15 replies to this topic

[Kautilya]

Hurrah, the latest ICA Concertina World and Music Supplement (No. 451) have arrived by snailmail and lots of (nicely copyrighted) toons from Paul Girlitz and an article on how square concertinas are better then roundy ones. (And two first class stamps - just before the terrible price increase....)

Front cover announces it is the 60th anniversary (1952 to 2012)and a call from Editor Pauline de Snoo in the Netherlands for ideas to celebrate.
Mail her at:
newsletter at concertina dot org

And now the shame bit - I know that's the only reason you opened this thread!

Membership secretary Martin Henshaw has come up with a rather clever and very effective trick.

Apart from his report, about bringing people together around the world (from Biggleswade to Ontario on Anglo in this case) there is a sting in the back inside page which says "Important - Please check the label on the envelope"

I thought - great - I have won a 13-button Geoffrey's!

Alas No

- it said: If the address on the envelope... is in RED the ICA has not yet received your 2012 subscription so this will be the last issue you will receive and your details will be removed from the membership database unless we hear from you within two weeks....

Aaaaggghhh - It was RED!
And there was I, not so long ago propagandising to get people to join up

BTW details on how to join or pay at www.concertina.org

[Now let me check my cheque stubs to see if....! ]

Edited by Kautilya, 19 April 2012 - 03:45 PM.

[Steve Mansfield]

- it said: If the address on the envelope... is in RED the ICA has not yet received your 2012 subscription so this will be the last issue you will receive and your details will be removed from the membership database unless we hear from you within two weeks....

Ooh heck, I put the envelope in the recycling without checking the colour ... will have to go fettering in the paper recycling sack when I get home to check now ...

[cannon]

1334867449[/url]' post='135356']
Hurrah, the latest ICA Concertina World and Music Supplement (No. 451) have arrived by snailmail and lots of (nicely copyrighted) toons from Paul Girlitz and an article on how square concertinas are better then roundy ones. (And two first class stamps - just before the terrible price increase....)

Front cover announces it is the 60th anniversary (1952 to 2012)and a call from Editor Pauline de Snoo in the Netherlands for ideas to celebrate.
Mail her at:
newsletter at concertina dot org

And now the shame bit - I know that's the only reason you opened this thread!

Membership secretary Martin Henshaw has come up with a rather clever and very effective trick.

Apart from his report, about bringing people together around the world (from Biggleswade to Ontario on Anglo in this case) there is a sting in the back inside page which says "Important - Please check the label on the envelope"

I thought - great - I have won a 13-button Geoffrey's!

Alas No

- it said: If the address on the envelope... is in RED the ICA has not yet received your 2012 subscription so this will be the last issue you will receive and your details will be removed from the membership database unless we hear from you within two weeks....

Aaaaggghhh - It was RED!
And there was I, not so long ago propagandising to get people to join up

BTW details on how to join or pay at www.concertina.org

[Now let me check my cheque stubs to see if....! ]

I don't post here very often but I thought the email I received this morning from the ica might shed some light on this.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dear member,


If you have received this email it confirms that you have paid your 2012 subscription.


There has been some confusion caused by the address labels on issue #451. The wording "Concertina World #451" was printed in red
on all the labels whether the member had paid their subscription or not. If the actual address was printed in black then you have paid your subscription.


I apologise on behalf of the ICA for any confusion caused and I hope that this email clarifies the situation.


Kind regards,



Martin Henshaw (ICA MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Kautilya]

Ooh heck, I put the envelope in the recycling without checking the colour ... will have to go fettering in the paper recycling sack when I get home to check now ...

Fettering in = Luvvly phrase!Any more out there in the Peaks?

Edited by Kautilya, 20 April 2012 - 01:57 PM.

[Kautilya]

1334867449[/url]' post='135356']
Hurrah, the latest ICA Concertina World and Music Supplement (No. 451) have arrived by snailmail and lots of (nicely copyrighted) toons from Paul Girlitz and an article on how square concertinas are better then roundy ones. (And two first class stamps - just before the terrible price increase....)

Front cover announces it is the 60th anniversary (1952 to 2012)and a call from Editor Pauline de Snoo in the Netherlands for ideas to celebrate.
Mail her at:
newsletter at concertina dot org

And now the shame bit - I know that's the only reason you opened this thread!

Membership secretary Martin Henshaw has come up with a rather clever and very effective trick.

Apart from his report, about bringing people together around the world (from Biggleswade to Ontario on Anglo in this case) there is a sting in the back inside page which says "Important - Please check the label on the envelope"

I thought - great - I have won a 13-button Geoffrey's!

Alas No

- it said: If the address on the envelope... is in RED the ICA has not yet received your 2012 subscription so this will be the last issue you will receive and your details will be removed from the membership database unless we hear from you within two weeks....

Aaaaggghhh - It was RED!
And there was I, not so long ago propagandising to get people to join up

BTW details on how to join or pay at www.concertina.org

[Now let me check my cheque stubs to see if....! ]

I don't post here very often but I thought the email I received this morning from the ica might shed some light on this.

"If the actual address was printed in black then you have paid your subscription.

mine was red all over!!
(still looking for that cheque stub....!)

[Irene S]

I normally open envelopes and promptly discard them in the waste without looking at them once the contents have been extracted. And my waste has already been disposed of by the local council, so how do I know?
I can't see any sign of an email ... does this mean I haven't paid?

Edit: Checked the bin ... and against the odds, it's still in there, so I have my answer, thanks.

However, I notice that I am not the only one who doesn't scrutinise envelopes on receipt, and it makes me wonder, if emails are being sent out, would it not be a better signal to email those whose subscriptions haven't been paid, or indeed to slip a paper reminder in the offending envelope? There's too much likelihood of a note in the back of the magazine, or some cryptic coded colour on the envelope being overlooked - I suspect that I am probably not the only one who doesn't read things from cover to cover.

Edited by Irene S, 21 April 2012 - 08:24 AM.

[Roger Gawley]

OK, OK next year we will handle this better. We did not set out to upset the membership.

If people are unclear about their membership status, they are welcome to email the membership secretary (but not all at once please, Martin is struggling to keep up).

Sorry that we caused so much dismay. At least it shows people care.

Roger Gawley
Secretary, ICA

[jonmac]

Hi ICA members ...
Especially those confused by the appearance of the RED "Concertina World #451" on their postal label. I have to admit the fault is all mine - I printed out the all red labels and then moved onto printing out the labels for those who were fully paid up - ie the BLACK labels. This is I did by simply changing the text colour in the label printing program I use - since the magazine said if your ADDRESS was printed in RED then you needed to pay that is all I did - I did agonize for a few moments to change the rest of the label black - but at the time my computer was showing signs of instability - with the display doing strange things - so I printed out the labels without further changes - hoping that a) I could print out the labels and that people would understand that it was the address that mattered! As it was I managed the printout and it wasn't until an hour or so later that the display collapsed completely requiring a visit to the computer shop for nearly a week and a cost of over £200 to get it working again!!

So, if you were alarmed that your subscription hadn't arrived or been credited to you - please accept my profound apologies - it was an expensive act of expediency and not a malicious act on my part. I shall ensure that I do not allow the same error to happen again when I'm printing the labels - so NEXT time your label is RED ....!!!

The only comfort I can get from the situation is the concern that so many of you expressed regarding your subscriptions - sometimes the Committee do wonder if there is "anyone out there" and if we are, in anyway providing you with what you want from us. I see Kautilya commented on the music in the supplement - Paul Gitlitz was quite charming about us using his music in the supplement - to the point of suggesting tunes to include - it made a very difficult job easy - or I would have had to try to play through all 270 tunes to make a selection! Might I suggest if you enjoy his music - drop him an email to say thank you - and of course if you include something on your next recordings - pay him his royalties!
Kind regards
Jon McNamara
(Chairman/ICA)

[jonmac]

PS; the emoticon in the middle there was actually a "b" followed by a bracket!!
Jon

[Kautilya]

PS; the emoticon in the middle there was actually a "b" followed by a bracket!!
Jon

B for reggub?! Can't find that cheque stub - looks like I'm guilty and 20 quid in the red so that's 20 off that 200 quid at least!
(It'll be in the post (ho ho!)
At least I have heard that Martin is overloaded coz has just had his one millionth new member since this thread started. I see 48 people are online at the ICA page at 00.14hours just now.

Hmmm... Red Alert: Remember the rush for the 49.99 new ipad (normal price 450 quid) from Tesco
One of the comments to the daily mail was: "Real Bargain or Publicity Stunt - I wonder?"

No the (preponderant) English players on the Committee would never do that!

BTW Chairman:
1. I wonder if people who have not received No 451 realise they can see the ICA Library, "the world’s largest collection of concertina music" in Nottingham at Jeremy's Open Day chez lui on April 28th? Judging by the poster he has put up it is going to quite a Boozey occasion!
http://www.concertina.org/ica/

2.Short sentence as unpunctuated Virginia Woolf arpeggio:
On 60th anniversary events would it be possible to have an AGM musicmaking full weekend of non stop sessions somewhere (with all the various other instruments that Cnetters play) and a live internet linkup) so that everyone from Waddow (hint hint) to Tokyo (see interview in latest No 451 Concertina World) with concertiniste Myiuki Miura who started career studying accordion in Europe) so everyone on Cnet can play along virtually.

Waddow you ask? Almost equidistant musically and geographically from the banks of Loch Lomond and Dover Pier
http://waddow.org.uk/home.aspx

Just 45 miles from Cleckheaton and where Folkus hold their annual multi-instrument bash (Feb 2013 is already probably more than 50 per cent pre-booked by regular participants after this year's bash).They introduced a concertina element at Feb 2012 weekend.

http://soundcloud.com/glynne-davies/waddow-folkus-band-plays
http://folkusnorthwest.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/waddow_2012.pdf


As it could be a permasession we would not have to worry about tutor costs -- just costs of bed and board ranging from about 13 quid per bunkbed in the three smart cottages which have selfcatering kitchens and sitting room, or/ plus option of standard cost of (excellent)full board with coffee breaks, and afternoon tea and cakes).
There are then triple ensuites and a few doubles and singles with the a few single double posh rooms on the front of Waddow Hall. There is a 'till-early' musical bar too.

Such an event would come under non-guiding, non-corporate price list charges and depending on numbers a useful discount might be negotiable.

http://waddow.org.uk/prices_and_bookings/prices/price_list.aspx

It is about one hour from Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds-Bradford airports and 15m from the M6 Motorway at Preston.

Just a thought (or two) u know --

[Steve Mansfield]

PS; the emoticon in the middle there was actually a "b" followed by a bracket!!
Jon

(Completely off topic) Yes, that 'feature' of the editor plays merry heck with any ABC tunes using the > construct too! Ah well. Unticking the Enable emoticons box does the trick, but I usually forget that it's on by default ...

Loving the tunes in the music supplement, not a tunesmith I'd come across before but some really nice ones there.

[Valmai Goodyear]

Good Lord, Jon Mac, this forum is describing you as an Advanced Member. Is it being complimentary or gratuitously insulting?

The red address label certainly reminded me to reach for my cheque book, but wouldn't have worked unless I'd actually read the colour code inside the magazine. Perhaps a reminder slip would help another year, or a note on the back asking the postman to blow a raspberry when dropping the envelope through the defaulter's letter-box.

Many thanks for all that you and the committee do to keep the ICA going. It's a much better organisation than it was a couple of decades ago. The newsletter and the music supplement are very valuable, and the website is excellent.

Valmai

[Roger Gawley]

Good Lord, Jon Mac, this forum is describing you as an Advanced Member. Is it being complimentary or gratuitously insulting?

Ambiguity is the essence of English humour.

[Kautilya]

Good Lord, Jon Mac, this forum is describing you as an Advanced Member. Is it being complimentary or gratuitously insulting?

Ambiguity is the essence of English humour.

I assumed it was a respectful euphemism for our "older" elder statesperson members

There is another freereed wind phrase that does not come fully to mind at the moment; something like 'old ????' It's on the tip of my tongue! Dash it!

[JimLucas]

Good Lord, Jon Mac, this forum is describing you as an Advanced Member. Is it being complimentary or gratuitously insulting?

Ambiguity is the essence of English humour.

I assumed it was a respectful euphemism for our "older" elder statesperson members

There is another freereed wind phrase that does not come fully to mind at the moment; something like 'old ????' It's on the tip of my tongue! Dash it!

"Vintage"?

"Classic"?

Actually, I thought "advanced" referred to accomplishments, not age.

[Kautilya]

Good Lord, Jon Mac, this forum is describing you as an Advanced Member. Is it being complimentary or gratuitously insulting?

Ambiguity is the essence of English humour.

I assumed it was a respectful euphemism for our "older" elder statesperson members

There is another freereed wind phrase that does not come fully to mind at the moment; something like 'old ????' It's on the tip of my tongue! Dash it!

"Vintage"?

"Classic"?

Actually, I thought "advanced" referred to accomplishments, not age.

"Beauty's ensign yet Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks, And death's pale flag is not advanced there" by (allegedly )that chappie from Stratford who's all over the telly at the moment