Good concept Graydon, by doing this Dale can aggressively go after the tree with the knowledge that he will be back on the same tree to follow up. This with out pushing the tree to the brink as can be done at times. Who will be the lucky person to do aftercare and be its custodian? That to me would be a large factor in this. If its done wrong then a lynching might be the the topic of the next demo .Our concept with this demo and with Dale is to get him to stop in for the next three years on his way to the convention and have him work on the tree again and again.
Next year Shady Side is doing something similar. With the learning center completed we will be hosting a few of the larger names. Each doing a one tree demo over a succession of sessions. The subject tree will be left out for viewing in between these demos. This giving the participants an opportunity to come back at their leisure an observe the progression and comment on aftercare. Also by having it on display it gives a good advertisement for the artist and his ability for people possibly wanting to get instructed by said artist in the future.
I think this is different than a workshop. It focuses on one subject and the artist (DALE) is able to concentrate and teach. Workshops are good and fill a niche when it comes to a personal tree. The difference here is that with the artist bouncing around in a workshop. No matter how good you are, it is almost impossible to switch gears from one tree to the next, with 6 to 10 trees in the mix and give 100% total attention and focus. One is an educational venue and one is an assist venue with assumption that you have some basic to advanced knowledge of what is going on.