Education and Promotion

Chit Chat
1

Hi All!

I hope Derek Smith will forgive me for kicking this one off - Derek and I have talked about this and it looks like I beat him to it to get the ball rolling …

Considering some of the fantastic works of art that Guild members, and their friends, have produced, isn’t it about time we really made a push to get noticed?

Forgive me, my particular passion (as I’ve said so many times) is for decorative knotting, so I have a tendency to go on about “pretty stuff”, but practical and theoretical stuff needs publicising and promoting too, as we should be regarded as the “ultimate authority” on all things knotty.

I notice that Derek asked a question in the “Feedback” forum about “Education” being dropped from the Guild Mission Statement, and I think that education should be high up on our list of priorities. Without education (or publicity, if you like), the Guild will not grow.

Yes, I do have a commercial interest in promoting knotting because of the DVD that Richard Phelan and I produced, but that should not preclude me from asking the Guild (NOT just the council, but the members) to debate modern ways of promoting knot tying.

Whilst there remains a minority of people without PCs and internet access (and I do not wish to exclude them), I sincerely believe we need to find ways of exploiting modern media to promote the IGKT.

I could go on and on (as some of you well know), but I’d like to invite feedback and comments from others without (yet) imposing all my opinions and ideas on everyone!

How can we attract more interest in knots (and, as a bonus, an increase in IGKT membership)?

Thanks!

Phil The Rope

2

Phil

As education is the prime reason for our being a charity you are absolutely right that we need to do a lot more. Personally I found it rather sad that a recent post in decorative knotting (asking for help on braiding) was answered with references to other websites. Not that the websites mentioned are not excellent references but that we have no tutorials to speak of at all. My own interest is toward practical knots and their application - Ashley is a great source but it’s out of date. The forum has some really useful material but it’s random and inevitably lacks structure. Most scouting websites have more strucured information about knots than we do! For a start I would like to see the Council commissioning work (the forum is as good a place as any) and setting up managed projects to deliver via the web site - the days of focussing on paper are long gone. Funding must be made available to ensure a quality product. Without co-ordination this is destined to go nowhere.

Barry

3

Hi Barry.

Your thoughts seem to be in line with mine and Derek’s!

More tutorials made available through the IGKT is a good goal I think - as the so-called experts in knotting, we really need to prove it!

Whilst there are many fabulous books on knotting, we need to face the fact that most people do research via the internet these days. If we wish to attract youngsters, particularly, then we need to offer something more online.

Co-ordination will be no easy thing, but when was progress easy? It has to be a job for Council.

Phil

4

Why should the IGKT be regarded as the “ultimate authority”? Because they have a website? Because they chose an official-sounding name? Because dues are paid?

With 6+ Billion people in the world, and a sizeable number of knot users among them, a little humility is in order.

5

Oh dear

My sincerest intention was to start a debate on how the Guild moves foreward in terms of education and publicity, but already I’ve unintentionally offended someone.

I don’t think it’s a bad ambition to aim to be regarded as the “Ultimate Authority” or experts on knotting, and I apologise if that has come across as arrogant.

However, I would ask that the debate does not go off on a tangent simply because I don’t choose my words carefully enough - I really feel the topic merits a debate.

Thanks,

Phil

6

Phil, I’m not at all offended. I’m only suggesting an examination of premises before building on them.

7

A little hubris and o’rweening ambition is sometimes the spur needed to accomplish great things. 8)

8

Getting back to the subject…

What are your (positive and helpful or negative and misleading) thoughts about getting a focus on education as an element of what CAN be provided? Anyone? I think that, as our declared object in our Mission is “the advancement of education for the public benefit in the art, craft and science of knotting, knots and associated disciplines, past and present.” we should strive to advance education for the public by promoting and providing:

Research,
Reference and consultation,
Publication of a periodical,
Forming a library,
Forming a collection of knots,
Knotting as an element in the education of children and as a therapy, and
Knotting through our members to the general public.
[Paraphrased from our Mission statement]

Roo - you are suggesting an examination of premises before building on them - what does that mean for you and what should we take from it? No, it is not self-evident, because there can be many meanings and I would certainly not like to be off on a tangent with your suggestion.
Phil - your suggestion to build more tutorials seems positive to me - how do you suggest the Council should implement your suggestion?
Barry - what would you suggest for a structure to begin with? Should tutorials be about practical, decorative or other knots? Should we begin by getting a vote on what the Forum members think is needed and then get a vote on what the IGKT members think? Should we include what other forum members think?
KnotMe - great statement! What do you suggest?

SR

9

Hi All!

Just let me emphasise that I am thinking about promoting the IGKT primarily, although I accept there are some fantastic knot tyers around the world who maybe are not members.

One item that jumped out from SR’s post was the mention of knotting as a therapy - what a wonderful idea! I probably speak for a lot of people when I say that I find tying knots very therapeutic.

There are already a number of points raised, so rather than waffle on here, I’ll try to put my own thoughts and ideas together over the weekend and produce a document for the forum to consider. At least that way I might be able to get some structure together!

Thanks!

Phil

10

I will await Phil’s deliberations before adding my own (get more time that way!) but at the expense of sounding bureaucratic there are 2 issues which do need to be considered - responsibility and authority. Who will take responsibility for implementing ideas from the forum and who will give authority for the development? Ideally our Webmistress will take at least part of the responsibility role but the authority - or perhaps better the driving force - has to come from the Council. The forum and KM are good ways to garner ideas but some sifting and refinement are necessary - done quickly if we are to keep the momentum going (and the man who never made a mistake never did anything so let’s go for it).

Barry

11

I’d be more than happy to join in any discussion that focussed on making new tutorials available via Web. As you say, I can’t actually implement anything until I get the official go-ahead but perhaps I can help out in the meantime by offering my technical experience and/or advice?

12

Taking a leaf out of your own book Barry – “first you do it then you argue about it”.

Also, there will be inertia from within the Council, evidenced by the fact that there has been no directive from that group in the recent past on this topic.

Finally, there is the point made by Geoffrey Budworth in KM recently, that action stems from the membership, the Council have no means of making things happen amongst the membership, only the power to ratify members actions as being ‘of and for the Guild’ and to support members activity wherever possible.

To that end, lets try out a little bit of proactive teamwork and see where it gets us without Council guidance or permission. Then, if we all like what we create, the Council will doubtless formally ratify it and can be asked to consider any financial support the project identifies. Consider ourselves as the self elected IGKT Educational Development Project Team - all contributors welcome (even those who aren’t members yet but have something to contribute).

To help us consolidate ideas into a formalised structure, here is a wiki for the project. http://igkt-educationgroup.pbwiki.com/ Ideas are great on a forum or by email but they soon loose any relavance in an overall project and can soon be forgotten or lost. The wiki gives them a place to be improved and worked on, then used when the time comes.

Mel, any chance please of you giving it the once over for ‘Accessibility’.

Derek

13

I’ve logged in and had a quick look at the back end. As it’s the free version, you’re pretty limited in terms of what you can do to customise the appearance, so it’s really just down to how you create the actual wiki content itself. The best general suggestions I can give are:

  1. Ensure that all of the page titles, headings and links make sense - even when they are read out of context (it helps if you try to imagine that you’re reading the page to someone over the phone).

  2. Provide a logical navigation menu on every page.

  3. Use the Headings logically i.e Heading 1 should be followed by Heading 2 then 3 etc.

  4. Start each page with a short summary of what that page is about. Called 'front loading (think ‘newspaper stories’). Aids those with reading problems and, as a nice benefit, is an excellent Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) technique.

  5. Don’t assume everyone can see a page in colour - some mobile devices are monochrome and some visitors may be colour blind.

Obviously, if you start adding lots of content, I can help out with organisation etc. if needed.

14

Seems to me that research, reference and consultation are of a piece.

Supporting the research of others is reference and consultation (see library).

WRT supporting research and doing research, I suggest study groups. Have a look at http://www.complex-weavers.org/ and http://www.complex-weavers.org/stdylist.htm for a group that I believe practices these ideas. What’s the difference between their study groups and what goes on on the IGKT forums and KHWW? They are action oriented. They share information, they have regular exchanges and issue challenges to each other. Finished work that can be displayed is regularly produced. In fact, they have regular conferences (in association with http://www.weavespindye.org/) and shows (biennial, I believe). This is a fertile environment.

WRT consulation, make groups, similar to study groups to service specific needs. Make a list of people who specialize in: traditional rigging, forensics, mountain climbing, fishing, decorative, safety, etc. people who are wiling to consult, people who are willing to demonstrate, people who are willing to lecture. When someone has executed one of these tasks, both report back to the guild at large and post it to the website: Jane Knottyer rigged a ship for movie X, John helped the Mythbusters with historical accuracy on a project, Jennifer consulted with the police on occasion Y, Jack gave a workshop to fire fighters, Joan is exhibiting at museum Z, Jin created knotwork for a feng shui home dec show, Jeff is attending the latest scout jamboree where he will…

Publicise to the group, publicise on the site, publicise with press releases. Make it clear that we are active, make it clear that we are available, make it clear what we can do.

There is already Knotting Matters. For wider distribution, I suggest putting downloadable PDFs online. For even wider distribution, make the articles HTML documents that are more search engine friendly and linkable. If education and outreach is the prime directive 8) 8), then giving it away should not be a problem.

Similar to the action groups, create a team that coordinates and actively targets other publications for article submission. Have goals of getting into River and Stream (I think that’s a fishing magazine, but I’m just guessing here), some mountaineering magazine, Jewelry Artist, etc, etc.

IGKT has a library. AFAIK it travels to the UK AGM. Or individual volumes travel to the UK meetings by request. As a North American member, this makes me very sad. Yes, someday I’d like to attend the occasional meeting, but that doesn’t serve any immediate needs. What do I suggest? Either make the library a lending library or start building a parallel collection that is a lending library. Catalogue the library and put up extensive descriptions, reviews, ISBN numbers and such so that, when possible, people searching for information may find it there and then turn around to seek through their local library systems and/or interlibrary loan systems. Lastly, volumes that are no longer covered by copyright should be scanned and put up on the IGKT site as well as copied into Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/) or similar.

It would also be nice if there were the personnel and resources to provide fair use level of copying (as you can perform in a library) of sections of works (ie. you could request a chapter out of a book if you knew that chapter was particularly relevant to your project or research).

Similar to the library, develop a collection of knots that can be loaned out. Develop instructional kits that can be provided to guilds, SCAers, scouts/guides, etc. Offer knot boards to nautical museums.

Are there any “important” knots? Obviously the Gordian knot no longer exists. The only other possibility that comes to mind might be the decorative knots that are part of a tassel that decorates an important object. I’m thinking that the knot that saved person X when they were mountain climbing or performing some other perilous activity would not or could not be kept. The remains of bellropes when they are replaced?

Report back from programs that guild members have been involved in. If there is enough information, develop programs that can be accessed by interested parties and distribute them.

Make internal education programs and form letter resources, printable pamphlets for people who can then offer themselves forward to the local scout/guide groups, mountain climbing knot workshops to the local sports supply stores, fishing knots for the local fishing stores, jewelry knots for the local bead stores, etc. I’m thinking there’s enough work to dedicated one or two people solely to scout outreach and coordination.

Post (make available information and reports on the 'net)
Publicize (when members do stuff of even slight interest, report back to the guild. if it is of significance, issue press releases)
Promote (do works of interest, seek out other groups with similar interests and ally with them (scouts/guides, The Braid Society, basketry groups, nautical groups, sports groups, historians and recreationists, etc)
People (make it easy for people with specific interests to find the information they want and especially to find like-minded others)

Create and empower individuals with a mission and a mandate. Occasionally you see people speak about “I’m a member, but I can’t speak for the group.” Empower people to speak for the group. Give them business cards and pamphlets. Education officers. Spokespeople. etc.

There. How’s that for hubris and o’erweeing ambition? 8)

15

Hi KnotMe,

Well, maybe I should have made it more clear that I was simply paraphrasing from our Mission Statement, but nonetheless, here goes:

WRT supporting research and doing research, I suggest study groups. Have a look at http://www.complex-weavers.org/ and http://www.complex-weavers.org/stdylist.htm for a group that I believe practices these ideas. What's the difference between their study groups and what goes on on the IGKT forums and KHWW? They are action oriented. They share information, they have regular exchanges and issue challenges to each other. Finished work that can be displayed is regularly produced. In fact, they have regular conferences (in association with http://www.weavespindye.org/) and shows (biennial, I believe). This is a fertile environment.

Study groups are a great idea and thank goodness that our Branches are actively involved in so doing - I just wish they had a system of telling us all about what they are studying. We, too, have conferences but they are not the same as conferences where learned papers are presented, they are places where fellow knot-tyers can exchange ideas through observation and questions, freely responded to. We are active and fertile, but in a more sedentary, medication-free way!

The IGKT forums are NOT the sole voice of the IGKT - sadly however they are the one voice where someone can (and frequently will) quote the IGKT as having done this or that or as having stated this or that. If the internet forum is the only means by which a person is able to assess the value of an organization, it seems to me that as a society we have lost a great heritage and gained nothing but hot air, with no checks or balances, no integrity and no oversight to ensure accuracy, fairness or veracity. Yes, the other groups report via internet on a regular basis and we do not - we are at fault for not tooting our own horn in this corner of the world view. We should do more and you have started the ball rolling - how do we keep the floor tilted to ensure it keeps rolling?

As for the Mission Statement:
The MS states [in full for this part]:
To execute these objectives, but not otherwise, the IGKT shall have the following powers:
i. Promote research into all aspects of knotting,
ii. Act as a primary source of reference and consultation,…"

I paraphrased, as I said above, and I think that may have misled you into thinking that I was promoting my paraphrases as THE word. Nothing farther from it - it is writ in words of print in our membership handbook. Let’s start there. First, research;
It looks to me like the IGKT has powers given itself to promote research instead of actually conducting research. I guess that HOW the IGKT promotes research is to support it? Members may be able to clarify this through their Branches or their Council. Does support mean saying “Good show - carry on” or does it mean “Here’s fifty quid - show us what this will do.” or does it mean “We wonder what will happen when we pull this - go find some money and find out for us”

Research is indeed a fertile environment and one that generally requires lots of money thrown in haphazard directions until someone at the research facility gets fed up with it and trundles off to find something else to amuse themselves with, or the original questioner is bemused by the research findings and trundles off with no better idea than when they started but rather fewer pieces of money than when they started. There is NO school, unless I am VERY much mistaken, of nodology where one could seek such information. Knot-tyers are it.

The idea of downloadable pdfs of KM is being discussed. Among the observations [and here I hasten to add that these are a few only of the observations known to me, not necessarily espoused by me] are that people who have never paid a dime for membership may somehow benefit financially from the past endeavors of others, that the cost of production is far underweighed by the cost of distribution, so who will do the production (?), and that pdfs may not be fully searchable (another function that SOMEBODY has to perform) so what good will they be? On the rather warmer side is that pdfs make for wonderful attributes, searchable or not and that all previously private members-only communications should be completely in the public eye (what then would be the incentive to join the Guild?) for the benefit of all mankind, or at least those who want to see it for free. As I said, thoughts of others NOT MINE.

There is more to come on the subjects but this will do for now as I have other things to do. DO write again - more hubris for all! Thanks for your comments. ;D

SR

16

I’ve seen and heard this argument before re subscription benefits in particular the right to receive KM. It sits uncomfortably alongside our aims as a charity - we are not a members’ club and subs should in my opinion be treated as minimum donations to further our aims not as purchase of a right to benefit although the facility to communicate via KM is a useful benefit in itself. We, quite properly, do not restrict the Forum to Guild members. Why should we restrict the circulation of KM (the exception being posting a copy to members who do not have Internet access)? No doubt we could restrict Internet access to members but given the latest work on education is this right?

Barry

17

Carol,

Great set of comments - I particularly accord with your concerns re the Library. I am based in the UK, yet still have no access unless I attend the occasional meeting. We need to mobilise the availability of our library and your thoughts on pdf and fair use copying are valid if we can find volunteers to do the work.

I am part of the team involved in converting all the back KMs into pdf format, but the Guild does not have copies of its own, so the first challenge is to find members with copies they are prepared to loan back for scanning. At least the books in the library are available for this if we can find volunteers prepared to spend the time scanning.

IGKT has a library. AFAIK it travels to the UK AGM. Or individual volumes travel to the UK meetings by request. As a North American member, this makes me very sad. Yes, someday I'd like to attend the occasional meeting, but that doesn't serve any immediate needs. What do I suggest? Either make the library a lending library or start building a parallel collection that is a lending library. Catalogue the library and put up extensive descriptions, reviews, ISBN numbers and such so that, when possible, people searching for information may find it there and then turn around to seek through their local library systems and/or interlibrary loan systems. Lastly, volumes that are no longer covered by copyright should be scanned and put up on the IGKT site as well as copied into Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/) or similar.

It would also be nice if there were the personnel and resources to provide fair use level of copying (as you can perform in a library) of sections of works (ie. you could request a chapter out of a book if you knew that chapter was particularly relevant to your project or research).

Re your ideas of creating groups to work on certain aspects. Could you develop this a little more - do you have thoughts on how would we encourage volunteers to join such groups?

Derek

18

Wow! Things are taking off and some great comments and suggestions are coming through, especially with the wiki that Derek set up.

I don’t think there’s much point me trying to put my own thoughts in a document as I’d mentioned on Friday - the wiki seems to be moving along, and that’s probably where I should be contributing.

Phil