File puptcrit/puptcrit.0807, message 141


From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Mathieu_Ren=E9?= <creaturiste-AT-primus.ca>
To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org>
Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:58:05 -0400
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] encouragement - joining


I dont yet belong to PofA, but intend to.

But I agree with the positive and constructive comments that have been said.
A puppet association is needed, and from personal experience, I can say it 
can change one's life.

Our local association is called AQM, it is also the local UNIMA center for 
Canada.


First time I heard about them (1996), it was from a teacher in my college, a 
member who was just a "friend of puppets", a category they offer to 
non-professionals qho still want to keep in touch with the world of 
Puppetry.
He gave me their contact info. I tried to reach them, and they did reply to 
me after an insane amount of time.
I was disenchanted for a long time, thinking it was not a very useful 
membership to have.
Three years later, I had moved to Montreal, whcih happens to be where ther 
headquarter is, and heard about them again. This time when I contacted them, 
they had all the answers, quickly, and were very efficient in registering me 
as a member. At that point I started making contacts. Without the member's 
directory, I probably would never have gotten two interviews for 
puppetmaking jobs, one resulting in my first contract, even though I had no 
prior experience of creating for the stage (one functional tabletop puppet, 
and the rest were mostly figurines and paintings).

What had changed in the Three year period, to turn an apparently 
disfuntional association into a well-operated organisation? Well, they hired 
a permanent coordinator, who had the tasks of keeping things running 
smoothly.
Prior to this, the board members were doing it all voluntarily, whenever and 
if they could, whih was not enough.
He's still in office, doing a great job, and he is helped by the board 
members.
His name is Stephane Guy, and I am very grateful for all the work he and his 
teams been making possible over the years.

As for getting involved, I think it is the key. Whatever little or big help 
you can provide helps the overall well-being of the association. I try to do 
as much as I can. I donate to them the puppetmaking books I no longer use. 
This means other builders will benefit. For the newsletter, I send them the 
best internet links I can find about puppetry, many are from Puptcrit 
member's sharing. Every small gesture of help ripples on the big pond and 
touches far away beaches!  I lend them puppets for improv nights, and I try 
to be a student in as many training workshops as I can. On my second year of 
membership, at the annual members meeting, someone proposed me as a board 
member, and I accepted (they always a hard time finding volunteers, so 
newbies are very welcome). I was on it for two years, and it was not that 
hard to get involved, with such good dedicated people. I definitely intend 
to be a board member again someday, and in the meantime, I will get as 
invloved as possible.

Our association organises training workshops in all aspects of puppet work, 
bringing specialists from all over the globe. It publishes an email 
newsletter for members, and a once a year magazine. It gets involved in the 
festival events, and keeps the members up to date on worldwide puppet 
events.
Without it, I would have missed an insane amount of opportunities.

I think we can all be worker bees at some point, and at different 
intensities...














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