[TheForge] (no subject)

Fri Oct 22 16:58:45 EDT 2010

I'm a new smith, hungry to meet people who can share techniques, share
ideas, teach me something.  I was so excited to go to ABANA this May in
Memphis because I had the opportunity of seeing demonstrations and work from
smiths outside of my greater geographic neighborhood.

Yes, that need can be met by going to more far-flung local events.  (And
that's on my list.) But there's something to be said for attending a
national-level event.  For me, it was something of a pilgrimage--Maryland to
Memphis was a 14 hour drive and ate up a week of my allotted two weeks of
vacation (yes, I'm still a cubical slave).  I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

That said, a 26 hour *drive* to Rapid City is a bit beyond my capabilities.
 So the alternative is to fly and choose to either pay the fees to check my
bags or deal with the scrutiny of TSA when they're trying to decide if you
can kill someone with a center punch.  Either way it's a more expensive trip
for me.  But I want to do it anyway.  Because I'm *hungry.*

**And because waiting FOUR years for the next ABANA conference would be
unbearable.  :)

According to MY perfect world, ABANA would happen every year and I could
decide which cities & years I wanted to go to.

We could put the ABANA conference on a rotation: Northwest, Northeast,
Southwest, Southeast, Center

But also in my perfect world, these conferences would be magically organized
by elves and I wouldn't feel guilty about making them throw a perfect
conference every year.  I wouldn't have to worry about the elves working
overtime (cause that's what elves do, donchaknow?).

Indeed, I considered applying to become an elf myself, but it requires
something like 6 hours of volunteer work a week.  Which would be easy if I
could just get everyone to convert to a 30-hour day... :)

I don't mean to natter on here, but if there were tireless elves organizing
the conferences and an unending font of money, I'd meekly request that they
make *more* conferences so that I could meet more of you and learn more,
faster.

Caitlin

On Fri, Oct 22, 2010 at 2:33 PM, Jerry Frost <akfrosty at mtaonline.net> wrote:
> While I don't feel a lot of personal connection to ABANA I have to say
it's
> as relavant as it's members make it. My first contact was when Chris Ray
got
> me subscribed to TheForge list and I discovered there was a blacksmithing
> group at all. I've been subbed since and have learned more than I've
> contributed.
>
> As to how connected to the left coast or Alaska it is, how many folk from
> the west ran in the last board elections? I know Will held a board
position
> for quite some time but could only do as much as he could. If most of the
> people who run and get elected are from the east or midwest I can't say
I'm
> surprised that's where most of the representation lays things.
>
> Even in our small young Alaskan group there are only a few folk willing to
> try making things happen while most just want to show up for meetings or
> clinics. I don't blame them, that's what I was looking for myself when the
> silly guys elected me president while I was on a bathroom break. That'll
> teach me to leave the room during  a meeting! I insisted I'd only serve a
2
> year sentence and do no more than I had to. I won my re-election while in
a
> coma and discovered some months later it was now a life sentence!
>
> I have no complaints about how ABANA is run, where events are held or
who's
> in office. I'm not about to run for a board seat. I learned my lesson!
What
> I will do is thank the guys who are serving for their service and efforts,
> it's a lot more work than a person'd think, even at the deliberately low
> level I'll allow in out local club.
>
> Speaking of which, Tomorrow, Sat Oct 23 is our quarterly meeting at my
shop.
> Bring warm shoes and such, I'll have the barrel stove burning but if it's
> seasonably cold you're gong to appreciate warm feet and  a jacket at
least.
>
> Jer
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "peter fels & phoebe palmer" <artgawk at thegrid.net>
> To: "Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Friday, October 22, 2010 3:35 AM
> Subject: [TheForge] (no subject)
>
>
>>
>> Just to stir up some sand.......
>>
>> I can't help but feel that ABANA
>> is primarily an east coast organization.
>> Most of the conferences are too far away to economically attend, for
>> those of us on the left coast.
>> Most of the ABANA workshops etc are on the east coast.
>> The Anvil's Ring sorta feels like it comes from another country.
>> The organization has become so large as to have become an institution
>> with all of the baggage that implies..
>> Sure, efforts to include us are evident...but......
>> Perhaps it should be split?
>>
>
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-- 
____________________
Caitlin Morris

caitlin.morris at gmail.com