Hi All,
All the commitments are firm; the size of the tent is known (twenty
by 30 feet); the program is being filled in. So now it’s time to tell
the world about it - and it gives me great pleasure to do so.
(How’s that for a mysterious opening?)
“It” is a unique new attraction for Tucson - the “Electric Park
Learning Center”, a twenty-by-thirty foot tent at the Electric Park
Show entirely devoted to free, public, demonstrations and
show-and-tell. For the full three weeks of Tucson, visitors will be
able to watch jewelry and gem and lapidary techniques being
demonstrated, hands-on, in the Learning Center tent at the Electric
Park Show. Manufacturers of tools and machines such as flex shafts
and faceting machines may demonstrate as well and answer questions
about their devices. The program is still developing. Most likely
it’ll be three approximately one-hour presentations each day.
The new facility is a co-operative venture in which Electric Park
exhibitors Alpha Supply, Diamond Pacific, The Graves Company, Kent’s
Tools, and Electric Park show promoter Al Sargent are all
contributors and participants, and as far as I know it is unique and
a first for Tucson. While other vendors certainly give demonstrations
and instructional seminars, no other Tucson venue that I know of
offers anything like the full-duration, day in day out, program of
public instruction and demonstrations that will be available at the
Electric Park show.
So that’s the general background. Now I’d like to ask for some
Orchid assistance. News releases have gone out to the
gem-jewelry-lapidary publications. But not yet to smaller more
specialist organizations. If you are a member of such, and would like
the news release for publication in your bulletin, do please email me
offline.
Likewise, if you have a presentation you’d consider giving at the
Electric Park Learning Center, - or for that matter, a topic to
propose or a speaker to propose - please email me your suggestions.
While most of the presentations will be in the nature of workbench
"how-to" techniques, variety is the spice of life. Are you a gem and
jewelry photographer? How about giving a “how-to” talk? An enamelist?
Or if you’ve been digging in some exotic gem and mineral locality, or
have been watching the jewelry-makers of Senegal (or similar) how
about a slide show? Or if you’re a carver, or a sphere maker, or an
expert in some other related field - how about showing the world how
it’s done?
Thanks everybody. Do email me offline with suggestions and comments
and addresses to whom I should send news releases. I’ll certainly
keep Orchid updated as the schedule firms up and finalizes. See you at
the Electric Park!
Cheers,
Hans Durstling
Moncton, Canada
@H.Durstling