Since I gave up teaching, I have also stopped giving talks. I found driving to a strange area and searching for the venue, together with transporting stuff back and forth without mislaying it, was beginning to pall. So now I just go and listen to other people giving talks and admire them for all the effort I know it takes.
Well not quite, because somehow I have been persuaded to speak in Birmingham tomorrow. However, it's not quite the same as I am being driven there and donating the fee but, as ever, I vow that I won't do it again. When my good friend asked me it seemed such a long way off, so I agreed and this week I have been preparing. Here are some of the preliminary sortings -
Unless you do it, you have absolutely no idea what time and energy goes into the whole process and because we are operating in a female world, the remuneration is meagre. Most of us accept it because we enjoy it and perhaps treat it as a lost leader to publicise something, maybe classes or a new book.
One of my friends, an experienced teacher of textiles, was once the only female on a photography course, and found things different in a male world. She said how surprised she was that men do not hesitate for a moment when it comes to spending quite large amounts of money on their hobby, including paying the experts who advise them.
I don't think things are going to change anytime soon here in the textile world of the UK. Financial restraints have always been an excuse but now it's crucial for people who run Guilds and their branches. However I do think that those who sit in the audience should appreciate that, certainly in the case of textiles, it has probably taken the speaker the best part of three days to prepare and a great deal of confidence and experience to be up there on the platform, hopefully making it look easy!
Sorry for the rant, normal service will be resumed after Wednesday!
Well not quite, because somehow I have been persuaded to speak in Birmingham tomorrow. However, it's not quite the same as I am being driven there and donating the fee but, as ever, I vow that I won't do it again. When my good friend asked me it seemed such a long way off, so I agreed and this week I have been preparing. Here are some of the preliminary sortings -
Unless you do it, you have absolutely no idea what time and energy goes into the whole process and because we are operating in a female world, the remuneration is meagre. Most of us accept it because we enjoy it and perhaps treat it as a lost leader to publicise something, maybe classes or a new book.
One of my friends, an experienced teacher of textiles, was once the only female on a photography course, and found things different in a male world. She said how surprised she was that men do not hesitate for a moment when it comes to spending quite large amounts of money on their hobby, including paying the experts who advise them.
I don't think things are going to change anytime soon here in the textile world of the UK. Financial restraints have always been an excuse but now it's crucial for people who run Guilds and their branches. However I do think that those who sit in the audience should appreciate that, certainly in the case of textiles, it has probably taken the speaker the best part of three days to prepare and a great deal of confidence and experience to be up there on the platform, hopefully making it look easy!
Sorry for the rant, normal service will be resumed after Wednesday!
