Midwest Penturners Gathering 2011 version 2

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Here's an update;

5th Annual
Midwest Penturners Gathering
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Carpenters' Local 44 Union Hall
402 S. Duncan Road
Champaign, IL 61821
Doors will open at 8:00 a.m. - till around 5:00 p.m.
This is a free event.

Here's a rough draft demo list, in no particular order;
Our first gal demonstrator, Alice Call, elody 21 will demo making a Corian pen, with a brief discussion on using Corian for other turning projects.

Ed Brown will either do "skewing around with resin" or "multiple tool turning", so he will concentrate on what tools to use or how to use them properly.

Gerry Wilhite will do a marketing/sales demo (he explains that he will do more that 30 shows this year. He will also do an inlay demo using crushed stone and other materials.

I'll do a demo on wood Christmas ornaments. Barrel stave laminations, bird houses, and sphere with finial.

I'm not sure if we need a demo on basic pen making or not? What do you say? Anyone a real beginner or bringing along a beginner? I think we have done this every year, but if I get a couple of positives, I'll do that too.

Maybe a wood segmented pen.

I've working on a couple more subjects as well.

Vendor list so far, Alice with Corian blanks, Ed and Dawn with exoticblanks.com, Pat with ankromexotics.com, TRG turning tools (carbide insert tools), Me with domestic wood pen blanks and bowl blanks, Boomer will have a table for his framing business and etc., and more to follow.

We will be opening the doors on Friday night for setup. So if you really want to get some deals at the vendors ....(but you must help set up some tables and chairs first, LOL). I'll be posting a time for that to start. Saturday morning will see the doors open at 8:00. I would like to have a 50/50 (half going to the Union Hall). Win a ball of wood blanks. I am going to wrap up a bunch of wood blanks in a cellophane wrap. $2 to guess the number of blanks. First drawn correct winning guess gets all the blanks, the Union Hall gets the money. We will set up a Freedom pen collection site, pen contest with winners sponsored by Greg Cozad (MPG founder) and thepenshop.net. I would like to have a table for show and tell for Other Things We Turn. Bring some turned items with a description 3x5 card with info on the piece. Some door prizes, but I am concentrating on making the event a little more social, less number calling. Yeah, I know free stuff is good, but that takes a ton of work to pull off. We have attendees coming from as far as Michigan, so I'm looking forward to a great day!!!! Tell a friend. If you want to volunteer, or I goofed up something already, please speak up. All info is still subject to change.
Richard Coers
 
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Dick it is great news that you will be doing this again this year. I eagerly await the event. I'll be sure and share the date with our club, Lincoln Land Woodturners.

John
 
Buzzzz4 said:
Thought we were going to make it, but things came up. Have a great time!
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Come on Eric, I kind of put you and your Dad in the update with that Michigan reference. Maybe the plans will change again.

Good to hear some of you are planning to come. Please spread the word to your local wood turning clubs and turning friends.
 
soligen said:
I'm considering it. Is there an official site for the event with maps, hotel, registration info, etc?
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The only info is at the beginning of this post and here http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=77436&highlight=gathering

Hotels are filled up in Champaign due to other events, but cities in the area have openings. Here are some ideas I was given:
You could check Rantoul, IL. It's north of Champaign on 57 and only 15 miles away. Rantoul has Best Western, Super 8 and Days Inn. Another closer option would be Tuscola, IL. It's about 19 miles south on 57. It's a small town, but they have a big outlet mall there. So with the mall, they have 3 hotels, Baymont, Holiday Inn Express, and Super 8. Just trying to save you some driving, but can't vouch for any of these hotels. Maybe you can a reservation at one of these, but keep checking for cancellations in Champaign as the event gets closer.

There is no registration and the event is free! Great vendors and excellent demos. And you might even be able to sneak a pic of DAWN!!!

Keep the questions coming. The event is only as good as we want to make it.
 
I plan to be there. Real bummer about rooms. Had the same problem last year, I ended up in Bloomington. In the future we should try to schedule around UofI programs. Last year it was Moms day on campus, don't know whats going on this year.

Great event though, looking forward to it.

Carl
 
There will be 3 catagories of entry for the Pen Contest. Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. The judging this year will be done by qualified pen turners. There will also be a "People's Choice" and a "Founder's Choice". Plaques will be awarded for the top selection in each category plus both "Choices".

The scheduling date of the event is governed by the availability of the Hall more than anything else. Trying to find a date where the Hall availability and the U of I schedule line up is almost like trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack. Some have in the past suggested changing the venue to a hotel with a conference room large enough to accommodate the event. Doing so would would include a block of rooms but would then include a fee to get into the event. And depending on the purposed demonstrations, some might not be agreeable with the hotel due to odors and such (I had been told that by 3 possible venues a few years back).

One of the main beliefs upon which this event was built was to keep it free to attendees. There are more than enough things other than this event that you can spend your money on pertaining to pen turning. The vendors are allowed to set up for free. Just one way I have always felt that can help to "stimulate" the cash flow within our hobby/craft/art. If ya don't have to spend it at the door you will more than likely choose to give it to a vendor or two, eh?!!! I have also felt that keeping it free of charge helps people to attend that may not otherwise be there if there was a "door charge" and attendance is the purpose. By attending, one has the opportunity to learn. Granted, the demonstrators are not national or world renowned turners but are experienced and insightful in their own right. The MPG has been fortunate to draw the demonstrators it has had as they all have been very informative and stimulating. And it has amazed me that every time I asked for them to return, they did, and knowing that there was little or no compensation for their time. And each and every successive event grew larger than the previous.

Alas, in this growth is where the MPG went slightly off track. The number of or length of demonstrations were reduced to make time for door prize give-a-ways. This was my mistake as I got caught up in amazement of the support of suppliers. Don N. and Dave V. went out of their way to solicit donations and did a very good job as their passion to make the MPG a success was driving them. But this "excess" was a large part of the reason that myself and my family felt we had hit a wall and decided to take a break this year. We could not see how we were going to make this year better than last. I mean, we had a boat load of door prizes. Attendance topped 100 (records show 104) representing 9 states and Canada along with Skype calls to our friends in Oz. And a resounding, "Looking forward to next year" became a burden instead of a delight. I allowed the MPG to get off track and I just couldn't see how to get it back where it needed to be because I did not want to disappoint anyone. Thus our dilemma; make it better or disappoint people, cut back and disappoint people, cancel it and disappoint people. I lost some sleep over this. This is were I owe a multitude of thanks and gratitudes to Jerry Rhoads. He was determined the MPG would continue on this year. It was Jerry who spoke to God only knows who all, including Rich. And Rich, well, he has been here since the beginning, and understanding the intent of the MPG all along, stepped up. Yea!!!!! He took the reigns and the MPG will go on this year, and back to it's roots to boot!!!! It is great to see that free flowing information will continue to be exchanged with no bias, despite what some naysayers believe.

Sooo, April 16th, 2011, the 5th annual Midwest Penturning Gathering is the place to be for penturners as there is no other event like it, anywhere!!!!!

See y'all in a couple of weeks!!!!!!


Hey Rich, thanks again my friend!!!
 
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Glad to help, but as I my wife has asked. You? Ya, I'm a horrible procrastinator. If it wasn't for her, I would be at the tax accountant on Friday before I headed over to Champaign. I'm working on the final line-up for the demos tonight, and will post in a couple of days. Here's another funny one, I haven't unpacked the Rubbermaid containers from last year! So my procrastinatin' ways pay off again, not much packing to get ready for this year!!!!! I am working on a different system for my wood blank sales this year. I'm going to be offering multi packs; multi colored packs, figured packs, burl packs, and spalted packs. I've got a bunch of blanks to get rid of, so prices will be at record lows. Offers will be accepted for bulk buys. Really good deals for over 1,000 blank purchases, LOL! Oh yeah, I'll start posting the specials on the classifieds after the Gathering. Now back to emails to demonstrators.

Rich
 
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