a lesson on professional planning

[Kim Cox]

Hi Adam,

I had to almost chuckle (and gasp) when I saw your reaction to the AATA
flyer - partly because a colleague of my Mom's, Barry Cohen, a reputable art
therapist and professional meeting planner, was "let go" as AATA's meeting
organizer for this year's conference...even though Barry had received rave
reviews for his past work on the conferences --- and I was hired to do the
copyediting of everything that went out, so I am sorry that the AATA Board
was stupid enough to fire Barry. AATA has been going downhill over the last
few years thanks to mostly politics and power-hungry people - and those who
don't know the definition of a budget. My Mom has had to mourn the loss of
her "tribe."

I am thankful I have found my "tribe" in psychodrama, and even though ASGPP
has had its moments, I am dedicated to helping keep it from becoming what
AATA has become.

Warm regards,

Kim

On Sat, Aug 9, 2008 at 9:30 AM, Adam Blatner <ablatner at verizon.net> wrote:

>  Howdy, all,
>     Yesterday we received a flyer from the American Art Therapy
> Association, nicely done, interesting graphics, about their forthcoming
> conference. It noted when to attend, and invited people to mail in for
> further information, and send their email addresses.
>                  But...
>       The flyer failed to mention anywhere... WHEN  dates... or WHERE
> location of this forthcoming conference. We checked and double checked and
> these essential facts were not there!    This is then a lesson for those who
> plan things: It's easy to lose the forest for the trees. I have no doubt
> that this was double checked and still it was missed.
>
>      (I suspect that this project may have been delegated to professional
> graphic designers. Lesson 2. I no longer assume that professionals are
> competent. Nor consultants. Things need to be triple checked with the aid of
> check-lists.)
>
>           I've also not infrequently received announcements of psychodrama
> and drama therapy events and again the When or Where is not stated. If an
> address is given, the State or Country is not noted, and while that may be
> okay for a local network of friends operating within a small region, it's
> disorienting for a national or international listserve.
>
>           or, fourth, essential information is placed in the middle or at
> the end of the send-out.
>
>     Back to the mailing that was sent out by the AATA ... nor did it
> have mentioned a website or email address. In these days of Google (and
> other web browsers) that's not such a big deal, impenetrability-wise, but
> still...
>
>          So this speaks to the role components of marketing and I'm sharing
> it not so much in a grumpy or indignant way as simply worthy of a rueful
> smile and a willingness to recognize our tendencies to error.
>
>          (e.g., though proofreading my latest anthology a couple of times,
> a number of typos still got through that we didn't pick up, to my chagrin.)
>
>                            Warmly,
>
>
> Adam Blatner, M.D.
>    website: www.blatner.com/adam/
>
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>
>


-- 
"Real is better than perfect." - Dorothy Satten

"Do one thing every day that scares you." - Eleanor Roosevelt
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