Calloway. They both have first hand knowledge of
what it really takes to put on a conference. They want to do it in
Missouri. I think that is a good idea.
>
> Thing is, though, Dave's "taste" is only coming when he can use it to
> tell me it's impossible- and several of his "impossibilities" I've
> addressed in previous posts. OTOH, getting the information I need to
> start figuring this out is like pulling teeth. But, as long as he's
> giving me information when he's giving the negatives, I'm going to
> take his lemons, and forget the lemonade, I'm going to make lemon
> frappe ;-)

........... Wait a minute, you are the woman who said that you could
put on an ABANA conference for way under $100k. I have given you a lot
more information than you ever thought of and now you are saying that
I am only giving you a "taste". You said that you already knew how to
do it.
>
> > Stop overlaying psychic/emotional flack on the problem.
> > Gather all the info possible, shed the emotive obfuscations, and
> > we will all poke at it till damn well it cooperates.....pf
>
> Unfortunately, there IS emotion involved, but I'm reminded of one of
> those annoying sales slogans I got bombarded with back when I was in
> sales:
>
> "Direct your thoughts,
> Control your emotions,
> Ordain your destiny."
>
> I seriously believe we're at a fork in the road, folks. If we quit on
> trying to get a conference set up, than we've taken a big step down
> the road towards letting ABANA die.

Both Clare and I have told you why there is not going to be a 2008
conference in New York.

>Granted, that's no real disaster
> in the Grand Scheme of Things, but it will be a serious inconvenience
> later, when we rediscover that a National Organization has its
> definite uses.

.......... OK, "no real disaster" OK that is the straw that broke the
camel's back..

>I realize ABANA isn't perfect, but I'm hoping its flaws
> are fizable. I'm wlling to try to help save it, but if the negatives
> I'm getting are typical of the attitude of the entire Board, I'm
> wondering if it's worth doing.
>They asked for help-

.........Although Clare did ask for input, she did not direct anyone
to put together a conference proposal.

>I'm trying to give
> it- starting with a suggestion they poll the membership, and find out
> what WE want in a conference. Yet, I see them taking no steps towards
> doing that, or anything else except saying it can't be done, as
> expressed by Dave.

..........In each conference registration pack, there is a feed back
questionnaire. Each attendee can fill out the questionnaire and let us
know what they liked and didn't like and offer suggestions for
improvement. You would know that if you had ever been to an ABANA
conference. That constitutes a pole of the people that actually attend
the conference.
>
> I'm telling you right now, that it CAN be done- but if the ABANA Board
> isn't interested in taking positive steps towards saving itself,
> perhaps it shouldn't be done.

.......... Don't equate the board with a (1) (single) conference. It
isn't the same.
And please stop equating ABANA with the SCA.
Two different things with way different goals.
Thanks for your input.
dave m

>The only reason I'm still trying is
> because Clare said she's interested in at least looking at other ways
> to do things. I'll take her on her word, but I need to see a few words
> of encouragement, too.
>
> --
> Saint Phlip
>
> Heat it up
> Hit it hard
> Repent as necessary.
>
> Priorities:
>
> It's the smith who makes the tools, not the tools which make the smith.
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