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I am very angry at Jay

The following is MY opinion and MY opinion only, and does not reflect the views of anyone else at Get The Picture. That should keep Mike off the hook. :)

I am in no way, shape, or form, a Jay Goltz fan. While I recognize his success in business and also acknowledge that he does impart a great deal of sound advice to the industry, I find his delivery to be sorely lacking. He comes off as incredibly arrogant and condescending, and if you disagree with him, well, it's because you're stupid and should just close your business and go away. I took a class of his in 2013, and the overall tone of his lecture was so insulting, that I walked out of the class before it had completed. I will never take another one of his classes because of it, and will actively avoid anything he is involved with. I did leave the panel early, so I also missed his comments on PPFA,and am frankly glad I did.

Yes, PPFA has had its problems, but those problems only get fixed when its members are actively involved in keeping it going. Too many members join PPFA, then sit back, expecting to get rich with no effort on their part. And when they don't, it's only because PPFA failed them. I have said it time and time again, you will only get out of PPFA what you are willing to put into your membership. Do you regularly attend the meetings? Do you take the offered classes? Do you take advantage of the many benefits offered? If you feel that your local chapter is not bringing in educators that you personally could benefit from, do you make suggestions to your local board? Do you actively get involved by taking a role on the board? If you answer "no" to any of these questions, then you are NOT making the most of your membership. And frankly, that speaks more to the member, and not to a failing on the part of PPFA.

Mike and I have belonged to the PPFA since 2003. We have attended every single local meeting with the exception of one, which is sad, for it was the year we had Vivian Kistler up to teach shortly before her passing. I received my CPF in 2004, and have renewed my designation whenever necessary. Both Mike and I have served on the board, myself as a retail director for two terms, and Mike as secretary for a couple terms and currently as a technical adviser locally and nationally as a committee chair. We've attended many of the classes offered by our chapter, and I even took on the role as educator in 2013 teaching a faux finishing class. My point is, we take a very active role in our chapter, and find tremendous value in our membership. The fact that the PPFA could be so rudely dismissed as useless by a nationally recognized "expert" is frankly infuriating, and will definitely give me pause in the future regarding him and anything he may be involved in.
 
" an organization that represents less than 20% of the industry is clearly ineffective and not worth being a member of."

I have taken a number Jim's classes and he has said in his classes that we make "80% of our sales from 20% of our customers. Implying that we should definitely respect that part of our market.


Got a better solution with out all the agenda driven BS suppliers like to sling, have at it. If not, please sit down, shut up and help row the boat to make our industry better for our customers.

THANK YOU Les! Very well said.

An industry leader and educator who is so willing to crush the trade organization who has worked so hard at surviving and educating our members and NON-members makes me sad and incredibly irate!

PPFA members, for the most part, are a group of very dedicated and hard working professionals who want to see our fellow framers succeed right along next to us. One successful framer who shares and encourages other framers strengthens the industry as a whole. Is Goltz completely blind to this? Encourage us, don't tear us down. When one person encourages another, guess who they remember to thank when success finally comes their way? Not the one tearing them down, for sure.

This year I had the privilege of volunteering at the PPFA booth at WCAF, and let me tell you..... I had more fun than I thought possible. SO many members dropped by to chat and to see the framing competition winners. And THEN..... there were the non members who came by asking questions and/or SIGNING up for memberships. I would say our show was very successful, and our location was great, very visible.

I love my PPFA family with all my heart and am greatly looking forward to the future of it with our new guidance, Coulter. We truly are an amazing group of people who "get it". All of that for a minimal membership fee. It's like I hit the jack pot :)
 
...I know many think I should have stood up and said something but honestly it was not the place... Any thing you say he is going to go full force as he has his audience. Nothing you say will be interpreted the way it is intended as he will twist it to fit his agenda. I am not getting into an argument in that setting. It is not worth it...

Robin, you are correct that challenging the speaker at the event would be a mistake, but I believe it would have been possible to engage in some conversation to put his remarks in a less-damaging perspective, and perhaps get the room talking about the questions PPFA has been asking for so many years. Of course hindsight is always 20-20, but after thinking about that scenario (which I'm sorry I had to miss), I would like to think I might have stood up to ask a couple of questions in the context of the discussion.

For example: "If you believe PPFA provides no value, could you and the distinguished panelists suggest some potential benefits that a trade association could provide for framers individually and for the industry collectively, or is it your opinion that a trade association has no purpose in the future of American framing?"

Or maybe one could have said this: "As I recall, you launched the Framer Select program in an effort to bring framers together for the benefits of group marketing. I was a member and wish it had succeeded. Of course the market has evolved since then, but do you still believe our industry could benefit from a well organized group-marketing program today? And if so, could an updated version of Framers Select succeed for framers now?"

No intimidation, no apologies, but sincere inquiries might have changed the face of the discussion and added some welcome insights.
 
Robin, you are correct that challenging the speaker at the event would be a mistake, but I believe it would have been possible to engage in some conversation to put his remarks in a less-damaging perspective, and perhaps get the room talking about the questions PPFA has been asking for so many years. Of course hindsight is always 20-20, but after thinking about that scenario (which I'm sorry I had to miss), I would like to think I might have stood up to ask a couple of questions in the context of the discussion.

For example: "If you believe PPFA provides no value, could you and the distinguished panelists suggest some potential benefits that a trade association could provide for framers individually and for the industry collectively, or is it your opinion that a trade association has no purpose in the future of American framing?"

Or maybe one could have said this: "As I recall, you launched the Framer Select program in an effort to bring framers together for the benefits of group marketing. I was a member and wish it had succeeded. Of course the market has evolved since then, but do you still believe our industry could benefit from a well organized group-marketing program today? And if so, could an updated version of Framers Select succeed for framers now?"

No intimidation, no apologies, but sincere inquiries might have changed the face of the discussion and added some welcome insights.
I have since thought of many non-threatening responses I could have taken.
At the time I was dumbstruck and just walked out. <sigh>
 
Coming from a top-dog industry leader, comments like that seem unnecessarily brutal to those of us who work hard to keep PPFA going and provide benefits, such as this forum, the CPF and MCPF programs, the competition program, the Guidelines books, and more. These things may have considerable value to some framers, but perhaps not to the majority of framers and certainly not to Mr. Goltz.

Jay Goltz's remarks surely alienated a small (very small) percentage of the framers in the room, but the majority surely agreed with him. His negative opinion of PPFA is popular and - let's be honest - at least partially correct. PPFA should have been represented there, even if by only a conspicuous table or two of enthusiastic members, and a spokesperson should have been ready to stand up for PPFA at any opportunity in that open forum. In the bigger picture, our industry's only trade association has never reached "critical mass" of membership in all its years; PPFA has not managed to attract a majority, or even a large minority, of framers at any time. We can be angry with Jay Goltz for his slap-in-the-face commentary, but it would be difficult to fault his logic.

PPFA is like a small lifeboat in a big ocean. The association has helped a lot of framers over the years. Faithful members have been rowing against the tide since the beginning, and at times frantically bailing to stay afloat. Jay Goltz's negative remarks represent one more surge of angry surf to swamp this leaky little boat. It's "sink or swim" time again, my friends. Who will rescue PPFA this time?

Maybe it's time for everyone to take a step back and look at the big picture. I don't even know how many years I have been in the organization, but it's been many. Over time there has been changes that have taken place, some good and some not so much. Some of those changes IMHO are really hurting PPFA. One of the biggest changes is the great amount of emphisis that is being put on the CPF and MCPF testing. Way too much time and money has been put on the CPF program and not nearly enough on the membership. It is making a clique out of the orgaization. For a couple of years now it has been more difficault for me to keep coming back. What I have seen and I know many other vendors feel the same is that PPFA is no longer the voice of the industry, but instead are now in compititon with the industry. A very good example of that was the negative attitude PPFA gave to Decor Atlanta. When I started the NC chapter getting new members was easy, but from what I understand keeping them has been a whole different thing. Jay and Jim both have some very valid points.

The following is something the Pope Francis had to say about cliques and I think it applies here. Maybe not in a spiritual way, but certainly in a social and ethical one.

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Francis issued a blistering critique Monday of the Vatican bureaucracy that serves him, denouncing how some people lust for power at all costs, live hypocritical double lives and suffer from "spiritual Alzheimer's" that has made them forget they're supposed to be joyful men of God.
Francis' Christmas greeting to the cardinals, bishops and priests who run the Holy See was no joyful exchange of holiday good wishes. Rather, it was a sobering catalog of 15 sins of the Curia that Francis said he hoped would be atoned for and cured in the New Year.
He had some zingers: How the "terrorism of gossip" can "kill the reputation of our colleagues and brothers in cold blood." How cliques can "enslave their members and become a cancer that threatens the harmony of the body" and eventually kill it by "friendly fire." About how those living hypocritical double lives are "typical of mediocre and progressive spiritual emptiness that no academic degree can fill."
"The Curia is called on to always improve itself and grow in communion, holiness and knowledge to fulfill its mission," Francis said. "But even it, as any human body, can suffer from ailments, dysfunctions, illnesses."


 
I did not attend the breakfast because I was at the PPFA convention / WCAF show to learn something.

I figured I could get more return out of taking two PPFA classes on Wednesday, instead of listening to opinions that, in my opinion, are not really value added. Looks like I made the correct decision. Linda Wassell's classes were exceptional; No one left early and most stayed late!

We all have personal opinions about lots of things. IMHO, we always need to be aware in what we say when we are representing someone else; Jay was representing PFM magazine as the PFM Business Editor, in a breakfast sponsored by PFM magazine. His comments, even if he personally believes them, were out of place. I will be surprised if neither Bruce Gherman nor Patrick Sarver call him out for his comments. If not, I will be disappointed in both Bruce and Patrick.
 
Dear Jim, Please forgive the old person, I just got so excited and discombobulated I mis-wrote like a politician miss speaks. Jay is definitely where my intense interest is directed at this time.

I remember stories about the framing industry and what it was like before the PPFA. Any one want to go back to "the good ole days?"
 
Point of Order: The CPF & MCPF programs are not cost centers. They are revenue neutral. Dues do not pay for certification.

Everything that costs money is paid for by the framers who are certified...even their certificates.

Testing expenses are covered by the testing fee. Updating & managing the testing are done by volunteers.

In my year on the board, certification has only been discussed once, and that involved routine updating of the re certification course and updating the certificates. It has been my observation that it does not receive any special emphasis from inside the organization.

Certification is an important part of what we do, but it is inaccurate to say that it drains time and resources.
 
I have always found PPFA to be well worth the membership fee. If all I got for my membership was this forum then it would be well worth the fee. But you do have the opportunity to receive more for your membership. I always enjoyed the HitchHiker Forum and miss it but this forum has filled the need. I have been framing for 28 years the one thing I have learned is "there is more than one way to skin a cat." Being in PPfA and on this forum you learn that. I worked for another framing for 3 years before I opened my business...he was a good framer but thought he knew it all so never went to any trade shows or took classes. That was 24 years ago. He is out of business now and I'm still here and I contribute that to my continuing education and being able to learn from other frames. Before I opened my business I went to Larson Juhl's framing school so that I could learn other things about framing not just one framers way of doing things.
 
I will be surprised if neither Bruce Gherman nor Patrick Sarver call him out for his comments. If not, I will be disappointed in both Bruce and Patrick.

I fired off a long, terse e-mail to Bruce. He responded that he wanted to speak with me on Monday. I am away for a funeral and have scheduled a call with him for Tuesday when I am back.

Film at 11
 
Wasn't there, but I am keenly aware of Jay's penchants in this regard. He was the Keynote Speaker at Framefest 2014 for some recent history and I was a member of Framer Select for some less recent.
I won't comment of what he said nor his motives behind saying it, but is anyone here familiar to the theory of paradoxical intent? Nothing can galvanize a group to action like the appearance of a common enemy, and Jay may just have provided us with the nexus of our little organization moving forward. Not so much the man personally as the challenge and perception he represents.
Confrontation, retaliation, anger, and disappointment are all wasted energy. We should be saving that energy for the work ahead. The best comeback is to prove him wrong. All the indignant outrage, right or wrong, won't resolve anything, nor will it raise PPFA to the level it needs to be.
Just my $.02. From a distance. Who knows what I would have thought at the time.
 
...Not so much the man personally as the challenge and perception he represents. Confrontation, retaliation, anger, and disappointment are all wasted energy... The best comeback is to prove him wrong. All the indignant outrage, right or wrong, won't resolve anything, nor will it raise PPFA to the level it needs to be.
Well said, Wally.
 
PFM Breakfast had an awkward moment when one of the members asked Jay Goltz if he was a member. He said he was not as he "did not see the value in it".

He just called me, as we here in SE are planning our second bigger and better Frame Fest. He spoke for us last year as a favor. And because I asked him to, with sufficient buttering up (ask me about it, it's a funny story). Well, he was not proud of the way things went down at the PFM thing. He asked about Frame Fest 2015 the dates and wants to come again. And his topic is so on message with what I believe in in the direction of this the PPFA of 2015. He said he thought he should have been asked if he had been asked to become a member lately. Well I asked him. And he said absolutely!

Interestingly Wally Fay and I are talking about making PPFA membership a requirement for FF participation...so I asked him to become a member and he said YES!!!!

So any of you that threw away you samples, canceled your orders and threw darts at his photo, please, please please. Hang in there. Flies with honey and we need you and he and me to all do business together to make a difference. There are far too few of use for those kind of schisms. We need them and all of us.

He is developing new and wonderful topics SPECIFICALLY for Frame Fest, for ya'll. And I believe him and in him just like I do all of you. We need each other.

Frame Fest September 19-21, 2015 In Lake Buena Vista Florida, BY framers FOR framers. We can only make a difference together.
 
I have to agree that if we can stick together and agree to disagree, we are all better off.

I do wish we could draw a line and say, "ok anything that happened before today is old news and irrelevant. Today, we move forward together."

I know. Pie in the sky. But we can try.
 
Business as usual?

I'm sure that you guys will crucify, or ignore, me as usual, but do consider that I'm making these comments in this private forum rather than on the Grumble.

I read this entire thread and analyzed the responses. Although my tally sheet is somewhat subjective, I found it interesting, but not unexpected, that most of the posters, 10 by my count, reacted with the usual defensive outrage and a call to kill the messenger. A few others were neutral in their view.

Only four, (Dave W, Jim M, Pat K, and Wally F) responded to the message, and actually acknowledged that Goltz' remarks not only resonated with the audience in the room, but probably accurately represents the general perception of PPFA throughout the rest of the industry -- the non-believers. PPFA, IMO, needs more of the objectivity their posts offered.

One other person, Cathy Coggins, who should be in the foreign service core, responded in separate post. Her diplomatic skills are exemplary, and IMO, she would make a great leader and ambassador for this organization.
 
Paul, I can acknowledge that many have similar mis-perceptions to Jay concerning PPFA.
I can easily acknowledge that early PMA staff were incompetent, and at times downright dishonest.
(thankfully we have all new staff and clear reason for optimism.)

That does not excuse the use of an inappropriate venue, disdain for all the volunteers who've tried to keep the boat afloat, or the vitriol I heard in his voice.

I understand Jay has joined PPFA. Welcome! Seriously. I really, really welcome him! We need everyone. We don't have to agree on everything, but we need to all work on building this industry!
 
Paul, you make a good point here, but remember this is a private forum where we work out our emotions as well as work toward rational solutions.

Even the most angry and hurt of us came to more or less the same conclusion you did after discussing it.

It isn't ever black and white. In the discussion we learned that Jay had some good reasons for his dismissive attitude, and we have to take some responsibility for his information being out of date.

What I think is different and often overlooked about PPFA is that we aren't static; we learn and change. Sometimes it seems our critics remain firmly fixed in the 1990's, refusing to acknowledge that change occurs. Unfortunately, this seems to be a prevalent attitude in our culture these days.

But every time we bring some former member back into the fold by making the case for who we are now, it encourages me.

I think it is great that we have--sometimes heated--discussions in the organization. But the best part is that it is happening inside the association. Our best hope of prospering in our businesses is to work together toward our common goals, acknowledging our differences without letting them hobble us.

It is gratifying that you not only came back but have renewed. While I disagree with you about many things, if you feel attacked or ignored then I am not doing a good enough job of communicating with you. To really succeed, every member needs to be heard.
 
Paulie, I like ya fine. You are a bit of an ambulance chaser (metaphorically) but I like ya fine.

You are probably here (FC) more than you let on, and I think hopping topics intrigue you the most. Personally I would love to see that brain of yours tackle some of the minutiae as a sort of meditation...but that is a whole 'nother thread. Heck, it might be a whole 'nother forum.

We all know we are the minority in the biz, and there is a lot of work to be done, and are fiercely protective
of what we have. It is growing, but goodness there is SO MUCH work to do.

In my mind, when I reduce all the unnecessary out of what happened, what we have left is a careless but somewhat accurate comment (at least as far as perceptions), a minority membership presence, and a whole lot of people hanging on to the past. These views are my own. And they explain away what went on, BUT then they allow me to then continue on with my work.

There is no wrong, only what are you doing with you view points, opinions and or mindsets, "What do I hope to gain by thinking this way?" Taking an adversarial approach to anyone in a tiny industry is fruitless, we have too much in common, and too much to risk by alienating ourselves. Acknowledge the commonalities and build from there.

Grasshopper, I like ya fine.
 
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