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From One President to Another....

Gene Jones Recalls Three Years at the Helm; Bill Barr Looks Into Words

By Gene Jones - Past President & Honorary Director

AS ANNOUNCED IN SANTA Barbara in 1982, I decided not to run for reelection this year. For various reasons, it seemed that this was the appropriate time to step aside. It has been a fascinating

three years marked by exciting developments, complicated decisions, and unprecedented growth of the IJA.

Although I step down with some mixed emotions, my first reaction is to thank all you wonderful people for giving me the privilege of representing you to the world. Without a doubt, it is the unique qualities of our membership that make the IJA such an outstanding organization.

During the IJA Suggestion Hour at this year's Annual Convention, it became quite apparent to me that a large segment of our membership wanted a better understanding of how the IJA has been run. For the last two years, I have felt a growing cloud of unasked questions that sounded like WHAT IS GENE JONES TRYING TO TO? .. .so as a final official gesture I would like to state as clearly as possible the intentions and resulting actions of the past three years.

The backbone of my philosophy has always been that the IJA needs a professional management system in order to serve its expanding membership properly. Although membership need not worry about our day-to-day operations, it is important to understand the need for them. My goal was to provide better services for recreational jugglers while also upgrading our overall image to attract top professionals. Throughout all innovations, the guideline used was to maintain existing IJA traditions while also establishing new ones. In initially approaching my role as President, I immediately noted the IJA's need for long-range planning and concrete internal structure.

Consequently, I called for the first Annual Winter Business Meeting to encourage increased communication between officers, rewrite the by-laws and apply for tax-exempt status. To assist with this process, an entertainment lawyer who also specialized in tax-exempt procedures was hired. The process of applying for taxexemption forced us to clearly define the IJA.

The Purchase convention shows the wisdom of our efforts to gain tax-exempt status: we saved $1,200 in sales tax on meals that members ate!

In conceptualizing overall IJA operations, my impression was that in addition to serving fellow jugglers, the IJA should also become the international spokesman for juggling.

To support overseas operations, I flew to Copenhagen and assisted at the 1982 European Convention. Although the IJA is primarily American-based, it now has members in 27 nations, which demonstrates the worldwide growth of interest in juggling.

I have always seen the IJA as an arts organization, not just a group of jugglers. In attempting to evolve the IJA's role as an identifiable leader in the arts world, I took an active role in the production of our publications, helping create Juggler's World as a replacement for the Newsletter. This also created the need for an advertising department to accommodate the quickly-growing juggling prop industry. Meanwhile, I composed the IJA Overview Brochure to inform prospective members and the media. After listening to many discouraged jugglers who had unsuccessfully attempted to contact the Guinness Book of Records. I established the IJA as a referee for juggling-related records. Since that time, Guinness has been most receptive to publishing the select information we send them and this year's convention world record attempt of 467 jugglers juggling 1867 objects will be entered.

In approaching media relations, the goal was to increase respect for jugglers in all aspects of the population and establish the IJA as a communication center for all those in need of juggling-related information. As media interest increased, so did the complexity of arranging coverage of conventions. This subject was the source of considerable controversy as was the increase in the use of home video equipment. Although it wasn't always apparent, the concept behind video policy was to protect the privacy of those who desired it while also projecting an opportunity for other to receive national exposure for their unique accomplishments. This year's convention was covered by the New York Daily News, New York Post, New York Times, Cable News Network, ABC News, ABC News Nightline, American Way, USA Today, Good Morning America, NBC TV News, and numerous local newspapers as well as stations throughout New York.

Media policy was specifically oriented to provide plenty of privacy during open juggling. Only competition events. the Public (Renamed Headliner) Show, Picnic & Parade, and 'Learn to Juggle' workshops were actively promoted.

The final two phases of my efforts were upgrading the quality of convention events and creating an affiliation system to facilitate regional activities. The affiliate system is still in its infancy, but merely needs some active participation by dedicated members to begin flourishing. Underlying the affiliate system is the idea of a strong central organization nourishing smaller localized groups by providing organizational and various support services.

I do not want this article to become an epic lecture, so to finalize my odyssey as President I would like to explain that I ran the past two IJA Conventions in hopes of establishing numerous precedents for future conventions. To be specific, I believed in public staging of the Championships as well as better prizes. Unicycle juggling races were added to complement joggling and the event was renamed Track & Field Juggling.

The championships were moved to the evening, allowing for an increased workshop schedule. For the first time, budgets were allocated for bringing in special instructors and to pay all entertainers in the Public Show. The Banquet was revised and a Friday dance added.

In the process of striving for these and other changes I realize that I have inevitably stepped on a few toes while enforcing controversial rules. This has caused me considerable torment at times, especially since all decisions were made with the best interests of the IJA at heart. My role in IJA business has left the impression with many that I am a bureaucrat. The truth is that I have always been a variety entertainer who loved the art of juggling and wanted to encourage the growth of all its dimensions as a performing art, sport, recreational activity, and therapeutic tool. Throughout my tenure, I have made free appearances on behalf of the IJA and worked with other arts organizations to expand work opportunities for creative performing artists.

Although I have stepped aside, I do not plan to disappear into mothballs. The IJA is in an excellent financial position at this time, but also a precarious one since the needs and demands of our membership are very legitimately increasing geometrically with the number of people we must now accommodate. There are many serious considerations that must be attended to by people who have the time, knowledge, and commitment to continue the IJA's emerging direction.

As for myself, I am most interested in pursuing the goals of the 'Juggling and Health' workshop and returning to my life as an active entertainer. I welcome communication from everyone and hope to be a lifelong contributor to the juggling world.

In fact, now that I am relieved of direct responsibilities, I feel more like a juggler than ever!