On Sep 2, 2005, at 22:19, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Might it be more sensible to arrange for a reliable person nearer
Montreal,
who will be driving over the border, to take the American contest
entries? It
is something to think about.
The *optimal* solution would, I think, be for *everyone* (US and non)
to send their entries directly to Montreal, with as little fuss as
possible (I never mail my own lace via registered mail, for example, on
the principle "the less obtrusive, the smoother the road". But then I
never value my lace so highly that I'm willing to spend extra money for
insurance - useless, as several pople have told me - or any other bells
and whistles like registered mail. Which only slows things down by a
couple of weeks <g>)
But I don't think that's likely to happen... The reason entries are
sent to the Contest Chairman (wherever the - willing - volunteer
"victim" happens to be located) is so that they can be photographed
well ahead of time. If they then hit the high spot (the prizes circle),
everything's ready for the publication in the next Bulletin (because
one's asked to send the *pattern and instructions* with the entry
itself)... And there's no doubt that Debra (the Bulletin Editor *and*
the Contest Chairman this year) is *superb* at photographing lace - I
always leave it to her, and send pieces, rather than photos of them,
when I submit a pattern for publication.
Trying to photograph *all* the entries (hopefully, very many <g>) in
Montreal would have her running ragged (and we do not want to have her
burn out prematurely - she's the best thing that's happened to the
Bulletin in a long time). Sending the entries to someone in US who's
closer to Montreal and who's likely to be driving rather than flying
there is, IMO, neither here nor there (even if we were able to locate
such a person); Debra arrives in Montreal and still has to photograph
them all, and test the outcome on some (borrowed) computer, while
there's no guarantee that a bored customs officer doesn't make things
difficult for the person who's transporting them (and, probably, 3
other lacemakers and their equipmnt, given the gas prices <g>)
Sending *Canadian* entries to Montreal may end up being the best and
most sensible compronise.
Someone should be asking: "Does IOLI have an insurance policy that
would cover such an international trip for valuable laces?"
As far as I know, it doesn't. But, unlike the The Lace Guild/UK (which
does have such insurance), while IOLI has a "legal entity" (enough to
receive charitable status), it doesn't have permanent headquarters. It
is staffed - entirely - by volunteers, so *all* locations (library,
mebership, etc) change as the officers in charge change. The contact PO
box (in Flanders NJ) is the only permanent factor in the whole jigsaw,
and that only because someone - no longer the person who used to live
in the vicinity - is willing to take a long trip every couple of weeks
"for the cause of lace"...
I doubt any insurance company would be willing to take a bet on such an
iffy proposition... OTOH... If credit card companies were to pick up
on the insurance business, who knows... :) They seem to be willing to
issue cards to dogs off the street, as long as they can dictate their
terms, and balance their risks/losses by charging the reliable people
more...
--
Tamara P Duvall http://t-n-lace.net/
Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland)
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