Amy Harder, writing at the National Journal, interviewed Charmaine on the on-line battle on the up-coming Supreme Court Nomination. Also see nice quote from David All.
Americans United For Life says it has already seen an overwhelming response from its online supporters in discussions anticipating a nominee. "We had to upgrade the back end of our computer operation because we've seen such an outpouring of interest being more active on these issues," said Charmaine Yoest, the anti-abortion group's president. Her organization echoes a common concern on the right that Obama will nominate a judicial activist who will trigger a "dramatic shift in public understanding of the role of the courts," Yoest said. "When you go down the path of accepting judicial activism as the norm, that dramatically increases the amount of power judges have."
Yoest said her group will be ready to go right out of the gate once a nominee is announced. She said its "robust" online advocacy program, Facebook community and new IT system will mean "better, faster and cheaper" communication with supporters. "We're ready whenever they bring it out," she said. "There won't be a huge delay."
Charmaine predicts that the next Supreme Court Justice nominee will be a woman. a pro-choice, abortion advocate. See the AUL analysis here.
Where might pro-choice and pro-life activists agree?
Answer: Supporting pregnant women -- mothers -- who are in a crisis pregnancy.
But.
The difference, of course, is that pro-lifers run homes for these moms.
Planned Parenthood does not.
(There is no profit in running homes for women in need...)
This work is left to the saints who run crisis pregnancy centers. Like The Paul Stefan Foundation . This group has a terrific fund raising Mother's Day gift.
Donate in your Mother's Name and Send an E-Mother's Day Card to your Mom letting her know you and she helped a pregnant woman in need.
Fredericksburg, VA - The Paul Stefan Foundation (PSF) today launched a virtual baby bottle campaign to raise money for homeless, abused and stranded pregnant women in need. The Foundation, which operates two homes for expectant mothers in central Virginia, takes in pregnant women and cares for them before, during and after their pregnancies. In just two years, the Foundation has taken in 36 women and babies.
"We have done a handful of baby bottle campaigns through churches, where you hand out baby bottles one week, people fill them with loose change, and bring them back a few weeks later. These have been tremendously successful in helping us raise the funds to care for and nurture these women and their babies. Now we are taking this baby bottle campaign to the Internet. Those folks contributing a minimum of $10 will be able to donate in their mother's name and send Mom a Mother's Day e-Card," said Randy James, CEO of the Paul Stefan Foundation.
The Paul Stefan Foundation was the inspiration of a parish priest, Father Stefan Starzynski, who prayed for a mission associated with his parish, and the James family. The James' unborn son was diagnosed with a birth defect of the lungs and died one hour after birth. Through the spiritual guidance and inspiration of Father Starzynski, their parish priest at the time, the James' channeled their pain into forming and operating the Paul Stefan Homes for Expectant Mothers.
"Caring for and nurturing these women and their babies has been a tremendously moving experience. There are so many women out there, pregnant, and looking for a place to turn and find support, care and love. We also hope that this campaign helps to alert pregnant women in need that they can turn to us for help," said Evelyn James, Director of PSF Homes.
For more information about the Paul Stefan Foundation and its Homes for Expectant Mother's go to www.paulstefanhome.org.
Gregory R. Mueller
CRC Public Relations
2760 Eisenhower Ave, 4th Floor
Alexandria, VA 22314
703.683.5004
AUL, a non-profit law firm, publishes a yearly review of incremental initiatives -- model legislation -- that states can use to protect women and unborn babies.
There are some 670 laws to regulate abortion in the nation. The Freedom of Choice Act or FOCA would eliminate each of these state controls on the abortion industry.
For example, if FOCA was signed into law by Obama non-doctors across America could do abortions:
+ Any school nurse could do the abortion surgery.
+ Any school nurse could do the abortion surgery in the school clinic.
+ Any school nurse could do the abortion surgery on any school age girl.
+ Any school nurse could do the abortion surgery on any school age girl without mom knowing.
+ All abortions done by your school nurse on your little girl will be paid for with your tax dollars.
The Pro-life Legal Guide belongs in every lawyer's library.
Washington, DC -- Americans United for Life (AUL) today held a Capitol Hill briefing in conjunction with the release of their annually-updated legal guide, Defending Life 2009: A State-by-State Legal Guide to Abortion, Bioethics, and the End of Life.
"Defending Life 2009 offers specific, achievable opportunities to advance a pro-life agenda in individual states and in Congress. In addition, it provides essential insight and analysis on issues across the life spectrum," said Dr. Charmaine Yoest, AUL's President & CEO.
Representatives Eric Cantor (R-VA, Minority Whip), Doug Lamborn (R-CO), and Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) served as honorary co-hosts of today's Capitol Hill event, which was attended by members of Congress and their staffers.
Your Business Blogger(R) teaches business at the local college and loves the 'continuous learning' life style. So when Jack Welch, Ph.D., former CEO of GE has something to say about management, this student takes notes.
Welch appeared on CNBC's Squawk Box this morning and graded president Obama on leadership.
Welch said Obama on leadership earned an "A."
(On leadership, said Welch; Not so on policy...)
Personnel is Policy, Ronald Reagan & Charmaine
Welch mentioned his criteria: Vision, Mission, Communication and Team Building.
Welch explained the value of having the right people on the president's team -- and how well the team works together because they each share the vision and mission of Obama's America.
This is what president Reagan talked about in "Personnel is Policy" when Charmaine worked in the West Wing. You hire people who think as you would think -- the boss should hire like minded deputies.
And this is exactly what Obama has done. Jack Welch is right. Obama's managers want us all to love and worship Obama's world (view).
So when an Obama Deputy - Napolitano -- publishes a directive to law enforcement officials -- those with the power to arrest -- that Pro-Lifers and Veterans are a danger to America; all Americans know that this is exactly how Obama thinks.
What happens next? Obama is dividing our nation. People are not buying Obama's vision for America. Texas talks about seceding (again). But this time the abolitionists Pro-Lifers will be in the south -- not Massachusetts. Salena Zito writes,
Texas Gov. Rick Perry last week declared the federal government had become "oppressive in its size, intrusion into the lives of our citizens and its interference with the affairs of our state."
Obama will push for the so called 'Freedom of Choice Act' or FOCA. Which will remove all local regulation of abortion and the offices where abortions are preformed. A social worker in a dirty back alley could do the baby-cutting.
Obama will allow open homosexuals to serve in the military which will destroy unit cohesion and effect our ability to complete any mission and will certainly cost American lives.
The first hint of a stir came just after Election Day, when the computer servers at Americans United for Life crashed. People were swamping the Web site to sign a petition urging President-elect Barack Obama to stand firm against abortion.
"I got a call from one of our guys, 'We have a problem,' " said Charmaine Yoest, the group's president and chief executive officer. "And I was like, 'The problem would be what?'"
Tech-savvy Charmaine knows that servers being overwhelmed with internet traffic is a high-quality problem.
Obama does not care for veterans such as Your Business Blogger(R) nor the Pro-Lifers such as Americans United for Life.
. Join Fight FOCA
More than 261,000 people have signed an online petition calling on Notre Dame to withdraw its invitation for Obama to speak at the Catholic university's May 17 commencement. The petition says Obama has carried out "some of the most anti-life actions of any American president," including expanding taxpayer-funded research on embryonic stem cells.
And Americans United for Life plans to expand its plans to expand its staff in Washington and, after the post-election crash, recently upgraded its computer system to handle the bump in online activism.
A Tale of Two Wheelers.
What if Earle Wheeler was more like Elmer Wheeler?
Your Business Professor
Jack YoestYour Business Professor opens our lesson with a story from November, 1965, as told by Charles Cooper who remembers the most important sales presentation of the last fifty years -- .
Charles Cooper was a young staffer assisting his boss, Earle Wheeler who made a presentation to the Big Boss.
The Big Boss had to decide between two strategies, one from Earle, who had wisdom and judgment and experience.
The another strategic was from Robert who ran an academic team of whiz kids.
The Big Boss had to choose between nearly opposite recommendations from Earle and Robert.
Although the pitch by Earle Wheeler was done almost a half century ago, Charles Cooper remembers it as if it were yesterday. Cooper was the young man who was holding the flip chart.
The Big Boss was about to make the biggest mistake of the last 50 years...
Why? Because Earle Wheeler could not sell like Elmer Wheeler.
***
Sales Training
Persuasion in Business, Government, Non-Profits and War.
Well-run organizations have decision makers and influencers who are sales professionals at every level. People who persuade.
They sell to customers, superiors and peers. They are 'salesmen' who work to control events - both inside and outside the organization. Salesmen in business development who are account managers.
Who: Professionals and life-long students in management or in business development - sales, fund-raising, leadership.
What: The seminar will equip the attendee with background on how to manage and how to sell both tangibles and intangibles -- To sell ideas, and products, and services.
When: Wednesday, March 18, 2009, 11:00pm to 12:15pm
Where: Northern Virginia Community College,
Alexandria Campus, campus map
The new Bisdorf Auditorium, room 196
3001 North Beauregard Street, Alexandria, VA 22311 street map
Why: Increase sales, Increase funding,
Sell an idea, Save the world.
Cost: No Charge. Register here at JYoest@NVCC.edu. Space is limited.
Jack Yoest with sales trophies, circa 1995.
The sales training on March 18th will present an overview of the dominant, popular sales philosophies and their application to selling ideas and products in for-profits, not-for-profits, government, military, media and academia.
Jack has developed a simple three step method to sell; to persuade:
The Push: gently encourage the client -- overcome inertial.
The Pitch: the seller must always be in the debt of the buyer -- never the reverse.
The Promise: selling is a long term relationship -- love the client.
Jack Yoest, Adjunct Professor of Business at NOVA and President of Management Training of DC, is a former Armored Cavalry Officer in Combat Arms. For over 30 years he has managed software, health care and international human resource management companies. His experience spans the military, Fortune 500, government, start-ups, non-profits, media and academia.
He conducts sales and marketing and management training for professionals in industries from law to government, from for-profit businesses to charities.
He has sold car mufflers and intravenous catheters. He's peddled tactics for night vision devices, partnerships with software developers, budgeting in public policy and media marketing for CEO's.
Jack also served in the Governor's Office of the Commonwealth Virginia as Assistant Secretary for Health and Human Resources where he acted as the Chief Technology Officer for the secretariat. He was responsible for the successful Year 2000 (Y2K) conversion for the 16,000-employee unit.
He was also a sales account manager with a medical device start-up and helped move sales from zero to over $12 million, opening over 300 accounts, resulting in a buy-out by Johnson & Johnson.
Jack has consulted across industries and in China and India. His first job out of high school was selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door in 1971.
Your Business Blogger(R) and Charmaine are spending a few days at the Ritz-Carlton in Laguna Niguel for a series of meetings.
This Ritz sold us in the first two minutes.
***
The car valet attendant took our car and offered assistance with our bags. Walking thru the front entrance, the staff welcomed us.
By name.
We are escorted to the check-in counter (of magnificent stone) and Charmaine addresses the lovely clerk (young, but mature and a happily married mother we soon learn),
Charmaine asks, "How did the door man know our names?"
She looks up. "He's got special powers," she replied matter of factly.
Funny. Smart. Ladies and Gentlemen Serving Ladies and Gentlemen.
The Ritz knows how to sell. The lifetime value of each regular guest of the hotel is over $300,000.
Commitment, Attention to Detail, Immediate Follow-up: Selling.
***
Save the Date:
Sales Training
Persuasion in Business, Government, Non-Profits and War.
Question: What lost Vietnam?
Answer: A failed sales presentation.
Well-run organizations have decision makers and influencers who are sales professionals at every level. People who persuade.
They sell to customers, superiors and peers. They are 'salesmen' who work to control events - both inside and outside the organization. Salesmen in business development who are account managers.
Who: Professionals and life-long students in management or in business development - sales, fund-raising, leadership.
What: The seminar will equip the attendee with background on how to manage and how to sell both tangibles and intangibles -- To sell ideas, and products, and services.
When: Wednesday, March 18, 2009, 11:00pm to 12:15pm
Where: Northern Virginia Community College,
Alexandria Campus, campus map
The new Bisdorf Auditorium, room 196
3001 North Beauregard Street, Alexandria, VA 22311 street map
Why: Increase sales, Increase funding,
Sell an idea, Save the world.
Cost: No Charge. Register here at JYoest@NVCC.edu. Space is limited.
Jack Yoest with sales trophies, circa 1995.
The sales training on March 18th will present an overview of the three dominant, popular sales philosophies and their application to selling ideas and products in for-profits, not-for-profits, government, military, media and academia.
Jack Yoest, Adjunct Professor of Business at NOVA and President of Management Training of DC, is a former Armored Cavalry Officer in Combat Arms. For over 30 years he has managed software, health care and international human resource management companies. He conducts sales and marketing and management training for professionals in industries from law to government.
He has sold car mufflers and intravenous catheters. He's peddled tactics for night vision devices, partnerships with software developers, budgeting in public policy and media marketing for CEO's.
Jack also served in the Governor's Office of the Commonwealth Virginia as Assistant Secretary for Health and Human Resources where he acted as the Chief Technology Officer for the secretariat. He was responsible for the successful Year 2000 (Y2K) conversion for the 16,000-employee unit.
He was also a sales account manager with a medical device start-up and helped move sales from zero to over $12 million, opening over 300 accounts, resulting in a buy-out by Johnson & Johnson.
Jack has consulted across industries and in China and India. His first job out of high school was selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door in 1971.
Join Fight FOCA Charmaine sent this note to 300,000 of her closest friends who are Fighting FOCA, the so called 'Freedom of Choice Act,'
Thank you for recently taking action by contacting your Member of Congress and asking them to sign onto a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi defending pro-life riders.
Yesterday, the Jordan/Shuler letter was sent to Speaker Pelosi and released to the public with 180 Congressional signers -- 157 Republicans and 23 Democrats.
Thank you for contacting your Representative. Because you took action with us, a broad coalition of Members of Congress made a public stand to defend our pro-life principles.
As we've mentioned before, the attacks on pro-life riders is the first attempt by the pro-abortion movement to pass the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) "by stealth".
It is so vital we do whatever we can to defend these vital amendments to federal budget bills and keep our tax dollars from being used to pay for abortion here in the United States and on our military bases worldwide. Repealing these laws is the first target of Planned Parenthood and their allies -- and their first step toward pushing the FOCA agenda.
The full text of the letter with all of the signatures is available on the AUL Action blog (PDF).
We look forward to keeping you informed as things progress on Capitol Hill and in state legislatures across the country.
Yours for Life,
Charmaine
Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D.
President & CEO
AUL Action The Legislative Arm of Americans United for Life
FightFOCA.com
"The hardline, divisive tactics they've used have been resoundingly rejected," said Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. "We'll probably see some splintering within the conservative community. ...I'd hope some of the folks on the right, if their goal is to reduce the need for abortions, would link arms with us."
But for now, anti-abortion leaders are eager to appear undaunted.
"Any time you have a loss like that, you have an opportunity to reassess and come back stronger," said Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life. "If they want to see this as a big loss that will set us back, that's OK. Our people are very energized, and ready for Round Two."
John Cronin writes about the win in the battle on the war on FOCA in comMITTed to Romney,
As I wrote in my post from several days ago, we have won another battle in the fight to protect innocent life in the womb, but the war continues.
I post this email...to help share the conviction that grassroots activism does work. Together, we are making a difference.
Read Women of Faith with FOCA on the Family, Pardon the pun, but churches and families need to be aware of how the Freedom of Choice Act will impact their community, something we should expect to see enacted...
Dr. Charmaine Yoest, AUL president, says the ranking offers every reason for optimism for conservatives in Louisiana, especially with the election of Democratic President Barack Obama, who is pro-choice. "Since the election, we have seen a huge outpouring of grassroots support for our work opposing the radically pro-abortion Freedom of Choice Act as well as hundreds of inquiries about life-affirming legislation," Youest says.
Charmaine was busy with media interviews while she marched in the March for Life.
(This was quite an act: no child was left behind...) Obama is beginning to fulfill his campaign promises to bail out the abortion business.
Baby Boo working the crowd at the March for Life
If you support abortion or not, you are now going to pay for abortion...the world over.
Your Business Blogger(R) does not care for the government bail out of any business. Especially not the abortion business.
By Jeff Mason and Deborah Charles (Additional reporting by Ed Stoddard)
WASHINGTON, Jan 23 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday lifted restrictions on U.S. government funding for groups that provide abortion services or counseling abroad, reversing a policy of his Republican predecessor George W. Bush...
"When we wake up every morning to a deepening financial crisis, it is an insult to the American people to bail out the abortion industry," said Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life.
"Planned Parenthood is a billion-dollar company and they do not need additional resources to burden the American taxpayer."...
The United States spends more than $400 million on overseas family planning assistance each year.
"What a terrible way to begin a new administration: with an abortion business bailout that will exploit women in developing countries for political ends," said Charmaine Yoest, President of Americans United for Life Action.
...
Mr. Obama's promise to sign the Freedom of Choice Act, which would repeal all state and local restrictions on abortion, such as parental notification laws and measures allowing physicians to deny abortions based on their own faith convictions, came under fire Thursday from congressional Republicans.
LAURA MECKLER reports in The Wall Street Journal, Obama Intends to Lift Family-Planning 'Gag Rule'; Move Would Restore Funds to International Groups Involved With Abortion; Timing Shows Sensitivity to Foes of Roe v. Wade,
Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, thinks the change in policy amounts to U.S. tax dollars funding abortion and sees no positive outcome.
"What a terrible way to begin a new administration: with an abortion business bailout that will exploit women in developing countries for political ends," she told LifeNews.com.
"We should not export the tragedy of abortion to other nations, and we certainly shouldn't do so via the hard-earned dollars of American taxpayers," she said.
Denise Burke, [Americans United for Life] Vice President of Legal Affairs said the move also creates foreign policy headaches because it has the U.S. funding pro-abortion groups that are actively lobbying other nations to reverse their long-standing pro-life laws.
"Pro-abortion organizations like the International Planned Parenthood Federation are actively working to impose radically pro-abortion laws on developing nations, showing no regard for the will of the people in these countries," she said. "This move is a significant step backwards in respecting the sovereignty of nations, in empowering women, and in protecting unborn."
In 2002, I was honored to sign into law the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, which extends legal protection to children who survive an abortion attempt.
Born Alive protection is opposed by Obama.
Republican Leader John Boehner is blogging. Read his post at Americans United for Life Action, Mr. President: Reconsider FOCA
January 22, 2009
A Guest Post by Republican Leader John Boehner
Yesterday, on the eve of the 36th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v Wade decision, 105 Members of Congress sent a letter to President Obama requesting that he reconsider his support for overturning pro-life laws--even laws enacted by the States. Specifically we asked the President to withdraw his pledge to sign the so-named Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), which would in one tragic act overturn virtually all pro-life laws nationwide, and to refuse to support policies that incrementally enact the FOCA agenda by rescinding or weakening existing pro-life laws....
While we were marching in yesterday's March for Life, Charmaine was interviewed by the WSJ on the Obama Abortion Bail Out executive order.
Cecile Richards, from Planned Parenthood and Obama
The reporter, LAURA MECKLER, asked about the current Mexico City Accord which prohibits USA taxpayers funding education on "reproductive freedom" to other countries. (The Alert Reader knows well that reproductive freedom/education is code for abortion.) The reporter also asked about Obama's "sensitivity" on not signing the abortion bailout on the anniversary of Roe v Wade; 22 January -- a day Pro-Lifers yearly recognize as the day the Supreme Court legalized abortion in all 57 50 states. Abortion is now legal through all nine months of pregnancy.
...[A]bortion opponents were not mollified. Charmaine Yoest, [Ph.D.] president of Americans United for Life, thinks the change in policy amounts to U.S. tax dollars funding abortion and sees no positive outcome. But she called the delayed timing "a politically savvy move" by the White House.
Meckler also interviewed Cecile Richards,
Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, which offers abortion and family planning, says she doesn't care when President Obama changes the policy, as long as it is changed. "He has clearly stated his opposition to the global gag rule and his intention to overturn it," she said.
Cecile Richards makes money selling and preforming abortions. If women and other countries cannot afford an abortion. The American tax payer will now pay for them in a Planned Parenthood office.
There is one gag rule that Cecile Richards demands that Obama not change: No pregnant woman should see a sonogram of her baby.
85 percent of women who see the first picture of the child, do not have an abortion.
Planned Parenthood cannot have the science of the sonogram help women to choose.
The Supreme Court has allowed abortion through all nine months of pregnancy. Obama goes further (and later) and supports post-birth abortion. A civilized people will not stand for the destruction of its most defenseless citizens. Obama is in for a fight.
As Catholics, we must oppose passage of the evil "Freedom of Choice Act." To read more about our U.S. Bishops' opposition to FOCA, visit www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/FOCA. Americans United For Life is also encouraging pro-lifers to sign a petition against FOCA at www.fightfoca.com. Also certain to arise soon is the issue of federal judgeship nominations. President Obama's picks for these key positions are all expected to be pro-choice, as are his choices for the Supreme Court. Committed pro-life Catholics have ample opportunity to pray for our nation, the very anti-life direction we are going towards now and our new President. God help America!
Abortion and FOCA is uniting all different religious traditions. See Making My Own Colors.
Be sure to bookmark Jill Stanek. We will need her insight over the next 4 years.
"Blogs for Life is scheduled to take place the day of the 36th annual March for Life, during which hundreds of thousands of pro-life advocates gather in the nation's capitol to celebrate life and demand the reversal of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion.
The conference will feature several prominent conservative voices including Senator Sam Brownback, Amanda Carpenter, Jill Stanek, Michael New, Ph.D., Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D., Michael Illions, Chris Gacek, J.D. and Martha Shuping, M.D. all speaking with bloggers live from Family Research Council headquarters."
***
Join Fight FOCA To date almost 425,000 people have signed the FightFOCA petition.
"Please, before FOCA flies onto the congressional floor in the upcoming days, sign the online petition to fight FOCA (www.fightfoca.com), and then contact your representatives and senators to tell them how you expect them to vote on the bill."
Chuck Norris is always right. He's smart. As The Dude says, 'Chuck Norris can divide by zero.'
###
Thank you (foot)notes:
The Dude worked backstage with Chuck Norris on the Huckabee presidential campaign trail in December 2007.
Pro-Choice abortion-approver Christina doesn't care much for the Fight against FOCA. She used to work for Planned Parenthood and says there is no such procedure as a partial birth abortion. I don't think she's seen the pictures...warning: graphic dead baby unwanted human tissue.
UPDATE: Blogs 4 Life is on the Right Wing Watch list from People for the American Way. The anti-American PfAW has more time for abortion, now that Obama will soon be surrendering in Iraq and to Iran.
As we look toward celebrating the New Year on Wednesday night, my email box is filling up with end-of-year appeals, and I know yours is too.
Let me then be plain in telling you how much we appreciate your partnership with AUL this past year and as we head into the new one.
Many people have been asking me how things stand, and what our strategy will be, with an incoming presidential administration that has taken such a radical stance supporting abortion. The short answer: I am, frankly, heartened by the tremendous response of our AUL supporters each time we've asked you to stand for life.
First, we saw the remarkable response to AUL Action's FightFOCA petition. Pro-lifers are not giving in!
The signatures have continued rising, even over the Christmas
holiday, and now stand at over 350,000!
If you haven't signed yet, take a minute and add your voice at: www.FightFOCA.com.
I am also heartened by the response of AUL supporters to the 55-page Wish List pro-abortion forces sent to President-elect Obama. We asked you to enter comments on the document and now there are nearly 3,000 comments, mostly pro-life, on the site.
Of course, a realist must acknowledge that no one really knows what the ground game will look like once we begin confronting an administration so radical that its leader, President-elect Obama, could not bring himself to vote in favor of protecting babies born alive after an abortion. And he is unwaveringly supported by the current leader of the world's largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood and its President Cecile Richards, who was the deputy chief of staff to the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi only three years ago.
Even so -- even so! -- I remain hopeful. I have on my fireplace mantle a copy of the classic work, Streams in the Desert, which belonged to my grandparents. The entry to be read each January 6th, addresses the perennial question of uncertainty and recounts the example of the self-opening gate:
There is a self-opening gate which is sometimes used in country roads. It stands fast and firm across the road as a traveler approaches it. If he stops before he gets to it, it will not open. But if he will drive right at it, his wagon wheels press the springs below the roadway, and the gate swings back to let him through. He must push right on at the closed gate, or it will continue to be closed.
Then the author, Lettie Cowman, sums up by saying, "This illustrates the way to pass every barrier on the road of duty."
Duty is an old-fashioned word, rarely heard today. But the AUL team believes that it is indeed our duty, and a high calling, to stand against those who would promote the Culture of Death with every last resource that God grants us, regardless of the barriers that block the road ahead.
We will pray for wisdom, direction, and discernment. And then, we intend to run straight at the gate.
These are difficult times. I've talked with so many of you recently who have told me that you are standing with us, despite financial challenges. We are humbled -- and emboldened -- by your commitment.
Thank you for your faithful support which enables us to "press on and step out boldly."
FOCA is the proposed legislation that would eliminate all regulation and oversight of abortion. No parental notification for minors. No licensed doctors doing the cutting.
So how can we be so sure FOCA might be a-coming?
Because of the relationships of Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood.
***
I've had both a dot gov email address and ran a dot com software company; now I teach.
At the start of every semester, Your Business Blogger(R) instructs my class on how Business Gets Done.
It is not technique. It is not brilliance. It is not killer apps. It is not resources. It is not capital.
The return on investment (ROI) in the for-profit businesses should be sales generated.
But not-for-profits have a different type of "product" peddled. The purpose of a non-profit is to improve the human condition.
So when a non-profit places a media buy, how does Your Business Blogger(R) suggest measuring success?
Hate Mail.
In for-profit, we measure love.
In non-profits, we measure hate.
Our country is evenly and bitterly divided into two competing world views. The animosity is so great and the two camps have opinions so different that we all might as well be on different planets.
We non-profit marketers are now interplanetary ambassadors. Captain Kirk never had it so hard.
So measure the "good" ad with "bad" feedback.
The Alert Reader might suggest that media hits could be an immediate proxy for any ad campaign effectiveness. But here in the non-profit world, the marketing manager should measure opposing, hateful articles, not the friendlies. Getting your friends to agree is helpful, to be sure. Getting the opposition reacting is better.
On Reasoned Audacity we limit, moderate and edit hate-comments, because most are not helpful and make for atrocious reading. Motto: Delectare et Docere.
To Please and To Instruct.
Hate-mail is not pleasing to read. A wise marketer measures this mail, crunches this data, but uses only for internals, not public consumption -- which would look like whining. Complaining about all the stoopid people on that other planet.
As Jack Welch advises: Never be a victim.
And as politicians are wont to say, "Throw a rock into a pack of dogs: the one that yelps is the one that got hit."
Measure the hits by the number of yelps.
Americans United for Life Action published an open letter in a full page in the Dayton Daily News, an Ohio newspaper . Back page, section A. Good size and location. Marketers would prefer more frequency than a one-time media buy. But a good ad "sells" in more than the buy in a particular geographic location.
Today, effective prints ads are picked up by alternative media and broadcast-cable outlets.
(Goodness, during the Huckabee campaign, Ed Rollins got media attention for an ad he didn't even run.)
See Charmaine's Open Letter to Senator Obama here and at the jump.
Read the ad and let us know if you think it "sells" -- if it persuades.
The patron saint of marketing John Wanamaker once quipped that "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don't know which half." Sometime a manager just gets lucky.
It was a delight to be in a very large room with with people with big ideas. Each who loves his country.
One of the Hosts, Colin Hanna, from Let Freedom Ring, was about to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance and reminded us of legislation allowing veterans to render a hand salute, even if out of uniform, even if separated from active service.
The law was made possible by Senator Jim Inhoufe of Oklahoma -- a Republican, of course.
A conservative, of course. Who loves Jesus. Clinging to his religion and his guns...
So the next time you are at a ball game look for veterans during the National Anthem.
By Ryan Cassin,
Thursday July 26, 2007
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) today praised the
passage by unanimous consent of his bill (S.1877) clarifying U.S. law to allow veterans
and servicemen not in uniform to salute the flag.
Current law (US Code Title 4, Chapter 1) states that veterans and servicemen not in
uniform should place their hand over their heart without clarifying whether they can or
should salute the flag.
"The salute is a form of honor and respect, representing pride in one's military service," Senator Inhofe said.
"Veterans and service members continue representing the military services even when not in uniform.
"Unfortunately, current U.S. law leaves confusion as to whether veterans and service members out of uniform can or should salute the flag. My legislation will clarify this regulation, allowing veterans and servicemen alike to salute the flag, whether they are in uniform or not.
"I look forward to seeing those who have served saluting proudly at baseball games, parades, and formal events. I believe this is an appropriate way to honor and recognize the 25 million veterans in the United States who have served in the military and remain as role models to others citizens.
Those who are currently serving or have served in the military have earned this right, and their recognition will be an inspiration to others."
Alert Readers have also noticed that Barack Obama has no American Flag on his campaign aircraft. It is not known if he will remove the flag from Air Force One, if he is elected...
Barack Obama also demonstrates that it is impossible for him to support the troops. He took millions from Bill Ayers, the domestic terrorist who attempted to blow up the Pentagon.
How can Obama support the troops and support a terrorist who tried to kill the troops? Obama is not qualified to be commander in chief.
KAILUA, Hawaii - He's not the commander in chief yet, but was President-elect Barack Obama briefly practicing his salute on Sunday?
On the first morning of his vacation here, Mr. Obama arrived at the Marine Corps Base Hawaii for his daily workout. As he walked out of the Semper Fit Center, his gray T-shirt soaked in sweat, he lifted his right hand and gave a quick salute to two Marines in fatigues who were standing in the distance.
[Reagan knew how to salute; it was within his experience.
The Cubscout is saluting.
Expect homosexuals in both the military and the Boyscouts
under Obama.]
The brief moment was not captured by cameras. Photographs and video were not permitted to be taken on the military base, according to campaign aides.
Mr. Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, opened their day with a 45-minute workout inside a large gymnasium at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, which is located on the Mokapu Penninsula on the windward side of Oahu, about 30 minutes outside Honolulu. It is sunny and warm here, a world away, at least in terms of the weather, from Chicago.
Saul Alinsky was Obama's mentor who taught Rules for Radicals and how to be community activists. One of Alinsky's rules was that the activists' tactics had to be within the experience of the participants. Obama, like most liberals, doesn't care for the military: it is outside his experience.
Alert Readers well know that Reagan served in uniform, like most patriots, in WWII.
Contact: Matthew Eppinette, 202-289-1479; Daniel McConchie, 312-568-4700, daniel.mcconchie@aul.org; both with Americans United for Life
CHICAGO, August 12 /Standard Newswire/ -- Americans United for Life today announces the availability of $500,000 for 501(c)(3) organizations who wish to create and distribute non-partisan educational voter guides for the upcoming elections.
AUL President Dr. Charmaine Yoest said, "Voter guides are a way to empower voters to make well-informed choices on election day. Pro-life Americans want to get beyond the spin and know the truth, based on the record, about where the candidates stand."
Daniel McConchie, AUL Vice President & Executive Director, added, "Pro-life voters are a key constituency that both Democrats and Republicans ignore at their peril. Americans United for Life is looking forward to helping pro-life Americans across the country vote their values in this election."
AUL spent $215,000 on creation and distribution of more than 2.8 million voter guides in 2006. With the additional investment this year, AUL plans to distribute more than 6 million voter guides nationwide.
Organizations interested in applying for voter-guide funds should contact Daniel McConchie by September 12.
For more information or to apply, contact:
Daniel McConchie
Americans United for Life
310 S. Peoria St.
Ste. 500
Chicago, IL 60607
312-568-4700
daniel.mcconchie@aul.org
About Americans United for Life
Americans United for Life (AUL) is a nonprofit, public-interest law and policy organization whose vision is a nation in which every human being is welcomed in life and protected in law. The first national pro-life organization in America, AUL has been committed to defending human life through vigorous judicial, legislative, and educational efforts at both the federal and state levels since 1971. The Wall Street Journal has profiled AUL, and PBS's Frontline program chronicled AUL's successful efforts in Mississippi.
Chicago, Illinois -- Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D., a well-known pro-family leader, author, and media commentator, takes the helm of Americans United for Life (AUL) as president and chief executive officer on August 11, 2008.
Robert Harvey, Chairman of the AUL Board of Directors said, "Dr. Yoest's experience in pro-life issues, in political strategy, and in organizational communications make her the ideal person to lead the team at AUL in taking on challenges and capitalizing on opportunities in the present legal and political climate."
The U.S. Supreme Court's 2007 Gonzales decision upholding the Federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act marked the beginning of a new era in the battle over life issues. In short, the decision dramatically opened up new doors for protecting life through the law.
In striking contrast, the U.S. Congress and five states this year considered Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) legislation, which would wipe away virtually every law on abortion nationwide, allowing abortion-on-demand in all nine months of pregnancy for any reason, without any restrictions.
"It is a great honor to join AUL, an organization with a remarkable reputation for excellence and achievement," said Yoest. "AUL has been involved in every pro-life case before the U.S. Supreme Court since Roe v. Wade, and AUL-authored legislation is in place all around the country, saving lives every day."
Yoest added, "I look forward to exciting days ahead, building on this rich legacy and working to increase the legal protection of human lives."
Most recently, Yoest served as vice-president of communications at the Family Research Council, one of the largest pro-family public policy organizations in the country.
Her political experience spans working in the Reagan White House to serving as a Senior Advisor to the 2008 Huckabee for President Campaign.
A regular political commentator, Dr. Yoest has appeared on all of the major networks and cable outlets. In print, she is quoted regularly and has been published widely. She is also the author of Mother in the Middle (HarperCollins), an examination of work/family and childcare policy.
Yoest holds a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. She lives with her husband, Jack, and their five children in the Washington, D.C. area.
Dr. Yoest succeeds Clarke D. Forsythe, Esq., a 22-year AUL veteran who served as interim president and who will continue in senior leadership of the organization.
About Americans United for Life
Americans United for Life (AUL) is a nonprofit, public-interest law and policy organization whose vision is a nation in which every human being is welcomed in life and protected in law. The first national pro-life organization in America, AUL has been committed to defending human life through vigorous judicial, legislative, and educational efforts at both the federal and state levels since 1971. The Wall Street Journal has profiled AUL, and PBS's Frontline program chronicled AUL's successful efforts in Mississippi.
The little guy was going to be born with complications -- Hydrocephalus, "water on the brain." The doctor recommended ending the life of the baby: An Abortion. "We should terminate the pregnancy," said the physician, forgetting the original Hippocratic Oath.
"Quality of life would be poor," the doc continued. "Unending challenges, facing constant failure..."
The father interrupts, "Let's give the baby a chance."
"The baby?" the doctor is surprised. "I'm talking about you."
Cole, now age three.
Abortion providers will speak in code to describe the surgical procedure and its justification. "Quality of Life" is used in speaking about the child who will be born with challenges. The doctor and the parents will nod knowingly about the difficulties the child will have in making his way in the world.
But what they are really thinking about is how the challenged-child will crimp the lifestyle of the parents and grandparents. No room in the Beemer for a wheelchair.
"Uh, yes," the parents mutter, "Yes, terminating the pregnancy is best for the fetus."
A mercy killing.
* * *
On September 7th, Michael Illions is helping to host a HydroWALK in Edison, New Jersey to raise money and awareness for Hydrocephalus. In 2007, they raised over $55,000 and hope to exceed that total this year.
The New Jersey State Legislature has designated September 2008 "Hydrocephalus Awareness Month" in the State of NJ and former Governor Christie Todd-Whitman will be the Honorary Chairperson for this year's event.
Alert Readers will recall that Governor Todd-Whitman is abortion-friendly and is in favor of Partial Birth Abortion. Her support is nevertheless welcomed.
Please sponsor Michael and his son Cole in his fund-raising work. Donate here. Your Business Blogger(R) did.
It is not known how Barack Hussein Obama reacts when such little ones are born. He actively rejected and campaigned against the Infant Born Alive legislation. He is in favor of some babies that are born alive, to die.
The Hydrocephalus Association is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization providing support, education and advocacy to individuals, families and medical professionals dealing with the complex issues of hydrocephalus (HC).
100% of the proceeds from this event will supports the HA and their commitment to driving research on the diagnosis and treatment of HC, and to bringing this condition to the forefront of public attention.Your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Our federal tax ID number is 94-3000301. For more information visit www.hydroassoc.org
Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D. addresses
the 2,600 attendees at last year's Summit
Photo Credit: Peter Shinn Hold September 12 on your calendar for the Values Voter Summit in Your Nation's Capital.
Called "the most exciting meeting there is in Washington" by author and radio host Bill Bennett, FRC Action's 2007 Values Voter Summit (formerly "The Washington Briefing") attracted over 400 national and international members of the media, a waiting list of speakers, and thousands of values voters representing nearly every state in the union and many foreign countries.
On September 12-14, 2008, 60 days before an historic election, FRC Action (a 501c4) will host its third annual Values Voter Summit at the Hilton Washington in downtown D.C., and you are invited.
As a participant in one of the conservative movement's must-attend events of the year, you'll have the opportunity to hear from some of America's key leaders at a decisive moment in our nation's history, including invited speakers such as Newt Gingrich (confirmed), Chuck Colson, Lou Dobbs, Bill Bennett (confirmed), Lt. Col. Oliver North, Gov. Bobby Jindal, Gov. Mike Huckabee, Star Parker (confirmed), Justice Clarence Thomas, Patricia Heaton, Roger Hedgecock (confirmed), House and Senate leaders, and all the 2008 presidential nominees.
Charmaine at the podium 2006 In addition to lively discussions on issues ranging from life, marriage, school choice, and radical Islam to judicial activism and religious liberty, attendees can take part in: celebrity book signings; breakout training sessions; Radio and Bloggers' Row; special co-sponsored meals hosted by Focus on the Family Action, American Values, and Alliance Defense Fund; a unique student track (including a Friday night reception); and the Faith, Family, and Freedom Gala Dinner on Saturday evening.
The Values Voter Summit is quickly becoming one of Washington's most anticipated weekends of the year. Packages start at just $95 for adults and $50 for students and pastors. Sign up now and enjoy a $25 early-bird discount! Registration opens online tomorrow, March 15, at www.valuesvotersummit.org. Call 1-877-372-2808 for more details.
William Tecumseh Sherman. National Archives Our friends at Military.com have a short, four question test to determine which military model of leadership you might fit.
No wrong answer.
No bad answers either.
Your Business Blogger(R) tests out as Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman.
Well.
I married into a Georgia family with deep Confederate roots. Poor back then, they would remind me when we visit near Atlanta, No slaves.
They are still mad about Sherman's March to the Sea. They'all are not going to appreciate my test results.
When in the south, do not say "Civil War." It was technically, "The War Between The States." We just wanted to leave, say my southern kin. The North wouldn't let us be and came after us.
But if you are thankful for our current, reunited uniformed services, you might consider the Grateful American Coin. It is a Challenge Coin to present to veterans. Neat gift. 100% of Net Proceeds Benefit Wounded Veterans.
Why are we doing all of this? ...The answer is gratitude.
Grateful American Coin was founded on the belief that it is out of a deep sense of gratitude that we should honor and acknowledge the sacrifices of members of the U.S. military. In doing so, we should individually do what we can, however small, to help those service men and women who have sustained the most severe injuries.
We feel that there are a great many Americans who share our sense of gratitude and are looking for an ideal way to express it.
Grateful American Coin is a non-profit organization and has submitted a 501(c)(3) application.
Grateful American Coin is based outside of Tampa, FL and is entirely staffed with non-paid volunteers.
###
Thank you (foot)notes:
Thanks to John Howland at USNA at Large for the referral to Grateful American Coin. Unpaid link.
Charmaine at the
New America Foundation Charmaine recently spoke at the New America Foundation on The Politics of Parental Leave. Her talk was based on her research at The University of Virginia. Her work was funded with a quarter million dollar grant from the Sloan Foundation.
Your Business Blogger found her findings most interesting. In particular, Charmaine discovered that when female academics take parental leave, women use the time off for parenting: to change diapers. Men took the time off to write a book; their wives still changed the diapers.
Who knew male academics were so...traditional?
Charmaine's topic title was, The Politics of Parental Leave: Is Paid Parental Leave an Effective Means of Promoting Gender Equity in the Workplace? From the New America Foundation website by Paul Testa, Research Associate to the Health Policy Program,
"U.S. political candidates are beginning to produce work and family policy positions in response to what most Americans feel -- that work and family balance is a major issue facing American families. Women in particular struggle with such balance and with achieving equality in the workplace. From the floors of Congress to the campaign trails Mandating paid parental leave has often been suggested as a possible solution to such struggles. But is this approach best for women as a whole?
To further this debate, Rev. David Gray, director of the Work Force and Family Program at New America Foundation welcomed Dr. Charmaine Yoest of the Family Research Council for a timely discussion of the politics of parental leave.
Dr. Yoest presented research from her time as the Project Director of the Family, Gender, and Tenure research project at the University of Virginia, which focused on the effectiveness of paid parental leave in academia.
...academia was “crucial case,” to assess whether paid parental leave could really level the playing field for women. “If there’s going to be any place in America where you’d expect paid leave to work, it would be in academia,” she said.
Dr. Yoest’s research centered on a survey of assistant professors with children under the age of two in tenure track positions at universities that offered paid leave policies. Her results questioned several of the traditional assumptions about paid parental leave.
Universities with paid parental leave policies did not have higher levels of female faculty and that paid parental leave policies were not associated with higher rates of promotion for women to more senior faculty positions.
In fact, Dr. Yoest argued paid leave policies may have been detrimental to leveling the playing field. The majority of leave-taking women felt they had less-time for research and writing when they returned and were more likely than their non-leave taking peers to consider dropping off the tenure track. The majority of leave-takers felt such policies made almost no difference in their efforts to receive tenure and some suggested there was a stigma associated with taking a paid leave.
Based on these findings, Dr. Yoest concluded that, “Paid leave may operate as a political fig leaf. The institutional results indicate that the policy by itself does not result in higher levels of achievement for women, making the use of political capital to establish the policy, a poor investment.”
[Her] provocative presentation was followed by lively round of question and answers."
The New America Foundation has professionally included a video of her 60 minute talk and an audio and her Powerpoint on their site.
There has been a terrific response to the Management Training Program introducing Managing Management Time(tm) and the overview on fund raising skills by Connie Marshner.
More seminars are planned. If you are in New York on October 18th, please come and visit Your (insufferable) Business Blogger. I will be speaking at the iNetwork2Networth event.
Your Business Blogger's misspent youth involved a number of all-nighters in college.
No, not studying.
Dancing.
So if the night was to be wasted and the students wasted, then it was thought that perhaps it all could be done for a good cause.
We put on a dance marathon, the first Superdance, to raise money at ODU (aka Over Dose University). Back in the day, we raised some $14,000 for The Muscular Dystrophy Association and Jerry's Kids.
Maybe it wasn't such a waste of time.
It is not too late to make a pledge. Our family did.
LAS VEGAS, Sept. 3, 2007 — Jerry Lewis today made good on his annual promise to raise at least “one dollar more” for the fight against muscular dystrophy.
The Muscular Dystrophy Association’s 42nd Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon set a record of $63,759,478 in contributions and pledges, which will fund research, services and information for people with any of the neuromuscular diseases under MDA’s umbrella.
“I’m deeply grateful for the incredible generosity and support of the American public,” MDA National Chairman and Telethon star Jerry Lewis said. “Each year they outdo themselves in supporting our quest for cures for diseases that steal the strength — and the lives — of ‘my kids.’”
The Washington Times
eye catching orange SWAG* I asked my web gurus, "What is it about the color orange?"
Joe Carter from Evangelical Outpost and Jared Bridges from TruePravda both said orange is the new color of the internet, of the world, of marketing -- of persuasion.
Orange.
The coming of The Orange Men.
So I shifted in my orange chair at The Dudes' foot ball practice, full of orange cones. Next to my large team water cooler, orange; full of Gatorade, orange.
My Nike's have orange accents.
At the recent 25th anniversary of The Washington Times, all the SWAG was splashed in orange.
He notes the orange accents on Management Training of DC, and connects this with the "All Things Orange" theme of the MS upcoming event on September 28, 2007. It would be difficult to miss the correlation.
Even for Your (partially color blind) Business Blogger.
Orange sells.
Brooks Robinson The National Multiple Sclerosis Society in Baltimore is putting on a class event with Brooks Robinson. If you are in the Baltimore area, make plans to be there.
SWAG: Stuff We All Get. Advertising and promotional items available from Results by Objective International. Full Disclosure: Owned by Jim Custer, cousin.
And this may explain the orange vests worn by highway workers: Safety? Nope -- it might be eye catching public works public relations.
Kent Amos with Ronald Reagan The other day Your Business Blogger was honored to have breakfast with a great American, Kent Amos. Kent is a former Vice President of Xerox who knows a bit about selling and strategy.
And kids.
He's got a Purple Heart for war wounds in Vietnam. And he still loves a fight. He's proof that you can combat the minions at city hall and win.
Kent and his wife wanted to raise their family in Washington, DC, his hometown. But there were challenges with the schools and the local children, as noted by Brookings,
So instead of running away from the problem, my wife and I decided to do something about it directly. My son brought home three boys, who needed the kind of support that our family could provide, and what we did was adopt them. And over an 11 year period we adopted 87 children into our home. We sent 73 kids to college, 61 have graduated from college, 14 have advanced degrees. I spent about $600,000 of my own money on this effort, another $400,000-some from Xerox, over a million dollars we've pumped into the D.C. public schools, prior to anything they're doing with charter schools
But local government needed education too. Especially on the Amos no-nonsense business approach to solving problems on kids and schools. When the city children's agency knocked on his door asking for his license to work with all the children (quietly studying) about his house -- Amos shows them his driver's license. The bureaucrats were not amused, but were eventually persuaded.
"I don't need a license to raise my kids," Amos told me as he tells the story. And he is right.
But sometimes even the nurturing environment Kent created wasn't enough to protect some of his kids from the violence they tried to escape. It was with the murder of his son Andre that Kent realized he had to do more. Kent remembers, “When I was summoned to the hospital where my son lay on a morgue slab with four bullet holes pumped into him, I made a promise to him that whatever caused this to happen, I would use all my resources to see to it that it went away.” Andre was one of five children Kent lost to violence, and from those tragedies, Kent realized he had to not only work to change people, but the communities they lived in as well. He resigned his position at Xerox to devote himself to saving these kids full-time...
“When I started the Urban Family Institute, I always had one thing in mind—that this was only going to be in business long enough to change the structures that cause me to be in it in the first place. You don't walk away from a Fortune 50 company to do this because it's the smart thing to do. The reason why you do this is because you made a promise to your children who have died violently in the streets, you made a promise when you were born, when you came through corporate America, when you made the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, and all these other symbolic actions, that you have to be a good citizen. I am doing nothing but being a good citizen, doing what I am supposed to do to see to it that this great nation, this great city, this great community, this great people, continue to prosper. We must work hand in hand to continue to reach back to those who have not yet found their way out of this morass."
Amos is an ordained deacon for Washington's Shiloh Baptist Church. And chairman of the Shiloh Community Development Corporation. Kent Amos loves his family and Jesus, kids and his country. By adopting dozens and dozens of children Kent Amos is salt and light for this generation, and the next.
Policy Review
November & December 1996In the mid-nineties, Charmaine wrote a column for Policy Review magazine. One of her articles reviewed the Family Policy Councils. The FPCs are state based non-profits considered faith-based, cultural and economic conservatives.
A conservative president usually needs Ohio to win. And the embrace of the Family Policy Councils.
These state-based organizations work somewhat with the Family Research Council in DC and Focus on the Family in Colorado.
Originally published in 1996; and even more important today.
State Groups That Fight for Mom and Dad
by Charmaine Crouse Yoest
Rudy Gonzalez, a "cowboy poet" with a handlebar mustache and a home-on-the-range accent, strummed his guitar, then launched into a joke. The crowd relaxed into laughter as he regaled them with tall tales and folk wisdom.
This is the Idaho Family Forum's annual summer fundraiser, the Spud Bake, where this group of moms and dads marks the end of summer by eating baked potatoes. Lots of them. Followed by spud-shaped ice cream.
But cowboy poetry soon gave way to public policy. U.S. Senator Larry Craig rose to address the group, and the question-and-answer session that followed was brisk and well informed. The Idaho Family Forum (IFF) and its supporters are dedicated to changing cultural trends that are undermining the stability of families -- from no-fault divorce to teen pregnancy to chronic welfare dependency.
Led by executive director Dennis Mansfield, a former businessman, the IFF is part of a growing national movement of independent, state-based policy organizations called Family Policy Councils (FPCs). There are now more than 30 such organizations across the country, loosely affiliated by shared goals, common strategies, and mutual support. In order to win the ears of lawmakers, the media, and academics, they prefer research over rallies and education over activism.
Continue reading at the jump
###
Thank you (foot)notes:
Full Disclosure: Your Business Blogger served on the Board of Directors for The Family Foundation, a Family Policy Council in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Alexis de TocquevilleIn the United States associations are established to promote the public safety, commerce, industry, morality, and religion, wrote Alexis de Tocqueville in Democracy in America.
If Tocqueville were driving today into Anytown, U.S. of A., the first road sign he might see would be for local Rotary. And he would not be surprised at the mission of this civic organization.
The Business Monthly 'Service Above Self'
In 1905, attorney Paul P. Harris gathered three friends together in downtown Chicago as professionals with common interests for the common good. The group expanded and began to rotate meetings among members' offices, lending the name of "Rotary," with a wagon wheel (now the familiar cogwheel) as the logo. As the membership grew, they realized that internal networking was not enough. Harris wanted to serve more than just that group.
Rotary International is recognized as the world's first service club. The organization's first contribution to the community was a horse. A local preacher's "transportation" died and the congregation could not afford another. The Rotary stepped in. Harris's Rotary then built the first public restroom in Chicago and the Rotary began to grow.
Rotary members donate their time, talent and treasure to the local communities.
Succession Management...
###
Thank you (foot)notes:
This article was orginally published in The Business Monthly as Rotary Governance this year.
And the Rotary underscores, even today, the generosity and the indirect, intangible rewards of American associations.
The following article was originally published this year by The Business Monthly.
The Rotary: Making a Difference
By Jack Yoest
The teacher's lounge in Belle Grove Elementary School needed work, lots of work, but no one really saw the need. After all, only teachers frequent the lounge.
But the Glen Burnie, Maryland, Rotary Club stepped in with the time, talent and treasure of its members and refurbished the rest area for the educators. The Rotarians spent a weekend gutting and then rebuilding the room. They saw this as the perfect project -- make a difference toward improving education, with no one really noticing except the teachers and the students.
Patrick Perry, Glen Burnie Rotary president, said, "Our club intends to undertake a similar project this year for [another school]. Please don't publicize -- this will be a surprise for the teachers."
Rotary is known as an international organization of business and professional leaders. But what is less well known are the good works of the local clubs. District Governor Pat Kasuda, who shepherds the 69 area Rotary clubs, said, "We only see a need and want to give back to the community."
Rush Limbaugh gave a red meat speech to a red state audience to a sold out crowd at the Warner Theater in Washington, DC last week. The 1,800 plus capacity was treated to a two hour stand up of vintage Rush.
Rush led off with Howell Heflin's old joke about Ted Kennedy's "off shore drilling." It is funny the first four times one hears it. But most still laughed.
His delivery and timing were that of a practiced professional -- Rush referred to his "notes" infrequently. Notes in quotes because it looked like he scratched out something on the back of a cocktail napkin.
His talk was done from memory.
And it was entertainment and education at its best. Charmaine and Your Business Blogger were honored to be in the class as the guests of Rebecca Hagelin, the VP of Communications for Heritage.
The real purpose of the evening's show was raising money for the Fisher House.
There is at least one Fisher House TM at every major military medical center to assist families in need and to ensure that they are provided with the comforts of home in a supportive environment. Annually, the Fisher House TM program serves more than 8,500 families, and have made available more than two million days of lodging to family members since the program originated in 1990.
Consider a contribution to the Fisher House. Denzel Washington donates as a trustee of the Fisher House.
Business on the ball,
outside the Ritz, Tyson's Mall,
Northern Virginia This weekend Charmaine was managing logistics for a presentation at the Council for National Policy near Your Nation's Capital. Her goal was to make her boss look good.
One of her concerns was the dependability of the hardware supporting a Powerpoint presentation.
We've all been there. Something always goes wrong. New surroundings. Strange equipment. In front of 1,000 critical sets of eyes.
But I told Charmaine not to worry. She's at the Ritz.
Years ago, I sat at the feet of the General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton for at TQM presentation. (Total Quality Management -- the management fads do come and go, no?)
The GM interviewed every hire in the hotel. In the hospitality business where turnover is a mess -- he beat the problem by hiring the best staff. And motivating them with,
"We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen."
...to provide the finest personal service and facilities for our guests...
I believe them.
And it's not because the Ritz group are nice guys. They are in it to make a buck. Each employee has a $2,000 authority limit, no-questions-asked refund policy for guests.
Why? Is the Ritz giving away the store?
The upscale chain has determined that the life time value of a customer is $300,000. Solving a 1,000 dollar complaint instantly, is small change for a $300K customer.
The presentation went off without a hitch.
So the boss did a flawless presentation. He was, however, interrupted twice. Not with equipment malfunctions.
If your job is strategic planning, you should know where Charmaine is today, instead of lounging in Nordstrom's.
My Helpmeet and her cohort are making news; making a market. And creating a trend line. With who has children and who does not. The Wall Street Journal plotted out this graph in Best of the Web in '03,
Not all women, after all, are equally likely to have abortions.
It also seems reasonable to assume that parents have some influence on their children, so that if liberal women are having abortions, the next generation will be more conservative than it otherwise would be.
The next big thing will be little bundles of joy by a particular market segment: Conservative, Church going, Traditionalist, Republican.
This strategic trend will also have political muscle. These consumers are voters.
Today, I sent off the Little Woman with two of our girls for a real 'take your daughters to work' experience. To join lobbyists on Capital Hill.
Charmaine, The Dreamer and The Diva have appointments in Senator Hillary Clinton's office this afternoon. We'll let you know what happens.
WHY IS AMERICA TRENDING PRO-LIFE?
A Panel Discussion at the National Press Club with release of
NEW POLL on Americans' views regarding Roe vs. Wade
WASHINGTON - Ten years ago, Congress was on the brink of passing the Freedom of Choice Act. Today, from parental notification to informed consent laws, state after state is passing more restrictions on abortions. Some suggest the watershed moment for pro-life forces was the introduction of the Partial-birth Abortion Ban. Others point to the growth of pregnancy resource centers and the improvement of medical technology, such as 4-D ultrasounds. Whatever the cause, the case can be made that America is trending in the pro-life direction. An expert panel will discuss this phenomenon and its implications for the 2006 elections and beyond. A new poll regarding Americans' views on Roe vs. Wade will also be released.
WHAT: PANEL DISCUSSION FEATURING:
Kate O'Beirne - Author, "Women Who Make the World Worse"
Ramesh Ponnuru - Author, "The Party of Death"
Kristin Day - President, Democrats for Life
Karen Smith - the polling company,inc/WomanTrend
Moderator: Marjorie Dannenfelser, President, Susan B. Anthony List
Finally, a warning. If your strategic planner is a woman, or if your chief marketing officer is a woman, she will not know, nor care about these demographic shifts. She might very be an abortion advocate, with a particular bias and blindness.
So test her. Ask her what the Roe Effect is and how this will affect business for the next decade.
Connie Mackey and Charmaine Yoest
plotting strategy for world domination
at the Willard in Washington, DC Your Business Blogger is hanging with his favorite peeps at the Willard in Your Nation's Capital. Where a room goes for four figures.
Actually, the MSRP of a room is only $640, but the mini-bar charges drive the bill deep over the G. Large. I have a weakness for Pringles.
Anyway, the girlfriends took some time out from their Nordstrom's Support Group Therapy for a relaxing cabal. Charmaine, works for a C-3 and Connie works for a C-4. Sounds explosive.
Julia Ward HoweThey did girl talk at the Willard located across the street from The White House.
They were standing on holy ground.
No, no -- I'm not just talking about the Willard lobby.
The hotel is the site where Julia Ward Howe wrote The Battle Hymn of the Republic and published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1862.
The Atlantic Monthly In the early dark days of the Civil War; after Julia watched Union soldiers marching off to face death and eternity.
Julia Ward Howe and her husband, were Abolitionists.
Rush Limbaugh
credit: Jack Yoest There are only two items that matter in radio:
Ratings
Revenue
Charmaine was on NPR's Talk of the Nation this week in the 2 to 3pm EST slot. NRP up against Rush Limbaugh.
Who wins in that capitalist competition?
NPR is a public service; subsidized by your tax dollars. Rush Limbaugh is paid through outrageous ad rates by advertisers. Who clamor to get the ears of millions of eager listeners.
NPR can't command an audience for money-making ad rates. Your tax dollars keep this public service sounding off.
National Public RadioSo why does no one listen to NPR? A brief review of Charmaine's gig will suffice.
The talking heads on the show were:
1) The Host; a liberal
2) A USAToday reporter; a liberal
3) Adoption Agency representative who does lots and lots of homosexual adoptions; liberal
4) Think tank expert; a liberal
5) Think tank expert; a conservative
In the sense of fair play, the liberal notion of egalitarianism, each participant, including the hostess gets equal time.
Charmaine gets 20% of talking time. The conservative point of view.
Liberals get 80% of the air time.
So when Limbaugh goes with his tag line/punch line of "I am equal time," this is what he means.
But the media bias is more than packing a panel. Liberals commit sins not only of commission but of omission. To wit:
There is no mention that guest Rob Woronoff, think tank "expert," is the Program Manager for the LGTQ, Youth Services, for the Child Welfare League of America. And that he is not a scientist. He's an activist.
(I understand Lesbian, the Gay, T for trans-gendered. But what on earth does the 'Q' stand for? Other?)
Peter Drucker
courtesy: Claremont Peter Ferdinand Drucker passed away November 11, 2005. But his work and frameworks will serve management for some time to come.
Your Business Blogger was recently asked for resources to outline a strategy for a non-profit. Nothing beats Drucker:
The Five Most Important Questions
You Will Ever Ask
About Your Non Profit
Organization
1) What is our business (mission)?
2) Who is our customer?
3) What does the customer consider value?
4) What have been our results?
5) What is our plan?
One of the sharpest business minds I've ever worked with, Leon Masiewicki, Ph.D., a former McKinsey consultant, expanded Dr. Drucker's questions with a list of his own:
1. How do you define your business?
2. Can you describe an ideal customer? Can you describe a bad customer?
3. Who are your competitors? Why are you better? What advantages does your competitor have? How do you stack up on the cheaper/faster/better scale?
4. What growth rate are you anticipating for the next three - five years? Why?
5. What are your three/five year profit projections? Why?
6. What are the organization's plans for expansion/New Markets/Products/Manpower/A Physical Plant?
7. How do you measure quality? What was the rate of quality improvement in the last three years?
8. How much has your company's productivity (revenue per man-hour, value-added per man-hour) increased?
9. If I handed you a "magic wand" that would allow you to change anything, what would it be?
10. Where would you like to start?
11. What are the strengths of your organization?
11. What are your goals in the next 12 months?
13. What are the obstacles that stand in the way of your group reaching its goals?
14. What do you need, in terms of additional resources or training, to do your job more effectively?
A business session with Drucker was a Socratic conversation where he asked questions non-stop. You will notice that Leon's list is like Drucker's:
Questions.
The answers come from the leadership of the organization. I have found that the collective wisdom of the top dozen managers from the client company can be extracted, pooled and applied.
Three Dog NightYou are invited to Washington DC's hottest rock and roll party.
The Best Friends Foundation presents
"Do You Remember When
Rock Was Young?"
6:30 p.m. Saturday, March 4, 2006
Marriott Wardman Park Hotel
2660 Woodley Road, NW, Washington, DC 20008
Featuring live performances by:
Three Dog Night:
Joy to the World,
Mama Told Me
Sister Sledge
with lead singer Kathy Sledge
We Are Family
Don't miss this fun night of great music, great food
and great company which benefits the girls and boys
in the Best Friends and Best Men programs.
No speeches, no auctions. Just come dressed to dance!!
Proceeds from this annual event are the primary source
of funds for the Foundation's elementary and middle school
Best Friends and Best Men programs and the high school
Diamond Girls Leadership and Best Men Leadership programs.
Sister Sledge with lead
singer Kathy SledgeSecretary of State Colin Powell says:
I always present the Best Friends program as one of the answers to the problems we have in our society...it is a winner, and I know that many more communities will be embracing it.
I'm here in Dallas this weekend for the annual convention of the National Religious Broadcasters with an FRC team at the Gaylord. The exhibits open up at noon today and we spent yesterday getting set up -- we are at Booth #317: if you are in Dallas, come by and see us!
Franklin never forgot that people act through self-interest. In his multifarious-and quite invaluable-schemes for public improvement he always attempted to gear public progress to private interest. For him, a stable, free, and progressive society required contented, hard-working, and optimistic citizens, and necessary to both goals was widespread prosperity.
There was some reported unhappiness with the Red Cross response during Katrina. Your Business Blogger was unhappy with her $651,957 compensation.
I'm not sure the non-profit got their money's worth -- or our donation's worth -- of performance.
Marsha suggested that she wanted to spend more time with her family.
Code-talk for getting fired.
Update from post dated 7 December 2005:
Pete Caputa, from PC4Media sent this gift idea for the new year. It would be the most looked at item you could present as a present. The Red Cross Vintage Calendar.
Research has provided some predictability of the average calendar's impact:
An estimated 50% of all calendars will be hung up on the end users wall.
A calendar is viewed five times per day per person.
A calendar is viewed by 1.5 persons per day.
A calendar is hung in an office open 5 days per week,
50 weeks per year.
Lots and lots of positive impressions.
Give a calendar; everyone will notice; the receiver will appreciate it.
Pete says:
Seth Godin has picked up on the very clever LOCAL Red Cross Fundraising tool, Custom Calendar Builder, that my buddy Eric Tapley has launched...
I encourage the rest of you to take a look at it too. And help spread the word. There are 80 different Red Cross Chapters that have signed up to use this as a fundraising tool. They are all distributing paper flyers to their respective constituents ...
This fundraiser supports LOCAL Red Cross chapters. So...most of that goes to disaster relief. So, does a piece of the local budgets. And LOCAL chapters support our LOCAL communities, especially in the Winter months. So, they could use our support...
Please. Thank you.
Pete Caputa is right: Support your LOCAL Red Cross.
Very little of the calendar donation will go to the overhead support of Marsha Evans. She runs the American Red Cross. She earns $651,957.
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Thank you (foot)notes:
Your Business Blogger has an interest in a calendar marketing company in the advertising industry. Not affiliated with the Red Cross.
Pete Caputa, from PC4Media sent this gift idea for the new year. It would be the most looked at item you could present as a present. The Red Cross Vintage Calendar.
Research has provided some predictability of the average calendar's impact:
An estimated 50% of all calendars will be hung up on the end users wall.
A calendar is viewed five times per day per person.
A calendar is viewed by 1.5 persons per day.
A calendar is hung in an office open 5 days per week,
50 weeks per year.
Lots and lots of positive impressions.
Give a calendar; everyone will notice; the receiver will appreciate it.
Pete says:
Seth Godin has picked up on the very clever LOCAL Red Cross Fundraising tool, Custom Calendar Builder, that my buddy Eric Tapley has launched...
I encourage the rest of you to take a look at it too. And help spread the word. There are 80 different Red Cross Chapters that have signed up to use this as a fundraising tool. They are all distributing paper flyers to their respective constituents ...
This fundraiser supports LOCAL Red Cross chapters. So...most of that goes to disaster relief. So, does a piece of the local budgets. And LOCAL chapters support our LOCAL communities, especially in the Winter months. So, they could use our support...
Please. Thank you.
Pete Caputa is right: Support your LOCAL Red Cross.
Very little of the calendar donation will go to the overhead support of Marsha Evans. She runs the American Red Cross. She earns $651,957.
###
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Consider a free eMail subscription.
Thank you (foot)notes:
Your Business Blogger has an interest in a calendar marketing company in the advertising industry. Not affiliated with the Red Cross.
IVACTwo decades ago Your Business Blogger worked for IVAC, a medical device company. A competitive organization driven by sales numbers. Redundant, you would say. All companies are, or should be this way. But this manufacturer went to unusual lengths.
The W-2's were published.
Each year we would learn that the top sales guy would earn around $250K. And the company president earned less, way less, than the top sales guy.
As it should be. The top sales guy in a for-profit enterprise, I would submit, is more valuable than the CEO in any single year.
In outstanding sales-driven organizations, the 'top wage' earner may not be the 'top person.'
In any one year, the sales-person should be compensated based on the sales cash he generates for the company. That's where his focus should be and he should be rewarded accordingly. By contrast, the Top Person should be focused on growing the company longer-term -- and she should be rewarded accordingly as well. With long term compensation in stock options.
In outstanding non-profit organizations, the reverse should be true.
Salvation ArmyAnyway, Anthony Begonia from the Salvation Army reminds us that the recent Forbes citation is a bit misleading, about who earns what at various non-profits. The reference uses Top Person and Top Salary categories:
Top Person: W. Todd Bassett
Top Salary:* $ 175,050
(* at extended entry)
These numbers may indeed be for the same person in some for-profit organizations. And probably for the Red Cross.
But not the Salvation Army.
Commissioner Bassett (and his wife's!) total compensation is $98,326.00 See my previous post for background.
The Top Person does not have the Top Salary.
Other differences include commission/total earnings, of course. Forbes would be more accurate to list 'Top Person' and 'Top Compensation.'
The purpose of a non-profit charity is to improve the human condition. The purpose of a for-profit is to maximize shareholder value.
The leadership of for-profits are enriched with cash. The leadership of non-profits are enriched with righteousness.
Because appearances are important. Jimmy Bakkers gold-plated bathroom faucets paid for by little old ladies' social security checks demonstrated the disconnect between doing well and doing good.
Jack Welsh can get away with million dollar paydays.
Jimmy Bakker cannot.
The top sales guy gets paid commissions on sales for yearly performance. The CEO should get compensated for valuation increases over a number of years.
Non-profit measures are a test of the human heart. I am not persuaded that the non-profit CEO of the Red Cross should be earning $650k. Like Jimmy Bakker's gold-plated faucets.
Cash Flow summary:
The Top Wage earner in a for-profit company should be the individual who generates the most cash over the year.
The Top Person in a for-profit company should be the individual who creates the most value over the years. (Plural.)
The Top Wage earner in a non-profit company should be the individual who monitors the cash.
The Top Person in a non-profit company should be the individual who creates the most good.
This matrix might be a solution to complaints of inflated Top Salary for-profit CEO incomes.
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UPDATE: The good people doing Good Works at the Salvation Army sent me the actual salary information for the top official. Major George E. Hood, the National Community Relations Secretary, from the National Headquarters tells me:
Regarding the full compensation for Commissioner W. Todd Bassett and his wife Commissioner Carol Basset, together their combined compensation includes basic living allowances and grants totaling $64,210.00 and housing valued at $34,116.00.
For two individuals the total compensation is approximately $98,326.00.
This is for two in Alexandria Virginia, a suburb of Your Nation's Capital. $100K is considered minimum wage. For one.
The tag line for the Salvation Army is,
"Doing The Most Good"
And they should add, "For The Lowest Cost."
I particularly like the joint compensation and responsibilities. Two become one and all that...A family enterprise doing eternal work.
This should correct the record of my Forbes source cited below and other incomplete references.
Salvation Army
My favorite triple A: US Army, Dick Armey, Salvation Army.
The Salvation Army should be first among your charities during this season of Hurricane Katrina. Here's why.
I once sat on a board to evaluate administrative overhead costs of hundreds of 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organizations.
The Salvation Army always had about the lowest admin burden.
Catholic Charities USA, Thomas A. DeStefano, $116,362.
Full Disclosure: I once asked a woman in the Salvation Army out for a date (B.C., before Charmaine). She turned me down ever so politely. I always had a weakness for uniforms.
Yesterday my family buried our Uncle Joe Carr. He served as a Sergeant in WWII in Germany. Combat Medic Badge. He's seen the sacrifices. He would be proud to see his country really support the troops.
We are asking for donations for Project Valour - IT. "Valour" is the acronym for "Voice-Activated Laptops for OUR Injured Troops."
The Project Valour - IT Site describes the initiative as follows:
Project Valour-IT, in memory of SFC William V. Ziegenfuss, provides voice-controlled software and laptop computers to wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines recovering from hand and arm injuries or amputations at major military medical centers. Operating laptops by speaking into a microphone, our wounded heroes are able to send and receive messages from friends and loved ones, surf the 'Net, and communicate with buddies still in the field without having to press a key or move a mouse. The experience of CPT Charles "Chuck" Ziegenfuss, a partner in the project who suffered hand wounds while serving in Iraq, illustrates how important this voice-controlled software can be to a wounded servicemember's recovery.
Project Valour - IT has injected a friendly inter-service competition into the mix to see which military branch team can produce the most donations. So, you are asked to pick a "team," and go make your donation. I again stress that this is a friendly rivalry, as the real winners here will be our wounded soldiers, sailors, Airmen and Marines.
I'm making a special appeal to Jersey Bloggers who are active military, vets, those who have friends or family in the military and generally to all those who really do "support our troops." You need not make a large donation. Every single donation helps!
Uncle Joe now rests in his beloved Jersey ground. My donation is in his memory.
The Army Flag outside the funeral home
November 7, 2005, Riverside, New Jersey
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The Diva & Jennifer O'Neill
Your Business Blogger recently attended the annual fund raiser for the Baltimore Crisis Pregnancy Center (CPC). The event was flawless (or made to appear so, which is even more impressive).
When planning your next event or evaluating a get-together, consider this four part test which every good, SAFE party has: speaker, audience, food, entertainment.
1. Speaker. The keynoter is key to success and the bottomline. In today's case study Jennifer O'Neill was on target and on fire. Summer of '42, Rio Lobo with John Wayne, Cover Girl. Standing O at the end. Jennifer O'Neill
Our favorite family motto is delectare et docere, to please and to instruct. A great keynote does both. Jennifer O'Neill delivered.
Remember speaker honorariums and speaking personalities are part of the event experience. I served on two boards where we hosted two contrasting events: one where Steve Forbes, who donated his fee and Bill Bennett, who didn't. Dr. Bennett's $40,000 speaking charge generated marginal returns on our investment. His subsequent gambling away (of my money!) was not helpful.
The Bible says that a workman is worthy of his wages -- honorariums should always be offered.
2. Audience. The people attending usually will be familiar with each other. If not, provide some mixer or movement to trigger circulation. This CPC event used a silent auction where lines formed -- a queue for conversation. Assertive staff made introductions -- good staff introductions are micro warm-up acts.
Use a professional photographer who will create forced group shots. I find a snarky photographer bully the best. Everyone smiles; no one refuses.
The audience was also packed in. Adjust room size to have every table filled. Rub elbows, knocking about. This is most important and difficult for outdoor events. See audience below.
3. Food. Will your event be remembered as another rubber chicken dinner? This CPC avoided this with an excellent roast beef entree and an outstanding wait staff/attendee ratio for the experience.
4. Entertainment. The CPC event continued its perfection. We live in a sight and sound generation where people expect to see movement. The Maryland Boys Choir provided the music, the motion. God Fearing Gospel struck a cord with this audience. [cliche and pun combo] The 90 young men brought the house down pleasing the packed crowd.
'Packed' being key. This can be a challenge to manage in some venues where the sardine packing is not possible. For example, comedians will not perform at outdoor events because there may be gaps too large between the attendees.
Laughter and entertainment and germs spread best in tight groups.
At your next gathering look around and see if it passes the SAFE test.
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Full Disclosure: My business partner, Tom Bury, provided consulting and imprinted tokens for each attendee. Did I mention the evening was perfect...?
With Charmaine and Dr. Palau
Your Business Blogger met Luis Palau as he was giving a talk on the DC Festival coming up this weekend in the Nation's Capital on October 8 & 9. The expected attendance is 100,000.
"What was the biggest logistical challenge of having the Festival here in Washington, DC?" I asked Dr. Palau.
I was thinking of security, or porta-potties, parking or potable water.
Or first aid. Or coordinating 900 churches.
Communications, stage management. Who speaks how long. (Ego management.)
Nope.
Luis Palau in Portland, OR
No, I was wrong.
I forgot about the bureaucracy in Your Nation's Capital.
Dr. Palau's biggest challenge was not as pastor sheparding his flock, but as master politician sheparding a parade permit.
1 permit; 82 agencies.
82 sign-offs.
He had to get 82 signatures on the permit.
This is why his organization uses a two-year lead time to conduct the Festivals.
The next time you get push-back on a capital budget request, remember Luis Palau's staff standing in the lines of 82 department of motor vehicle-like government agencies.
You might appreciate even the "inefficiency" of your company's approval process.
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DC Festival is free on The National Mall. Recent Festivals have attracted 850,000 in Buenos Aires and 300,000 in Fort Lauderdale.
Luis Palau began his ministry as an interpreter for Billy Graham. His evangelical events feature Christian entertainment, Gospel music and extreme sports(!).
President Bush is scheduled to deliver a video greeting.
Eric Baldwin will be on video introducing his brother, Stephen Baldwin.
Entertainment includes: Steven Curtis Chapman, CeCe Winans, Yuri, Dave Lubben, TobyMac, Kirk Franklin, Third Day, Jumps, Jaci Velasquez, Kutless, Tye Tribbett & Ga..
Full Disclosure: My wife Charmaine met Luis Palau three decades ago in Korea -- one of her clients is a sponsor of DC Festival.
Charmaine at Reasoned Audacity will be announcing the winners in her Guess the Compensation Contest tonight. Leave a comment on your guess at her post.
The T-shirt Prize
I will assume that some might be tempted to take a peek at the answers -- Charmaine was careful not to ascribe such a nefarious action, I am less so. Gender difference, I guess -- so contest entries will also be judged on subjective content as well as the objective answer.
Charmaine will be live blogging the new Commander in Chief. Contest winners posted after the broadcast tonight.
Catholic Charities USA, Thomas A. DeStefano, $116,362.
Full Disclosure: I once asked a woman in the Salvation Army out for a date (B.C., before Charmaine). She turned me down ever so politely. I always had a weakness for uniforms.
Everyone wanted to do what they could to help - but how? That was the question, and to answer it, America turned to trusted brands: The American Red Cross, The Salvation Army, MSNBC, MTV, CNN to name a few. The bigger the brand, the bigger the trust.
Alexis de Tocqueville
David Wayne who pens JollyBlogger is bringing together bloggers with an eternal perspective: God Bloggers. Friday, September 30th at 6:30pm. Details.
