[TheForge] Conference Suggestion

[Roger R Degner]

I went to the 92 conference in California.
There I remember taking a bus downtown and seeing blacksmiths demonstrating
for the public there

Roger R Degner


After going to a couple of Conferences I was surprised that ABANA 
seems to generally ignore the public where the Conferences were 
held.  My wife and I were stopped no less than 10 times in Richmond 
by members of the public asking what was going on, and how they could 
see it. 


I suggest opening various sections of the Conference to the public 
(for a reasonable admission fee).
    * Have people there specifically to demonstrate to the public the 
basics of what a blacksmith is and what they do.
    * Give the public access to all the galleries to see the end 
results of people who are blacksmiths. Especially the "Walk-In" 
gallery where "Average Joe" blacksmith displays their work.
    * Open a special Green Coal area for them to make a "J" hook, and 
get them "hooked".
    * Have ABANA and Affiliate tables easily accessible to the public 
so they can JOIN and/or spend their cash the ABANA 'gizingas'. I'm sure
there are other ideas for involving the public at 
Conferences but those were the ones I came up with.


Dan Crowther