Press Release, from Gil Hibben

PRESS RELEASE

(For Immediate Publication)

Gil Hibben, President of the Knifemakers’ Guild, regretfully announces that, due to unforeseen circumstances, the William F. Moran Museum and Foundation, Inc. will be unable to participate in the 2010 Knifemakers’ Guild Show as was previously announced.

The Guild wishes the best of luck to the William F. Moran Museum and Foundation, Inc. in its future endeavors to preserve the legacy of William F. “Bill” Moran.
 
DWinkler said:
Turmoil within the ABS will do nothing good. The Guild Show management and the ABS Expo committee should support each other and work together to make both shows attractive to attend. Both have limited tables and with a little cooperation I think both could fill both the tables with makers and the room with customers. Having an enhanced forged blade presence at the Guild Show that is endorsed by the ABS is a great idea. The ABS Expo committee might even consider inviting a few Guild makers to the Expo. There are several established makers in the area around San Antonio that might like to show at the Expo.

There is great opportunity here. Don’t let ego and suspicion screw it up.

Daniel
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Daniel,

I have always respected your measured words, even when you (often) disagree with my own or others positions on an issue, and have tried to emulate those measured words recently(although there have been some rather spectacular failures towards that goal).

The two issues that concern me are the afformentioned failure to live up to the responsibility of Director, and fairly amazing lapse of judgement.

1. ANYONE who has ever served on a board, or been part of committee knows how hard it is to get things done. Someone is always pointing a finger, and you should be doing the best that you can to live up to YOUR responsibilities. Distractions and shared/opposing responsibilites can only make that job more difficult to do, and dilute ability to meet the primary responsibilities. G-d, family, self and fellow man in that order is my feeling, but everyone will have their own priority. When serving yourself takes away from your ability to serve fellow man, it is time to focus on your own thing.

2. The lapses of judgement fall somewhere between thinking that you look good in that polyester leisure suit and getting behind the wheel with one too many drinks in your system.....not catastrophic, although the potential is there, but not well considered either. Jay is smarter than that.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Steven,

You are correct that Jay is very smart. I have not spoken to him about this situation so I can only speculate about his thoughts regarding the participation of the Moran Foundation in conjunction with the Knifemakers Guild Show. However I do know Jay Hendrickson and Johnny Perry pretty well and I can say with certainty that neither would ever do anything to harm the ABS.

Joining with Gil and the Knifemakers Guild is doing exactly what the ABS stands for, promoting the forged blade. Knife Shows, Hammer-ins, magazines, books and TV shows all play a part in informing the general public that Handmade/Forged knives exist. The more examples of this knife world we all are part of presented to the public the more we all benefit.

The problem seems to be two things. The Knifemakers Guild Show and the ABS Expo are close together in regard to show dates and do Jay and Johnny have a conflict of interest as ABS Directors and Moran Foundation show promoters?

I am sure that all show promoters would love to have a nice bubble of time around their show so that no one that wants to go to a knife show has to make the decision of which show to attend. This is not going to happen. I am sure this is not news to anyone. Show promoters have to deal with Hotel and convention schedules and until Knife Shows are the big dogs like Auto Shows, Electronics Shows, Gift Shows, and all the other major markets out there, Knife Shows will have to take what time and locations are left. Having knife Shows in separate areas of the country at around the same time gives more makers and customers the opportunity to attend one or the other. Travel is expensive and I feel sure we would all like to have a knife show in easy driving distance from home.

Is there a conflict of interest here? Again the Moran Foundation is promoting the forged blade. The show promoters have the job to sign up as many of the most popular makers as they can to make their show attractive to the public. This is true for all show promoters and if anyone of them feels that, oh I shouldn’t ask maker #1 to come to my show because he might drop another show, he is not doing his job!

I understand there is an exhibitor waiting list for the ABS Show. So it seems there should be no problem if the Expo loses a few exhibitors to fill their table. It may not be that easy. In a meeting at the Expo in Reno a few years ago the subject came up that it would be nice to bring a few more popular makers into the show. The policy at that time and I understand still, is to add makers in the order they were added to the list. This may sound fair but it is no way to run a knife show. We all know there are different levels a knife maker goes through in their quest to become a sought after popular maker. If a show loses a top tier maker it makes sense to try and replace that maker with another that is as close to the same level as possible. It may not sound fair but this is not kindergarten. Life is not fair. If these restrictions are placed on the current ABS Expo committee by the ABS Board of Directors then they need to be lifted so the ABS Expo can compete for popular makers. Anything else would be wrong.

I fully understand that Boards and committees have difficult jobs and I respect those that are willing to step up and take part to provide these organizations and shows I personally benefit from. I also understand there are those of us, myself included that are not well suited to be part of these committee decisions. However it is my responsibility to voice an opinion when my life and livelihood are affected by the decisions made by these committees. I am a member of both the ABS and the Knifemakers Guild so I do have a dog in this race. I hope the decision to stop the Guild and Moran Foundation from working together will be reconsidered.

Daniel
 
Well said Daniel. :thumbup:

I fear the short-sighted reaction to the announcement did more harm to the ABS than the show ever would have.

From what I know of Jay I have to agree that I sincerely doubt that he had any bad intentions toward the ABS and I can assure everyone that the Guild does not.

Before anything can grow, seeds must be planted.
 
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