P3D Apology to Billy Turner & Detroit

["Dr. George A. Themelis" <DrT-3d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Nov 12 I posted my "behind the scenes" impressions of the November
Detroit meeting in a message titled "Last night in Detroit".  At the
bottom of the message I wrote the following:

>PS.  I asked Billy Turner if I can be a judge for the next Detroit 
>PSA Salon.  That might give me a clue on why I have been collecting
>so many rejections in that particular salon.  Billy gave me a hard 
>time because I have never judged a PSA Salon.  But everybody must
>start from somewhere, right?

This account of a personal conversation was viewed by some as
inappropriate so I would like to make a few clarifications:

Billy Turner is fully justified to "give me a hard time" because I have
absolutely no experience in judging PSA salons and limited experience
in judging stereo slide competitions in general.  

The reason I mentioned this incident was not to reflect negatively upon
Billy Turner but to solicit some feedback on how to proceed and become
a PSA salon judge.  The Ohio Stereo Photographic Society is planning
to hold a new PSA Salon in 1999 and I wanted to get some experience
in conducting the judging for this Salon or perhaps be a judge.  My
thought was that by participating in the Detroit Salon I would get
the experience I need to do a better job in the Cleveland Salon.
(Also, the comment about getting a clue on why I have been collecting
so many rejections in the Detroit Salon was a joke, even though it did 
cross my mind that getting 3 acceptances -as a judge- in a salon which 
historically has been tough for me, is an extra bonus.)

Billy's hesitation to accept my offer to be a judge shows a person 
who cares about getting judges with the necessary level of experience. 
It is good to see this level of responsibility to anyone involved with
these functions. 

I am sorry that this was not clear and I apologize to Billy or anyone 
who might have interpreted this comment in a negative way.

Sometimes, the important things are lost under minor details and
misunderstandings, so let me repeat here that, in my opinion, Detroit, 
operating continuously since 1949, is one of the best stereo clubs in 
the USA and Billy Turner deserves a lot of credit for this.  

Joining Detroit 4 years ago was perhaps the single most important
event that affected my interests in stereo photography.  As I have
said numerous times in the past, the system of photographic
assignments used in Detroit has been an inspiration and motivation
for me to explore a variety of stereo subjects/techniques and, as a
result, become a better stereo photographer.  

Detroit was our model when we (Jim Motley and myself) decided to start 
a stereo club in Cleveland.  Billy Turner has helped us enormously in 
this task by offering his advice and experience freely to us.  Also,
he presented a program last year and judged our "slide of the year" 
event and even come in person to present it to our club.  Even though 
we now have a stereo club "next door", the fact that we are still 
driving to Detroit every month, I believe speaks for itself. 

-- George Themelis

PS.  In 4 years I have only missed one Detroit meeting and, 
     unfortunately, I will also miss the next one in December...



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