[TheForge] Conference Light

[Craig Schaefer]

I think you hit on another part of it there.   Most ABANA members and 
blacksmiths are not full time professional smiths and really don't care 
about a conference unless it's in their back yard.   I would like to attend 
conferences, but Seattle was the only one I made it to because in real life 
I'm a database administrator.   Being located near the geographic center of 
the 'smiths I think is more important than the geographic center of the USA.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Saint Phlip" <phlip at 99main.com>
To: "Craig Schaefer" <craig.schaefer at verizon.net>; "Sponsored by ABANA" 
<theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2007 7:44 PM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Conference Light


> On 3/1/07, Craig Schaefer <craig.schaefer at verizon.net> wrote:
>> You certainly can't blame ABANA if the attendee is either too dumb or too
>> lazy to check out the packet of materials they paid for to get in.
>
> No, you can't, any more than you can blame the attendees for being too
> damned busy to dick with more paperwork that many feel won't change
> anything anyway.
>
> And, regardless whether or not the attendees filled it out, it seems
> to me that if the conferences are getting smaller, you need to find
> out why people aren't going- and you aren't going to find THAT out
> from people who are there.
>
> Normally _I_ wouldn't have gone because it's too far away, and too
> expensive, not only for fees, but travel and living expenses. If this
> is the case with most ABANA non-attendees, then having smaller
> regional conferences that are encouraged by ABANA make sense. But,
> until you ask, you ain't gonna find out.
>
> -- 
> 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.
>