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Organisations => Organisations => Topic started by: Jane C ♫ on January 19, 2014, 12:32:47 AM

Title: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Jane C ♫ on January 19, 2014, 12:32:47 AM
Hi All

I have questions about the SRA website ... http://www.self-representing-artist.com/

I originally emailed my application in September, chased it again in December, and still haven't heard anything. I emailed it to ginajeans@comcast.net and last time I copied in one of the others too.

Any ideas what's happening with it? I'd really like at least an acknowledgement that my application has been received ...

Help?!
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: spexy on January 19, 2014, 08:11:15 AM
I'm in a similar situation.

I received a reply on the 5-8-2013 with my membership number but I am still waiting for it to be added to their site.

My contact was Melinda Melanson (cauldroncreations@hotmail.com)

I have emailed several times to find out when it will be added to the site and not had any replies.

Not sure if I should be using the number if it isn't on the site.
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Jellybean on January 19, 2014, 08:59:28 AM
I've given up... sent to Gina in August, chased in December.
If I hear anything that's a bonus, if not, never mind. I'm happy making beads  :)
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Shirley on January 19, 2014, 09:22:44 AM
Have you tried posting something on Lampwork Etc? Might shed a bit of light.

I've seen a few postings over the years about the delay in dealing with applications.
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: GaysieMay on January 19, 2014, 09:31:09 AM
I have tried two or three times in the last five years or so and never got anything but an email back telling me my beads were lovely and my request would be processed - given up now! 

Good luck to you though. X
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Angie on January 19, 2014, 09:36:07 AM
I tried over a year ago several times, given up now...
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: ruth on January 19, 2014, 09:38:43 AM
Could we establish a British/European system?
Ruth
sewnthings
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: spexy on January 19, 2014, 06:44:24 PM
Sounds like a good idea. I didn't realise it was American anyway.
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Lynniebeads on January 19, 2014, 06:48:19 PM
I tried back in the summer to but not heard anything.
lynne.
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Jane C ♫ on January 19, 2014, 08:50:32 PM
Glad I'm not alone, but this isn't good ...

I copied in cauldroncreations to my last two emails and haven't heard anything ...

Will pop over to Lampwork Etc. and see what's happening.
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Shirley on January 19, 2014, 08:56:01 PM
The other thing to consider is whether it really matters or not  :-\
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Jane C ♫ on January 19, 2014, 08:59:41 PM
Shirley - agreed - However, if some people have it and others don't, the question is what the public / buyers think, and whether it affects their purchase decision.
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Shirley on January 19, 2014, 09:14:11 PM
Who knows? I don't know how you could tell.
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Jane C ♫ on January 19, 2014, 10:58:32 PM
WE HAVE NEWS!!!

I managed to get in touch with Melinda! She says:

"Sorry. I am trying to contact the others in the SRA processing group to find out what the problem is. Please give me a couple weeks to figure things out."

I'll let you know as soon as she gets back to me.  ;D
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Blue Box Studio on January 20, 2014, 09:16:11 PM
Which is all so weird as I applied a while ago (granted before all this) and was accepted within a day - I was surprised as I'd not been working with glass that long and expected the 'come back next week' response.

Hope you all get it sorted out.  Not sure anyone uses it as a search tag, or really understand what it means so I'd not lose sleep over it.
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: spexy on January 20, 2014, 10:09:20 PM
Quote from: Shirley on January 19, 2014, 08:56:01 PM
The other thing to consider is whether it really matters or not  :-\

We were discussing this on another forum and some people particularly search SRA when looking for lampwork beads.
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Fiona on January 21, 2014, 08:38:11 AM
Quote from: spexy on January 20, 2014, 10:09:20 PM
Quote from: Shirley on January 19, 2014, 08:56:01 PM
The other thing to consider is whether it really matters or not  :-\

We were discussing this on another forum and some people particularly search SRA when looking for lampwork beads.

But do you really need a membership number to say this?  I've searched for non lampwork items using SRA too to exclude some of the Chinese imports before.
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Margram on January 21, 2014, 09:08:12 AM
It gives the customer assurance that they are buying proper, annealed, artisan beads. The organisers vet applicants to check they are genuine, to try to weed out cheap imported bead sellers.
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: mizgeorge on January 21, 2014, 11:40:18 AM
Quote from: Margram on January 21, 2014, 09:08:12 AM
It gives the customer assurance that they are buying proper, annealed, artisan beads. The organisers vet applicants to check they are genuine, to try to weed out cheap imported bead sellers.

Do they heck!
There's no vetting process at all - they might check that a website/shop address is valid, and look at picture attachments, but that's really about it.

I'm not convinced of the real value of any of this type of thing, other than being an additional directory listing. I'm not sure how many buyers care either!
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Shirley on January 21, 2014, 12:42:19 PM
I don't think the majority of buyers know about it, certainly not over here, and those that do probably use a variety of ways to search for lampwork.
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Skyblue on January 25, 2014, 09:20:45 AM
I applied last year and after numerous emails to a few different people am still awaiting a reply. So I have started using my srajd number instead and thought that it might put me into the sra search engine anyway. If they cant be bothered replying to my emails, even if it is to say a big fat No, then I dont think I really want to be a member.
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Barnacle Bay on January 25, 2014, 07:08:01 PM
Personally and only my opinion - It is very good, also  Free to join which is a bonus! Great for listings and letterheads, though it does take a while for them to come back to you, though this is to make sure you are a bonafide person, and there site is funded by donations only.

Lampwork sold on Ebay under SRA appears to do pretty well - so I think it is a well worth the effort/patience in joining - but I am sure not many people would want me to say that  :D!
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Angie on January 25, 2014, 11:03:02 PM
I've requested three times over the last 15 months and not even a reply. I give up
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Niki Gough on January 26, 2014, 02:23:16 PM
Thanks for posting this as I sent my request in back in August and thought only last week that I hadn't heard anything. I have chased it again now and hopefully we can get somewhere.
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Madam Steph on January 27, 2014, 10:32:43 AM
Mine is on there now.
I think they have done some updating

Linda x
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Les on March 11, 2014, 04:13:31 PM
I was granted SRA status years ago, under my old, married surname and with a different website. I tried to contact them about updating my details and never got a reply. I gave up :/
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: June on March 11, 2014, 08:09:51 PM
Quote from: Les on March 11, 2014, 04:13:31 PM
I was granted SRA status years ago, under my old, married surname and with a different website. I tried to contact them about updating my details and never got a reply. I gave up :/

And I tried to change my web address some while back ....

Personally, I'm with George on this one. A vague glance over your attached photos and maybe a website check and I would say that is about it. Some regular buyers may be aware of it but I certainly had never heard of it before I made beads and suspect plenty of customers are in the same boat.
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Les on March 11, 2014, 08:28:48 PM
 I feel a bit wrong using my SRA status in tags, as my details are all out of date, but I've stopped bothering now and just use it anyway in case it picks me up in a search
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Skyblue on March 24, 2014, 07:19:15 PM
Maybe we should have  an SRAUK tag instead :)
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Blue Box Studio on March 25, 2014, 07:21:00 AM
Quote from: June on March 11, 2014, 08:09:51 PM
Quote from: Les on March 11, 2014, 04:13:31 PM
I was granted SRA status years ago, under my old, married surname and with a different website. I tried to contact them about updating my details and never got a reply. I gave up :/

And I tried to change my web address some while back ....

Personally, I'm with George on this one. A vague glance over your attached photos and maybe a website check and I would say that is about it. Some regular buyers may be aware of it but I certainly had never heard of it before I made beads and suspect plenty of customers are in the same boat.

I'm tending to agree.  I applied when I first started making beads and was accepted within hours.  OK, I have the website, I had work on Etsy but I was still quite new at this so if they were going for standard either I was better than I thought or they didn't take much notice.  In the early days I had a few people message me on Etsy telling me off for only saying I was SRA and I had to quote name, rank and number, but since then people only ask what is SRA and then comment that nearly all makers are self representing unless they sell through an agency.  I think (or is that SRAJD) there's a fee in place for anything more than the basic, whatever, I've seen nothing about it that would want to make me pay.
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Angie on March 25, 2014, 09:00:50 AM
Maybe the GBUK could start an SRA register.
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: BeeBeads on October 08, 2014, 12:00:14 PM
Anyone still waiting for their SRA number to come through may be interested in this thread on LE, particularly the last comments from Melinda.  I feel quite sorry for her, she's obviously been doing what she can to keep it going but hasn't had the
best support from the others involved in the process.

http://lampworketc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=243327
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: lampworklover on October 08, 2014, 04:43:18 PM
I can't access the thread for some reason, although I thought I was a member ???. I did have an e:mail after I chased my application, and got this reply from Melinda:
I have been unable to contact Connie for over a year. Since I have no idea what she has processed, I'm stuck as to where to go from here. Seems everything is on hold for now until we figure things out.

sorry, thought I had posted this a couple of weeks ago.
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Gordon on October 08, 2014, 05:02:04 PM
What's stopping anyone creating a GB-SRA association ?
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: ruth on October 09, 2014, 08:30:44 AM
It would be good to have a U.K /Briish/European assoc but do we have any volunteers to set it up  and run it?

Would we want a criteria for membership, some form of quality control for example?  Or would we favour a more open approach?

There are existing organisations that may allow members to use members to quote membership as a indication of authenticity without involving a vast amount of work. The downside of this is generally a annual fee for membership.
Is anyone else able to give some time and thought to this?
Ruth
Sewnthings
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Shirley on October 09, 2014, 08:58:31 AM
Sounds like the sort of thing that GBUK could cover. I imagine that their aims are very similar to those of any SRA-type organisation
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Zeldazog on October 09, 2014, 11:21:06 AM
Was SRA something that was originally set up more to 'validate' handmade sellers on Ebay?

I must admit I had never even heard of it before I joined Frit, I had to look up what it meant when I saw it. 

I don't know how long it's been going, but to be honest, there are plenty of places people can now specifically go when looking for hand-made items - Etsy (ish) Folksy and a plethora of other sites that have grown in the last few years.

Admittedly I am not a big lampwork buyer, nor a jewellery maker, and I've tended to only buy when I've spotted something on here I like, or has been included in treasury, something from a favourite seller etc - but even though I know it exists, I still don't know if I would use it as a search term when buying.   Chances are, if you're buying from sellers on the t'internet, through places like Etsy and Ebay - you'd be buying from a "self representing artist" anyway - otherwise, you'd be in a gallery?



Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Jane C ♫ on October 12, 2014, 12:19:57 PM
To be honest, I'd probably suggest that GBUK do a members badge that people can download use on their websites etc. Maybe generate each one with name and membership number if you're feeling fancy ...

It's coming up to GBUK renewal time so this could be a great time to do something about it.
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Kalorlo on October 13, 2014, 01:19:02 PM
The members' badge is definitely something that's been on our to-do list. Will email the rest of the committee.
Title: Re: SRA (Self Representing Artists) - Application process? Long delay ...?
Post by: Jane C ♫ on October 15, 2014, 11:21:12 PM
Thanks Heather. Keep us posted. :)