[Harp-L] SPAH: top-down or bottom-up?

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

Iceman writes (about SPAH):
 

>>>Whoever becomes President of SPAH....instead of waiting and asking members to step up and do it, why not take control and make it happen from the top down? 
No reason the organization can't make the effort. 
This would be proactive rather than a passive approach. 

Sigh . . . Larry, top-down control is not the answer. And the passive-vs-proactive picture you paint is one of a false dilemma.  Members pay dues and deserve to get what they want, within the confines of whatâs practical. And in an all-volunteer organization, that means owning your idea and stepping up to make it real. As you very well know, the work of running this (or any) organization is no way a 
"passive" experience. Board and staff put in an incredible amount of work and only have a certain amount of bandwidth.

Top-down direction was a bad thing when you and I first started attending SPAH conventions. The folks at the top (and much of the active membership) mostly disliked the diatonic harmonica and anything that wasnât within their style preference (mostly Harmonicats-style harmonica bands and chromatic melody playalongs in C and C#) or age range (a good 30 years older than we were at the time). It was up to US young(ish) troublemakers to get involved (i.e., be proactive) to change the organization from the bottom up, and we achieved it. At least those of us who were able to see it through, such as myself, Buzz Krantz, Joe Filisko, Paul Davies, and many others. 

The new president, Michael DâEath, comes to SPAH as someone with great experience, having chaired the Texas Folk Music Foundation and the Kerrville Folk Festival. When I met him there I could see both the executive capability needed to run a nonprofit and also the outside experience that could bring new ideas to SPAH. During my tenure weâve recruited a lot of new blood â new treasurer, new vice president, new secretary (these make up the executive board), new convention director, new magazine publisher. All are contributing fresh ideas to strengthen and enrich SPAHâs offering to the harmonica community. 

Meanwhile, with a volunteered bequest from William âthe Commishâ Rosebush, we established the Rosebush Youth Fund and started both fundraising and granting up to five annual scholarships to under-21 youth to attend the SPAH Convention. Our crop of youth scholars this year was amazing, and we raised enough money at the convention to fund next yearâs awards. 

As to Doug Tate, his main challenge as president â before the brain cancer that took him a couple of years later â was fending off a hostile, meritless, and financially ruinous lawsuit from a disgruntled former member of the old top-down group. Doug was a good friend and we had many long conversations about SPAH's troubles during that period, and the main topic was the lawsuit. I was away from SPAH for those few years and thus can't speak from witnessing the changes you describe - just as you can't speak with any knowledge of what SPAH looks like now.

I believe in the organic process where proactive volunteers come up with great ideas. The Filisko teach-in is a great example of that. Didn't come from the top down in any way. The gospel show on Saturday morning and the kids' Saturday morning program (separate from the scholarship program) are additional examples. The SPAH convention gives elbow room for people with good ideas to develop them. If they have resonance, they grow. 

Winslow 
Winslow Yerxa
Producer, the Harmonica Collective
Author, Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
            Harmonica Basics For Dummies, ASIN B005KIYPFS
            Blues Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-1-1182-5269-7
Resident Expert, bluesharmonica.com
Instructor, Jazzschool Community Music School
President emeritus, SPAH, the Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica