Wednesday News

So what's the latest and greatest? Well, let's start with good news- our grant came in from the 200 Foundation and it is $3,000! I am very happy about that, it couldn't have arrived at a better time. Last year, they did a $2,000 grant for Project Smile. It is a great organization and I'm so glad that I was introduced to them.

I've been working steadily these last two days and have been able to accomplish almost everything that is on my daily list. I've been doing a lot of work on outreach, there aren't any results to report yet, but it usually takes a while before I see results. I was doing grant research this afternoon and found a grant that we are a great fit for. The company that is associated with this grant is still doing well, so it is definitely worth applying for. I'm going to focus a lot more time these next few weeks on grant work. Today, someone bought 5 calendars online which was good news. Calendar sales are very small now, so it is great to keep moving them.

In other news, I am worried about the Valentines event- making sure we get enough people there. We are only two weeks away from it now. It is such a cool event, it should be awesome and have a lot of people. It's hard to explain how I feel- its like living with a nervous knot that won't go away. I try to ignore it and focus on the million other things that need to get done. I don't know what else I can do to make the event a success. I'm trying to hold onto the fact that it is a cool event, terrific venue, fun activities, we are getting the word out, it is well priced and it should be a success. We're running a special discount to encourage advanced tix sales- the price is only $20. So please help support us and buy a ticket!

I was thinking tonight when I finished exercising about breakthrough moments. I started thinking about it in regards to building arm muscle- I've been working hard for the past couple of years to build arm muscle (I know I've written about this before), for the longest time I never saw any results, but then I started to see results and now I can look at my arms and feel proud that I have built arm muscle. I still don't have the beautiful upper arms that some women have, but mine have improved dramatically. I don't remember where the breakthrough moment came for that, but I know that with Project Smile it came when we got our $10,000 donation from the Mass Bankers Association in December 2005. The sun rose for Project Smile that day and we have never looked back.

Well, I think that's it for tonight. I had plans for tonight- reading my book, cleaning up and getting things organized for my birthday weekend, but I zonked out in front of the TV for too long, then chatted on the phone- then did my cardio which I promised myself this morning I would do tonight- my body didn't want to move this morning- and now that I'm done blogging it is 12:30 and my eyes are starting to hurt. Anyways, I'm starting to get boring, so I should stop now. Until tomorrow friends..

Rocky Day

Greetings! I'm home from tango lessons and just finished eating the most delicious grapefruit, so I'm feeling quite happy and relaxed- the best I've felt all day actually. Today was a rocky day. This morning, I had a meeting with the event planner, our DJ, the Hard Rock events manager and the salsa school. We were doing a walk through for our upcoming Sugar and Spice. The meeting went well. It was great to meet the Hard Rock manager and the DJ- he is really cool and so enthusiastic. I think he is going to do an awesome job.

It was such a different feeling today when we were doing the walk through. I've never worked with an event planner before, so in situations like this I am usually the one leading the layout discussion and going over the details with the venue host and participants. My natural instinct is to take charge, so I had to keep quietly reminding myself to back off and let the event planner lead. I didn't want to step on her toes- it would be unprofessional on my part and pretty rude as well. She was doing a good job anyways. If I thought that something was wrong, then I would have said something. I like working with an event planner- it is great to have someone share the workload and take responsibility for certain things and also to brainstorm and come up with new ideas and sharing their expertise. There are difficulties too of course, but I think that with clear expectations, good communication and a strict timetable things can run smoothly.

I went into a bit of mini panic mode when I was driving home this afternoon- worried about the event and making sure it is a success. It is an awesome event, so that's not the problem. It's the type of event that if I saw it, I would want to go. I'm worried about making sure we have a lot of people there. I know I go through this with every event that I've done, but it is a bit of a different situation with this one. The marketing is key and I think we're taking the right steps. I know it seems like worry is my middle name- honestly, it's not, I actually have a really pretty middle name. But I feel like I spend so much time worrying about things.

I didn't have time to exercise this morning or do New Food Monday today, so I feel really off my schedule. I went to bed freakishly early last night- 11:45, but still couldn't get up any earlier. I was thinking I might be fighting off sickness- it's usually a sign. This has actually been a really tough month- I feel like I've put too much energy into the wrong things and wasted an inordinate amount of time. I'm glad for February to come- not only because it is my birthday on Feb 1, but I want to start the new month on a new foot and get back to the things that I should be focused on. I also felt like I've been bleeding money lately and that also contributed to the mini panic mode this afternoon- the $22 to park in Boston for less than two hours didn't help either.

Anyways, that's it for tonight. I need to check my calendar and see what's on the schedule for tomorrow. I have an appointment in Worcester this week and I can't remember if it is for tomorrow. It is going to snow on Wednesday, so I hope it isn't scheduled for then. I also have to write my list- a very long one. I also need to follow up on the grant that was awarded to us last December. We haven't received the check yet, so I want to make sure it hasn't been lost in the mail. Well, until tomorrow friends...

Tired

Greetings! So what's new? Not a whole lot- I'm a very tired little monkey right now. Today, I had a meeting with a well known PR/marketing company in Boston. The meeting went well. I'm not sure if we will work together, it depends on the package they send over and the financial arrangement. Even if we don't work together, I am still glad that I met with them. Every time that I speak about Project Smile is good practice- there is no such thing as ever having too much practice. Over the years, I have refined what I say and how I say things. I was listening to myself today as I spoke and I think I did a good job in talking about PS and what are goals are- long term vision, event plans for this year and 2010 and our need for increased exposure and funds. I think this company could really help us. I hope they send over a proposal that is understanding of our limited funds. I'll keep you posted on how things go.

Tonight I spoke with a local Rotary Club that recently made a donation to Project Smile. They have supported our work with a donation for the past 3 years and I like to stop by every year and thank them in person and give an update on our progress. I also brought calendars with me as a thank you to the members. There was a funny moment though at the Rotary meeting. They gave me the basket to pick the winning tix from- I picked the tix, but I couldn't read the number properly. I didn't have my glasses on, which I usually isn't a problem, but the print was rather light. So I read the number (or what I thought was the number) out loud- except I was reading it upside down! They were awfully nice about it and we all laughed. I finally managed to read the right number- it was pretty funny.

Anyways, what else is new? I can't remember. I am so tired, my eyes are hurting and I have a bit of a headache. I'm going to go eat grapefruit (really enjoyed it last night) and go to bed. Or maybe I'll forget the grapefruit and just go to bed. The suspense builds... what will Catherine choose??? Grapefruit or bed?? I will let you know tomorrow.. Good night friends.

Changing Direction

What a day! I decided this morning to postpone our Mother's Day event until next year. I know that seems unexpected, but I think it is the best decision to make. So how did this decision come to be? Well, this morning I spoke with an event planner who has been in the business for 30 years. She was very nice- very supportive and helpful and we had a long conversation. She liked our event a lot, but thought this was not a good time to hold it because of the economic situation. She said that this was not the year to try new events, her advice was to stick to the events that we have already been doing- events that have been successful and already have a following and to wait to add new events. She did say that I could go ahead with the event, but it would be for raising awareness and exposure and not a fundraiser, but also said that it was a lot of work for that. I've always believed in listening to good advice- I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the advice that I've been given over the years. I would be the first to say that I don't know everything and I believe in finding people who know more than I do and learning from them. When I spoke with this planner, I knew she was giving good advice and I knew I needed to listen.

How do I feel? Relieved actually. I was in a state these last few days worrying about this event. I need to work on my events well in advance and 4 months is not long enough. By waiting until next year, I will have plenty of time to put together an awesome event. I may work with an event planner or I may do it on my own, I'm not sure yet. I think that the economy will start to get better by this time next year and we will be in a better position. Now I can focus on our 6th Anniversary Celebration and the Date Auction- our two important events and I can work on the Mother's Day Tea without this panic that I've been feeling. I think the racing event will be pushed to next spring as well.

I can't believe it is only Wednesday night- it feels like it should be Friday. These last few days have been so hectic. I need to get things back on track tomorrow and focus on everything else that needs done. I have an appointment in Boston in the morning, so that will take a part of the day, but it is important. I did finish my January newsletter today, I have to email it over to Lisa for her to format.

I spoke with the woman who runs a PR company again today- the same person I spoke with yesterday who I thought was being negative. She had commented on my blog- it was a very nice comment. So we talked today and had a really good conversation. By that point, I had already decided to postpone the event. She was very supportive of our work and said she wants to help out in the future. I am really glad that I spoke with her today.

Well, that's it for tonight. It is only 11pm- can you imagine I'm finishing my blog so early? I should go and work because I feel really behind on things, but I think it might be best to read for a little, write my list and go to bed. I feel really behind on things- I've spent a lot of time this week focusing on the Mother's Day event and I'm so behind on other things. Anyways, I don't want to think about that right now- I'm going to go eat grapefruit- I find eating grapefruit very relaxing for some strange reason. Then I'm off to bed- so early! Until tomorrow...

Moving Along

"Make no little plans, they have no magic to stir mens' blood."


Isn't that a great quote? It is from Daniel Burnham, renowned architect and the principal director of the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. I believe in big plans- big dreams, big plans, big goals- I love them all. So what's new? Not very much today. I had a personal appointment this morning which took an hour's drive, so it gave me plenty of time to think. Last night's news about the event planner not working on our Mother's Day event threw me off and caused me to panic because all of a sudden I was all alone with a huge event sitting in my lap. As I drove, I started breaking things down into smaller pieces- thinking about what we have done so far, how to find an event planner and the fact that if I had to, I could do this event by myself (as I've done all the others so far) and it will work out great. I haven't had a dud event yet, but that is also because I've worked extremely hard to make each one a success and was cautious about not trying to do too much. This afternoon, I was calling event planners and as I started speaking with them, I became even more confident about the event. I was listening to myself as I spoke and realized just how much I already have done and what a cool event it is. The event planners I spoke with were very receptive about the event, so I will keep you updated on how things go. There were some planners that we are not a good fit for, but the woman I spoke with who owned the company was very supportive, loved our event idea and recommended other planners who would be a better fit for our needs. I need to find an event planner who will help find financial and in-kind sponsors for the event and assist with marketing- that is our primary need.

I did speak briefly with one person who owns a marketing and public relations company. Her first response after I told her about what we needed was, "It is very hard to find sponsors now." Her negativity was somewhat surprising especially since she works in public relations. Now, anyone with half a brain knows that things are difficult, I'm not arguing that point- I deal with that everyday. However, this is the year of the "yes, we can" attitude. There are still sponsors out there, the world is still revolving, people are still attending events- it may be harder to find, but it is do-able. I don't need people living in a dream world where everything is peachy, but I'm not having people on team Project Smile that are negative. Negativity is a life sucker, it is contagious and accomplishes nothing.

Well, that's it for tonight. I'm going to write my list- tomorrow, I'm off to a local bank that did a collection drive for us. We are doing a photo together for the local paper and I'm picking up the items. Then I'm back to work on contacting more departments, finishing our January newsletter, contacting more planners, working on events and there is some networking research that I need to do. There are probably a few other things that need to go on my list as well, but can't remember right now.

It is so nice to know that people care. A friend called me today after she read yesterday's blog just to check on me and make sure I was feeling OK. There is something so special when people take an extra step and let you know that they're thinking of you. She is already stressed with her own stuff, so to take time out to call me meant a lot. I try to do that for people I know too, sometimes I feel kind of useless though- particularly when people are going through things and there is nothing that I can do to help. From my own experiences, I know that just listening is usually enough- a sympathetic voice on other end of the phone can make a big difference.

Anyways friends, that's it for tonight. It is a few minutes past midnite- I would like to go back and do some more work or read for a bit, but I think I need to sleep- what an early night! Until tomorrow..

Struggling

Today was a struggle. I did have some good things happen, but the negative has overshadowed them. So where do I start? Well, let's start with the good news first. Yelp is on board to help sponsor our Valentines event which I am really happy about. They supported our date auction and it worked out great. It is such an awesome website, I finally started writing reviews on it recently. I'm glad that they are participating. Things are moving along well with the Valentines event. I think as the marketing kicks into high gear, we'll really see the tickets sales jump.

Anyways, the lousy news is really dominating my mind. The event planner isn't going to be able to work on our Mother's Day event. This is really disappointing news. I had already known that her involvement would be limited because she has a big event coming up very close to ours, but I didn't think this was going to happen. If I had, I'm not sure that I would have committed to holding the event. It is too much work to do on my own, plus planning the date auction and the anniversary event and regular program work and grant writing. So now I need to find an event planner. It is hard to describe how I feel. It was a good feeling to think that I actually had help working on the event and it eased a lot of the pressure that I deal with. I don't get much help, practically no help to be perfectly honest. It is very stressful to always be on your own and have to pull everything together by yourself. I started to cry tonight when I was driving home- I felt sad and overwhelmed and I was just wishing that everything didn't have to be such a struggle. I am already concerned about a personal issue, so the added stress of this news was just too much. The tears helped though because it brought out the fighting spirit in me. I'm not going to give up on our event, it is already moving forward, I will find a new planner and it will be a success. I believe that things happen for a reason and maybe this is working out for the best.

I am proud of myself tonight for following my instinct. I had spoken with the event planner earlier and we discussed the Mother's Day event briefly, after we got off the phone, there was something bothering me and my instinct was that we needed to address the issue. So I called her back when I was driving to tango class and the upshot is that she won't be working on the event planning. As much as I didn't want to hear that, I am relieved to hear it now and not 3 weeks from now. Of course, it would have been better to hear it a few weeks ago so I could have already started finding a new planner.

Maybe I should have known this would be a rocky day- I woke up this morning to an email from someone who was upset about comments I made in my blog. I did speak with them and I think that everything has been resolved, but it was upsetting and it got my day off to a lousy start. I know that blogs can be tricky sometimes since it is out in the public. My intention is never to offend anyone or be detrimental to others. My goal with this blog is simple- to let people look inside my work and to see how a non profit functions. In order to be truthful, I do need to share the negative things that occur. Now, there are quite a few negative things that happen that I don't write about because I don't want to offend anyone by writing about some of the lousy people that I encounter and there are times I downplay how strongly I feel about things- particularly when I am annoyed. The reality is that there are a lot of frustrations, a lot of negative things and a whole lot of struggles that go along with this job and this blog would be a fraud if I didn't address them. Of course, there are tremendous highs that go with my job as well, which I share. I have never lied in my blog, I have never exaggerated- I do my best to tell things the way they are while also being fair to others.

Anyways friends, that's it for tonight. There were other good times today- I cleaned my office, caught up on emails, now have a Reiki therapist on board for the Mother's Day event, finished the Awesome Mom award nomination form and did some other things that I can't remember right now. I don't want to focus on the negative, but I am worried about finding a good event planner. Well, I'm going to go write my list for tomorrow- guess what will be number one- event planner search! Let's wish for happier news tomorrow!

Steady Day

Today was a pretty good day. I went to see the race track today in Braintree- it is a terrific venue. The two indoor race tracks are really cool and the rest of the venue is beautiful. There is a ton of space available, we could have a huge event if we wanted to, but I think we'll start with something smaller. I'm really excited to hold a racing fundraiser and party there in October. It really is exciting to have new events going on- it is going to be a lot of work, but I think they are all going to be very successful. I was at my DWC networking event tonight and the group was very receptive when I talked about our Mother's Day event that I'm working on. I have a lot of planning to do- I'm going to be working with the event planner on it, but there is a lot that I can get done myself. Tomorrow, I need to review the event contracts- date auction, anniv event and mom's day and then sign them and return, some need to have a deposit put down as well, which is fine.

What else is new today? I was catching up on emails, I had a lot of phone calls come in about stuffed animal donations and I was working on some other event planning things. The Single Volunteers of Boston group is on board to recruit volunteers for our Valentines event. They did a good job last year at the date auction.

Something funny happened tonight at the networking event- one of the members said to me that she thought it was interesting that I attended the events since I didn't run a business. I wasn't sure at first how to respond to her, because I'd never really heard a comment like that before. I explained to her that Project Smile, just like every other non profit that runs a full time operation is a business. We don't show a profit at the end of the year, but this is absolutely a business and it is run with the same care and diligence that one runs any business. We provide a service, we have revenue, we have expenses, we pay payroll taxes and benefits, we file all our paperwork with the Secretary of State and Attorney General and the IRS every year, I market Project Smile everyday- this is definitely a business.

Anyways, there was one frustrating thing that happened today and I don't want to go into the details of it, but there was someone that I was friends with who had acted in a really crappy manner in regards to Project Smile and it made me really annoyed and upset this afternoon. I did learn something from it though- never ask people to make a purchase for you without giving them a specific dollar limit. Because if you don't give them a limit, they will most likely spend way too much money. I had asked this person to purchase some items for an event that we were holding last fall- it was a last minute purchase. He bought the items, gave them to the person who needed them at the event and then never gave me a receipt so that I could reimburse him, he didn't even tell me how much the stuff cost. Now, 3 months later he sends me a receipt for a $150 purchase for the supplies. I had absolutely no idea he was going to spend that much money and no way in hell would I have allowed it. You see, I work extremely hard for every penny that Project Smile raises and I am very careful about every dollar that is spent- $150 is a lot of money and to spend that, without even calling me and asking if it was OK to spend that amount is wrong. If I had known how much he spent when he returned to the event, I would have returned some of the items- but I didn't know. A month after the event, he asked if he could sell some calendars. Of course, I was happy to have the help. I gave him 20 calendars. We hadn't talked in about a month and I called him last week and left a message asking him to send me a check for the calendars that he had sold. Today, I get an envelope containing 8 calendars, along with a note saying that I can deduct the money that I owed him from the calendars he sold and a receipt for $150 from Staples. Now, you don't wait 3 months to submit a receipt for reimbursement, you also don't spend that much money before checking to make sure that it is OK and you sure don't ask to sell calendars, then pocket the money because you're reimbursing yourself. It is wrong on so many levels. I need to account for my calendar sales- it is a separate transaction from the fall event and now I have a biarre note in place of where $120 should be. What am I going to do? Nothing- there isn't much I can do. I trusted him to sell calendars, because that's what he said he was going to do. He never said that he would take our calendars, then pocket the money for himself so he could get reimbursed for an amount that I wasn't even aware of. I trusted him to make a sensible purchase at Staples, because I thought that's what he was capable of, but evidently I was wrong. I know I said I didn't want to go into the details of it, but I guess I just did. It really is hurtful though when things happen like that. Sometimes, I just don't understand why people act the way they do. I would never dream of behaving the way he did.

Anyways, enough on that stupid topic. It is almost 1am and I need to write my list and go to bed- I'm getting a headache. Until tomorrow friends..