[Jewelry making - Article 00964] - Re: [Orchid] Keeping trade secrets

[andy cooperman]

========[ Invite a Friend - http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm  ]========

    As a teacher and a metalsmith who makes his living at the craft, I
    find some people's expectation of an instructor's responsibility a
    bit strange. Someone had inferred-- I'm not sure who-- that it was a
    teacher's responsibility to impart all the knowledge that they had,
    to hold nothing back. 

    I teach many workshops through out the course of a year. One of the
    most popular is "Studio Tricks and Tips". I have been teaching this
    workshop in both a 2 day demo only format and a weeklong class since
    1994. I give out a lot of information and I have heard that I have a
    reputation for being very free with what I share. 

    That being said, there are several techniques--trade secrets-- that
    I have come across or developed over the years that I simply won't
    share. They usually are intrinsic to a certain design or are a key
    element to a series of pieces that I am currently working with and
    that are important to generating income. 

    I used to teach these techniques, assuming that students would never
    directly copy what I was doing or adopt a technique (one that might
    be central to my work) as the center piece of their work. Some
    students simply didn't see it that way, though, and I came to
    understand that I should never offer any technique upon which I had
    built a trademark body of work and staked a large part of my
    financial security. 

    There are only a few instances when I find myself in this situation
    and these few techniques are most often quite simple and could be
    puzzled out by most inquisitive students. I tell them this and take
    that opportunity to have a brief discussion about "borrowing" too
    heavily from another artist, craftsperson or maker's work.

    To my eyes, teaching tricks rather than specific techniques such as
    granulation, photo etching, etc. is truly exciting. Learning
    shortcuts and becoming more efficient and confident in the everyday
    tasks in the studio or shop, becoming more intimate with the basic
    tools on the bench and pressing their capabilities has always been
    what I've found to be, perhaps, most valuable. I feel that this is
    giving students the best tools they could have top further explore
    things on their own... 

    I really bristle at any implication that it is somehow wrong for a
    teacher not to cough up every last bit of information or to charge a
    fee to teach a class or workshop. Teaching is a skill. Effectively
    teaching the knowledge that you have spent years accumulating is a
    marketable skill. And so it should be. 

Respectfully, Andy Cooperman

____________________________________________________________________
T h e   O r c h i d   L i s t
Open Electronic Forum for Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Procedures
____________________________________________________________________
Orchid FAQ:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/faq.htm
Orchid Archives:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive
Orchid Galleries:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/gallery.htm
Invite a Friend:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm
____________________________________________________________________
Tips From The Jeweler's Bench - Article Archive
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm
The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography List
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/jewelry-books
Buy Orchid Jewelry:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/shop
____________________________________________________________________
-Unsubscribe:
-Email: orchid-request AT ganoksin.com Body=unsubscribe subject=blank
____________________________________________________________________