Steve Currington said:

> Hmmm will be interesting if they do win it. The North American winners
> get to do a lot of stuff for the society during their championship..
> How they would do that with and non SPEBSQSA located group I have no
> idea.
>
> that was always an issue that speb raised when we first got SH
> permission to go and was why we had to get special
> permission. You will
> recall they were the first NON- American group to ever compete (non
> American means America and Canada)

Yes, and the request for permission for SH to compete caused a VERY
heated discussion in Kenosha and among the Society Board. Just as there
are conservatives and liberals when it comes to the type of music we
sing, so are there conservatives and liberals when it comes to the
Society's relationship with the Affiliate associations the Society so
eagerly encouraged 20+ years ago.

As a former Society employee, my guess is that if MIB wins (and I hope
they do!) the Society will not invite them to participate in any Society
sponsored activities. I may be wrong, but I seriously doubt that will
happen. Why? Well, from a broad-based, worldwide view of barbershop in
the 1970s and 1980s, steadily dwindling membership numbers (resulting in
drastically falling revenues) have allowed a very isolationist attitude
to prevail among the Society's leaders. As a result, the Society of
today looks inward rather than outward, and there are some in the
association who actually resent participation by Affiliate groups in
Society competitions.

Their reasoning is, "We run these contests for Society members, not for
the Affiliates. If the Affiliates want to compete, let them pay full
dues and belong to the Society." Sound reasoning, too, as far as it
goes. However, the reasoning doesn't go far enough, and that's the
problem. I was in many, many discussions about this topic during my 10
years in Kenosha. The problem with these arguments is that when the
proponents of them are questioned about what the Affiliates would get if
they became "full dues paying members" of the Society, the answers
aren't very satisfying.

- Would the overseas district members get visits from Kenosha staff
members? "Oh no! There are so few of them compared to here in the
States. We couldn't possibly justify the expense of sending a staff
member there."

- Would members of the Australasian District be trained as judges?
"Sure! No problem!

- Great! That means the Society would pay to fly them to the States and
Canada for judging assignments, right? "Well ... No ... They'd have to
pay all their own expenses, of course. I mean, we couldn't pay to fly
them to the States to judge contests or something. How could we afford
that? They'd have to pay for their own flight to the States (mainland,
not Hawaii), then we'd pay the in-country flights."

- I see. Well, to what other services (faculty for schools, coaches for
Top Gun weekends, etc.) would the overseas districts be entitled? "Oh
everything! As long as they paid all the expenses involved in flying
these people to their countries, of course ..."

Comforting words, eh?

Unfortunately, until/unless the Society's financial fortunes turn around
with increased membership numbers, Barbershoppers outside North America
need to look less toward the Society and more towards one another, I
believe. You folks have done that with your Pan Pacific Convention
(which I attended in 2001 and thoroughly enjoyed), and the Europeans
have done it with their quadrennial European Championships (happening
next week in Brighton). This type of activity needs to be broadened.

I've also advocated that the WHC member associations should hold
additional World Harmony Jamborees, outside the one held in July with
the Society, to raise additional money for the WHC grants program. We
(I've lived abroad since leaving Kenosha in 2001) need to be more
independent and less tied to the financial apron strings of the Society.
Those strings are frayed as it is, and if we rely on them too much, we
may find ourselves even more isolated by the Society than we are
already.

Sorry for going on so long, but I'm afraid NZABS may be disappointed by
the Society's reaction to an MIB win. The Society is not very
interested in the "wide world of barbershop" any longer, except for the
revenue the Affiliates and women's association member bring to it by
attending the International Convention.

Cheer for MIB, and as I said above, I really hope the guys win. I think
that would be GREAT for them, great for NZABS, and great for the
Society, too.

Break a lip, MIB!

Patrick


--------------------------------------------
Patrick Kelly, Vocal Coach
Tel Aviv, Israel
pkelly@...
www.singisrael.co.il
Home: +972 3 696-4253
Cell: +972 54 660-SING (7464)
--------------------------------------------
"There is really only one quality of great
music and that is emotion."
Frederick Delius
--------------------------------------------



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