FrequentTyer wrote:
H-A, how are you are thinking that the demos will work? Will we all be tying simultaneously for small groups, or will you be having each demo run once for an audience? I realize that the second option is a lot harder to schedule and you will not be able to fit in 30 demos, but it would allow everyone to see what the other tyers are doing. Also, based on the response so far you might wind up with more tyers than watchers.
My original intent was to have the demos run one after another. This would allow everyone but the demo-tyer to be a spectator.
We've got quite a few really good tyers here, and I was hoping that by doing the demos this way, we'd all be able to pick up a few tying tricks, and techniques. The fly patterns were of secondary concern to me. If you know tying techniques, tying a fly is just following a recipe. My intent is to improve everyone's tying skills by learning from each other.
I have absolutely no idea how many tyers will show up. Not everyone has to do a demo, either.
We've got 4 hours to do this. If we get 24 tyers doing demos, and each person takes the full 10 minutes each, we'll have to hustle to get this done. I'm hoping some folks will take less than 10 minutes to do their demos, which would allow us to fit more demos in.
We'll see how many tyers we get that want to do demos, and go from there. I may have to change the format a bit to doing 2 demos at a time, but I hope not.
I would also like the demo tyers to go to the newbie tyer table after their demos to help the newbies with their patterns (for those that provide kits). This can happen any time after their demos, and more than one can be done at a time. Not every newbie has to tie every pattern - just the ones that interest them. Demo tyers can also mingle with others and use any leftover kits to show non-newbies their ties, for those interested.
I'm also hoping that my buddy tony300wby can run the newbie section if he can make it. He's really good at teaching newbies, and can provide some basic skills before they start tying "for real".
This format was just something I thought would be neat, as well as providing some order to the event. It'll give everyone the chance to teach, instead of just a few. I'm sure everone will learn something, and each tyer (regardless of skill level) will show something that someone else doesn't know. Hopefully, it will inspire everyone to teach a newbie somewhere down the road...
By watching some of the more experienced teachers, hopefully we'll get 20 or 30 better equipped instructors to pass on the art of tying. A noble goal, but it may just wind up in chaos - but it'll be some FUN chaos. It's a good excuse to get a bunch of forum members together, make new friends, and have fun doing something we all enjoy.
