Suzanne Higgins

Hi Wes, My response to that third point is equally simple : I already volunteered. In the note I sent to the ICA last year, which was published in the AGM minutes for the 2006 meeting, I said, "If your members like the idea, I'd be happy to help host an experimental first one...or you might wish to try the Button Box workshop..." I waited for a reply following your meeting that never came. (The minutes noted: "This was briefly discussed by the meeting and accepted to be part of the minutes with the request that people take it away and think about it".) Our third annual workshop in Palestine this past Spring was the venue I had in mind, and the event could have generated a few more ICA members. No biggie; sometimes inertia is hard to overcome. If the ICA truly wishes to internationalize, some motion must come from within. I suspect there are more non-UK members than just me who would help if approached. My other two suggestions were not suggesting additional work....quite the opposite! If a librarian is expected to scan or photograph archive materials, it should be no more difficult to post them on your 'members only' part of the ICA site (assuming access had been granted to him/her earlier) than it is to be emailing it. Then it is there forever for any other member who might want it in the future. And as far as the paper bulletin goes, that is great as long as you have people with the large commitment in time and resouces to take it to the printer, go through the copy editing process, pick it up, adress and stuff envelopes, and trot it off to the post. I remember reading in the newsletter the last few years a few groans about that process. Intertia keeps that process alive, but many, many organizations and societies have realized that that is a lot of unneeded work for their members, and have gone electronic. It IS very nice to have that paper product of course, and great if you can still keep it going! I might even volunteer to help on that one too...but I'm a bit far away to help stuff envelopes. I did write an article for the latest PICA, though. All the best, Dan

I've never used a forum before, and hope this works, or that I can work it. I have been to Whitney twice, and have to endorse the comments about the tuition. Hard work, but very good. On the social side, of course it's bound to be easier for any new participant who knows some of the people there. I was profoundly grateful on my first visit to be aquainted with two! The focus is very strongly on the workshops. That is not contingent on the weekend being non/residential. The same applies at Hawkwood, which I attended for the first time this year. There was very little time during the day for socialising, though of course communal meals and the evening sessons made for some contact. Both Whitney and Hawkwood can be demanding, stretching musical experiences. The social side is something participants sort out for themselves, which brings us back to the issue of how the weekend organisation could support the social side of things, especially for newcomers. It would have been useful for me, as a newcomer, to have known that there was someone to scoop us up in a group for lunch - potential instant mini community. For this reason I like the buddy idea and that of meals on site. Not having attended Whitney often, I'm not so wedded to the status quo that to suggest changing something equals a criticism of the experience. But let's not underestimate the work involved. Of course it can be done. The big question would be, who is to do it? The downside of the local facilities is that they tend to fill up quickly, and a group of any size needs to book in advance. This takes organisation. Could the Whitney website provide a space for participants to liase over this?