La Bene Vita

On Projects...

I finished a whole entire project because my pastor pushed a little.

That's a good thing.

Websites
I had three websites on my to-do list.One is a web revision for my church site. Another is a web revision for my school site. And the third was a made-from-scratch site for a new local food pantry   hosted by six area churches, including mine. I actually scratched something off of my "long-term" to-do list yesterday.

Reading
I'm still reading Side Jobs, but not flying through it like the rest of the series, probably because I already know the outcome. I wanna know what happens next. I'm not diving into a new book series quite yet, but I have a couple choices on my Kindle. I'm thinking I should hold off until Praise Team rehearsals kick off at church. And I finish those other two website projects.

People I'd Like to Kick
Ohio Idol owner, Steve Wise.
Pretty much any young-ish employee or volunteer who refuses to read or answer emails, whom I must chase down with text messages or face-to-face conversatinos to get absolutely anything done. This includes both MTMS and church.

To Do - Disclaimer: This Section Is Kinda Boring
Finalize plans for Sound System Work Day on September 9th.
Pick/buy music and plan worship and Praise Team rehearsals through December.
Fall ad planning and rollout at MTMS.
Review and implement brainstorm items from MTMS Staff Meeting... a list in its own right.
Meet attorney and chase down $830 owed by Ohio Idol, which owner Steve Wise refuses to pay
MTMS website revision.
Messiah Lutheran Church website revision.
Senor Patron poster. How many weeksmonths since I moved to Wednesdays?
Tweak payroll system so it doesn't take me five hours every month.
--- That one jumps to the top of the list the first of each month, then drops back after five hours or so.
Review and revise business plan.
Performance evaluations and growth plans. At least for the ones who care.
Writing/Revisions/Editing.
Develop student database.
Something I told Waltz Invictus was at the bottom of my list, next to "develop student database." I can't remember what it is.

Other Important Notes
Did I mention that STEVE WISE, OWNER OF OHIO IDOL, is a JERKFACE? He needs to just pay his fucking bill and stop playing games with big words like "attorney" and "council." He blames his "council" for not paying his bill, which probably consists of himself and his five daughters, who were the "staff" at every single Ohio Idol event.

See, here's the thing. This guy clearly thinks he's doing this again next year when he says things like, "County Fair Such-and-such invited us back next year!" on his Facebook page. He clearly thinks this is a viable, recurring annual business.

Maybe it is, and maybe it isn't. Fact: he told MTMS staff (in WRITING) when he asked us to judge that he expected 5,000 entrants. He got about 500, which we also know as fact, because we were there. At $25 per head, you do the math at how much revenue he expected versus how much he actually saw.

See, at that point in a business venture, you have two choices: (1) You bail on the whole thing, or (2) You go in with your eyes open, throw a bunch of money at it, and understand that you won't see a profit until NEXT YEAR, if at all. I know about these things. I barely broke even on my summer camps two years running and am considering not doing it again in 2013. If I do decide to move forward, I understand that it might lose money. But I also understand that I need to maintain my reputation as a quality provider of summer camp programs if I do decide to continue, or I will surely lose money.

He's terrified of a bad reputation. When we (MTMS) told him that another judge told us the same thing he told us ("I never agreed to pay you. You said you would volunteer in exchange for a contact list."), he emailed that other judge and threatened to bring in his attorney if he heard of any more "slander" from her. (I'm not sure how, "Funny, that's exactly what the other judge told us you told her," constitutes as slander.) Then the other judge and I both posted on the Ohio Idol Facebook page that we had not seen payment of our invoices and were just following up, and by the way, congrats to the winners! (also not slander - or libel, either), he emailed us both and told us "formally" (he always uses that word) to stop posting on the Ohio Idol Facebook page, website, or "any other public forum" (oops), and said if we had any questions, that he would provide his attorney's name and number.

So I called his bluff. I replied and asked him to, yes, please, by all means, send his attorney's name and number. I haven't heard back.

I'm so tired of this. I just want to get paid. Leann and I worked long days and sacrificed other things that needed to get done to help this guy out. I feel so abused and unappreciated.