Steady Day

So what's new? It was a pretty quiet day- worked steadily on quite a few things. I was working on auction items. I called and sent letters to quite a few businesses, so hopefully I should have some good news in a few weeks. I got the run around from a large shoe store that I called to ask about gift card donations. The manager referred me to their company's website to apply for a donation, telling me that they get hundreds of requests a week (sounds like a little exaggeration). I spent ten minutes on the site, trying to find the donation section and finally called him back to ask for help. He was obviously annoyed that I called back and refers me to their customer service line, which then gives me the corporate office, who gives me a woman who transfers me to another woman- I left a voicemail with her, so I'm hoping that she calls back soon. Obviously, I don't expect every business to donate something, but I also don't expect to be given the runaround, particularly with a large business that should have a process in place since one store gets "hundreds of requests a week."

Our pearl necklace from Iridesse is ready to be picked up! I called the manager today to see if she coul email me a photo of the necklace that we can put on our site. She emailed it to me and told me it was ready as well! It is a very pretty necklace- multi colored strands, retail value of $225. I'll try and paste the photo into my blog- OK, I think it will publish the photo at the top. I'm not sure the photo does it enough justice, it is definitely a lovely necklace.

I was back at work on finding more sponsors for the anniversary event. I didn't have too much success. I did call one company, a Hopedale based company that works with coffee places to maintain their equipment, I think they sell equipment as well. I'm not completely sure. Anyways, he was very pleasant and although he isn't able to do a financial donation, he will donate a gift bag for the auction. It's great when people help, everything makes a difference.

It was kind of funny today- I received a phone call from a local officer to schedule calendar photos- he has been in the calendar with his kids every year. It was funny because I had been calling him and leaving messages for the longest time and hadn't heard anything back- I had finally given up this week. I am persistent, but there comes a point in time when I'm not going to call anymore (yes, even I give up!). So after I figured he just wasn't interested, he called today and apologized for taking so long. So, we're doing the photos tomorrow morning and I'm glad that he is back on board.

I did work on other things today, but can't remember- so annoying when I forget stuff. Honestly, it must sound like I have Alzheimer's or something, I really don't! It just happens when I get tired. I noticed last night that my blogger site must be set to the wrong time zone, it always gives my post time an hour earlier than when I actually post it. It doesn't matter of course, just something I noticed.

Well, that's about it for tonight. I'm off to write my list- I was so tired last night that I forgot to write my list. I usually write it when I'm in bed, right before I go to sleep. Anyways, off I go. Until next time friends...

Ice Cream Cake

Ice cream cake- that was the auction item of the day! Cold Stone Creamery and Dairy Queen both are on board for gift certificate donations for ice cream cakes. I was back at work on auction items for the anniversary celebration- I hadn't worked on that for a little while, but it worked out well. Sometimes, when you don't work on things for a bit, it can be difficult to get back into the groove- but today I picked up right where I left off. A cool thing happened today- I actually had a local business call me today offering to donate gift certificates for our auction. How often does that happen? Hardly ever. The area sales director from a large hotel chain called me and said that she had heard about Project Smile and wanted to help with an overnight stay complete with breakfast at two of their hotels. She was really nice and enthusiastic. We may be able to hold some of our future events with them too.

What else is new? Tote bags! I want to do tote bags with the Project Smile logo and website on it. Tote bags are all the new thing, so I think it would be awesome to have our own bags to sell. It is good marketing as well- helps get our name out there as much as possible. I was doing some internet research late this afternoon, looking to find a good bag at a nice price. I think we would sell them for $3 or $4. I want to have them by the Anniversary Celebration, actually it would be better to have them by the date auction as well- that means I need to get on that and get them ordered pretty quickly so I can have them for the date auction.

So things went pretty well today. The only downside was that I drove to a photo shoot for the calendar and the officer wasn't there. I thought we had gotten safely through this year's photo shoot without having a no-show, but evidently not. It was annoying because with gas prices, I've been really trying to cut back on extra driving and I need to get the photos wrapped up asap and I was also in the middle of a lot of work when I left. Anyways, I hope we can get it rescheduled.

Well, that's about it for tonight. Tomorrow is an all office day- I don't have to go anywhere and want to get a ton of things done- auction items, date auction items, press release, more date auction work, police/fire calls, continue with the office clean up and more. So, on that note, I am going to write my list for tomorrow- which is going to contain a lot of items from Monday and Tuesday's list that I still hadn't gotten to. I need to make sure I exercise tomorrow morning- haven't done it in a few days and I miss it- don't miss the exercise part, but miss how it makes me feel and want to keep going with the arm muscle building!
So until tomorrow friends...

Progress

Calendar ads are done! The last ad (back cover) was sold- it is a discounted rate, but still it is done and since I had no other viable options for that spot, I am relieved. It was a difficult time getting these ads sold this year. Next year, I will start even earlier and will not rely on certain people coming through and helping find sponsors. I know the economic troubles played a role in the difficulty getting the ads sold, but it still could have worked better. However, there is little reason to complain- it is all set and I can relax about that issue.

I'm happy to announce that my desk is getting better- I was working on it earlier this evening. The organizing items I got are helpful and I finished up a few of the small things so I could clear them off the desk.

I was thinking when I was driving home tonight about time and how afraid I am of not accomplishing enough and running out of time and never achieving all that I want to do. It seems like just yesterday I was a 17 year old girl speeding around New York City in her running shoes, working hard at school, learning how to cook, enjoying the freedom of living on her own, thinking she knew so much, but still always worrying about things. But it's not yesterday, it's 11 years later, and while so much has changed and so many things have been accomplished- there are still ions left to do and I'm afraid of never getting there. My dream is for Project Smile to become a national charity (among other dreams). Why is it so important to me? Because I believe in what we do- I believe that small gestures can have a lasting impact on a child's life and every child should feel that someone cares for them, particularly in their darkest moments. I believe that comfort items for children should be a standard piece of equipment that all emergency responders carry. I believe that all children entering foster care should at least have a stuffed animal with them for comfort and I believe that the elderly who are suffering should be given soft items to hold.

On a personal level, outside of family, I have known no greater happiness than with Project Smile and I know that there is so much more to be achieved and I believe that I can do it. I am not the smartest, the most talented or the best connected, but I am determined and I work hard and I have visualized a future for myself in which Project Smile is national and will live on well after I am gone. Just as I hold onto that opening line at the WGBH orientation, "It all started with a dream", I want to someday inspire the spunky kids who come after me, to believe that their dreams can be achieved.

Quote of the day:
"I want to live so that my soul flies free. Stand firmly on the ground, but live in a land of stars and dreams. See all that is beautiful, however small, and waste not a moment. Appreciate the gifts that are given to me and achieve all that I can be. Stand up for what is right, even when all others sit down. Love others with a pure heart. Find the truth and hold onto it. Let go of the ugliness, because no good can come of holding onto that which does not deserve to be held onto."

Lost Time and a Messy Desk

Welcome to a new week! What a day- honestly, it was pretty frustrating. It felt like it flew by and by the end of the day, I was still left with an incredibly messy desk, a bunch of emails to sort through, date auction work and more. I was working hard, but don't know how much I got accomplished.

One of my priorities today was to straighten out my office- my desk is a mess and I have a lot of small things that need to be finished up, which would mean that they would then disappear from the top of my desk. I stopped at Wal Mart today before I went shopping for New Food Monday and bought a few more desk organizer items. They were pretty cheap and good quality and I think it will help organize all the files and paperwork that I have going on my desk. I know this desk talk sounds trivial, but it is important to have a properly functioning desk/office. The Wal Mart purchases are still in bags on the floor, however. I was planning on sorting things out tonight, but got caught up with other things- primarily date auction things, which is important of course, but didn't help the desk mess.

Tomorrow, I'll be out for a while- I'm in Boston at the Bruins for the check presentation photo. I'm really looking forward to it. The only downside is that there are a ton of things I need to get done here and not sure how much I'll get done by the time I get back. That's the worst thing about having no one to delegate to.

In good news, the calendar photos arrived at Lisa's- the graphic designer. In not so good news, that last ad spot is still unsold and I don't know what to do. I don't have any viable options for sponsors and the people who were going to help sell that spot haven't come through. I feel like I made some mistakes with the calendar ads and reaching out to new sponsors- primary mistake was relying on other people to find sponsors for some of the spots. Some people did come through, which is great, but others haven't and that's why I'm in this position. It gets so frustrating because I can't do everything myself- I've been spending a lot of time finding new anniversary event sponsors, so I did rely on others coming through for the calendar. I'm not giving up on it however, the ad needs to be sold.

Well, that's about it for tonight. I was planning on exercising since I probably won't have time in the morning, but I want to get to bed relatively early and I'm getting pretty tired. I wish things had worked out better today- I feel like I didn't take control of the day. Anyways, tomorrow will be better. Now off to write my list which will probably be two pages long (yes, I exaggerate, but it is long) and will contain a lot of the things I was supposed to do today.
Until next time friends... P.S. We are at 10 tickets sold for the date auction. A good start!

Ticket Sales!

I am so happy! We have our first date auction ticket sales! I came home tonight and checked my email and there was a confirmation email from Paypal showing that someone had purchased two tickets to the event. I know it doesn't sound like a big deal, but it is a really big deal to me. I have worked so hard on this event, been through so many ups and downs, it's been a lot of stress, so to see these tickets sold tonight- it is such a validation for all the work. I actually had tears in my eyes- I was so happy to see the ticket sale. The thing is, I never doubted this will be an awesome event, that was never the issue. It is a terrific event. The issue was with the event planning- getting a venue, making sure it was on the right direction (it wasn't for a while), recruiting singles to auction off, finding sponsors, finding gift certificate donors, finding silent auction items, marketing (still working on that), and so on. I worry that things are going to fall apart and I will be left without an event or an event that no one shows up to.

So what else is new? I didn't get a lot of office things done today because I was at Raytheon participating in their community organizations day. A friend of mine arranged for our participation- we had a table at the event and collected stuffed animals, cash donations and gave out info about Project Smile. It went well and I was glad that we were included. I came home and spent most of the remainder of the afternoon working on date auction things.

Last night, before I fell asleep, I was thinking about how we need a new display designed for us- we use them at events to promote Project Smile. Michelle did a really nice one for us about couple of years ago, but it is starting to look a little worn and it needs to be updated with all the new info about Project Smile. So this morning, when I first saw our table at Raytheon, I was so impressed with the terrific poster they had done to promote us- it was large, well designed, high quality printing on glossy matte board and just very professional. When I was driving home, I got on the phone to Lisa, our graphic designer and asked her to work on a display for us. I need to get her the info, but she will do all the design work. It really is important to have a high quality display that showcases our work in a professional manner. Staples usually gives good deals, so I think I'll be able to get ir printed for a good price.

Well, I'm off to bed write my list and go to bed- I was planning on exercising when I got home tonight, but I'm getting tired. I really wanted to read some more of my Joyce Carol Oates book too, but my eyes are hurting. I have a ton of work tomorrow- a lot of date auction things to work on (sorting out the info for the people that signed up to be auctioned off), following up on more anniversary event sponsors and auction items, finalizing the calendar photos that we're going to use, Rhode Island State Police photos in the afternoon, and more- but I can't remember it all.

Coast guard photos came out awesome- it is going to be so hard to choose just a few to use. I still have that last advertising spot and we only have a week to go- it is really down to the wire and I need help.

Anyways, enough thinking, I need to go to sleep. Until next time...

Good News

I have readers! It still amazes me that people read my blog- thank you! It is so cool to know that people actually take the time to read about Project Smile. So what happened today? Good news on the date auction- we have a new platinum sponsor! It is a large financial services company, I'm really happy to have them on board. They originally were interested in a gold sponsorship, but they wanted to have a table at the event and that is only available with a platinum sponsorship. When I was speaking with the lady this morning, for a second I thought about letting them have a table even though they were doing a smaller sponsorship, but then I immediately thought- no, I can't do that. It's not fair to everyone else who sponsored the event, our sponsorship levels were set months ago and they aren't meant to be changed for one particular sponsor. I was a little nervous while I waited to hear back from her, but she emailed a few hours later with the good news. It is great to have the new sponsorship, together they really help cover a large portion of event expenses.

Some unexpected news today- the Sheraton Hotel in Milford (our location for the Anniversary Celebration) underwent a name change today to the Doubletree Hotel by Hilton. I called them today to follow up about the Beija Rum sponsorship and the guy answered the phone with the new hotel name. I was shocked and immediately worried if our event was still OK. I spoke with the new sales manager and everything is fine for our event- all booked events will be transferred over without issue. We already paid a deposit for the event and have a signed contract. I didn't get an answer to my question, but I'm glad to find out about the new name. Our web guy made the changes immediately- I love how quickly he does our updates, it is awesome. It was kind of funny timing, because last night I emailed our event tickets to Staples so they could print them out. Thankfully, I only had a relatively small quantity of tickets printed. I have an event tomorrow to attend, so I wanted to bring the tickets for the anniversary event and date auction to try to get some sold.

I was thinking tonight when I was driving home in the pouring rain about how much time I spend worrying about work things. It gets frustrating because I will worry about things, then it will work out and I will be annoyed that I wasted so much time worrying about it. However, I do think that worry can be a good thing when it motivates you to make sure that things turn out right. But I also think I could do with a whole lot less worrying.

I read an article in the WSJ today and found a quote from a campaign manager that I really like: "Our goal is perfection, we will never achieve it. Our standard is excellence, we will achieve it every day."

I actually found it to be somewhat inspirational. I was reading the article this afternoon when I sitting at my desk eating lunch, I was feeling kind of tired and was dragging on writing our monthly newsletter, but after reading that quote, it inspired me to finish up the newsletter and make a ton of calls that I needed to do.

Anyways, I'm off to cut tickets (they came on single sheets, 8 tickets to a page), get some things together for tomorrow, write my list, eat blueberries and go to bed. I was so hungry when I got home earlier- devoured cheese and crackers and left over veges, and now I'm ready for the blueberries... until next time friends.

Tuesday's News

Greetings! Just a short posting tonight- it was a long day and I'm really tired and I'm getting a major headache- probably because I've been spending the last hour and a half sorting through emails and deleting a ton of them (I still have a ton left that I need and probably a lot more that I don't need). It was something that I needed to do and did get a lot of unnecessary things removed.

Coast guard photos went great (of course!). The officers were very receptive and I got to go out on the boats with them- it was pretty exciting. I think I got some awesome photos (can't wait to see them). It was the longest photo shoot ever, 3 hrs.

What else happened today? I came back and worked on a lot of date auction things. Our flyer was newly updated with the Sofft Shoes info and I needed to make sure it got on our website and was sent out to everyone who needed it. Tonight, I was following up with the guys that signed up to participate in our auction and still haven't sent me their info that I need for the event program.

Our Southwest tickets arrived this afternoon- what a terrific auction item! I need to keep working on some more auction items and finding more event sponsors. And I need to keep working on more gift certificates for the date auction and finding more single ladies to auction off and sorting out some details with Gypsy Bar. There are a lot more things that I need to do as well, but I'm too tired to think of them right now.

I was also trying to clean up my office- my desk is looking like a bomb was detonated on top of it. I have a meeting here tomorrow morning, so it really does need to get straightened up. It gets difficult sometimes, because I have so many things that I'm working on during the day, my desk just ends up looking very messy.

Well, I'm off to bed. I know this was not a very exciting post, but I didn't want to go to bed without blogging. I promise I'll be more interesting tomorrow!

A New Week

Well, I haven't been doing too well on blogging lately. It's been a whole week! Things have been so busy lately and last week, I was so tired by the time I was done with everything, I didn't have the energy to turn on my laptop. Anyways, its a new week and I'm back! There is some really good news to report- we have a new special guest for our Anniversary Celebration, Gail Huff, one of the lead reporters for Channel 5 news Boston will be attending. She was so nice and I'm really happy that she will be participating.

Other good news- our date auction is getting even more awesome. Melissa, the founder of the Hello Stiletto Shoe Club (of which I'm a proud member!), was able to get Sofft shoes on board to donate sexy high heels for our date auction. Each guy who is being auctioned off will come with a pair of sexy pumps for the winning bidder. How cool is that?? Sexy shoes and a hot date- sounds perfect!

And in even more good news- we only have one spot left for the calendar ads. Now that is good news and bad news- good because there is only one spot left and lousy because there is still one spot left. Everything needs to be wrapped up by August 1. I'll be relieved once the calendar is at the printers- no, actually, I'll be relieved once the cases of calendars are in the office. Until that happens, I always worry that something bad is going to happen and I'll end up without any calendars to sell. Then of course, once I get the calendars, I start worrying about calendar sales... worry- it never ends with this job.

In other news- the DSS donation went great. The woman who was the program director was so happy to have the stuffed animals to give out to children who are entering foster care. It is definitely going to be an ongoing partnership. We donated approximately 300 stuffed animals, so that was only the beginning. DSS works with approximately 40,000 chidren a year, I believe about 8,000 of whom are in foster care. I think that is a shockingly high number and so sad.

What else is new? Probably a lot, since I haven't written a week, but as usual, I'm starting to forget. I have to go and exercise, send some emails and sort out a few office things that I didn't get to today and I'm supposed to be in bed early- I have to be in Hull at 9am tomorrow morning- yikes! However, I am doing Coast Guard photos, so that will be fun.

OK, I'm off to get all my stuff done and still get to bed early- that last part probably won't happen, which would be fine if I didn't have to wake up super early. So until tomorrow friends...
P.S. I'm happy to be back blogging, it didn't feel right when I wasn't blogging last week.

Happy Monday

I haven't blogged since Wednesday- yikes! So what's new? Well, we are getting another absolutely awesome auction item- 2 roundtrip air tickets from Southwest- no black out dates, no restriction, value of $400 each. How cool is that? I wrote to Southwest a while ago- I think it was February- I hadn't heard back from them and actually wasn't holding out much hope, especially with the high gas prices, I figured the airlines would be cutting back on donations. Then, Friday evening (around 7pm,) the phone rang and it was a lady from Southwest calling to ask for our street address. What a great surprise! She is sending a small banner along with the tickets for display purposes. I know I've said this before, but I am so happy with the auction items. I spoke with the rep from Bejia Rum today and they are on board as a liquor sponsor and will donate their product for the event. I'm trying to work out the details with the hotel, but it looks like we'll be able to offer the guests a free Bejia drink. This is going to be a terrific event!

I had a run-in this afternoon with a very rude man while I was waiting in line to pay my bill at Comcast, he was a customer as well. He was so rude that when I got back to the office, it actually got me thinking of all the people I know who are friendly and helpful. I had been emailing with our web guy today and I decided to take an extra few minutes and let him know how much I appreciate the work he does on our site and what a good job he is doing. I always do try to let people know how much I appreciate their help, but that encounter today reall did get me thinking.

What else is going on? Well, I'm working on trying to finish up calendar photos- we still have quite a few left. I did the Worcester Fire photos this morning. These last ones are always the most difficult, because I have to keep chasing people down to schedule the day/time for photos. It doesn't seem like it should be so difficult. And, I still have those last two calendar months to sell- it is getting urgent now.

Well, that's the latest for tonight. There is probably more that I wanted to write, but as usual, I can't remember- honestly, I should start writing down things that I want to blog about! Off to write my list, read for a bit (reading the new Joyce Carol Oates book, it's good!), then bed. Until tomorrow friends..

Latest and Greatest

So what's new? Well, I was back working on getting gift certificates for our date auction- we don't have enough yet. It actually went well, I only got to make a few phone calls because I ran out of time, but I did get a commitment from a Tremont Street restaurant for a $50 gift certificate, I'll pick it up tomorrow night when I'm in Boston. The manager was so pleasant, it was such a relief talking to him. A lot of times I get a run around when it comes to donating gift certificates. I have to send over a letter and then usually make 3 or 4 or sometimes more telephone calls to follow up, it gets time consuming. So it was great to explain to him over the telephone and get an immediate agreement. He does need a letter, but said to bring it in with me tomorrow. It was such a relief speaking with him, because I had been sort of dreading making the phone calls. It had been difficult when I was working on it before- much harder than getting items for our anniversary auction. So Jeff, thank you for being so helpful!

I also did Framingham Police photos today which went great. I still have quite a few more departments to do- August 1 is our deadline. One more calendar spot has been sold, Jennifer, on our Board of Directors took the spot. She actually told me last week, but I hadn't understood what she meant- I thought she had committed to finding someone for the spot, but she really meant she was going to sponsor the month. Now, we only have two spaces left. Time is starting to run out, so those ads really need sold.

In other good news today- we have two more sponsors on board for the Anniversary event! I am so excited for that event- I just feel really proud of all the work that I've been doing for it (started back in January) and I feel like it is shaping up to be awesome. Of course, we still have a long way to go and I am really nervous about getting enough people to attend, but still, it is a milestone for us and I'm really looking forward to it.

There were other things happening today, but I can't remember right now. I wish that didn't happen- I start to forget what I wanted to write about when i get tired. I suppose that is a sign I should go to bed- so I'm off to send a few emails, then write my list and sleep. Until next time...

A New Week and Expansion

Sorry for not blogging again last week- Thursday was a lot better than Wednesday was. There are a lot of ups and downs with this job- even during the same day. Even though I know its just the way things are, I still can't help but get down sometimes when things are struggling.

We got two new auction items on Thursday, including a really awesome item. Channel 7 donated a tour of the news station with one of their lead anchors, watching the live broadcast of the news, then sitting in the control room as they put the the newscast on the air, and then dinner with the anchor and three of your friends! What a great item!

There was another issue with the date auction that surfaced last Thursday- a relatively big issue, but it looks like it was resolved this afternoon. I can't go into the details of it, but it was related to event sponsorship. I am glad that it was resolved though and we are able to keep moving forward. We also got some good news today, a local cable television show is on board as an event sponsor- they are going to be helping promote the event, cover the event and recruit single ladies. So that was really good news.

So, remember how last week I thought that I had added up our anniversary event sponsorship dollars incorrectly? Well, when I went to turn the computer on this morning, it suddenly dawned on me that I had forgotten to add a certain business that had committed at the $250 level to our spreadsheet- I had counted them with my original tally, but didn't add them to the list- so I hadn't really made a mistake! I am only $450 shy of our sponsorship goal, which is actually really good.

We're expanding our services even more and will now work with DSS (Department of Social Services) to provide stuffed animals and books for children who are entering foster care. I spoke with the director of the program which puts together basic items into small packages for the children to take with them to foster care and she was really excited to have our items. She explained how most of the children enter foster care with no possessions. They have a very limited budget, so can only give the children a few basic things to take with them. I can't imagine how traumatic an experience that must be for a child, I'm glad that we will be able to help- even if it is only in a small way.

Well, I am off to exercise (I didn't have time this morning), write my list and read- I got some new books from the library today and really excited to start reading. The new Joyce Carol Oates book is one of them. So until tomorrow friends...

Frustrating Day

Oh, what a frustrating day today. There were a lot of small things that by themselves would not have been such a big deal, but together it made for a lot of anxiety and frustration. So what was the problem? Well, there is an issue with the date auction- an unpredicted issue. I don't know if it will big become a big issue, I'm handling it the best that I can, so hopefully it will subside. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done for the event, so I really don't need this extra thing to take up more time.

I'm having difficulty in obtaining a special guest for our anniversary celebration and found out some more disappointing news today in that department. I also found out that a restaurant which had donated a gift card for our anniversary celebration has closed- which is particularly annoying because I worked really hard to get that donation. This morning, I was updating our sponsor list for the anniversary event and realized that I had miscalculated the amount of money we had raised for the event. I had added an extra $250 raised. The mistake wasn't a big deal since we're still fundraising, but I was disappointed. Then I had a meeting later today which left me thinking about exactly how great our financial struggles are and how we are ever going to get enough money in to grow the way we need to.

So all and all it was a lousy work day. There were a few other small things that happened too. I don't think there was a single positive thing that was accomplished- if there was, I can't remember it. So right now, I'm feeling anxious and overwhelmed. Overwhelmed because there is so much work to be done and I have so little help, and anxious because I'm afraid of not getting things done and even more afraid of not raising enough money and Project Smile never growing the way it deserves to and the way I want it to. I know these are all useless thoughts, the best thing is to just write today off as a lousy day and move on (it wasn't completely bad, there was some nice family stuff and I was out with some friends tonite). I'm going to go and write my list, then bed. I'm doing two photo shoots tomorrow and I have a pointless meeting out west in the morning, which is a waste of gas money and time, but still has to be done. I'm not planning on reaching anyone at work tomorrow because most people are either leaving early or not in because of the holiday, but I do have a lot of office things that need done.

So until tomorrow friends- next time I promise I won't be a debbie downer!