Sunday, July 3: The 2011 convention's final day included two notable activities: a visit to the San Jose History Park and the Printing Office staffed by the San Jose Printers' Guild, and a visit to Dave and Liz Tribby's residence and Handset Press.
Grateful for transportation provided by thoughtful drivers, members piled out in the parking lot of History Park in beautiful, sunny San Jose weather. This printer was happy for the warm weather; I spend about eleven months out of the year wishing for weather like that, and I intend to enjoy it when some comes along!
After a delightful picnic lunch provided by Dave and Liz Tribby--and there may have been others involved, members meandered over to the Printing Office. Guild members Dave Robison, Marjorie Wilser, Kim Hamilton, Steve Robison, and Dave Tribby were hosts to visitors. Dave demonstrated one of his Multigraph presses set up to print in Braille. You may know that the Multigraph uses short, stubby, grooved type which slides into horizontal rails in a cylinder on the press, and Dave has a font of Braille type. The impression cylinder is specially designed to receive the raised dots on the type as they press through the paper. The Braille type is "right reading," and a group of blind visitors had no problem reading the type right on the press. The result on the printed page is blind embossing (no pun intended :-), and the sheet is read from the back side.
The press being demonstrated by Marjorie Wilser was a Weiler Liberty press--with no throw-off lever: if you do not get the paper down on the platen before the press closes, you make an impression on the platen unless you can overpower the press's momentum and get it stopped first. Of course, Marjorie was generous enough to allow AAPA members who wished to do so to treadle off a few impressions to get the feel of the press. It is somewhat of a strange press in that the ink plate is clear to the back of the press, facing away from the operator.
A short drive brought the group to the residence of Dave and Liz Tribby. My oh my, what a print shop Dave has! With the addition of Charlie Hinde's Bean Creek Press, there is a great abundance of type, borders, dingbats, and all sorts of stuff that turned some of us green with envy! And the happy thing about it is that Dave puts it to good use! (Note the Handset Journals and Tribby Tribunes in the bundles, just for a couple of examples.) So surveying the shop and visiting over his treasure trove kept a lot of us happily occupied until the call came to help devour the pizza. Then the visiting was transferred to the patio behind the house. And after that was a tour of the Tribbys' lush and productive garden. It all makes me almost feel like moving to Sunnyvale!
This has been a fantastic convention! Highest commendations are due Dave Tribby and Steve Robison, their wives, and others in the San Jose Printers' Guild for all of the hard work and organizing that went into this convention. It is one that will live in the memory of the attenders for years to come!
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Day 2 of 2011 Convention
Saturday, July 2--the convention's second day. Peter Schaub, of Alexandria, Virginia started off the morning program with "Memories of Amateur Journalism." Peter joined the AAPA in 1965, recommended by David Wesson, but as is often the case, life happened; he became busy with other pursuits, and his amateur journalism career--including AAPA membership--was dropped, or at least put on long-term hold. But he rejoined early in 2008, after having looked us up on the internet, and has become active again. Peter gave a fascinating review of his participation in ajay, as a member both of NAPA and AAPA. His Powerpoint presentation showed copies of his amateur journal, "The Novelty Pressman," which he published as a 16-year-old prep school student. He also passed around samples for a close look, as he pointed up certain features of that publication.
Next on the program was "The Great Debate" between Dean Rea and Ivan Snyder. The old die-hard printers discussed AAPA affairs while setting type from their California type cases. During the conversation, they managed to offend almost everyone in attendance, and some that were absent--at least they tried their best to. The final conclusion was that the AAPA has something to offer to those who are interested in amateur journalism, and its members in turn can offer a lot to the AAPA.
After a lunch break, Marjorie Wilser, Dave Robison, and Tom Goglio discussed the San Jose Printers' Guild, each from a unique perspective. Their talks and the pictures shown certainly whetted the AAPA members' appetites for the visit to History Park Sunday.
George Hamilton officiated at the auction Saturday afternoon. George not only kept the audience entertained, but the auction turned out to be very successful. Proceeds from the auction totaled $900! Even so, quite a few AAPA and Guild members escaped with very valuable items for a truly bargain price!
Those attending the banquet Saturday evening had their choice of a vegetarian, fish, or chicken entree. After everyone had pleased their palates, there were a number of awards to be presented. George Hamilton announced the winner of the Marge Adams Petrone Limerick Contest: appropriately, this year's winner was Susan Petrone--who happens to be the daughter of Marge Adams Petrone! George continued the awards presentation by announcing this year's Laureate Award winners. George has served as on the Laureate Committee, along with Johanna Shipley and Shannon Adams. Pres. Mike O'Connor followed, with presentation of several "AAPA Stalwart" awards.
The speaker for the evening was none other than George W. Hamilton himself. George joined the AAPA in 1948, so he has a vast knowledge of ajay affairs. The title of George's talk was "The Next 75--Get More out of Ajay!" The audience became involved as George invited all to tell someone seated next to them some fact about themselves quite apart from their printing or ajay activities. George's point was that there are some fascinating, but unknown facts about every one of us, and how much more fun life could be if we begin to discover some of these facts. (Might be some excellent materials for a good many amateur journals, right?)
All that remained after adjournment was more interaction up in the Hospitality Suite, and that went on until close to midnight.
One delightful feature of this convention was the presence of a number of visitors. Mention has been made of the San Jose Printers' Guild members; Dave Tribby, Steve Robison, Matt Kelsey, and Kim Hamilton are AAPA members who belong to the guild (Kim joined the AAPA on Saturday); but in addition, Marjorie Wilser, Dave Robison, and Tom Goglio were with us. Former AAPA member Allan Stump stopped by for a while. Bay Area Book Artists members Linda Stinchfield and Karen Cutter were with us and gave an enjoyable display of numerous bookmaking techniques. And it was such an honor to have Susan Petrone's cousin Noelle Powell with us for the afternoon and evening. Noelle's mother was Ginny Adams, an AAPA member in past years, one of the "Youngstown Girls."
Next on the program was "The Great Debate" between Dean Rea and Ivan Snyder. The old die-hard printers discussed AAPA affairs while setting type from their California type cases. During the conversation, they managed to offend almost everyone in attendance, and some that were absent--at least they tried their best to. The final conclusion was that the AAPA has something to offer to those who are interested in amateur journalism, and its members in turn can offer a lot to the AAPA.
After a lunch break, Marjorie Wilser, Dave Robison, and Tom Goglio discussed the San Jose Printers' Guild, each from a unique perspective. Their talks and the pictures shown certainly whetted the AAPA members' appetites for the visit to History Park Sunday.
George Hamilton officiated at the auction Saturday afternoon. George not only kept the audience entertained, but the auction turned out to be very successful. Proceeds from the auction totaled $900! Even so, quite a few AAPA and Guild members escaped with very valuable items for a truly bargain price!
Those attending the banquet Saturday evening had their choice of a vegetarian, fish, or chicken entree. After everyone had pleased their palates, there were a number of awards to be presented. George Hamilton announced the winner of the Marge Adams Petrone Limerick Contest: appropriately, this year's winner was Susan Petrone--who happens to be the daughter of Marge Adams Petrone! George continued the awards presentation by announcing this year's Laureate Award winners. George has served as on the Laureate Committee, along with Johanna Shipley and Shannon Adams. Pres. Mike O'Connor followed, with presentation of several "AAPA Stalwart" awards.
The speaker for the evening was none other than George W. Hamilton himself. George joined the AAPA in 1948, so he has a vast knowledge of ajay affairs. The title of George's talk was "The Next 75--Get More out of Ajay!" The audience became involved as George invited all to tell someone seated next to them some fact about themselves quite apart from their printing or ajay activities. George's point was that there are some fascinating, but unknown facts about every one of us, and how much more fun life could be if we begin to discover some of these facts. (Might be some excellent materials for a good many amateur journals, right?)
All that remained after adjournment was more interaction up in the Hospitality Suite, and that went on until close to midnight.
One delightful feature of this convention was the presence of a number of visitors. Mention has been made of the San Jose Printers' Guild members; Dave Tribby, Steve Robison, Matt Kelsey, and Kim Hamilton are AAPA members who belong to the guild (Kim joined the AAPA on Saturday); but in addition, Marjorie Wilser, Dave Robison, and Tom Goglio were with us. Former AAPA member Allan Stump stopped by for a while. Bay Area Book Artists members Linda Stinchfield and Karen Cutter were with us and gave an enjoyable display of numerous bookmaking techniques. And it was such an honor to have Susan Petrone's cousin Noelle Powell with us for the afternoon and evening. Noelle's mother was Ginny Adams, an AAPA member in past years, one of the "Youngstown Girls."
Friday, July 1, 2011
First Full Day of 2011 Convention
The 2011 AAPA convention officially got underway Friday morning, July 1. The first order of business was introduction of members present. Some interesting facts emerged as the members introduced themselves. George Hamilton joined the AAPA in 1948, giving him 63 years in the organization; but Dean Rea joined in 1942, and has been in the AAPA for 69 years!
Reports from the officers were reasonably brief and for information only. Pres. Mike O'Connor led off by reading a report from First Vice-president Mike Coughlin, followed by the secretary-treasurer's report given by Ivan Snyder. Dean Rea was next with the Official Editor's report.
The first presentation was "Business Ventures in Printing," given by Matt Kelsey, a member who lives in Saratoga, California. Matt is proprietor of Liber Apertus Books. He told how he got into book publishing, and give some description of what is involved to publish a book and get it on the market. A number of impressive volumes were passed around for members to take a good look at. Matt also passed around a few wedding invitations and business cards--another line of his business venture. Most of his clients for the latter line come from his web pages on the internet.
Following a brief break, Mike O'Connor presented a talk titled "AAPA's Future: Increasing the 20." The title of course reflects the "80/20" rule--the adage that in a typical organization, 80% of the work and activity is done by 20% of the members. Mike emphasized his facts using a Powerpoint "slide" presentation and the results of two surveys he has made--thanks to the responses of members who took those surveys. Of course, what Mike's presentation led into was: how to increase that 20% of members that are active in the AAPA.
Mike's presentation led quite naturally into the next feature: Dean Rea's and Mike's discussion of "Pixels in a Pica World." Examples were given of members who are publishing electronically--without presses, paper, and ink. The late J. Hill Hamon was one of the pioneers of electronic publishing with his "Whippoorwill E-Comment." Florida member Hugh Singleton and New York member Dave Griffin continue to contribute to the E-Journal Archive. Some discussion ensued in the limited time, contrasting electronic amateur journalism with the traditional printed media, and how the AAPA can go about living in both worlds. Dean Rea is also editor of the online "Author's Bazaar," to which both AAPA members and non-members contribute. Mike O'Connor formats the "Author's Bazaar" and gets it to a website. He divulged some of the secrets he utilizes to get this feature as attractive as it is.
The afternoon's activities gave two glimpses of local pursuits in the "real world." First was a tour of Arion Press and M&H Type, led by Matt Kelsey, a former employee of Arion Press. Stops there were an exhibition of books published by Arion Press over the years, the pressroom where books were actually on the presses, the bindery, and the type foundry where metal type was being cast. Bryan, operating a Monotype Composition Caster, and Dave, operating a Thompson Caster, answered questions from the group as they showed us the operation there. As one would expect, Arion Press does not suffer from a scarcity of type faces. There were rows and rows of full-size type cabinets--probably hundreds of them, each cabinet containing 24 type cases! Arion Press propietor Andrew Hoyem talked to the group and answered questions at the end of the tour.
After a drive through San Francisco traffic, the next tour was through the San Francisco Center for the Book. There were two printing projects underway there--both on Vandercook presses, and both using Photopolymer plates--though there were a good many type cases which could be used if desired--and which no doubt are used on their book projects.
It was a full day--and I have just hit the high points. I shall endeavor to start uploading some photos to the photo album soon. Stay tuned! --I. Snyder
Reports from the officers were reasonably brief and for information only. Pres. Mike O'Connor led off by reading a report from First Vice-president Mike Coughlin, followed by the secretary-treasurer's report given by Ivan Snyder. Dean Rea was next with the Official Editor's report.
The first presentation was "Business Ventures in Printing," given by Matt Kelsey, a member who lives in Saratoga, California. Matt is proprietor of Liber Apertus Books. He told how he got into book publishing, and give some description of what is involved to publish a book and get it on the market. A number of impressive volumes were passed around for members to take a good look at. Matt also passed around a few wedding invitations and business cards--another line of his business venture. Most of his clients for the latter line come from his web pages on the internet.
Following a brief break, Mike O'Connor presented a talk titled "AAPA's Future: Increasing the 20." The title of course reflects the "80/20" rule--the adage that in a typical organization, 80% of the work and activity is done by 20% of the members. Mike emphasized his facts using a Powerpoint "slide" presentation and the results of two surveys he has made--thanks to the responses of members who took those surveys. Of course, what Mike's presentation led into was: how to increase that 20% of members that are active in the AAPA.
Mike's presentation led quite naturally into the next feature: Dean Rea's and Mike's discussion of "Pixels in a Pica World." Examples were given of members who are publishing electronically--without presses, paper, and ink. The late J. Hill Hamon was one of the pioneers of electronic publishing with his "Whippoorwill E-Comment." Florida member Hugh Singleton and New York member Dave Griffin continue to contribute to the E-Journal Archive. Some discussion ensued in the limited time, contrasting electronic amateur journalism with the traditional printed media, and how the AAPA can go about living in both worlds. Dean Rea is also editor of the online "Author's Bazaar," to which both AAPA members and non-members contribute. Mike O'Connor formats the "Author's Bazaar" and gets it to a website. He divulged some of the secrets he utilizes to get this feature as attractive as it is.
The afternoon's activities gave two glimpses of local pursuits in the "real world." First was a tour of Arion Press and M&H Type, led by Matt Kelsey, a former employee of Arion Press. Stops there were an exhibition of books published by Arion Press over the years, the pressroom where books were actually on the presses, the bindery, and the type foundry where metal type was being cast. Bryan, operating a Monotype Composition Caster, and Dave, operating a Thompson Caster, answered questions from the group as they showed us the operation there. As one would expect, Arion Press does not suffer from a scarcity of type faces. There were rows and rows of full-size type cabinets--probably hundreds of them, each cabinet containing 24 type cases! Arion Press propietor Andrew Hoyem talked to the group and answered questions at the end of the tour.
After a drive through San Francisco traffic, the next tour was through the San Francisco Center for the Book. There were two printing projects underway there--both on Vandercook presses, and both using Photopolymer plates--though there were a good many type cases which could be used if desired--and which no doubt are used on their book projects.
It was a full day--and I have just hit the high points. I shall endeavor to start uploading some photos to the photo album soon. Stay tuned! --I. Snyder
First Convention Activity of 2011
Eighteen AAPA members, including a few spouses, kicked off the 2011 convention with the traditional Charlie Bush Chinese supper, held this year at the 5 Joy Chinese Restaurant. The fare was plentiful--dishes just kept coming and coming! And from comments I heard, the food was greatly enjoyed. Liz and Ron Hylton agreed that it was the most unusual meal they have had, and of course they enjoyed it immensely.
Members attending this function were Len and Bette Carrick (California), George Hamilton (Vienna, Austria), Ron and Liz Hylton (Washington), Jiyani Lawson (Oregon), Mike O'Connor (Arizona), Susan Petrone (Ohio), Steve Robison (California), Peter and Connie Schaub (Virginia), Jack and Maurine Scott (Ohio), Bob and Mardi Siekmann (California), Ivan Snyder (Oregon), and Dave and Liz Tribby (California).
Other members who have arrived at convention headquarters in the Foster City Crowne Plaza are Greg and Sally McKelvey (Arizona) and Dean Rea (Oregon).
It is evident that convention co-chairmen Dave Tribby and Steve Robison have affairs well-organized. Registration was quick and pleasant. Members are delightedly chatting and catching up on each other since they have last met--and some are meeting for the first time. When I finally left the hospitality suite at around 10:00 p.m., things were still going well.
Stay tuned for further convention events as they unfold. --Ivan Snyder
Members attending this function were Len and Bette Carrick (California), George Hamilton (Vienna, Austria), Ron and Liz Hylton (Washington), Jiyani Lawson (Oregon), Mike O'Connor (Arizona), Susan Petrone (Ohio), Steve Robison (California), Peter and Connie Schaub (Virginia), Jack and Maurine Scott (Ohio), Bob and Mardi Siekmann (California), Ivan Snyder (Oregon), and Dave and Liz Tribby (California).
Other members who have arrived at convention headquarters in the Foster City Crowne Plaza are Greg and Sally McKelvey (Arizona) and Dean Rea (Oregon).
It is evident that convention co-chairmen Dave Tribby and Steve Robison have affairs well-organized. Registration was quick and pleasant. Members are delightedly chatting and catching up on each other since they have last met--and some are meeting for the first time. When I finally left the hospitality suite at around 10:00 p.m., things were still going well.
Stay tuned for further convention events as they unfold. --Ivan Snyder
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