Subject: [Harp-L] Re: SPAH Election - An Observation

[EGS1217@xxxxxxx]

Have to agree with Winslow, Smokey & Michael on this one.
 
 
When you're at a Convention there is absolutely NONE of this nonsense going 
 on, in fact - this is the very first time I've read a post from ANY 
candidate  for SPAH office write something so denigrating about another.  So take  
it for what it's worth.
 
 
 You mentioned a Conference. I've been to those - and a SPAH  convention is 
quite different. It really IS a Festival more than a Convention in  fact. 
Those who've never been tend to think of it as probably more along the  lines 
of a business-style conference. It's anything but. It's ALL music, ALL the  
time - and taking place usually in a great hotel where the entire hotel 
becomes  the sounding-board for non-stop music even in the corridors and rooms. 
The great  part of this is you can easily run back to your room to pick up, 
dump off  your gear and still be right back in the action. For those of us 
with some  physical difficulties, that's gold.  
 
 
And for the record, the SPAH people are not clique-y either. They are all  
individuals - there to do their jobs which are voluntary. Their purpose is 
in  supporting harmonica players - the best way possible. You'll meet them as 
 individuals as I've done. To a person, they're amazing.
 
 
So - Check the archives - read the articles about the conventions  
themselves...watch a few of the videos - the blues jams, the impromptu hallway  and 
outside playing, the Open Mics, the onstage BRILLIANT performances.  THAT's 
what SPAH is. And it gets better every year. The more often you go, the  
more fun you have, it's a fact.
 
 
To my infinite regret I missed the only 'East Coast' SPAH ever held - so  
far. I could have gotten there by driving (hate to fly) if I'd been able. But 
 I'll do my damndest to get to Dallas because missing that last one in what 
would  have been a  streak of 7 in a row actually hurt physically. I 
couldn't bear  feeling so out of the loop, stuck at home thinking of all my 
friends having as  good a time as I knew they would be, and not be there to 
hear/record  them playing, or sitting in. I could 'almost' hear the music, but I  
wasn't there so was missing out on one of the best experiences ever. There's 
 simply nothing like it.
 
 
 
Talk to a couple of people who've gone recently - for their first time.  
They'll be unable to completely describe it fully...there's just SO much to  
take in. 
 
 
 
SPAH is made up of harmonica players --it's an organization by and for and  
about harmonica players who go to the Convention to have an absolute BLAST. 
You  wouldn't regret it for a second.
 
 
 
There IS no politics at SPAH. This nonsense being brought here is just  
that. And it's unseemly, and as you've probably noticed, Winslow invariably  
takes the high road.

 

Elizabeth 
 
"Message: 4
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2012 14:35:36 -0500
From: "Steve Power"  <stevepower@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Re: SPAH Election - An  Observation
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>

Is it just me or is this  SPAH election starting to look/sound like a bunch 
of folks running for some  government office?

I'm seeing "message" statements along the lines of  "throw out the 
insiders","change and hope", "croonyism", "We're great and they  suck."

My experience of various such organizations and soicieties is that  they 
quickly become clique-ish, with all the various cliques accusing all the  
other cliques of being clique-ish while promoting their own non-existent  
inclusivness.

I'm not a member of SPAH. I kind of thought about it and of  attending this 
years conference, but nah. Too much monkey business for me to get  involved 
in.  

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