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The Public Time Initiative
It’s Time! (For Member Participation, That Is!)

Welcome to the Public Time Initiative of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc. Our overall mission is to identify and inventory all of the public clocks in America so that the information can be used by anyone for research or other purposes.

Our first phase, called SpotAClock, involves locating all the clocks for later inspection by chapter members. To go to the online SpotAClock form, click on Online Form. To download a PDF version of the form so that you may carry copies with you as you travel, click on Downloadable Form. Note: Please read Status before using the form.

To learn more about the status and details of the program, click on the following links:

Downloadable Form (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Status
(What we’re doing now)

I introduced the Public Time Initiative (PTI) to members in the June Bulletin. This is our ongoing initiative to compile an inventory of all the public clocks (tower, street, and wall) in America and then provide expertise at the local chapter level to repair and restore those that need it.

The project is divided into three phases. In Phase I (called SpotAClock) NAWCC members and the public will report the location of such clocks for insertion into a database at Headquarters. In Phase II, local chapters with the expertise and willingness will conduct detailed inspections of those public clocks in their area, and that information will be added to the database. In Phase III, chapters may provide expertise and assistance to their communities to restore and repair those clocks that need attention.

The result will be great publicity for NAWCC and a database that will serve as a research tool for members and the public alike.

With the publication of this article, we’ve turned the switch “on” for Phase I. However, we’ve made a couple of important tweaks to the initiative that you need to be aware of.

We’ve divided Phase I into two parts. Phase I “A” commences now and is the pilot program where we are asking only NAWCC members to spot and report public clocks. Understandably we want to work out any bugs—and there are always some—before going public. Phase I “B” will include the public but that can’t start until sometime next year.
We are initially limiting the scope of the initiative to tower and street clocks. There are some logistical issues about public wall clocks; I’d rather not allow those issues to interfere with Phase I. We’ll get those later.

We are asking members to begin reporting the locations of tower and street clocks in your area and as you travel. There are several ways to report them using our standardized SpotAClock form:

You may use the form shown below. Make copies as you need them and carry them with you in your car. Mail or fax the completed form to Headquarters.
Go to the NAWCC website that has a downloadable form in the “Members’ Documents” section. Mail, fax, or e-mail the completed form to Headquarters.
Fill out the online form much as you would do so to renew your membership via the Web.

All addresses are shown on the form.

For those of you interested in the technical side of this project, we are using a second copy of the museum’s PastPerfect collections database software for capturing the data for the pilot. The software manufacturer allowed us to create a second copy. I spent two days at Headquarters in August setting up the second copy exclusively for this project. PastPerfect “isn’t perfect” for inventorying public clocks, but I shaved enough off the corners of the square pegs to get them to fit into the round holes. Besides, it’s only temporary until we can afford a custom database.

Our long-term goal is a Web-based standalone database, but the cost to purchase, program, maintain, and house one is currently prohibitive. We will be able to show granting authorities the result of the pilot and apply for some funding for the permanent database.

PastPerfect is not Web-based and therefore members won’t be able to access it. Our goal with the permanent database is to allow members and the public access so they may conduct research on public clocks.

What’s next…

I’m sure some of you are interested in jumping to Phase II and even Phase III. You may have closely inspected a number of clocks in your area and even done repairs on a volunteer basis. We need to capture that information, too. Although we aren’t ready to kick off Phases II and III formally, I’ve set up the database to accept that information. We are putting the final touches on the Phase II inspection form now and it should be ready under “Members’ Documents” soon.

I would like to thank those of you who sent me spottings (even inspections) of clocks in your areas as a result of my article in the June Bulletin. Special thanks goes to “Amby” Ambjor for sending me a copy of the inventory of the tower clocks of Washington State compiled by Chapters 50, 53, and 135. We used that to ensure that our database was capable of handling a variety of situations and entries.

Vision
(A picture of the initiative in the future, completed state)

The NAWCC maintains an up-to-date, publicly accessible inventory of all public clocks in America. It is useful to NAWCC members and the public alike for research and other purposes. Resources are available pro bono to communities to assist in the preservation, repair and restoration of public clocks. Success stories wherein NAWCC members have assisted communities are plentiful and well-known.

Mission Statement
(The purpose of the initiative – why we are here)

Our mission is to provide methodologies, resources and encouragement to inventory; and to preserve, repair, restore, and disseminate knowledge about America’s public clocks as a public service resulting in heightened visibility for, and a sense of satisfaction to, NAWCC, its members, and its chapters.

Objectives
(Long-term qualitative and quantitative measures of where we want to be)

Create and maintain a permanent, publicly accessible database of all public clocks in America. This will include Alaska and Hawaii.
Heighten public awareness of public clocks and their history in their local communities.
Involve members and chapters actively in the location and description of public clocks, and ultimately in their restoration and repair. Provide NAWCC members with opportunities to contribute to the restoration of their communities’ public clocks. Create interesting and challenging projects for NAWCC members and chapters and provide them with community recognition.
Leverage the project to create multidimensional marketing, publicity, and fundraising opportunities.

Goals
(Specific measures of what we want to accomplish by when)

Implement a pilot inventory process, gathering data from NAWCC members only, and have that program up and running by October 2004.
Develop and implement an interim process to record and make use of inspections and preservations, repairs and restorations that may occur during the pilot and roll out of the inventory process, by December 2004. Turn these into marketing opportunities.
Roll out the inventory process to the public and begin gathering data from the general public by June 2005.
Roll out an inspection program available for community use by January 2006.
Announce the availability of resources for preservation, repair, and restoration to the public by June 2006.

Strategy
(The general approach or game plan that will be used)

We will use volunteers as much as possible to develop and implement all phases of the initiative. We will attempt to create an initiative that is self-funded.
We will use a three-phase approach:
- Phase IA: A pilot inventory that receives clock spottings from members only.
- Phase IB: The inventory is rolled out to the public and the latter spots and reports clocks.
- Phase II: Qualified chapter members inspect clocks in their local areas and provide findings to be added to the inventory.
- Phase III: Resources (e.g., qualified repair people from chapters, sources of parts, technical expertise) will be made available to communities where clocks need preservation, repair and/or restoration.
We will develop and implement a communications plan early in the process. Communications tools will include: Bulletin, MART, NAWCCNews, and Tower Clock Chapter 134 newsletter. We will communicate to the public media through the NAWCC director of marketing and public relations.
We will use the museum’s PastPerfect database software in the pilot phase while determining what we need long-term.