Playback - Spring 2008 - (Page 21)

huge $60,000 piano purchase come through as often. Even if the customer could afford the $60,000 piano, they are buying the $20,000 one instead.” Conservative spending has also affected the store’s lesson program. “Some students are taking every other week instead of once a week,” Liane says. “I don’t think that our students’ belief in the importance of music has lessened; instead, [it’s] a reality of there is only so much money right now to go around.” The store’s lesson rooms are located next door in a renovated 1950s-era roadside motel where students Rockley Music navigates these challenges by getting involved in the community. The store provides pianos for student performances and gift certificates for silent auctions. Nina, Liane’s motherin-law and store owner, is active in a number of business associations, including the city’s zoning and planning committee. Liane has made the local music teachers associations her focus. “I belong to six local music teachers groups (part of Music Teachers National Association) and attend five groups every month,” she says. “This has made a big difference in the support of our community for us. When one is working alongside teachers and helping them with the programs and events that are important to their teaching, their support comes naturally.” can jam to their heart’s content. Store events, like piano and guitar workshops, are also key to the Rockley’s marketing campaigns. “Last year we had a guitar workshop with Greg Koch that drew a great crowd of guitarists into our store. He is an amazing teacher and performer!” Liane says. This year, the store is working with Roland on a program called ‘Piano Jam,’ in which four to five teachers are selected to have a KR107 in their home free for 90 days. The teachers will receive six hours of training on the instrument. At the end of the 90 days, the Piano Jam teachers perform on the instrument in a recital setting. “As a result of the Piano Jam program, we have sold additional pianos that we probably wouldn’t have sold otherwise,” Liane says. In this uncertain business environment, Liane believes that the Rockley family stands by its roots of community service and relationships. “I try to approach my business, and my life in general, with the attitude of a servant,” she says. “What can I do to make that teacher’s or that employee’s or that customer’s life better? We have so many possibilities of relationships we can cultivate, people we can help in our profession and lives we can change—all for the better. I gain my energy and my excitement from being able to bring music, in whatever form it is needed, to as many different people as I can.” SPRING 2008 21

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Playback - Spring 2008

Playback - Spring 2008 Contents From the President NAMM Events Music in the News Bringing Recreational Music Making to Iraq Commercial Retail Reps in the Field New Domestic Members International Washington Watch NAMM Foundation Music Notes Resources Viewpoint

Playback - Spring 2008

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