President's Message
I hope everyone had a safe and prosperous December and a good
New Year and survived the ice storm. I’m quite sure we will be finding
some very out of tune pianos after the bad weather and loss of power for
many Ohio residents.
The New Year also brings with it a newly revised state requirement for
sales tax collection by county rates and assessments. You may find more
information on the web at Ohio.gov .
The state has also provided a site, The
Finder, to assist you in finding the correct tax rate for each customers
home location. If you have questions or need assistance while using The
Finder, please call 1-800-304-3211 or email: thefinderhelp@tax.state.oh.us
Thanks of Tom Ruff for guiding me to this information source. I have
looked at the site but I’m not sure how user friendly it is going to be.
This may be a topic for an upcoming Chapter meeting.
Meeting Minutes
There are no meeting minutes since we didn’t meet in the month of December.
The Chapter committee on the Long Range Planning Task Force did however
meet in December to conclude putting together the survey that was sent
to all Columbus Chapter members. Thanks to everyone who participated
in our effort to see what the general consensus of this Chapter might be.
We are not sure if we asked all the right questions, we are piano techs
not statisticians, but I think some of the answers were quite revealing.
Some of the respondents obviously gave some serious thought to their answers.
The following page will try to summarize the survey questions,
and answers the members gave. We hope to have time to forward this to Richard
Bittner, our Regional Vice President, before the national board meeting.
I have invited Richard to attend a Chapter meeting at his convenience in
2005.
| The Survey Questions
1. Do you believe there is a need to change the current PTG classification
system? YES NO
explain your answer:(use back if necessary)
2. How should/could the status between Associate and Registered level
of technical certification be conveyed to the public so that they understand
the difference?
3. What represents the main hurdle to taking the PTG exams? Circle all
that apply
A. Cost
B. Not prepared - require more
preparation time.
C. Do not believe there is a need
to upgrade classification.
D. Lack of a convenient testing
facility.
E. List any others
4. Should there be a time limit set for Associates to take the exams?
YES NO
If so, what should that time limit be?____________________________________
5.Should associate members be assigned to another membership category
after a time limit has expired and they have
not completed the exams?
YES NO
6. What was or is your motivation to take the RPT exam?
7. What PTG services do you consider important? List all that apply,
on a scale of 1-10 #1 being most important.
____A. Piano Technicians Journal
____B. National and regional seminars
____C. Business building / publications from Home office
____D. Chapter meetings
____E. Membership in a professional organization
____F. Camaraderie / sharing viewpoints or problems
____G. National or local Web pages
____H. Chapter newsletter
____I. Other_______________________________________________________________
8. Have you ever been contacted for piano services via the Internet
through a PTG
(national or local) website? YES
NO
9. Should associate members have use of the PTG logo for advertising?
YES NO
10. Do you promote the PTG to your own customers, or prospective clients?
YES NO
10.b) Are they aware of your membership in the PTG?
YES NO
11. Would you support the plan to divide the Piano Technicians Guild
into two separate organizations: one for Associates only and one for Registered
Technicians only.
YES NO |
There were 24 surveys and 15 responded. This is a compilation of the
responses.
| Question # |
Y / N |
Some of the written response and suggestions |
| 1. |
5 / 8 |
Quit changing, this topic keeps coming up, waste of time
Need categories that better define member qualifications
Should only be one classification using the PTG symbols |
2.
|
. |
Most common response was it would be difficult & public doesn’t
care. The term apprentice is more clearly understood by everyone. Advertising
by manufactures, stores, the PTG and its members.
Only RPT’s should have use of logo and a reason to upgrade. |
| 3. |
. |
For those that answered here : B) 3 C)2
D)1 other) had bad experience with test procedure. |
| 4. |
5 / 8 |
on time limit: 2 say 2yrs / 1 says 1 yr/ 1 says 3 years
/ 1 says must take the exams to join |
| 5. |
2 / 11 |
( what happens if person does not upgrade?) |
| 6. |
. |
By far the most common response was to improve and was the next logical
step |
7.
|
. |
Like in golf, here the lowest number represents most important service
to members.
A) 37 B) 42
C) 84 D)31 E)66
F)32 G)94 H)65
Camaraderie and Chapter meetings were #1 -- ( we
should see better attendance)
The journal and seminars were very close. The result was somewhat
askew by one 10 on the seminar all others were value 1-6 , the Journal
values 1-8. The web and business building had the lowest ranking. |
| 8. |
5 / 8 |
( We forgot to qualify this answer with having Internet access) |
| 9. |
4 / 9 |
This was brought up in several other responses- toward negative |
| 10. a |
12 / 1 |
This should be the best advertising for the PTG |
| 10. b |
12 / 1 |
It appears everyone is proud of their membership in the PTG |
| 11. |
2 / 11 |
It appears the Chapter would not support proposed changes. |
It is difficult to sum up all the information here but the general impression
I take is what the PTG does best is provide educational opportunity. One
respondent stated that the reason for joining the PTG was the willingness
of other members to share knowledge and information. Associates play an
important role in Chapter and Guild activities and separating the two categories
would be a divisive action. There may be some misunderstanding or misuse
of the term Associate, and that category may be too broad to truly reflect
persons wanting to pursue an upgraded status. Most appear satisfied with
the current system.
My personal sentiments are that Ron Berry (and our own link through
David’s effort) have done an excellent job on the PTG Web page, and
interested piano owners will seek out members. This is one way to inform
the public. The quality of service that members provide should be in direct
relation to the effort of continuing education. The PTG exam should be
a goal for all interested members, but should not exclude persons. Professional
service provided by a qualified technician will be the best advertising
you ever get. The RPT will never have the name recognition of McDonalds
or Coke and it’s not that important. The PTG needs to focus on services
that improve members technical abilities and less on name status. I strongly
oppose the term “Certified” technician.
Mark Ritchie, Editor |
Tech Tip
Bryan Hartzler
Don’t forget the drywall screws! The all purpose screw has a prominent
place in my spare screw container. 3/4", 1", and 1 3/8 " are all there.
They are generally self tapping, and have a ferocious bite that is loathe
to strip. I use these on loose or broken case parts, pedal brackets, loose
trapwork, etc. In case of stripped screws, choose a slightly longer drywall
screw and it will tap into the bottom of the stripped hole. They work well
when screwing the soundboard to separated ribs as well.
Chapter News & Notes
Next Meeting: February 15, 2005 at 7 :30 PM @ Graves Piano &
Organ 5798 Karl Rd. Columbus OH: “Bringing Together Pianist and Instrument”
with Bryan Hartzler
From the WebMaster
David Stang
If you get a minute, browse to the new place on our web page called
Technical Photos http://www.ptgcolumbus.org.
The idea is for us to have a place where we can share pictures of special
pianos, or anything we may run across that’s particularly beautiful or
unique. Send them my way and I’ll post ‘em. (I can even take the
pictures for you with the new camera I got for my birthday.) Similarly,
if you ever have a contribution to the Newsletter that deserves to have
pictures with it (better than a Xerox reproduction), send them and I’ll
link them with the on-line newsletter version.
On the Web
Doug Brandt
Here’s a link to a 9 part series from the New York Times on the building
of a Steinway:
www.nytimes.com/ref/nyregion/PIANO_INDEX.html
The Buckeye Backcheck
Published by the Columbus Chapter of the Piano Technicians
Guild Mark Ritchie, Editor 6262 St. Rte. 605 Westerville, OH
43082
The Buckeye Backcheck is published monthly, excepting
the summer, and it is available to all Columbus Chapter members as part
of their dues. It is available to others for a subscription fee of $12.00
per year or by exchange with other chapter newsletters. Make your checks
or money orders payable to Columbus Chapter PTG and send to Ron Kenreich
280 Storington Rd. Westerville, OH 43081
Articles and original cartoons may be re-printed by other
PTG newsletters with proper acknowledgement, unless otherwise indicated
in the article. The editor can e-mail them to you to save time if you wish.
Comments and articles and advertising requests may be
sent to the above address.
All expressions of opinion and all statements of supposed
facts are published on the authority of the author as listed and are not
to be regarded as expressing the views of the Chapter of the Piano Techni
cians Guild unless such statements or opinions have been adopted by the
Chapter or the Guild.
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