Thursday, July 30, 2009

Better Day

Well, today was a better day- thankfully. The 3 photos from Monday and yesterday still have to be redone, but Sunday's photos were fine. I bought a new camera today, a Canon Powershot. I bought it at the photo/camera store that has developed our photos for the last 5 years. The owner really spent a lot of time showing me all the features of the camera and made an effort to make sure that I felt comfortable with it and knew how to use it. It has a ton of awesome features and the photos come out amazingly sharp. I did some test photos in the store and uploaded them onto the computer, they looked great. I was really impressed. I wish that I hadn't spent the money on film and processing that I already did this year and just bought the camera in June, but I didn't know my camera was going to break. I'm feeling relieved about things. Tomorrow, if I have the time (not sure that I actually will), I'm going to do some more practice shots. Scheduling these last 5 photo shoots has been really tough, so I need to keep following up with people to get these done.

More ticket sales for the date auction sold today! Can you imagine if we actually sold out the event? That would be incredible. Gypsy said they can hold 500 people in the dance floor area. I can't imagine that many people fitting, it felt really crowded with our 350. I need to keep working on posting the event and need to really work on getting more gift certificates for the couples, we are very short so far. I have another date auction issue that needs to be worked on as well.

Tomorrow will be a busy day. I'm speaking at the Marlborough Rotary Club at noon, then back to work and then selling raffle tickets on a Boston harbor cruise organized by Boston Event Guide. My friend and board member, Michelle is donating Britney Spears and Celtics tickets for the raffle- how cool is that? She's coming to help sell tickets as well- she is an awesome board member.

Well, that's the latest for tonight. It is 2:15 and I need to go to bed. I've fallen back into the really late nights again and I need get out of that- it makes the mornings really hard to concentrate. I also need to work on my speech for the Rotary club, I'll probably wait until the morning for that. Until tomorrow...

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Bad News

Well, there was some seriously bad news in the calendar photo department today. My 35mm camera which I've used for every calendar photo has just died. Even worse, the last 3 photo shoots that I did will most likely have to be redone. Hopefully, Sunday's photos don't need to be redone as well. I won't know until tomorrow. I can't believe I have to redo these photos- it is really frustrating. I'm also really nervous because tomorrow I have to buy a new digital camera, learn how to use it and then rush out and start doing calendar photos as soon as possible. I'm researching cameras tonight, but I don't even know exactly what I should be getting. I love Canon cameras, so I want to stay with that brand and I also want something simple to use and that takes really high quality photos and doesn't cost a lot of money.

I'm feeling so overwhelmed tonight, honestly ready to cry. It is really difficult when you are solely responsible for everything. There are a lot of advantages when you are in charge, but it is also extremely difficult at the same time. There are so many things that need my attention and I can't get to everything. Now, on top of everything else that needs to be done, I have this camera issue to deal with- a pretty major issue that needs to be fixed immediately. I also didn't plan on having to spend a few hundred dollars right now, not a good thing when we already are in a financial crunch.

I have that awful nervous/anxious feeling- chest feels tight and I feel so wired. Even though I'm actually really tired, (didn't go to bed until 3am) I don't want to sleep. I want to keep working. Our events are getting closer and closer and I am really anxious about making them a success. There are also other things that need attention, including grants that need to be written. No news yet on that month spot in the calendar ad. I don't have any other viable calendar sponsors, so I really need this person to come through for us. Thursday we are back on the harbor cruise again selling raffle tickets, so that will hopefully bring in enough money to cover the cost of the camera.

I haven't exercised since Saturday which is dreadful. I go to bed so late and I've had to rush out the door for photo shoots these last few days, so I haven't had time to exercise. Tomorrow morning, I have to be in Waltham for a free training class by Constant Contact on email marketing. I'm really looking forward to it. There is a lot that I want to learn about improving our communication and the success of our monthly newsletter. I need to be in Boston tomorrow at 5:30 for the photo shoot for the Boston Globe magazine, which is really exciting. I should go to bed now. I don't want to feel like the stressed, frazzled creature that I am now for the photos.

There was one good piece of news today- date auction ticket sales have started! I need to follow up with the fire department tomorrow and see how things are going with recruiting for the auction. There is another issue that arose with the date auction last week, but it is looking like it may be resolved without too much fuss. Can you believe we are only 6 1/2 weeks away from the date auction? There is so much that needs to fall into place.

Well, I am going to stop having a mini meltdown and go to bed. I can't control what happened with the camera, it is very unfortunate, but what I need to do now is fix the problem and move on- quickly. We have a lot of things already in place for both our big events- yes, there is a lot more that has to be done, but we did it before and we will do it again- even better.
Until tomorrow friends- please wish me happy camera buying and speedy scheduling of photo reshoots- even better, please wish that at least a few of my photos will be usable, so I don't have to reshoot at all. That's a long shot though, so I already called the departments to let them know. Not including the re-does we still have 5 more shoots to schedule.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

No Breaks

Sometimes, I feel like I can't stop working. I hadn't planned on doing that much work tonight, I watched my favorite show, The Closer, then started to read, but couldn't concentrate on my book because I knew there were so many things that needed to be done, so I went back to work. That was at 10:15 and now it is almost 1am and I still have a lot of things that I need to get to. This was a lot of "secretarial" stuff that needed to be done- Excel lists to be updated, bills paid, emails sent, desk organized (still working on that), date auction program work, posting our date auction on another site. These are all things that I don't do during the day because there are always so many other more pressing things that need attention.

I had some moments of panic last night before I went to sleep- worrying about the date auction and our anniversary events. I was going into the "what if" doomsday mode- what if I had a date auction and no one showed up, what if I have an anniversary celebration and no one comes. Part of me knows that won't happen, but a greater part of me is very nervous. More than anything, I need these events to be two big successes. In order to be a success, I need people in the door. All the work for the last 7 months will mean absolutely nothing if we don't have two awesome events. The pressure is immense- this has been a miserable year for fundraising so these events are incredibly important. Right now, I feel like I'm doing all I can to keep things on track, but I also feel like I need to do more.

I'm trying to get our calendar wrapped up as soon as possible so I can focus on our events. I did two photo shoots yesterday, I haven't seen the photos yet, but hopefully they will look good. One of the shoots was the redo- that shoot only went a bit better, but I think I got at least one good photo. I was in Needham this morning doing photos with two young firefighters and their little kids. One of the kids was only 7 weeks old- that's our youngest calendar star so far this year. I did Hopedale photos this afternoon. These kids were a little older, it is so much easier working with kids that can take direction and stand still for more than a few seconds. I'm going to be in Worcester tomorrow morning doing photos. After that, we have 5 more photos to do and then we're done. I still have a half month spot left to fill for advertising. We have a former board member who said he would take care of a month in the calendar, but I haven't been able to reach him recently, so I'm getting a little concerned about the status of that ad spot.

Tomorrow, I need to follow up with the sports team that I met last week and I want to reach some other teams that we could work with. I also need to get more gift certificates for our date auction couples. We need 18 more certificates- which is quite a large number. I also need to follow up about a lot of auction items and follow up with people that have agreed to sponsor our events, but haven't sent checks yet and I need to follow up with sponsors to get their ads for the program and website. Do you sense a 'follow up' theme going on here? Things would be much simpler and I would get so much more accomplished during the day if I didn't have to spend some much time following up with people who have either already promised things but haven't delivered or people who just haven't responded. Perhaps I might even have time to relax and read my book then without feeling guilty about not working.
Well, I think I should go to bed. Part of me wants to keep working, but I need to be sharp for photos tomorrow morning. Until tomorrow friends..

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Busy Day and Hugs

Well, today was a busy day. There was one particularly nice moment that I wanted to share. I did photos this morning of a police officer with his daughters. They were in last year's calendar as well. I don't remember how old the girls are- I think they are 8 and nine or nine and ten. We did the photos- it went well, it was kind of a relief to photograph older kids who are able to stand still and listen. Anyways. the girls went to leave and they both gave me a hug before they left. It was such a pleasant surprise and it made me very happy. They are such nice little girls. I don't remember ever getting a hug from any of the kids that appear in our calendar before.

So I had my meeting with the sports team today. It went well- we are definitely going to be involved with them and do some events. They aren't able to do one of the events that I had in mind, that was a little disappointing, but there are a lot of other potential ways to work together that can bring in some funds and raise awareness. We will also be able to drop the puck at our event. They also donated some nice items for a silent auction basket. I'm really looking forward to working with them- there is definitely a lot of potential and I think we can do a few events together next season. I also want to reach out to other teams, particularly in CT and NH, both areas that we are working to expand in.

After the meeting, I hurried down to Framingham to do calendar photos with our only female officer to be featured in the 2010 calendar so far. I really wish we could get more female officers involved, but it is hard to do. I didn't get a lot of other things done today, so I have a pretty long list to write for tomorrow. I did get another photo shoot scheduled for Monday which is good. I haven't heard back from Lisa, I emailed her a couple of days ago. She and her family just moved from CA to MD this month, so she probably has a ton of stuff going on. I have 2 photos scheduled for tomorrow morning, but it is pouring right now and is supposed to rain into the morning, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't need to be rescheduled- it took so long to get this appointment. After work tomorrow I'm going to be fitted for my jeans- very excited!

Well, that's the latest and greatest for today. I'm fighting off the urge to munch on cheese and grapes, but I'm actually trying to drop a couple of pounds- and one of the best ways is to curb the late-night eating. If only cheese was a health food- what a blissful existence it would be! Until next time friends..

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Chugging Along

Things were a bit of a struggle today- another letter of rejection from a potential event sponsor, which was not entirely unexpected, but still disappointing. I still haven't heard about that $5k grant, I should be hearing any day now- the longer it gets, the more I think we won't be getting it. There was a person who was supposed to have taken care of a month in the calendar, but I'm having trouble reaching them and I don't know what is going on. I also have another 1/2 spot that needs filled and no viable prospects for that either. I did schedule 3 more calendar photo shoots today which is good, but I still have quite a few more than need to be done. I'm doing 2 photo shoots this weekend, I don't usually schedule things for the weekend and I've had to alter my plans somewhat, but it is so important to get these photos wrapped up asap. One of the shoots is a redo- only the second time that I've had to redo photos. The first time happened a few years ago- I did photos with a police officer, his 2 very beautiful daughters and his fiancee- who was also a police officer. The next morning, I got a phone call from the children's mother who was very upset that her daughters were photographed with the fiancee- she said she had never given permission for that and she said a few other things that shouldn't be repeated here. It was an unfourtunate situation and I did understand why the mom was upset. The father had signed the release form for his daughters, so technically I could have used those photos, but it was easier to just redo them without the fiancee being in the photo with the girls. I've never had to redo photos because they came out badly- except for the one that is being redone on Saturday morning. It is a father with his young son- they are a very cute family, but on the day I was doing photos, the little kid would not sit still. I have one good photo of him by himself, but nothing decent of him and his father. The mom is coming this time, so hopefully she can get his attention and I can get some good photos.

What else is new? I posted our date auction on Yelp and some other sites. Skirt.com is also going to be listing the date auction. We're also going to be getting volunteers from Single Volunteers Boston again- they usually send really good volunteers. I was following up with auction items that have been promised for the anniversary event. I still don't have enough gift certificates for the date auction couples either. I'm getting so nervous and anxious- there is so much that needs to come together for our events to be a success. I'm always afraid that we are going to fall short- I am going to fall short (there really isn't a 'we'). This calendar needs to get put to bed really soon so I can focus on our 2 big events- the money makers for the year. The thing is- a lot of the people that attend our anniversary celebration are also featured in the calendar- they come to see the debut of the calendar, so that's why it is so important to get as many people as possible in the calendar.

I've been waiting to hear back from a potential date auction sponsor- she had said that they most likely would be sponsoring again, but she hasn't responded to my last two emails or my vm yesterday. I've been delaying getting the event flier finished so I could add their logo- without having to pay Lisa more money to revise the flier. It is so frustrating to deal with unresponsive people- I deal with that every single day and it is one of the absolute worst parts of my job. I know that I'm not perfect in getting back to people and I really make an effort to get back to people as quickly as possible, but I know I could definitely do better. I spend an amazing amount of time just following up with people that have already promised that they are going to help.

Anyways, enough on that topic- I could go on about that forever. I have a calendar photo shoot in the morning- I don't have to travel for this one thankfully, then I'm off to my meeting with the sports team, then another calendar photo shoot at 4pm. I also have to follow up with event sponsors and auction items for both events. There is another issue with the date auction that surfaced this morning, it looked like a big problem, but things improved this afternoon- so hopefully we can resolve it without it becoming a much larger problem. I don't have time for large problems now- I have enough issues already that need to be dealt with.
Until tomorrow friends..I'll let you know how the sports meeting went, I'm really looking forward to it- and photos too!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Upswing

Well, today started out rocky but ended on an upswing- I like days like that. Of course, an entirely productive day filled with lots of good news is the dream, but that very rarely happens. Most days are filled with ups and downs. I wasn't feeling very well this morning, and didn't get very much accomplished. I decided to take a brief nap- which did a world of good and I got a lot done this afternoon. I was working on date auction marketing- I got a lot done, but still have other things that need to be sent out tomorrow. I was also working on contacting more police/fire departments for calendar photos. The deadline for calendar photos is August 13 and I still have 7 departments that need to be photographed. Sometimes, it gets so frustrating to schedule the photo shoots. I did get another scheduled this morning, but I'm still waiting for other people to get back to me.

I'm looking forward to my meeting on Thursday with a local sports team. They contacted me last week and want to be involved with Project Smile when their season starts this fall. I've been to some of their games and they are a lot of fun. We are also looking to expand Project Smile in their area, so I think this would work out great. It is awesome when organizations contact us- in the beginning it was me having to contact everyone for support, but gradually that is changing. I can only imagine how wonderful it will be when we get bigger and bigger and more organizations approach us and want to be involved.

On a personal note- I'm going to be in the Boston Globe Magazine again! I got an email last week inviting me to participate in an upcoming story about women finding the perfect pair of jeans. I applied to be a part of it- I didn't hear back, so I figured I wasn't selected. This afternoon, I got an email saying that I was chosen to be one of the 5 women featured. I'm going for a professional jeans fitting in a few days, then next week I go to a photographer's studio in Boston to be professionally photographed for the Globe magazine's fashion issue coming out in August. How fun is that?

It's wonderful how great it is to keep learning. I was thinking randomly yesterday when I walked into my office how much I have learned over the last few years- everything I do now, I am doing better than I did in 2004. The longer I work, the more I learn and the better I get at doing things. I keep learning how to fundraise better, how to run a business better and how to market PS better. It's funny to think what the next 5 years will bring and how much more I will now. I try to be like a sponge- I want to absorb everything that is going on around me and learn how to do my work better. I know that I have a lot to learn and I can do much better. I'm slow in responding to certain things- but that happens because I have a massive amount of things that need to be done during the day. Michelle has given me some greast ideas and needs my feedback on things, but I haven't had enough time lately to sit down and respond because I am so caught up with the things that need my urgent attention.

Ideally, I should go back to work and finish up some things, but I'm tired and I think I might just go to sleep. I have to write my list first though- it really helped me get back on track today. I have a calendar photo shoot in the morning, then I'm working all day- calendar stuff, date auction promo, silent auction items for both events, sponsors, July newsletter and other things that I can't remember right now. Until tomorrow friends..

Friday, July 17, 2009

Busy Day

Greetings! So what's new? Well, this is going to be a short blog, because I am super tired- my eyes are closing. Today was a busy day- I was at the police academy this morning recruiting for our date auction. It went great. Nine guys signed up which was a good number. Hopefully, we won't lose any. It was a very outgoing group. I love going to the Academy, especially to recruit for the date auction. The class had even took up a collection for Project Smile and donated $200. How cool is that? The Lt. from Quincy that I'm friends with is always such a big help. He is really supportive of Project Smile. He organizes my speaking to the Academy and the Quincy officers for the calendar and he helps sell some too. I wish everyone could be as helpful as he is. After the academy recruiting, we headed over to the docks to do the Quincy police photos with the boat. That was our longest photo shoot so far. I hope the pictures came out well, I think they well. There were some families that had participated before and also some new families too. It is always fun to see the kidds each year- they usually grow so much. I love doing the photos on the boat- there are lots of different things to do and it is also more challenging to keep finding the best shot. I only wish the kids didn't have to wear lifejackets- they are not very photogenic. Obviously, they have to wear them since they are on a boat, but from a visual stance, the lifejackets are rather unattractive.

I'm going to be out all afternoon tomorrow- I'm heading to CT to do calendar photos and drop off stuffed animals with a new fire department. I have a ton of work that needs to be done- I'm falling behind these last few days because I have been out on the road so much. I have a lot of emails that I need to catch up on, we need to double our efforts for date auction gift certificates- we only have half the number that we need, also need to work on more auction items for both events, grants, finding a sponsor for our last month in the calendar and setting dates for the rest of the photos that need to be done. We usually finish photos by early August, but I still have 7 more shoots that haven't even been scheduled yet.

Well, all this talk about works that needs to be done is getting me more tired. I need to be up and functioning early tomorrow so I can get a lot done before I hit the road. I don't have any plans tomorrow night, I know it's a Friday night, but I'm going to be in and catching up on a lot of things and relaxing as well- I have a book that I want to keep reading, movies to watch from Netflix. I don't remember the last night that I didn't have anything going on- it is great to be going out a lot, I love it, but sometimes it is nice to just have a night at home too- even if it is a Friday night. Until next time friends..

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Asking

So what's new? Well, we did our 152nd and 153rd donation today- Everett Police and Everett Fire Department. It went well as usual, except that we got lost and drove in circles around a rotary for more times than I would like to admit- a very busy rotary at that. Tomorrow, it will be our 154th department with Billerica Police. I also did some calendar photos this afternoon. Calendar photos are going slowly, I think we are only about half way through. It always takes a while to schedule them, but this year seems to be slower than usual. The photos are coming out great though- I've fallen in love with a photo of a Hopkinton officer's little daughter- she is sitting on top of the cruiser holding a stuffed animal- it is such a beautiful photo. I'm thinking about using it for the cover, but I'm not sure yet. I still have to see how the others come out.

It's so important to just ask for things- I know it sounds so simple, but sometimes it can be difficult to ask. I've heard that's a more female problem- men don't usually have trouble asking for what they want. Sometimes, I've found myself hesitating to ask for a donation sometimes because I feel like we won't get it. I have to keep reminding myself that if you don't ask, you definitely won't be getting anything. I'm not a mind reader, I can't predict the future and I can't expect other people to read my mind.

I did get a bit of disappointing news yesterday. We had appplied for a $1,000 grant from a local discount retail chain a few months ago, and just received a $100 gift certificate yesterday. I am glad to have something, so I don't want to appear ungrateful, but we really need the money, so it was rather disappointing. I never shop for our supplies at this store and the certificate specifies that it needs to be used in its entirety, so I think I will buy items that we can turn into gift baskets for the silent auction. That way, we can probably turn that $100 into something more. We get our coloring books cheaper elsewhere, so there is no point in buying them there. I hate having to use the entire amount all at once, some locations may have better items than others, so it would be better to shop around and buy different things at different locations. Anyways, I don't mean to be complaining- it was nice that they sent us something. It's just the grant money is so small right now, it is stressful. We should be hearing about the $5,000 grant any day now, so I am keeping my fingers/toes/legs/arms crossed for good luck.

Well, I need to go get our Billerica donation ready for tomorrow morning- I have to be out the door relatively early, so it is easier to get things ready tonight. There are lots of other things going on too, but I'm too tired to remember right now. Until next time friends..

Friday, July 10, 2009

Happy Thursday

Today was a productive day- I finally finished the grant application which has been on my daily list for about 2 weeks. Last night, as I wrote it yet again on the next day's list, I decided that I was fed up with seeing it on my list and it would be priority one this morning. It was a small grant, but it was a grant that had no guidelines and that made it difficult. All I was told was to write to the Foundation. I couldn't find anything online about the types of programs they sponsor and when I called, I really wasn't given any info besides being told to send a letter. So, hopefully it will work out and they will support our program. I feel a little uneasy about it, mostly because I don't know what they were looking for.

We have another returning sponsor committed for the calendar which leaves us with a half month spot left to fill. There was another spot that someone was supposed to be taking care of for us, but I'm not sure what's happening and I'm feeling like it won't work out and I will have to find a filler.

Our event flier is looking fabulous. We have a version that we need to send to an event sponsor this week, but in order to keep costs down, I'm waiting as long as possible until we have all the updates that need to be on the invitation before I have our designer do the flier/invite. Last year, we spent a lot of money on designs because of all the revisions and additions done, so this time, I'm making a major effort to cut down the revisions so we can get everything on there at one time.

We're in the early stages of working on a roadrace for next year. Michelle, our new board member, is taking the initiative on working on the roadrace, which is a big help. I really don't have the time right now to start working on another event. There is a lot of planning involved and I am concerned about finding enough sponsors to cover costs, but races are awesome fundraisers and I definitely want to start an annual race.

What else is new? I'm really happy with the lovely ladies that signed up for our date auction- they are a terrific group. It is funny how different women can be from guys. Ex., when people sign up for the auction, I send them an email listing the info that I need for our program and requesting a photo. The women will usually get back to me very quickly with their info/photo. When the guys, it is very different. I usually have to keep following up to get their info. Frequently, the women will have much better quality photos than the guys do. It is kind of funny, some of the guys who are quite attractive in person will send in completely unflattering photos. That never happens with the women. We only have half the spots filled for the guys, so we have quite a long way to go for recruiting. Next week, I am at the police academy, hopefully that will go well. Last year ended up not working out well. Initally, we had nine guys sign up from the academy, then only 4 sent me their profile info. Of those four, two dropped out and one didn't show up. The year before that was a lot better- the guy that married the lady he met at the date auction was actually recruited from my academy visit.

Well, I think that's it for tonight. I'm hungry! I'm craving one of my favorite summer combinations: watermelon, blueberries, sliced peaches and cottage cheese. It is so delicious. I am such a foodie! As I've gotten older, I love food and cooking even more. OK, off to raid the fridge, even though I should go straight to bed- it is 1:15. Until next time friends..

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Good Start

So what's happening? Well, the week got off to a good start yesterday morning with an email from Leighann at Yelp- inviting us to be Yelp's charity of choice for a huge event they have coming up in August at the Natural History Museum at Harvard- over 500 people will be attending. Guests are asked to make a financial donation to Project Smile at the event- how cool is that? Yelp is such an awesome site- if you haven't been on it, definitely check it out. It is a free site where memmbers review all sorts of businesses and discuss different topics. I go on there a lot, I haven't written many reviews, but I definitely use it to research restaurants and other places. Yelp is also very involved in community events which I particularly appreciate. They helped sponsor our date auction last year, our Sugar and Spice event and this year's date auction too.

We've also recruited a fabulous group of single ladies for the date auction. It's funny- things were moving really slowly with recruiting bachelorettes, but all of a sudden, we had 6 ladies signed up and now we only have 4 more spots to fill. What a relief! All the girls are beautiful too and very accomplished. We will have photos of most of them on our site in the next few days. Most of the recruiting comes from word of mouth- one of the women that signed up was featured in Improper Bostonian's most eligible singles, she then got a friend to sign up as well, who also got other friends to sign up. We have another woman who was featured in the Improper issue as well. Now, my problem is swinging the other direction- I need more single firefighters and police.

Another Anniversary event sponsor has returned- a platinum sponsor too! So that was more good news today. We are doing OK in terms of financial support for our Anniversary event. I know that "doing OK" isn't exactly a technical term in fundraising language, but it sums up where we are. We have less sponsorship dollars than last year, but it definitely could be worse, so we are OK.

It is so important not to discount yourself or services. That doesn't mean that one can't negotiate or compromise in certain situations, but once you establish a value for yourself and your product, you can not dilute that value by discounting yourself. Example: We established sponsorship rates for our events- these rates obviously include a list of benefits that the sponsor receives for their support. We do sponsor exchanges on occasion, particularly when it comes to event marketing. But recently I was asked that along with the sponsorship trade, we offer free tickets that the sponsoring company will then turn around and sell to their members (sponsor keeping the profit). Now, we can't do that. First of all, financially we can't afford to lose the ticket money. The date auction is one of only 2 big events this year and needs to bring in some serious money- giving away a block of tickets for someone else to profit from is not feasible. Second of all, and perhaps even more important than the money, is the simple fact that our event has an established value to it and we are not going to dilute that value by giving extra things away. Our sponsorship rates are set and we stand by them. Giving away our tickets for outside sale, along with the trade, was not even something that I even considered, but it was a good reminder of how important it is to stay strong and not discount ourself.

Well, I think that's it for tonight. I'm tired and need to write my list for tomorrow. I'm feeling in the mood for watermelon and blueberries- so delicious! But it is 1:25, so I should just go to bed and be all bright and perky tomorrow morning. OK, bright and perky is stretch for me in the morning, but at least awake and functioning. Until tomorrow friends...

Friday, July 3, 2009

Good News

We have a speaker! Karen Swensen, news anchor on New England Cable News- she is a really interesting person and will do a great job, so I'm happy that she's on board for our Anniversary event. It would be great to get other special guests as well- it worked out so well last year having two special guests. I've been so worried about finding a guest speaker, so it's a relief to have that taken care of. I wish that I could just believe that everything will be OK, without having to worry so much. I'm always afraid that the worst is going to happen- it's funny, because on a certain level I trust that if I work hard enough, things will be fine and I have every confidence in what I'm doing, but on a huge level, I get extremely worried and think that things will end in disaster.

What else is going on? I managed to get a photo shoot in Franklin done today, in between all the rain that we've been having. I have two photo shoots scheduled for tomorrow, one in the morning which means I need to get to bed at a decent hour, so I can be bright and perky tomorrow morning. I finally started working on a grant that has been on my daily list each day for about 3 weeks. I was holding off on starting it because it is a grant application that has no guidelines- no info on the website about what they have funded, no application form- nothing. I was told to send some information applying for a grant to the Foundation- it was very vague. So I'm not sure what they are looking for. The lady I spoke with was encouraging, so I don't think we are wasting our time applying, we're only asking for a relatively small amount of money. It would be great if we could get this grant, even though it would be small, every dollar is important. Things are down this year, so we really need this grant to come through. I should be hearing on a $5,000 grant application within the next few weeks- you can't imagine how I'm hoping that comes through.

Well, I'm getting tired and I'm off to bed. I want to finish the grant application tomorrow. It will be a good day to get it done since most people have the day off, so there isn't any point in trying to make business calls. I was going to take the day off tomorrow, but since I'm doing photos, I might as well work the rest of the day as well and get things accomplished. Now, I'm off to eat a peach (yes, not grapefruit!), I just had some watermelon which is my favorite fruit, now I'm off to peaches and maybe some blueberries too. How I love food! Until next time friends- I hope everyone has a very happy Independence Day!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

New Month

Well, here we are- the first day of July. Can you imagine we are already in July? I can't believe how time flies by, it just seems to disappear and most of the time I feel like I haven't gotten enough done. Today, I was spending some serious time on getting a special guest speaker for our Anniversary Celebration. We don't have a speaker yet and I need someone interesting. Gail Huff and JC Monahan did an awesome job last year, but we do need someone new this year. I've been writing to a number of anchors and news personalities and I contacted more today. It would be cool to get a pro athlete as well, but that is a longshot. I think the news reporters are interesting and they are well received. I am open to suggestions though, so if anyone is reading this and can help us get a cool guest speaker for our event, that would be awesome. I do need some help with this.

We have a few more single ladies signed up for our date auction- we have 7 spots offically still available, but there are 3 ladies who signed up and haven't sent me their profile info, even after my reminder email, so I'm not sure if they have dropped off. I will send another email next week and if I don't get a response, I'll remove them from the list. We have a great group of ladies so far. I haven't heard from the FF who are helping recruit the single FF yet, so I'm going to place another phone call tomorrow.

Calendar photos are going a little too slow- we still have a lot of departments left to photograph. This incredibly rainy weather doesn't help either- the only good thing with this weather is that we are saving the electric bill since we're not running the AC! I go through this every year with the photos- it takes a long time to get the photo shoots scheduled and I always worry that it will never get done. I have a shoot scheduled for tomorrow and two on Friday, so that is pretty good. I was sort of planning on taking Friday off and make it a long weekend, but I will be working. I have too much that needs to get done anyways to take days off.

We have a tentative commitment for a date auction sponsorship, actually it's not quite a tentative commitment yet- it's the step before that- the "I think we will do something" step. I don't know what I can say that will push it to the next level, I think I've said everything possible and it is now up to the company to make the decision. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will be good news. I'm not sure if I should follow up tomorrow or wait until next week. I don't want to appear too pushy, but I would like a definite answer. I need to keep working on finding new sponsors and I need to get back to work on getting more gift certificates for the date auction- I've slipped a little in contacting businesses.

Well, I'm getting tired and going to bed early, it is only 12:30- maybe this will actually be an early night tonight! Until tomorrow friends..