Get off the porch.
On a black board in a choir at a school I saw the following quote: "We practice over and over because repetition is the mother of learning". While we do need to practice music when we sing or play an instrument to get it right, if we practice the wrong notes or rhythms, the results are not going to be very pleasant.
Relating this to working on pianos, just because you think you know how to make a repair, if it isn't done right, the results are not going to be very pleasant. Even though we do a lot of repetitive things in our business, we need to make sure we are practicing the right "tune".
As the old adage says, there is a difference between 30 years of experience and one year of experience repeated 30 years. That is why we go to chapter meeting and attend seminars and conventions. We constantly need to make sure that what we are doing is the right thing.
I once saw a sign in a store window: "If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch ". To put it more positively: "If you want to run with the big dogs, you've got to get off the porch ". Relating this to our business, if you want to become a sought after and respected piano technician in your area, you've got to get off your "porch", and increase your knowledge of piano technology. And there is no better place to increase your knowledge than at the Piano Technicians Guild Annual Convention and Technical Institute.
The next one is in Arlington from July 26-29. Yes, it does cost a lot of money, but if you plan ahead, the money will be there to let you go. But if you put away one tuning every week in a special savings account, and by July there should be enough money to pay for the registration, the hotel and the trip. When you get paid in cash, take the "big" bills, like $50 and $100, in a special envelope, and you'll have enough spending money set aside to pay for the meals at the convention.
If you have a family, consider making the convention an annual vacation. When our boys were still at home, the highlight of the year was the three week vacation we took, with the convention city as the destination. From 1979 to 1991, we attended every convention, which allowed us to travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from Florida to Oregon, and even to Mexico and Canada.
We towed a camper and stayed in campgrounds along the way. We also managed to find campgrounds close enough to the convention hotel so I could attend classes, while my wife and boys toured the surrounding area. Now that we're "empty nesters," my wife still attends the conventions with me because there are lots of activities she enjoys. We pamper ourselves by staying at the convention hotel, but we often take an extra week of vacation, staying in motels along the way.
The PTG convention has been created to give you the education you need to go along with your experience, to teach you how to run with the "big boys." All you have to do is get off the porch.
Wim Blees RPT
A perennial for 45 years.
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Willem "Wim" Blees, RPT
St. Augustine, FL 32095
Tnrwim@aol.com------------------------------