Traveling Academy Schedule

[dusty]

Ivan, my lad, be thankful. Look on the good side. At least you live close enough that you could drive over to Dayton (on a long weekend) to do your shopping and come back with everything you need for your shop.

What Shopsmith is trying to do, I think, is survive this momentary down turn in business so that we will all have the support we need to keep our Shops(miths) up and running.

Why have those of us west of the Mississippi be chosen to have Rick's TA support, when others didn't, during these hard times? Hell, I don't know.... but I'd bet it was an economic decision. Like maybe enrollment was way up out here in the west and wasn't so good in your neck of the woods.

I don't know why. I'm just thankful that Shopsmith is there and I hope that business improves to the point where Shopsmith will have to clone Rick two or three times to cover the demand. In the meantime, make use of the Sawdust Sessions...they are great learning experiences.

Ivan, welcome to the forum. I see from your profile that this is your first post. I hope you come here often to ask questions and to impart your knowledge and wisdom to the rest of us. I think you will find that this is like one large family. We don't always agree but we are always family. The Shopsmiths.

[a1gutterman]

................... I think you will find that this is like one large family. We don't always agree but we are always family. The Shopsmiths.

I like that Dusty!:D

[iclark]

Dusty,

please don't get me wrong. I have been lurking here for about 4 months now. I have learned a lot from the posts that you, Tim, Nick, and a bunch of others have been posting here. I have seen the notices that the last of the Shopsmith stores had ceased operation while they tried to lease out part of their building. I really appreciate Shopsmith and their made in the US approach. I want them to succeed and to be around for a long time. I was disappointed when I learned on this forum that they had cut back to the one TA and were only offering the courses in the mid-west and west, but I understood that it was an economic decision and part of surviving the current economic conditions. I have waited the months for back-ordered items without joining the me-too chorus in this forum.

with that said, I had given up any hope of knowing where the TA was going to be (so I could consider flying to take one) until I found this thread. Tim is doing a wonderful service for both us and Shopsmith in posting and updating the schedule. to me, Rick's posting read like Tim was wasting his time and we should all ignore this thread and go to that worthless webpage. I wasted a lot of time on that webpage before I found this forum. after all, Shopsmith knows exactly where I live. why would they keep telling me to go to that webpage for TA courses in my area if they had no intention of offering them?

I share your desire for the Shopsmith business to improve enough to need 3 or 4 Rick's. I just hope that it doesn't take long enough for cloning to be available :-)

about that long weekend, do you get over to Santa Barbara for the weekend very often? that is a shorter drive from Tucson than Dayton is from Hampton and, as far as I can tell from this forum, Santa Barbara has the same number of Shopsmith stores as Dayton. I've been considering the Shopsmith weekend in July but the idea of doing I64 and US35 through West Virginia in a rental pickup or van as part of that 600+ mile drive is rather daunting. driving it in my car doesn't give me enough room to bring much back.

thanks for the welcome to the forum. I'll certainly be asking questions if I can't find them already answered in the archives. I had already caught the family flavor there. otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered with that first post. I'll try to contribute when questions are about something I know something about.

Ivan

[a1gutterman]

Post 1 of this thread has been updated through Sept. 5, 2008. (I added a visit to Utah in August that I either missed before, or they snuck it in on me:rolleyes: )

[Nick]

You're being a little harsh there, Ivan. Some of the things that don't quite work on our web site are the remenants of one or more ancient marketing plans that are no longer relevant. They still stand for the same reason that Stonehenge and the Pyramids still stand -- the folks who built them moved on and the folks who were left didn't quite know what to do with them. Shopsmith hasn't insulted anyone. We simply have too few people to do all the web site maintenace that needs to be done, including clearing out the deadwood. Insulting us accomplishes nothing.

You might try looking at it as I do -- these odd bits of our web site aren't delapidated or confusing; they are historical oddities that we are carefully preserving for future generations. Ever been to House on the Rock in Wisconsin? Like that.

The rest of you might like to know that I went into last Wednesday's marketing meeting armed with this thread and got the members to agree that we should post a regular schedule and consign the zip code thingy to the Shopsmith Museum. Should have it up and running no later than the next full planetary alignment.

Until then...we are aware of the problem and will keep you posted.

With all good wishes,

[a1gutterman]

You're being a little harsh there, Ivan. Some of the things that don't quite work on our web site are the remenants of one or more ancient marketing plans that are no longer relevant. They still stand for the same reason that Stonehenge and the Pyramids still stand -- the folks who built them moved on and the folks who were left didn't quite know what to do with them. Shopsmith hasn't insulted anyone. We simply have too few people to do all the web site maintenace that needs to be done, including clearing out the deadwood. Insulting us accomplishes nothing.

You might try looking at it as I do -- these odd bits of our web site aren't delapidated or confusing]House on the Rock [/I]in Wisconsin? Like that.

The rest of you might like to know that I went into last Wednesday's marketing meeting armed with this thread and got the members to agree that we should post a regular schedule and consign the zip code thingy to the Shopsmith Museum. Should have it up and running no later than the next full planetary alignment.

Until then...we are aware of the problem and will keep you posted.

With all good wishes,

And until then, I will continue to try to keep this thread updated!:D

[a1gutterman]

...thanks for the welcome to the forum. I'll certainly be asking questions if I can't find them already answered in the archives. I had already caught the family flavor there. otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered with that first post. I'll try to contribute when questions are about something I know something about.

Ivan

Ivan, and I am glad that this thread has helped you in some way. Please do offer your advise, share your experiences, and ask questions! And don't give Rick such a hard time; he is an employee and really does not have any control of this web site. He is a great guy. Hopefully you will get to meet him when he travels to the east coast (I think it's in the works). I recommend his courses to everyone, novice and expert alike.

[BigSky]

Is there a Shopsmith store in Santa Barbara?

[a1gutterman]

Is there a Shopsmith store in Santa Barbara?

NO; that was the point. The Dayton store is also closed.

[iclark]

You're being a little harsh there, Ivan. Some of the things that don't quite work on our web site are the remenants of one or more ancient marketing plans that are no longer relevant. They still stand for the same reason that Stonehenge and the Pyramids still stand -- the folks who built them moved on and the folks who were left didn't quite know what to do with them. Shopsmith hasn't insulted anyone. We simply have too few people to do all the web site maintenace that needs to be done, including clearing out the deadwood. Insulting us accomplishes nothing.

Nick, I have gone back and re-read both of my posts in this thread. I am unable to find where I insulted you or Shopsmith. I do see how my reply to Dusty's suggestion that I drive 1225 miles round trip to shop at a closed store could be taken as insulting when I had intended it as explaining to Dusty just what he had suggested that I do. While I did not explicitly say it, I did strongly imply that _I_ felt insulted by the combination of the website and the repeated ads telling me to go there to see when the TA would be in my area. After all, ShopSmith had stated here that that was not going to happen.
If I had been trying to be harsh, then I would have pointed out that, in my belief system, reputable companies do not conduct false advertising campaigns. Prior to Rick's posting on Tuesday, every indication I could find of the TA information showed no plans to cross the Mississippi in the foreseeable future. Yet, page 91 of the current catalog proclaims in large, bold letters: "Shopsmith' One-Day Traveling Woodworking Academies are coming to your area!" That ad then sends me to that webpage for details. I hate to think that the current catalog is also a remnant of ancient marketing plans that are no longer relevant. :-) I am really pleased to see from Rick's post in the other thread that Shopsmith has decided to step up and honor their advertising.

You might try looking at it as I do -- these odd bits of our web site aren't delapidated or confusing]House on the Rock [/I]in Wisconsin? Like that.

I assume you are joking about the not being confusing part. Along the lines of denial ain't just a river in Egypt.
As far as I can recall, I've never been to Wisconsin.
I was, though, an early beta tester for The WayBack Machine aka The Internet Archive. I would commend it to you as a good place for looking at historical oddities. I believe you can even encourage them to archive your historical oddities. :-)

The rest of you might like to know that I went into last Wednesday's marketing meeting armed with this thread and got the members to agree that we should post a regular schedule and consign the zip code thingy to the Shopsmith Museum. Should have it up and running no later than the next full planetary alignment.

Nick, from the way you phrase this, it sounds like I have offended you personally. If that is the case, then I want to publicly apologize. It was never my intent to offend you. I am definitely sorry if my being offended by your post offended you.
Let's see, the next planetary alignment (not full) is in 2040. If you get tired of waiting, maybe you could get some volunteers to help with the website in exchange for an employee discount. Just a thought.
The zip code thingy was undoubtedly a great idea when there were 3 or 4 TA's crisscrossing the country just as the Store Locater page was a great thing when there were stores all over the country (or even while there was still just one). I applaud the marketing meeting members for agreeing to update this resource so that it will help fill the TA classes even faster. I hope for the day that the Store Locater page makes its return.

If you would like something to take to this Wednesday's marketing meeting, how about marking (either in the sales catalog or in the online catalog) those items not made in the USA? Many of us shop at ShopSmith for supplies because of their reputation for being a "Made in the USA" company. We shouldn't have to call and ask about each item (as some forum members report they are now doing) before ordering in order to be sure that it isn't one of the made in China items. I would suggest to you that destroying the ShopSmith reputation as a "Made in the USA" company would be bad for sales and that you can avoid that if you clearly label the exceptions with something like "Made in <country or continent> to exacting ShopSmith Standards." That way, customers don't get the bad surprise when they open their purchases. Bad surprises get passed by word of mouth all too quickly.

Ivan