I’m in the airport waiting to go home after spending five days at the national PTG convention and I thought I would post some of my experiences.
First, I taught two classes, one on stability and one on tuning. I have never taught at the national level before. I was terrified. My lips were so dry before my first class that no matter how much I drank, nothing helped. I made a joke of it at the beginning of class, so that helped me relax a bit.
I met a lot of people at my booth and found out that there are a lot more technicians who teach piano tuning than I thought.
But the most impact the experience had on me was just being in a place with some many people interested in piano technology. People were able to strike up conversations easily, having the same interests.
Here were some of the most memorable moments for me:
– Meeting my roommate, Jack Houweling. Check out his woodworking youtube channel: Jack’s Woodworking
– Singing along with Larry Crabb and the barbershop singers.
– Dale Probst’s touching Golden Hammer acceptance speech.
– Meeting Robert Scott of Tunelab, a real down to earth, kind man. And obviously very smart.
– Having lunch with Randy Potter at Wendy’s and hearing his stories about hunting with his uncle.
– By some strange stroke of luck, sitting at the Golden Hammer recipients table with greats Leroy Edwards, Rick Baldassin, and Wally Brooks, although I was too shy to actually talk to them.
– Meeting Paco Morales. I was invited to teach in Ecuador with him but it didn’t work out. His passion for piano technology was infectious, even though we didn’t talk pianos much. We talked about Salsa music and Puerto Rico.
– Losing my luggage with half the items I needed for my classes and my booth.
– Finding my luggage.
– Seeing all the rabbits outside. I’ve never seen that many in the city and they were not afraid.
I highly recommend attending a regional or national conference (not just for the rabbits. I can’t guarantee there will be any in Norfolk).
For me, it was like grad school and I learned a lot.
