National Shopmith Woodworkers Association

[woodburner]

Hi Everyone,

I recently brought up in another thread the subject of creating a national association for shopsmith woodworkers. This message is an update on the progess I am making on the endeavor.

I have come up with a name that I hope everyone likes. I want to call the organization the "National Shopsmith Woodworkers Association", or the "NSWA" for short. I think this as a nice sound to it and it's easy to remember.

For those who haven't read about the organization I am wanting to start, here is some of what I posted earlier on the subject:

There are several national woodworking associations who have local chapters all over the country, and all over the world. Why, as Shopsmith owners/users, shouldn't we have one of our own. I think it has been a long time coming and I think, and feel, the time is right for such an organization. Having local chapters branching out from such an Association will benefit all those who join.

Having local chapters will enhance everyone's woodworking by being able to offer either monthly or every-other-month meetings and get-togethers, and keeping the travel distance down to a minimum. After joining the National Association, members can volunteer their efforts toward creating local chapters in their areas of the country.

Why a National Association and not just local associations? It will be a homebase of sorts. It will allow the opportunity to create a national database of members all over the country. It will also create a supportive structure with an elected committee to create the rules and by-laws an association of this type will require, which in-turn will help in the creation and structure of local chapters. It will also be able to offer support to all the local chapters by offering certain needs associated with having local chapters. A National Association will also allow the creation of a national Shopsmith Symposium that can be held annually in different cities across the country.

That is some of what I posted in another thread and its the beginning of idea that I will like to see come to fruitrition.

I am at this time working on and researching the legal-ease of such an organization. There are several ways to develop such an organization and I want to do it correctly.

First and foremost is getting the blessing of Shopsmith and permission to use their name in the organization.

After that, it will be the writing of the legal aspects of the association. Then, a first meeting of those interested in the creation of the association will be held. Everyone in attendance will be known as the founders of the association and will be offered the opportunity to be elected into the office of the first executive board and the oversight committee.

After the first meeting, information about the association, including how to become a member and how a member can create a local chapter, will be sent to all interested parties. Included will be all information about the association and what the goals of the association are.

Right now it is still in the planning stages and I will post more information in this thread as progess is made and the first meeting is schdeuled.

Please feel free to post your comments and ideas on this subject here in this thread. I look forward to reading all of them.

[alancooke]

I think this is a good idea, if it's feasible. Have you talked to SS reps. to see if they are supportive?.

I currently serve as president of Southeastern Retail Bakers Association which is composed of approx. 350 members. We just had our annual SRBA convention in Jacksonville, FL and it's not easy getting people to participate and even harder getting them to help! We did have 65 vendor booths and made $22,000 for our association, so it's possible to succeed even with small numbers.

The key for any convention/symposium is vendor participation. As we have seen from previous threads, there doesn't seem to be many third party suppliers for SS compatible products, so who would the vendors be?

On the other hand, if a few thousand SS owners met every year for a few days, maybe some accessory companies would see it as a market opportunity!

Maybe you should (if you haven't already) contact the heads of similiar associations who would lend you their expertise such as AAW. American Association of Woodturners is a strong organization with a great quarterly magazine, local chapters, and an annual symposium.

I like the idea, so there's a few thoughts for what they're worth.

Alan

[woodburner]

I have been a member of the AAW for 10 years now and I am hoping to use that organization as a model for the creation of this association.

I am at this time drafting a letter to send to the Shopsmith Corporation telling them of the idea and what the purpose of the association will be.

For a national type of convention, it would be more along the lines of how the annual Shopsmith Picnic was held in Dayton, Ohio, every year. Now that the picnic has been cancelled, this type of get-together seems all the more important. The difference I will like to see is having the convention/symposium be held in a different city every year. That way those who can't travel long distances will be able to attend if it comes close enough to their city.

Also, Shopsmith was able to have this two-day Picnic without the need for other vendors, other than Shopsmith.

This get-together is down the road a year or two from now, as the main focus right now will be to establish the national association, elect an executive board and oversight committee, and then hopefully get some local chapters in other parts of the country up and running. Only then will a national type of convention be feasible.

Thanks for your input and I hope this helps with any questions you may have, or any new questions you may now have after reading this.

[8iowa]

I'm interested in helping. I travel up and down I 75 often and am acquainted with the Shopsmith organization and personel. I see that you are in California, which may put a little burden on you.

I belong to another association, "the Contemporary Longrifle Association" aka CLA ($45 annual dues) which has an annual meeting in Lexington every year. It is open to the public, who can purchase items from industry vendors and also finished products from members who have display tables ($90 per 8' table for the week-end). They also have an auction at the show where members donated products are sold in order to support the organization and the marketing of the organization and it's members. Members and their families get into the show free and a general public ticket is $10. The CLA also has a quarterly newsletter called the "Broadside".

We could have a similar annual meeting and public show. We have a much larger potential member base than the CLA and would generate greater public interest as well. I'm sure that a lot of Shopsmith owners would want to rent tables to sell and display their goods. I'll bet the diversity of members products would blow your mind! We probably also have more vendors and potential vendors than you realize at a quick glance. In just a few years we would have non-Shopsmith users trying to sneak in.

Let's keep this idea going. A few people are going to have to put in a lot of personal time and expense in order to get our organization started. Let's hear from all of you out there! If we don't get much response, we will have to assume that there aren't enough interested Shopsmith users to justify the effort.

[Nick]

Guys, if you're going to make this idea work you must think in terms of benefits. What are the benefits that a Shopsmith owner might get from joining the NSWA that he can't get from the Shopsmith Users Group (ssug.org) or right here on this forum?

With all good wishes,

[8iowa]

Nick:

We are not getting much response to this post so it is beginning to appear that mot many forum members are interested in a national organization.

None-the-less, you did ask a good question. "What are the benefits"? In my vision, a national organization would be quite different from a forum. Not only would there be an annual meeting, but the organization would have a web site where members could be listed by name (those who choose to do so) and by their woodworking interests. Names could be linked to personal web pages. In time there would be a newsletter featuring members and topics.

There could also be separate categories on the web page, ie: FAQ, visual demos of products, accessories, and woodworking techniques, products for sale made by members, announcements of woodworking events and regional meetings, and vendor's promotions & links to their web sites. These features would of course be developed and improved over time as the membership grows and finances permit.

I'm very impressed with the civility and technical skill on the Shopsmith and ssug forums. Some other woodworking forums are more like a venting place for an angry mob. Being Anonymous brings out anti-social behavior in some people. Forums are also extremely current and random. Questions and topics are posted, replied to, and then quickly fade out of sight through the scrolling of pages. Some of the same questions are asked time and time again sometimes with conflicting replies. Searching can be tedious.

On a forum, members seldom get to know each other by name, much less meet face to face in a social gathering. This is one of the main purposes of a national organization. Forum members seldom get to meet any company officials. Those who attend a national orgainzation's annual event most likely would.

However, none of this will come to pass if initial interest is as low as at present.

[manvelar]

I live in Dayton and am available to help, but I'm not retired so time is precious. One thing I would suggest is to focus on some way to get young people involved. I don't want to insult anyone, but if the Association only consists of older woodworkers, it probably won't grow or be sustainable for very long. Kind of like what Nick has done with guiding the youth in building the Wright Flyer replicas. The "more seasoned" woodworkers would need to do things to bring young folks along - perhaps help Boy Scouts earn a merit badge or encourage children/grandchildren to pick up woodworking. At the annual meetings, perhaps have some competitions. The Dayton Carver's Guild has an annual show where they award ribbons for numerous classes of carving (birds, charactures, chip carving, furniture making, and so on). I could see us doing something similar. In fact the Carver's Guild annual event is called "Artistry in Wood" and attracts carvers from something like over 20 states. Many people show up, set up a booth, and sell items they have made. It would be extremely satisfying to see something similar targeted at Shopsmith owners.

[FrankEast]

Dear Mr Woodburner, 8iowa and Nick E,
I agree, AAW would be a good "model" and we have a nice AAW chapter, a woodturners club in NJ. Members are listed by real name & address.

Would /SS Inc/ be supportive to make a success, not to mention permission to use their trade names & TM?

Could they revive their former SS- Good Neighbor Program, hands on?

There are some of us who would rather buy and use *mechanical* WW tools, pref'd over fancy computer systems with movies & SOUND bytes over the internet. IMHO, that is LET = "Less Effective Technology," since some of us don't have the patience or interest to watch "online silent movies" with low visual resolution, no /PAUSE/ /PRINT/ REWIND/. CDROMS & printed books work for us older guys.

Would you rather buy serious SS TOOLS, rather than sizzling new computers, which change hardware all too often? I've already placed my $$ on the durable SS hardware, that helps me DO projects.

Jeff in NJ
500++
jeffsail21@juno.com.
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