I’m grateful for the truth about the community and world that I live in. Days like today serve as a reminder of just how thankful I am for my job. It’s unfortunate, but the majority of people around us have no understanding of how bad things are.

The percentage of Americans struggling below the poverty line in 2009 was the highest it has been in 15 years in the U.S. With the country in its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, four million additional Americans found themselves in poverty in 2009, with the total reaching 44 million, or one in seven residents. (NYT) In my opinion and based upon the 11% decrease in U.S. non-profit gifting so far this year, it won’t be getting any better.

Knowing about the realities in our community is just the first step. Doing something about it is the second. I’ll let you know the third if I ever reach that step.

Helllloooo from Chattanooga T.N. I’ve been extremely busy the last few days. I was sent out to T.N. for a conference. I’m always an excited person, especially with my job, but this conference has been wonderful. My focus has been resource development, which I’ve been doing in my career since college. But the non-profit world is a very different machine. You have to build upon the basic principles of resource development by actively engaging people in the cause and it all is done in a very different way. I have learned a ton of ideas to take back with me to V.A. and implement in my office.


Network. Network… Network. I have met some solid people who are amazing! It is rare in my town to come across someone who understands what I do and deal with on a regular basis. It is great to sit with others who share my interests and struggles and talk for hours about ways to improve. If I take nothing else from this experience I can guarantee to take two things; great new professional relationships and that you can never break a non-profiter’s spirit. Overall, I’m very grateful for the experience.

I will leave you with this, Chattanooga is a wonderful town. Ribs are great, museums are wonderful, FREE electric shuttle, choo choos, longest pedestrian bridge in the world was very cool and some of the best homemade ice cream I've ever had.

Today I found out I will be attending a United Way staff summit held next week in Washington D.C. I’m excited to learn new things to apply to my job and I've already picked which sessions I want to attend! Timing couldn’t get any better, seeing as how I have begun 2010-2011 campaign planning and haven’t created anything yet. As for the location… D.C. is ugly. Oh well, you win some you lose some. I’m excited but not looking forward to navigating the city alone for the first time. If I know me I’ll park at my hotel and never explore. I’ll keep you posted!

Today I attended the advertising seminar at WDBJ7 and got a lot of useful information when it comes to the advertising message. I think the number one reminder that I took home with me is that it’s never about if a person does or does not like an ad. It’s about the results. I think this is something that is frequently forgotten. I know personally in my time at The Roanoke Times I would fall into creating ads that I liked. Sometimes the worst commercials and materials are the best ones. They stick with us. Plus, the best thing about advertising is the power we hold in getting individuals around us to memorize just about anything.


Example: Well I was shopping for a new car, which one’s me?
A cool convertible or an SUV.


Too bad I didn’t know my credit was whacked,
cuz now I’m driving off the lot in a used sub-compact.


F-R-E-E, that spells “free,” credit report dot com baby.
Saw their ads on my TV. Thought about goin’ but was too lazy.


Now instead of lookin’ fly and rollin’ phat,
my legs are sticking to the vinyl and my posse’s getting laughed at.

F-R-E-E, that spells “free,” credit report dot com baby

Found out today I’m going to a small seminar at WDBJ7 to learn from Don Fitzgibbons, who is a Senior Marketing Consultant with Jim Doyle and Associates. I hope to learn how to better reach people in our area with very little money. The less money I can spend on marketing the more people that can be helped! I hope to learn something from the Guru of Ads!!



Don Fitzgibbons

Don Fitzgibbons is a Senior Marketing Consultant with Jim Doyle and Associates.

Don has over 30 years of experience in broadcast advertising, marketing and sales management. Don has always loved working with retail businesses. He began his broadcast career working with Jim Doyle at a Maine radio station in 1977 and went on to become a General Manager and owner of radio stations in the Northeast.

Currently, Don consults with television stations and specializes in advertising that produces measurable results. He works primarily with small and medium-sized businesses that want to stand out from their competition and significantly increase the impact of their advertising. Over the past eight years, Don has reviewed advertising strategies for over 3000 businesses around the country. Don has also worked abroad for the U.S. State Department to teach advertising and marketing skills at emerging radio and TV stations in Europe, Africa, and Asia.

We call Don the "Guru of Ads" for good reason. His nationwide experience gives Don a keen expertise in knowing what kind of advertising works and what doesn’t. His popular seminar, "14 Rules of the Guru," helps business owners, copywriters and TV production people learn how to get powerful results with the right creative approach.

A graduate of the University of Wisconsin in Journalism, Don has also completed graduate work in Business Management and Counseling Psychology. He flew 102 combat missions in Vietnam. Married with grown children, Don's hobbies include being a high school basketball referee and a (very) competitive Internet chess player.

My apologizes for being a bad blogger. I started my new job in marketing and public relations for the United Way of Montgomery, Radford & Floyd on the 19th. It has definitely kept me busy. Although it has only been about a week and a half I’m really excited to be working for such a great organization and feel renewed! Some people may say that it isn’t about what you do but how you do it. I think that’s garbage. It is about what you do. It’s about the people you help, the people you touch and the lives that are changed around you. I may not have all the answers and I definitely can’t solve all the problems at my job or elsewhere. What I do know, is that when I get up in the morning my life has a little more meaning than it did before and that’s more than enough for me.

As previously mentioned, I've been in the desperate need of change, a change in my life to help me receive fulfillment in a new way. A need to do something that helps others instead of being a part of something that's always about pushing a number. I've spent many hours in prayer and thought to find what direction to take. My decision has been made and I'm ready to share it!

I’m very excited to announce that on November 19th I will begin working at the United Way of Montgomery, Radford & Floyd. I’m going back to where it all started! In college I put in a year of volunteer work at the UW and was later offered a Marketing and Communication Intern position. I will now be going back to step into the role of Marketing/PR and Resource Development Manager, I know, it’s a mouthful. I’m very excited for the change in direction of my career and honored to be working for a wonderful organization that truly helps people’s lives. It’s an organization that inspired me and I know will only continue to do so.

While I will miss my co-workers at The Roanoke Times, I know that some of us will remain friends. As someone recently told me, this is one of the many steps I will have to take to find where I fit and what I want to do with my life. I think it’s 100% true. I’m excited to look forward and know that great things are to come. I will look back on my first job out of college with nothing but fond memories of my co-workers. They taught me a lot and we shared a lot of great laughs.


Cheers!

Prayer is an important part of my life and for the past year I’ve felt like my life needs a change when it comes to the work that I do. So, I’ve turned to prayer to have God help me choose the path that will be best for my life and Brad’s. I’ve now been married for 6 months and the biggest difficulty for me in marriage has been understanding that being a wife means I make the best decisions for both Brad and I, not just myself. I’ve always been the type of person to make a decision and simply go with it. I’m quick to decisions instead of hard thought. My husband on the other hand is quite the opposite, which is what I truly believe keeps me stable and from being all over the place sometimes. So I’ve been considering multiple choices in my life and hope that the next year proves to be all that I hope for and more importantly what God wants for me. I’ll keep you posted with what happens…