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2013
Piano Convention
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24 - 27 October 2013, Novotel Hotel, Manly
Dear Piano Tuner / Technician,
On behalf of the Australasian Piano Tuners and Technicians Association and the NSW
Piano Tuners and Technicians Guild, it gives me great pleasure to invite you to the
2013 APTTA Piano Convention scheduled to be held between the 24th and 27th of
October 2013 at Manly Beach, Sydney.
One of the core aims of the APTTA is to raise the standard
of piano tuning and servicing in Australia for the benefit of
both the piano industry and all those who enjoy the piano.
Conventions are held every two years for this purpose.
This cordial invitation is extended to anyone working and / or
studying in our industry. You do not have to be a member of
any of our guilds and you do not have to be working full-time
in our industry. Anyone with an ambition or interest in pianos
is most welcome to attend. To all you guild members, of course,
we extend a special invitation. If you have never been to one of
our conventions before, we are sure you`ll find it a rewarding
and exciting opportunity to meet your fellow professionals and
hone your expertise.
The 2013 conference will be held at Manly Beach, Sydney.
October in Sydney is a lovely time of year and Manly is a vibrant
beach suburb, centrally located and easy to get to (a fast ferry
from Sydney city typically takes around 17 minutes).
Our convention aims to do a number of things:
>> Exposure to world class exhibitors
The world’s biggest and best names in pianos will be on display.
Our exhibitors are very eager to bring to our attention the latest
state-of-the-art piano models.
As in most aspects of life we need to be thinking of the future
and our industry is no different. Despite ongoing competition
from digital keyboards, our acoustic piano market is not static.
As tuners and technicians, it is important that we are familiar
with advancements in our field. Our customers need and
appreciate that we are up to speed and able to keep them
informed, particularly if they are in the market for a new piano.
We will be holding specific workshops with our exhibitors to
assist in keeping the industry abreast of new technology and
theories.
>> Knowledge sharing and technical advancement
We will be running workshops on all aspects of our technically
challenging and highly sophisticated profession. The amount of
knowledge and comprehension that we carry around with us in
our heads is profound, should never be underestimated, and is
something we should be very proud of. We should also be very
determined to continually improve our skills and take ourselves
to new technical levels that we perhaps did not conceive of
when we first started in this business.
Speaking personally, in my 25 years in this profession, I have
found the journey fascinating, albeit very frustrating at times
and exhilarating at others. The experience of starting with some
significant base of knowledge and then progressing through
various stages of increasing experience and skills has made my
working life, in my opinion, comparable to any other profession
you could name. Much of this knowledge has been acquired
through guild workshops and conventions just like this one.
>> Be accessible to technicians at all skill levels
At the last convention in Wellington, a general expression was
made that this next convention have some emphasis on more
general repairs and restoration work.
This will most definitely be on the agenda, as well as some
considerably advanced technical areas, and of course with the
exhibitors contributing as I mentioned earlier.
We are aware that technicians of differing levels will be
interested in attending. We will most warmly welcome anyone
who is still in the relatively early stages of this profession and
can assure you that there will be much to learn.
>> Professional networking and FUN!
I don’t need to remind regular convention goers of the
highly social nature and the camaraderie of our conventions.
Most of us work solo in this job, with regular professional
interaction often lacking. This convention gives the industry the
opportunity to meet and socialise with like-minded, passionate
members of our profession. Make new friends, establish
contacts and discuss technical issues.
Again, for anyone thinking of attending for the first time, I can
guarantee a technically stimulating and very rewarding social
occasion.
Our organising committee is myself, Geoffrey Pollard and Alisa
Parke. David Ricketts as President of the NSW PTTG and Geoff
Pogson as Treasurer are also part of the team.
This letter is to alert as many of you as possible to this upcoming
event. Please spread the word and encourage others if you can.
Also, to help us, if you are thinking of coming, a short note via
one of our contacts would be much appreciated.
We are at this stage working on the program and hope to have
it formalised, along with the application form, and in the post
to you around May.
We look forward to seeing and welcoming as many of you as
possible at our / your convention.
Michael Gray
Secretary, NSW PTTG
APTTA
Contacts
Michael Gray
Alisa Parke
Phone: 0411 435 670
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (02)9451 3500
Email:[email protected]
Parke Piano Strings
APTTA Piano Convention
Piano Basics and Beyond
Hosted by the NSW PTTG
24 - 27 October, 2013
Novotel Hotel, Manly, Sydney
www.aptta.org.au/conventions.aspx
www.novotelmanlypacific.com.au