Re: [GBW] Waxing philosophical

["Peter D. Verheyen" <verheyen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

It (printing the Newsletter, Journal, an exhibit catalog, index... to 
PDF) can be done in a few mouse clicks. Really much easier than the 
old days when I hard coded each article... Ditto on publicizing the 
Guild via lists and the Web. However, what it requires is that all 
officers of the group, National and Chapter take the time to send out 
their emails to a wider audience. Again, a few clicks of the mouse. 
At one point several years ago (When I still maintained the GBW 
listserv) I did an informal comparison, and there was more activity 
by GBW members (not the organization or organization focused) on 
non-GBW fora than the Guild list that seems to languish with the 
exception of flashes of activity such as this. The Guild site is 
actually well-indexed, but how much people find it is also a factor 
of content on the site and links to it. That's where every Guild 
member with a Blog/Website could help. Likewise publicizing the Guild 
and it's activities. If you take part in a good GBW workshop, send a 
review to some non-GBW lists. Have a GBW event, send announcement to 
the world, having a show..., mention you're a GBW member. In the 
words of a President, ask not what..., but do. Spread out among all it's easy.

To my mind the stipends were meant to reward the contributions the 
officers of the Guild make, but I think also an incentive to do more...

p.

>In any case, I offer this thought: What if the Guild could afford to pay
>someone enough that the newsletter could be translated into a digital
>version each time, someone who knows about webpage presence and keywords
>and how search engines work and all that sort of thing. And what if that
>expanded presence in the universe led to us getting more members and led us
>to even greater opportunities to provide community and leadership for these
>members so that knowledge flowed like a river instead of in little cups
>delivered to our mailboxes. Believe me I like the little cups. They are
>very nice to hold and keep and I don't want them to go away. I just want
>more. More for me, more for the Guild, more for the as yet unknown members,
>those working in high school libraries, those trying to repair books on
>their own and those artists who have never even thought of the book as an
>art form.
>
>Peacefully,


__________________________________

Peter D. Verheyen
Bookbinder & Conservator, PA - AIC
<verheyen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
The Book Arts Web & Book_Arts-L Listserv
<http://www.philobiblon.com>
The Bonefolder: an e-journal for the bookbinder and book artist
<http://www.philobiblon.com/bonefolder>


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