Jeff, Comments appreciated. I didn't want this to get blown out of proportion, but constructive criticism should create better swaps. Comradery is not being served by a great disparity in effort being put forth, as the perp box testifies. I contend that comradery is served by equal effort being put forth, no matter what the level of competence.
What I'm hearing is still two sides to the issue. One side is ability, and the other is effort. As Nick said, they are not the same. Swaps are supposed to be fun. But the last person to get that perp swap box is not going to have much fun. There has to be a balance without a bunch of rules so that all those entering swaps feel the comradery of a swap. If one person takes unjust advantage of the system, the others are affected. You said it aptly yourself below. " I have a crude fly...one of his first efforts..." You also said it has value because you know of his "struggles", which to me is the same as effort. Seems that you agree with me that it is a person'e effort that makes his output special, not just the outcome. I like Murf's approach, and I'm sure more will be said about it. DonO ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeff Frye" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, November 20, 2004 7:28 PM Subject: Re: [VFB] Perpetual Swap / to All Swappers > Don, I feel that some of your ideas get away from some > of the comradery of the swap. Unless otherwise > specified, all abilities are welcome. It's a great way > to get new tyers involved. It's just a fun thing for > me and I rarely fish the flies I get. Having a > beginner go and buy the flies doesn't help the > beginner. I have a very crude looking fly from a guy's > first swap, one of his first efforts proudly displayed > in a shadowbox next to works of art from the same swap > I hosted. That same tyer, has since developed some > nice work. That fly means so much to me from knowing > the guy and his struggles. We all started as newbies > and I don't swap to get flies to fish. I do it for the > fun. -Jeff > > > --- DonO <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > I actually didn't think the perpswap would work for > > long, as the turnover > > rate on the vfb has been pretty severe over the 7 > > years or so that I've been > > on it. If it was going to work at all, then the > > meister would have had to > > track all 4 boxes continually, and then there would > > still be no guarantee. > > The core group of faithful followers of Brother > > Byard the Beneficent seem to > > be here year after year, but that leaves many to > > roll over. Other than for > > those core members, the boxes were in danger. > > > > As for the quality of flies, the same goes for the > > regular swaps. There are > > tiers that put out a worthy effort in the swaps, and > > there are tiers who > > don't. Is it fair for one tier to put in the effort > > to trim wings, add eyes > > and legs and feelers- and another to submit a fly > > with 3 wraps of chenille > > and a hackle-tip wing? I personally feel that if > > someone is such a beginner > > that the flies they submit will become throw-always, > > it would only be fair > > to go down to the local shop and buy the flies > > required for the swap, and > > just let the meister know. This is not unfair, and > > the step-up in quality > > would serve everyone, and the swapper would still > > get nice different > > patterns in return. They would thus still progress > > in their skills until > > they felt confident in submitting their own. Plus, > > better tiers would sign > > up for swaps if the reciprocation was better. > > > > If we all exhibited the conscientiousness that Nick > > and Rodney do in their > > approach, the step-up in the swap flies would be > > drastic. It's not that all > > swap flies are poor now, as a whole, actually it's > > the opposite. It's just > > that a certain % of flies of each swap could use > > some more effort. > > > > Flame me if you wish, but I think that it would be > > fair for swap-meisters to > > ask for submissions of photographs of swap flies > > from participants. This > > would serve two purposes. 1st it would weed out the > > throw-away quality > > flies. 2nd, and even better, the meister could > > offer constructive criticism > > for the tier to improve his entry for the swap. Now > > how cool is that? > > > > Now I'm not advocating that all flies for fishing > > have to be exotic artwork > > flies. Far from it. Simple flies catch fish. But > > there should be an > > equality of effort to make things fair for the tiers > > who put forth great > > efforts in their entries. An hour's effort per fly > > (or more for some) > > should not be traded for 2 minute's effort on the > > parts of others. > > > > I'll respect everyone's opinion in this. I've had > > comments made to me in > > the past about the quality of the flies in swaps, > > and maybe now's the time > > to address it, with the comments on the perp box. > > > > Sine the vfb is the forum for swapping flies, I'll > > give the floor (screen) > > to Byard and let him comment on my thoughts and give > > his. > > > > DonO > > > > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.yahoo.com >
