AWTEx 2020

[brendan stemp]

I was very disappointed to hear the commttee of AWTEx has needed to POSTPONE the 2020 exhibition. This decision is a result of the very few that are prepared to volunteer for the committee and to help with the exhibition.

I think this is a great shame and am very disappointed that there are so few willing to help. Given the majority of turners are in the 'retired' stage of their lives how can it be we are killing off this event through apathy. Surely there should be a huge pool to draw from but this doesn't seem to be the case. I know it is a Melbourne based event so this does exclude a lot from helping but what about the rest of you!

AWTEx would have to be one of the key events on the woodturning callendar and without it we will be a lot poorer. The committee, as it was for the last few years have put in so much effort to ensure the ongoing success of the event and have done their bit. Surely they desrve a break but also deserve to have their hard work acknowledged by being able to hand over the reins to others. My fear is that 2019 will be the last AWTEx and we will only realize what we have lost once it has gone.

Or is this just a sign of the times? Is woodturning on a downwards slide to a point of irrelevance in our society?

[Potts]

Having been in the tool industry for nearly forty years and exhibiting at many trade, wood shows, field days etc over that period and can honestly say that the returns for suppliers and exhibitors are diminishing whilst the costs are becoming prohibitive. Whilst very few exhibitors would get a return on the show many now feel they can see better results via other forms of marketing, on line sales, catalogues, in store promotions etc.
Also the demands on volunteers time, increasing costs, liability insurances, safety requirements etc are all taking their toll.
I cannot speak on behalf of the Melbourne show but for it to move forward with some success it may need to be a bi-annual event and co hosted with another event such as a home expo or craft and hobbies show.

[China]

In my experience woodturning is as you say on the decline there was a big resurgence during the nineties, and has dropped back to being just another niche craft that is sold at the local farmers maket or the country town
craft store, I think this is the case for wood work in general, it is fast becoming the case if you can't produce it on a 3D printer then no body wants it.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

oooer! What a horrible thought.

Oddly enough, I thought the last AWTEX was the most polished presentation I've yet seen. (For AWTEX, that is.) In the Nunawading days, there was always an element of amateur club show present, whereas Soren managed to put together a very elegant face for it.

Along with incorporating the commercial side booths, I thought it was exactly what the show needed to bring it back on track.

But too late, I guess. :(

I very much hope that it continues on... there is nothing to even remotely approximate it in terms of showcasing Australian turner's skills. (or in my more self-centred case, new ideas and brains to pick. ;)) Local agricultural and craft shows rarely have any winning entries that I would call 'above mundane.'

[hughie]

I think the comments by Brendan in regard to apathy are accurate and I might add that the internal politics of some clubs leaves much to be desired and most likely only adds to the problem.
I would of thought that with all the baby boomers retiring etc that there would have been a potential for a lift in interest. The loss of a national contest doesn't bode well for the craft.
As a observation from a personal perspective I thought the general public interest was picking up. I say from the point of increased sales for what I make. So if we the exponents of the craft think so little of it as to not give it any support at this level. Then I expect we shall reap what we sew, sad but the writing's on the wall.

[hughie]

Having been in the tool industry for nearly forty years and exhibiting at many trade, wood shows, field days etc over that period and can honestly say that the returns for suppliers and exhibitors are diminishing whilst the costs are becoming prohibitive. Whilst very few exhibitors would get a return on the show many now feel they can see better results via other forms of marketing, on line sales, catalogues, in store promotions etc.
Also the demands on volunteers time, increasing costs, liability insurances, safety requirements etc are all taking their toll.
I cannot speak on behalf of the Melbourne show but for it to move forward with some success it may need to be a bi-annual event and co hosted with another event such as a home expo or craft and hobbies show.

Thats an interesting point and doubt this has to be taken into account. But as a turner I have in the past sort assistance from the commercial entities involved with AWTEX on their products. The results was disappointing to say the least. I got nowhere and I am loathe support the particular entities.

[Sturdee]

I've been reading the comments raised and I feel that it's a shame that it has come to this.

The woodturning club scenes that I know of is having problems maintaining itself with lack of members offering up for committee positions and membership numbers as all are aging faster then new people joining so it's not surprising that there is lack of support to stand for an AWTEX committee position.

I, living in the area where AWTEX used to draw it's main support from, have more problems with keeping alive and wel, then worry about woodturning and I know quite a few more club members in a similar situation.

In the past I have been a great supporter of the competition but I knew that when the committee made the decision to move it from the centre of it's volunteer support base to Moorabbin that it would only last a few years.

The thing that surprises me is that there was no publicity about this. It was not on their website or their face book page and nothing of this forum.

Peter.

[NeilS]

I agree with everyone who posted that we have a problem.

I experienced the decline in craft pottery four decades ago. I recognise the symptoms again of a declining craft in woodturning. Pottery is still about, but only just. It looks like woodturning is heading the same way.

I'm also observing a decline in voluntary contributions to community organisations. The current volunteers are getting older, fewer and experiencing more health issues. The younger generation that would have come through to replace them are remaining on in the workforce, hanging onto demanding jobs out of economic necessity.

So, what to do?

I don't have any insights to offer into how to change the declining commitment and availability of people to do voluntary work for community organisations. If I did I would have applied those to trying to slow down the decline in the number of volunteers in several community organisations with which I'm I'm involved.

Leaving aside the volunteer problem, I would like to suggest three ways in which we might be able to at least slow down the decline in woodturning as a craft here in Australia. It's a complex problem with many factors, but the following three areas might at least help arrest the rate of decline:



Re-focus on young turners. When I look about at the participants in the occasional woodturning event I go to there is a sea of grey hair and rarely anyone under the age fifty. Unless we do something about that we are a dying craft. In the past we had apprentice woodturners and some exposure to woodturning in high schools and in some tertiary courses that were a source of new craft woodturners. These early woodturning opportunities either don't exist any more or are crowded out of curricula. We have to focus on giving young people more opportunity to try woodturning. If lawn bowls can do it surely we could do it in woodturning. https://www.bowls.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/BA_Junior_Policy_Sept_2009.pdf See third point on how we might fund that.
Cultivate collector-patrons. Exhibitions and competitions serve an internal audience within the woodturning fraternity. But, without a healthy stream of new novice woodturners coming into the craft we are in a death spiral down; with fewer participants, standards drifting down, and a decreasing pool of competent judges and teacher-demonstrators. One untapped stimulus to keep the plates spinning is the collector-patron, but an entirely undeveloped resource here in Australia as far as I can see, although far more evident in Nth America and Europe. It would be nice if a few well resourced and zealous collector-patrons popped up here in Australia, but that is unlikely to happen and we can't afford to wait around on the off chance that spontaneous ignition might occur with that. So, what is needed is for every woodturner to also become a collector-patron. Let's not only compete with one another in exhibitions and competitions, but also with one another to collect the best pieces from our peers and to sponsor the development of our craft. I expect a non-turning collector-patron group will evolve out of that. More on that in last point.
Levy the baby boomers. I recently attended a turning event and was struck by the affluence of the participants based on the wagons in the car park. Most of us baby boomers can financially afford to not only take but also to give back to the woodturning fraternity. I propose that this be done in two ways. An actual levy be added to all organised events, club fees, etc. and be set aside for the express purpose of promoting and supporting young turners, as argued for in point one. The organising group to work out how to best deploy those funds. The second component of the BB-Levy I have in mind is that we each should levy ourselves to spend as collector-patron. My own benchmark is 10% of my woodturning expenditure and I must say it is a most enjoyable activity to spend that money as a collector-patron.

Get some of that happening and I expect events like AWTEx could spring back into life.

PS- None of the above is a criticism of the AWTEx committee or its volunteers. They have been the stalwarts. And, their Student section and Stephen Hughes have also been doing more than pulling their weight with young turners. They just need more support.

PSS - This is also not a criticism of the business sponsors who support woodturning events. We can't leave it up to them. We collectively need to pull more weight.

[Getting down off my soapbox now]

Will I post this or not?

[NeilS]

Will I post this or not?



Looks like I did!

[powderpost]

A very hearty and sincere thank you for the efforts of the committee that put the Exhibitions together, thank you.

I have been an active supporter of, and exhibitor at AWTEX since 2010. Unfortunately I live at the other end of the country, and find it impossible to help. But surely there is few people in the Melbourne are that can step up? As has been mentioned it is a wonderful opportunity to see some of the best pieces of wood turning in Australia and learn from them. It really will be a loss to the wood turning fraternity.

As for the future, the major hurdle is to get a new committee together, not the level of entrants or exhibits.

Jim

[smiife]

I agree with Jims comments , maybe another club could take over some of the responsibility and help out or even take it over completely , what about sharing the exhibition between several clubs , thus easing the load on just one club to do all the work for this fantastic event , perhaps the event could be moved to Sydney or Brisbane there might be clubs there that would be interested ?
As woodturners we must look at all possibilities to keep this event alive , it would be a shame to think that all the hard work that has gone into this event in the past would be lost forever ,
I think there is plenty of interest in the AWTEX each year , with people through the doors and items exhibited , we just have to find the troops on the ground ,
I wish I could help out but unfortunately work makes it impossible for me to help out or attend , distance is also a factor
Lets hope we do not lose this very special event on the woodturners calender !

[Redbeard]

The majority of woodworking and turning clubs have almost all of their events during the day, Monday to Friday. This excludes anybody who works. Not all amateur turners are retired. I can't support a club which I can't attend. If you want younger members you have to accommodate them. Don't complain about your membership dying out if your club is seemingly for old folk.

Sent from my SM-N975F using Tapatalk

[mick661]

Thanky ou for the kind words.
The facts are

Its was not a secret that the exhibition will not happen next year emails were sent all woodworking clubs in the country asking for support.

At the presentation at the last 2 AWTEX
The present people were informed that the committee needed help.
We had one person join the committee last year.

I am one of the 4 remaining committee members

[Mobyturns]

I think the real crux of the issues facing the diminishing committee is the dwindling volunteer support to run AWTEX and making a longer term commitment to the committee.

To that end it would be helpful to know what help / assistance they require and what tasks can take some of the physical load of the core committee members. We live in a very connected world so some roles may not "need" to be Melbourne or indeed Vic based. Time for a rethink of how to run the event.

What roles can be undertaken by volunteers who are not based in the greater Melbourne area? i.e. collating entry nomination forms, preparing the catalogue; ….

Can some of the "arms and legs" current roles / tasks be undertaken by non-committee member volunteers "on the day?" or interstate visiting supporters i.e. receiving entries; judging setup; display setup; stewards; packing postal return entries; ……

[smiife]

Thanky ou for the kind words.
The facts are

Its was not a secret that the exhibition will not happen next year emails were sent all woodworking clubs in the country asking for support.

At the presentation at the last 2 AWTEX
The present people were informed that the committee needed help.
We had one person join the committee last year.

I am one of the 4 remaining committee members

Thanks for your info Mick, maybe if the remaining commitee members could
get together and let the general woodies on the forum know what they need
us to do , something could be done to help out .....
Untill I read Brendons post I was unaware there was a problem ! I am sure I
would not be the only one .....


I think the real crux of the issues facing the diminishing committee is the dwindling volunteer support to run AWTEX and making a longer term commitment to the committee.

To that end it would be helpful to know what help / assistance they require and what tasks can take some of the physical load of the core committee members. We live in a very connected world so some roles may not "need" to be Melbourne or indeed Vic based. Time for a rethink of how to run the event.

What roles can be undertaken by volunteers who are not based in the greater Melbourne area? i.e. collating entry nomination forms, preparing the catalogue; ….

Can some of the "arms and legs" current roles / tasks be undertaken by non-committee member volunteers "on the day?" or interstate visiting supporters i.e. receiving entries; judging setup; display setup; stewards; packing postal return entries; ……

Hi Moby, yeah some good points there too!
Aussie are very good at pulling together in a crisis , they just need to know
what the crisis is and how to help......
Like I said this is the first I knew about it , I think AWTEX is a great event in
the woodturners calendar and surely we can save this event and try to come
together and make It happen what ever it takes .......

[artful bodger]

I agree with everyone who posted that we have a problem.

I experienced the decline in craft pottery four decades ago. I recognise the symptoms again of a declining craft in woodturning. Pottery is still about, but only just. It looks like woodturning is heading the same way.

I'm also observing a decline in voluntary contributions to community organisations. The current volunteers are getting older, fewer and experiencing more health issues. The younger generation that would have come through to replace them are remaining on in the workforce, hanging onto demanding jobs out of economic necessity.

So, what to do?

I don't have any insights to offer into how to change the declining commitment and availability of people to do voluntary work for community organisations. If I did I would have applied those to trying to slow down the decline in the number of volunteers in several community organisations with which I'm I'm involved.

Leaving aside the volunteer problem, I would like to suggest three ways in which we might be able to at least slow down the decline in woodturning as a craft here in Australia. It's a complex problem with many factors, but the following three areas might at least help arrest the rate of decline:



Re-focus on young turners. When I look about at the participants in the occasional woodturning event I go to there is a sea of grey hair and rarely anyone under the age fifty. Unless we do something about that we are a dying craft. In the past we had apprentice woodturners and some exposure to woodturning in high schools and in some tertiary courses that were a source of new craft woodturners. These early woodturning opportunities either don't exist any more or are crowded out of curricula. We have to focus on giving young people more opportunity to try woodturning. If lawn bowls can do it surely we could do it in woodturning. https://www.bowls.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/BA_Junior_Policy_Sept_2009.pdf See third point on how we might fund that.
Cultivate collector-patrons. Exhibitions and competitions serve an internal audience within the woodturning fraternity. But, without a healthy stream of new novice woodturners coming into the craft we are in a death spiral down; with fewer participants, standards drifting down, and a decreasing pool of competent judges and teacher-demonstrators. One untapped stimulus to keep the plates spinning is the collector-patron, but an entirely undeveloped resource here in Australia as far as I can see, although far more evident in Nth America and Europe. It would be nice if a few well resourced and zealous collector-patrons popped up here in Australia, but that is unlikely to happen and we can't afford to wait around on the off chance that spontaneous ignition might occur with that. So, what is needed is for every woodturner to also become a collector-patron. Let's not only compete with one another in exhibitions and competitions, but also with one another to collect the best pieces from our peers and to sponsor the development of our craft. I expect a non-turning collector-patron group will evolve out of that. More on that in last point.
Levy the baby boomers. I recently attended a turning event and was struck by the affluence of the participants based on the wagons in the car park. Most of us baby boomers can financially afford to not only take but also to give back to the woodturning fraternity. I propose that this be done in two ways. An actual levy be added to all organised events, club fees, etc. and be set aside for the express purpose of promoting and supporting young turners, as argued for in point one. The organising group to work out how to best deploy those funds. The second component of the BB-Levy I have in mind is that we each should levy ourselves to spend as collector-patron. My own benchmark is 10% of my woodturning expenditure and I must say it is a most enjoyable activity to spend that money as a collector-patron.

Get some of that happening and I expect events like AWTEx could spring back into life.

PS- None of the above is a criticism of the AWTEx committee or its volunteers. They have been the stalwarts. And, their Student section and Stephen Hughes have also been doing more than pulling their weight with young turners. They just need more support.

PSS - This is also not a criticism of the business sponsors who support woodturning events. We can't leave it up to them. We collectively need to pull more weight.

[Getting down off my soapbox now]

Will I post this or not?


Great post Neil and yes you oughta posted it.
Your point number 1 hits the nail on the head.
I first saw a wood lathe in action at high school and thought, "I HAVE to get involved in this". Still into it with a passion now.
Seems schools are too frightened of litigious activity if a student gets hurt turning these days. Do schools even have a wood lathe in the "Technical department" anymore.
If youngsters can't be made interested in the craft/art/hobby/etc then it is a dead end street.
Worrying about AWTEX dying out is pointless unless you address the other end of the problem.
A bit like worrying about everyone dying in old folks homes if no one is being born.

[powderpost]

The issue here is that there is a need for a few more people for the committee. Not with the volume or quality of entries, in fact the student and novice section is and has been well supported largely due to the efforts of Stephen Hughes.
I have been involved in woodturning for more years that I care to remember, during that period there has been a lot of younger people. Up until about 15, youngsters are keen but about that age there is a much greater distraction that lasts for about 40 years. Most of us has been down that road.
Again the issue in this case is not the lack of new exhibitors, but a few more volunteers to help run AWTEX,

Jim

[artful bodger]

More people on the committee Eh?

[powderpost]

More people on the committee Eh?


Yes.

Jim

[artful bodger]

Well let's hope that saves the show.

[Mountain Ash]

Hi Neil. I have only recently begun my wood turning journey, but have been working with timber as a carpenter for 20+ years. Interestingly it was you tube that was responsible for exposing me to all things lathe based and particularly the desire to make knobs for bench planes that I was restoring. I don't think we should underestimate the resurgence of interest in hand tools and the like. Also I am in the under 50 bracket (only just) and whilst I am thinking on top, no grey hair yet.

[smiife]

Hi guys , anyone have an update on the awtex ?
Has any progress been made ?
Is there anything that can be done to help the commitee ?
Lets not just ignore there pleas for help, lets do something positive now !

[Soren]

AWTEX update.

I am sure you all have an inkling about the amount of work required to put on such an event, but I am certain that with the exception of a few, the reality of the work and dedication required is not fully understood.

As an example, the search for, and communication with prospective sponsors, happens continually during the year; in many instances, prior sponsors are spreading their support to multiple events, and unless they can see a tangible return for their investment, they are understandably reluctant to continue to sponsor events. Local companies are really only continuing to assist events such as AWTEX, through personal relationships. In the case of larger companies, we have found that the person responsible for sponsoring these events rarely hold the position for more than a couple of months. This means that the entire contact and communication trail has to be regenerated by the organising committee, ion order to ensure that sponsorship is actually collected prior to the show. This portion of the committee duties take up the majority of more than 1 person for the full year.

Similarly, the search for volunteer judges takes a long time, trying to secure and obtain commitment from prospective judges is not easy, as the pool of knowledgable and effective judges are continually shrinking. We have had comments like: "I might not be alive that far in the future, so I decline" !! These sort of comments are also being received when searching for volunteers. Once a prospective judge has been found, we then start chasing information about the judge to add to the catalogue, making sure travel arrangements and possible accommodation is arranged and booked.

The maintenance of the website and other social media, like facebook etc, is yet another task which takes a fair bit of time, but without a dedicated computer save person who understands its importance an have the skills to actively keep this task up to date, it will inevitably not be maintained to the desired standard required.

The promotion of the annual event starts as soon as the previous event is completed, with communication to clubs, communication to previous exhibitors, communication with prior sponsors, communication with prior purchasers of exhibits and emails and updates via CWC. Designing, printing and distribution of flyers to both clubs, councils, libraries, men's sheds etc is also usually started very early in the piece.

The issue of entry forms to clubs and previous exhibitors happen early in the new year. We then await the return of entry forms from exhibitors, and usually by the deadline date, we have a handfull of entries. This year we had 7 entrants submit their forms by the due date, and it then required emails and direct phone calls to prospective exhibitors by the committee, to chase up their forms, or be advised that the woodturner was not able to enter this year for personal or health reasons. Over the past several years, the number of entrants have continually dropped from over 100 to just 60.
Once all the entries have been received, we can then start collating the catalogue, which means manually entering all the information into our database, proof reading, and arranging the printing.

The application for community grants, continuing communication with council, arranging the venue, obtaining council support staff, attending council community grant sessions etc, all involves a dedicated person, and as the last 4 people on the committee are still working full time, this is not possible.

The grant for 2020 had already been issued, but has now had to be returned, as well as the venue booking cancelled, due to the event being (at best) postponed, and any grant for future shows as well as venue bookings, will have to be started anew, with no guarantee of success.

As the total prize pool exceeds some $25K, without any community grant, and company sponsorship support, this will not be possible.
The cost of running the exhibition, with venue hire, cash prizes, catering, printing, postage, storage of equipment etc exceeded $24K last year, and with a reducing amount of income from both reduced exhibit entries, reduced patronage from the public, reduced sponsorship from companies, reduction in community grants, we did not break even.

The intent of the remaining committee, is to maintain all registrations, etc, in the hope that someone in the future will step up to take over the event. This is NOT limited to clubs or organisations in Melbourne, nor does the event have to be held in Melbourne, but this invitation extends to any club, group of clubs or other organisation anywhere in Australia. Our current constitution dictates that in the event of the event folding, we have to either hand all assets over to a like-minded organisation, who will be required to resurrect the exhibition, or liquidate the assets of AWTEX. It has taken several years to gain all the relevant registrations, like ABN, TFN, Raffle Licence etc, so we are hoping that the event will not die.
Should a like minded organisation in Melbourne step forward, the remaining committee is willing to support and assist during the first year of the resurrection of the show.

Due to the nature of the tasks involved in running the exhibition, assistance from remote committee members would be possible, but would be limited to promotion and search and securing sponsorships from companies. These tasks are in themselves extensive, and require the commitment from more than a single person or club.

When the decision to postpone the event was made in August / September, invitations were issued to all the clubs in Melbourne for a club representative to meet with the committee. We were hoping that if each club would be willing to step up and be responsible for a single task we would be able to continue the exhibition; however when the meeting happened, we were greeted by representatives from 2 of the multitude of clubs in Melbourne, with the comments:' It is sad the event will fold, but we are unable to assist".

If there are anyone interested and able to assist and take up the mantel, please contact me.

regards

Soren
President
AWTEX.

[barramonday]

[QUOTE=Redbeard;2164283]The majority of woodworking and turning clubs have almost all of their events during the day, Monday to Friday. This excludes anybody who works. Not all amateur turners are retired. I can't support a club which I can't attend. If you want younger members you have to accommodate them. Don't complain about your membership dying out if your club is seemingly for old folk.

Perhaps some clubs with dwindling membership need to look at how they appear/welcome new prospective members. As Redbeard said having instruction/classes/events out of business hours sometimes would be a start.
I visited the local woodworking club here when I moved to town early this year and left feeling I would not be welcome until pension age. Perhaps this was not their intention but certainly the message I got.

[smiife]

Perhaps some clubs with dwindling membership need to look at how they appear/welcome new prospective members. As Redbeard said having instruction/classes/events out of business hours sometimes would be a start.
I visited the local woodworking club here when I moved to town early this year and left feeling I would not be welcome until pension age. Perhaps this was not their intention but certainly the message I got.[/QUOTE]

Hi barramonday , yeah , I had a similar experience with a local club too !
It certainly didn, t change my opinion of woodturning , just made me more
determined to do my own thing ......
I also think It has nothing to do with the point that is trying to be made here .
It, s not about dwindling clubs , young or old members , it, s about finding
a club to help out running an exhibition which has been running for nearly
20 years ! Just my 2 bob, s worth...........:o

[powderpost]

Again, the issue is not about club membership or age, it is about people getting involved on the AWTex management committee.

Jim

[Redbeard]

Again, the issue is not about club membership or age, it is about people getting involved on the AWTex management committee.

JimJim

I apologise for hijacking the thread a bit, access to clubs and men's sheds for younger, working, people, is one of my pet soapboxes.

I can understand the committee for a long running event like AWTex getting tired. Just the planning and running of an annual community Christmas carols event leaves my Lions club shattered, let alone something as involved as AWTex.

Has there ever been consideration of moving it around, perhaps seeing if there was interest in the other states having a go? Perhaps rotating it around between two or three cities? I know the westerners would get cranky if the east coast cities hogged all the glory but that certainly seems a logical starting point.

Cheers
Redbeard

Sent from my SM-N975F using Tapatalk

[poundy]

Again, the issue is not about club membership or age, it is about people getting involved on the AWTex management committee.

Are we sure about that? At least in the immediate sense I can see it's just tapping into the current membership to step up to do more, but I do think there's a link.

I'm not a turner or a member of a club so feel free to ignore this as irrelevant feedback. (This is my experience based on a couple of sporting clubs and a few years on the management committee of one.) Without "fresh blood" there's at least a constant effort requirement on the current members/volunteers to help continue to run the club and events. Without fresh blood, and as other members leave the club (naturally move on or get to an age where the activity is no longer relevant to them), there's actually less of the experienced members to contribute, meaning even more effort required on the existing members to run the club and the same number of events. Without fresh blood, the existing members can become disenchanted and leave sooner than normal, or not volunteer for "extra" duties like special events. Even if the average age of membership is increasing, there's a higher likelihood of an impending issue... At some point, something has to give.

The clubs I was in had a long running struggle attracting new members. The real pressure was mainly that the "pace of life" meant that many people wanted to attend events, but not be there for the long haul - they'd be happy if they could come and compete and not hang around too much; just consume half a day, not be there from first light to dusk to help out or share the load. It was seen as a compromise to family time that they weren't prepared to extend beyond that. And the younger generation and the way technology has moved means they are more into "instant gratification" so things that require more mastery / higher investment of time doesn't necessarily get them interested, or certainly not as longer term members who can become committee members and contributors to this type of event.

[powderpost]

Jim

I apologise for hijacking the thread a bit, access to clubs and men's sheds for younger, working, people, is one of my pet soapboxes.

I can understand the committee for a long running event like AWTex getting tired. Just the planning and running of an annual community Christmas carols event leaves my Lions club shattered, let alone something as involved as AWTex.

Has there ever been consideration of moving it around, perhaps seeing if there was interest in the other states having a go? Perhaps rotating it around between two or three cities? I know the westerners would get cranky if the east coast cities hogged all the glory but that certainly seems a logical starting point.

Cheers
Redbeard

Hi Redbeard,
There was a committee of eight that ran the AWTex. Out of that one is battling cancer, and one has recently had a session in hospital including 10 days in ICU. At least four have full time jobs, and two have been involved for a long time and are tired. If you re-read Soren's post (number 23) you may have a better insight to the problem.

To move the exhibition to another state would be a logistical night mare. But, not impossible to do, but would add to the cost considerably to the costs.
There is a large number of things like tables, table cloths and aprons for the tables and other props to make the exhibition look so professional.

You have raised some ideas....

Jim

[powderpost]

Are we sure about that? At least in the immediate sense I can see it's just tapping into the current membership to step up to do more, but I do think there's a link.

I'm not a turner or a member of a club so feel free to ignore this as irrelevant feedback. (This is my experience based on a couple of sporting clubs and a few years on the management committee of one.) Without "fresh blood" there's at least a constant effort requirement on the current members/volunteers to help continue to run the club and events. Without fresh blood, and as other members leave the club (naturally move on or get to an age where the activity is no longer relevant to them), there's actually less of the experienced members to contribute, meaning even more effort required on the existing members to run the club and the same number of events. Without fresh blood, the existing members can become disenchanted and leave sooner than normal, or not volunteer for "extra" duties like special events. Even if the average age of membership is increasing, there's a higher likelihood of an impending issue... At some point, something has to give.

The clubs I was in had a long running struggle attracting new members. The real pressure was mainly that the "pace of life" meant that many people wanted to attend events, but not be there for the long haul - they'd be happy if they could come and compete and not hang around too much; just consume half a day, not be there from first light to dusk to help out or share the load. It was seen as a compromise to family time that they weren't prepared to extend beyond that. And the younger generation and the way technology has moved means they are more into "instant gratification" so things that require more mastery / higher investment of time doesn't necessarily get them interested, or certainly not as longer term members who can become committee members and contributors to this type of event.





Poundy, The issues you raise are very real and generally apply to the vast majority of committees. The following is a quote from directly from the the AWTex web site.

"The Exhibition commenced in 1980 as the initiative of the Yarra Turners who named it the “National Woodturning Exhibition”. Its’ modest beginnings were as an exhibition of members of this group’s work. Under the stewardship of people like Vic Wood, Keith Towe, and Doug Birchall, it grew from purely a single club event to accept entries from other entities.

In 1997 the running of the exhibition was formally transferred to Forest Hill Wood Turners Inc. but there was a division of attitudes within the club and in 1998 the club decided to forgo its’ operation.
Ted Anderson approached Koonung Woodturners Guild and an independent sub-committee was formed with Ted as chair to continue the Exhibition. At this time, for copyright reasons, the Title was changed to “The Australian Woodturning Exhibition”.
Koonung were an enthusiastic group, with people like Rick Gilks, Harold Irving and David Tonkin at the helm and through vigorous promotion and very strong support from members both in submitting entries and providing manpower the Exhibition grew to accept entries from all States.
By 2008 the declining number of members was draining the resources of Koonung and research went to find a replacement entity to run the Exhibition, so a few Koonung members — Ray Dennis, Ken Wraight and Sue Leitch — recruited individuals from kindred clubs to form Whitehorse Woodturners Inc. a club whose sole task was to run the exhibition. The exhibition continues to be run under the Whitehorse Woodturners Inc since 2008."

That will give you an insight to the structure that administers the Exhibition. That, in conjunction with Soren's post No. 22 should reveal the the problem fairly clearly.

Thanks again....

Jim

[David Mitchell]

I taught woodwork in High schools for 27 years 15 -20 students in the room ,but was able to get a number of students in year 9 to use the lathe I have been retired since 1996 I don't think I would like to be there today.

I was talking to a woodwork teacher recently and suggested that I would come into his room and get a student on the lathe making a pen.

But OH&S stopped the lathe from being used and the school was thinking of selling the lathe because it has to be one on one and that is not possible in the school situation today.
So the students have no idea about the lathe. And this is one area that new wood turners come from for AWTEX
Regards
David

[Woiim]

So True

The majority of woodworking and turning clubs have almost all of their events during the day, Monday to Friday. This excludes anybody who works. Not all amateur turners are retired. I can't support a club which I can't attend. If you want younger members you have to accommodate them. Don't complain about your membership dying out if your club is seemingly for old folk.

Sent from my SM-N975F using Tapatalk

[powderpost]

The issue with the Exhibition is not with the number or quality of exhibits, the problem was getting people, adults, not junior wood turners, to actually get involved on the committee that runs the Exhibition.

Jim