Posted by Sean Chisham on February 02, 2004 at 16:49:50:
In Reply to: serious question posted by on February 02, 2004 at 15:33:33:
The people in Europe wouldn't think a conference in Sweden would be inconveniant. TUBA is an international organization which hosts conferences all over the world in an effort to promote our craft. TUBA also publishes a paper journal which serves as both informative, archival, and as a means to promotion for those who need to be published. TUBA is very much an academic institution. Nothing is wrong with that at all. There are many academic institutions which contribute to higher education. TUBA also commissions new works and holds competitions with cash payouts, if a winner is chosen.
Could TUBA be more dynamic, timely, and appealing to the nonacademics? Sure. I would love to see a publication with content more along the lines of The Brass Bulletin, may it rest in peace unfortunatelly. More aggressive commissioning projects from the world's top composers would also be wonderful. It is easy for me to make requests though. I don't have to do any work. Most all of those who do work are volunteers. Commissioning, fancy publications, and non-volunteer articles are not free. These things cost money and that is the limiting factor in any organization.
The TUSAB conference is free and all, but we have no paying competitions, international venues, etc.
Tubenet is a forum. Difficult to make a bibliographical reference to it in a thesus. The content is not always polished enough for libraries, and in depth interviews with leaders in our industry is uncommon here. TUBA is like CNN Headline News while TUBA would be 20/20.
TUBA may not be the same organization Harvey Phillips formed a few decades ago, but it still serves a purpose for many. If it no longer serves a purpose for you, then do not send in dues. I do not believe in signing on to an organization simply because of guilt. I would never require a student to become a member, but would highly recommend that they do if they have aspirations of teaching in higher education.