From another thread I see some interest in discussing the way we run our conventions.

It is my observation all around the world that the standard demos and workshops are just not good enough anymore. Even if we have the very best headliners we are loosing the audience. In Germany recently there were more people on stage than in the audience at THE major German convention. For world class demos people had to pay 15 US$ for a full day and that seemed to have been too much. I think even if we had given this away they would not have shown up. Workshops with world class masters cannot get filled anymore. Something is totally wrong here.

I have come up with a couple of suggestions:

EXTENDED TREE CRITIQUE

Instead of standard demonstrations or workshops I have developed another concept for a major lecture: People bring one or several trees to the public critique. The trees should be in all stages of development: outright raw material, intermediate and 'finished' bonsai. They should be in all variations of quality: very poor, normal, very good.

Normally I get from 10 to 30 trees for such a lecture. I then thoroughly analyze every single tree and discuss it with the audience. Make sure that everybody understands that a tree critique is about hearing the truth about a tree. Such a session can last from two hours to four hours.

The advantages over a regular demo: very educational, very entertaining, no cost to the club for demo trees, no problems of providing the right kind of demo material, interesting for all levels of experience, from outright novices to masters.

The advantages over a regular workshop: more educational than a normal workshop, more participants possible, in fact, the number is alomost unlimited, participants with all levels of experience find it interesting.

I think this concept can dramatically change the mainstream demonstrations. I have the strong feeling that something must be done here. The public obviously does not accept the old-fashioned way as it used to anymore.

One idea is to have several masters doing a critique on the same trees on stage. Like one hour master #1, one hour master #2 etc.. This could be quite interesting. People in all stages of expertise should want to see this. We could get back the major part of the audience which we are loosing with standard demonstrations.



TREE CRITIQUE

This is the normal procedure as handled in North America. It can be public or private. I walk through an exhibit or a collection and speak about all or most trees. I anylyze the tree as I see it and give constructive criticism. I say what I would do if it were my tree.

It must be understood that to be of value a tree critique is not an exercise in diplomacy. It is not about being nice to trees or people. it is about analyzing trees and giving workable advice. Sometimes people misunderstand this. It is more about what the artist thinks and not so much about what the student thinks.

The number of participants for a tree critique is almost unlimited. It can be one person; it can be a dozen to twenty if in an exhibit area where there is only somuch room for the audience; it can be hundreds if the critique is on stage in a big hall and the trees are delivered on stage.



MODERATION

I have developed the concept of moderating several artists who work in parallel on stage.

A single standard demonstration often can be quite boring. Either the artist is not a good entertainer although being a good artist. Or there comes the time of endless carving or wiring and everybody falls asleep or leaves the room.

When several artists are working in parallel there is always something going on that is of interest. A moderator makes sure that there is not a boring moment, that all artists can speak when they have something to say, that the public can ask questions or even participate in a discussion if feasable, that everything runs smoothly. A moderator can even be translator at the same time. We all were bored before by poor translations on stage. It is very helpful if the moderator knows what he speaks about.

A good moderator makes sure that the work of the artist is shown in the best light and that the audience gets the best possible show at the same time.

This concept can also make the sometimes outrageous costs of demonstrations obsolete. It is a good idea to bring several new artists on stage in parallell. They will be happy to do it for nothing. A good moderator still makes a remarkable event out of this. It is quite possible to have a big star and one or several much smaller stars on stage at the same time. In Munich in spring of 2004 Kimura will be on stage with several second liners at the same time, moderated by myself.

How about these ideas? Are there some more?

best regards
Walter Pall
http://walter-pall.de

The Simon Cowell of Bonsai.

A hard hitting heavy critique more focused on the tree than the "feelings" of the owner would probably come off as great entertainment judging by what tv watchers apparently find entertaining these days. I say "tv watchers" because I watch very little tv.

A well picked moderator could make all the difference.

I'm far from experienced in these matters, but a concept like that could take off like wildfire in the field of bonsai I should think.

I like the idea of "Tree Critiques" as Walter discribed, walking through an exibit and critiquing trees for 20 or so people.

Demos are pretty boring and depending on the setting, sometimes it's hard to see the fine points of what the demonstrator is doing. I don't like doing them myself either. I can see after a half an hour or so people are getting bored.

The whole idea of "Tree Critiques" is basically what I like to do at shows anyways. I come there to exhibit and look at trees and the most enjoyable time I have is when 2 or 3 of us walk around and do our own critiques and compare notes on certain trees. I should qualify this statement by saying it's much more enlightening when you walking around with someone who is qualified to critique them. You can learn more in an hour then going to a zillion demos. At least this has been my experience.
I think Walter may be on to something.

I have to agree. Last year I went to my first bonsai show, Colin Lewis was doing an all day free demo on this great Rocky Mountain Juniper. There was about 25-30 chairs setup, I don't think there was any more than 5-10 people that I saw actually stopping and taking in any part of the demo at one time. There was another part of the show where Colin walked the judged display area and did a critique of the trees. There were so many people gathered around it was hard to see what he was pointing at. The folks seemed to favor this part of the exhibit FAR more than watching him work his magic on a tree.

I know I sure walked away with quite a few tips and hints from watching and listening to him critique the trees. I would sure like to see this sort of thing more frequently.


Adam

since workshops were mentioned several times here is my concept of workshops:

Every workshop begins with a thorough tree critique of all trees. This is interesting not only to the owner of the tree, but also to the other workhsop participants and possible to a silent observing public. This can take an hour or more. Then people should work on their tree
themselves. I do not touch people's trees normally, I do not make the decisions for them, I give them several options, I do not style the tree for them. I inspire people to do what they really can do for themselves. I want people to walk away with the strong feeling that they have done it themselves and they can do it again.If you want people to have a good tree in the end which the master has really styled, then take another artist. If you want people to really learn something in a workshop, you can take me.

The maximum number of participants varies:
5 or 6 beginners. They must have a basic understanding of bonsai and they must have had some introductory courses.
8 intermediate
10 advanced to very advanced


The material used is totally up to the organizers. I work with anything.It is a good idea to provide material which is challenging for the level of the participants. It is not a good idea to bring a tree which the owner knows exactly what to do with. It is perfectly OK to bring several trees to choose from. 'Impossible' trees are OK. Often they are possible, sometimes not; bring an extra one for this case.

Silent observers are welcome if the workshop participants agre


best regards
Walter Pall

This is a wonderful thread on a very important topic!

OK, here's what I, personally would welcome: One or more sessions that dealt with Bonsai culture over time. Too much of what I've seen in the past makes it seem like creating a Bonsai is a once-in-a-lifetime event with nothing much of importance having occured prior to the Big Styling Event or after it. I'd love to see a sequence of photographs of the development of a good bonsai over time with a discussion of the techniques that had been applied to it over time, along with a discussion of where the artist sees the tree going in the furure.

Another thing I'd welcome would be seeing the same tree the year after it was critiqued with before and after pictures showing what changes had been made and what the result was.

The idea of critiques of trees is excellent. My own personal view is that every tree is beautiful and every Bonsaists efforts worthy of respect, so, to me, critiques should be oriented to how a tree might be improved over time, up to and including, take it back to a stump and put it into a grow box for five years. In this case, recommendations should be made as to what procedures should be applied to it during those 5 years.

I do not believe that a critique is meant to be merely a "feel good" session but I also don't feel it should provide an opportunity for angry, hostile folks hiding behind the label of "Bonsai Master" to dump all over well intentioned folks with less talent or experience. I don't think it's that difficult to make any relevant point regarding a Bonsai in a way that encourages an owner regarding the effots (s)he's made and possible future improvement. Back in my System Devlopment days, I used to see some pretty screwed up messes. It always seemed to work out better, however, when I tried to explain things in terms of how we might improve things in the future and tried to establish good working relationships with the User Management than when I really pounded home what a mess had been created and the people responsible probably deserved to be fired. I tended to do the later earlier in my career; the former later on after I noticed how much better it worked.

Fred

Just from reading this thread, if these are the current suggestions on how a show should run, I'm glad I have never bothered to go to another one.
And here I thought it was just me.

Aurelius,
Dont be scared off when it come to Bonsai Shows, Walter and the folks above are talking about Conventions and Club meetings where we sit and watch one person and try to learn something.

Shows are the coolest way to inspire and learn and just get pumped up to continue on.

Walter, Hello... I think you have touched on an extremely useable idea. Demo's and workshops have seemed to me (only a novice with 4 years experience) to be 'Shows', they are theater, entertaining?... YES!, educational?... sometimes..... your ideas would bring a greater degree of learning to the masses. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with entertainment, but I have gained only a minimal amount of knowledge from demos.....

Last year I went to a show in Rochester NY... walked the display area, viewed the trees and came up with my own critique of each tree. That evening there was a critque by three masters...it was EXTREMELY useful to see how my thoughts compared to others. I was able to take away several useful ideas!!!

Jay

OK, if your going to try and bring up the entertainment value here;
Have you tried the Japanese version? MaaaHaa