L. P. Skeen on sun 24 sep 06
Hey Gregg,
I definitely agree that cancelling or postponing a conference is way =
better than having one that is poorly organized and attended. That =
said, if they are looking to hire clay-minded folks at ACERs, a job =
posting here would not be a bad idea either. :) I have no idea what =
Pate de Verre is, but I hope for those who are interested, that it can =
be re-organized for a future date. :)
L
----- Original Message -----=20
From: Earth and Fire Pottery=20
For these reasons, the Potters Council board felt it would be best to =
postpone it until next year rather then go ahead and have a poorly =
organized and presented conference.
Earth and Fire Pottery on sun 24 sep 06
Hello everyone-
First of all, my apologies for not seeing to it that Clayart was notified of the postponed Pate de Verre conference. Those of you who know me realize I have not been active on Clayart for a while, as my time will not allow it.
That being said, Wayne notified me of the questions about it on Clayart. The conference was postponed largely for the reasons that Danielle, who was handling all of the details of running all of the conferences, no longer works for ACERS, and Renee, who often assisted her, has left for the job of her dreams. This left Megan, the marketing manager for ACERS and Danielles' boss, with the sole responsibility for the organization of the conferences and all the marketing for ACERS. Basically, there was one person, who was recently hired herself, doing the job of three while learning the in's and out's of putting on a conference, with very little time, (a month), to do so. Also, pre registration was below the limit that would indicate the conference would, at the very least, break even. For these reasons, the Potters Council board felt it would be best to postpone it until next year rather then go ahead and have a poorly organized and presented conference. This in no way
is meant to suggest that Norris and the people who worked hard on the event in Fayettville were poorly organized. On the contrary. It was and is the turnover situation at ACERS that prompted the decision by the board. As far as letting everyone who was involved know, Megan indicated to me that she attempted to notify everyone concerned in Fayetteville about the decision right after it was made. If that was not done effectively, it points up exactly what I am talking about. She also indicated that she put a note up on the web site as soon as possible afterwards. On the website, there was a box on the opening page to click on to find the information, and if that was confusing, that is unfortunate and can be prevented in the future.
In case you are wondering, it is a staff member at ACERS who has been devoting time to doing the behind the scenes work needed to put on a good conference. This includes handling the advertising, taking registration, signing contracts with the site and the food providers, printing the conference packets, doing the registration on site, arranging and supervising the food delivery and serving, and more. Up to this point, that person has been working half time. That is, half of their time is devoted to the conferences, and the other half to their regular duties for ACERS. As the increase in conferences has shown this year, that is not enough time. A person is being sought now to work on the conferences on a full time basis, starting as soon as a suitable candidate can be located.
The board of the potters council feels that putting on these conferences is of tremendous benefit to folks who work in clay. Those who have attended have come from all over the world, and those who have attended have indicated that it was well worth it. I was at the first one in LaCrosse and was very impressed and hooked on the value of such an event. We hope to put on ten such conferences in 2007, and hope to have them in the throughout the country so as to make them available to more people. This depends on who would be willing to step forward to help organize it with a topic, a location and suitable presenters for a start. The ACERS staff member who will be hired will help with all the details of the event. So if you have a topic you would like to suggest, the Potters Council would like to hear from you.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to e mail me at gerrg@yahoo.com.
I hope this helps to clear up the confusion surrounding the reluctant postponement of the conference. As the largest and best place for the quick exchange of information and ideas for the pottery community, Clayart should have been one of the first places notice of the postponement should have been posted, and I will make it a priority that important information like this be shared with the Clayart community.
Yours,
Gregg Lindsley
President, Potters Council
Gregg Allen Lindsley
Earth and Fire Pottery
Instructor - Mendocino College
Board Member Potters Council
Mail only: PO Box 402
Cobb, Ca. 95426
UPS etc.: 10325 Brookside Drive
Whispering Pines, Ca. 95426
e mail: gerrg@yahoo.com
http://www.earthandfirepottery.net
---------------------------------
Get your own web address for just $1.99/1st yr. We'll help. Yahoo! Small Business.
| |
|
