This is topic Community Politics - Is It Worth It? in forum Old Archives at The Letterville BullBoard.


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Posted by Diane Malesky (Member # 687) on :
 
I'm trying to prioratize my time and clear my plate of some things. Basically going nuts.

I'm involved with our small town chamber of commerce and am involved with a couple of others in the area. One of them really works together fantastically and we share the work, etc... My small town chamber that I serve as a director on the board for is a mess! No organization and everyone backstabs. Especially the president.

Yesterday we had a meeting and I brought up the subject of 1)organizing; 2)deligating responsibility; and 3)working together with the 7 (!!) other committees we have in our tiny town and share the load. In turn, help the community be a better place to work and live in. This will give the other businesses reason to join. There are a couple of other graphics people in town and I've contacted both of them and they aren't interested in helping out until they see results. That's fine.

Is it worth it? I wish the community would work together as well as all of you Letterheads do here on the website! I feel like it can't happen and when I hear everyone talking behind everyone's back, etc... it makes me sick!! Dave is ready to KILL me. It is a serious waste of time. I'm so mad at myself for not learning this lesson already - it's been happening for the entire 5 years I've been involved.

Anyone else ever have this dissappointment? I probably brought it on myself. I want create a newsletter and try to get all of the businesses to work together, etc... clean up the town, etc.... The borough manager knows of all kinds of ways to do this downtown revitialization that all the towns are doing around here but isn't enforcing it. It would generate work for our town - everything from painting, blacktopping to signs, etc...

I noticed the entry yesterday about books people have read. Maybe I better read that one someone mentioned on focus - like on my designs and stuff I love - like reading this site more often.

Just curious. Love this site!!!

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Summit Signs
Sellersville, PA
summitsigns@erols.com

 

Posted by Kevin Landry (Member # 1352) on :
 
Good Luck. I write the newsletter for our small association here. A newsletter is a lot of work(all of it thankless) but it can be fun. Put committee reports in it but keep it fun and always up tempo.
To keep people interested I added a business focus on a couple of businesses each month. Almost like free advertising. It worked. I got better and better responses. (People told me that they read them) It also got my foot in the door for any sign jobs that they had. Add a few recipes, or marketing tips and a couple of jokes. A friend of mine called it "Givers Gain". You will gain respect and will increase your business share as well as having fun.

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Kevin Landry
KnL Signs
Halifax NS
 

Posted by LazyEdna (Member # 266) on :
 
Here is a "joke" that vividly illustrates the problem of small town attitude.
Bill and Ted were friends and neighbors and alike in most every way... they both had a wife and 2 kids, same kind of pickup truck and the same number of acres on their farms... then.. one day Ted got a cow.... Now Bill couldn't abide that Ted had something he didn't have, and he fretted, and got depressed, and his work suffered and his family was the victim of his sour mood. Then one day... Bill's fairy Godmother appeared and told him, "Bill, I've seen your problem, and I know what you want, and I'm going to make you and Ted EQUAL in every way again!"
"GREAT!" exclaims Bill... "You're going to kill Ted's cow!"

This dramatically illustrates the attitude of far too many communities, and I don't know the cure... I've been in my community for 22 years, volunteered in countless ways, for the Chamber of Commerce, the schools, you name it... and it never changes. No good deed ever goes unpunished...
I give up.
LE

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LazyEdna
in RL known as Sara Straw
from southern Utah
5 National Parks within 3 hours drive
Red Rock Heaven


 

Posted by Glenn Taylor (Member # 162) on :
 
Diane,
It has to be something that you want to do. It's a lot of hard work that no one will thank you for.

That said, if its important to you - do it. Be the example.

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Warning: A well designed sign may cause fatigue due to increased business.
http://members.tripod.com/taylor_graphics
walldog@nc.rr.com



 

Posted by Cam Bortz (Member # 55) on :
 
LE's story reminds me of an old "Bert and I" skit called "Downeast Socialism"...

Bert goes to Portland to hear Norman Thomas give a speech, and when he comes home he starts preaching Socialism to his neighbor, Lester. "Under Socialism we'd share everything" explains Bert, so Lester wants more details.
"So what you're saying, Bert, is that if you had two farms, you'd give me one?"

"That's right, Lester. If I had two farms, I'd give you one."

"And if you had two tractors, you'd give me one?"

"Ayuh, if I had two tractors, I'd give you one."

"What about hogs, Bert? If you had two hogs, would you give me one?" at which point Bert gets testy and says, "Dammit, Lester, you're trying to trick me! You know darn well I have two hogs!"

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"A wise man concerns himself with the truth, not with what people believe." - Aristotle

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. - Raoul Duke (Hunter S. Thompson)

Cam
Finest Kind Signs
256 S. Broad St.
Pawcatuck, Ct. 06379
"Award winning Signs since 1988"


 

Posted by Ken Morse (Member # 1799) on :
 
Don't loose your faith, real peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of justice. I serve on a board that was corrupt for 20 years. Myself and the association turned that puppy around to make Democracy really work. I also serve the City Council as a member of the Traffic Committee. It is all good and yet it can tear you a new one at times. As you wander on through life whatever be your goal, keep your eye upon the donut and not upon the hole.

Hang in there, time has a way about changing things all by itself.

Need more advice, e-mail me towjamn@aol.com

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Ken Morse
Jamn Graphics
Santa Cruz, CA
 

Posted by Diane Malesky (Member # 687) on :
 
Thank you for the great advice. I feel pretty good about where I'm at with it now. I spoke to several other board memebers today and we feel that we're on the right track finally.

Our last meeting, on Tues, was really heated and I just let it out. It got hot. It all started out great and everyone was so receptive. I brought the whole subject up. We discussed plans for a meeting for our chamber to set by-laws, goals, organization, deligating responsibility, etc... Then the next meeting was going to be with all of the parties in the town and have a rep from each describe what their goals were, etc... organize and deligate responsibility more between all of the members and so on. (1/2 of the same people serve on several of the different group's board of directors - too many cooks?) Then finally have a public meeting to describe to the businesses what our goals are of our town, etc... (I'm confusing myself now)

It only took the certain few who got very defensive and I let them know how I felt. I felt badly afterwards (worse: unprofessional) but today when I spoke to the other members they actually said that we needed this and sometimes it takes conflict to turn it around. I was holding this in for years.

I hope it works out. I've had a few ideas for the news letter - sounds like fun - as long as I have help. I'm excited but am not allowing myself to get too involved. Looking forward to see where we're at next year at this time.

Thanks again!!

Diane

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Summit Signs
Sellersville, PA
summitsigns@erols.com

 

Posted by Dan Sawatzky (Member # 88) on :
 
I have tried to go to these things in the past but the politics really get me down. Sometimes it seems like these folks just have endless meetings without actually accomplishing anything.

We still want to be (and are) very involved in our community but have taken a radically different approach. And some of the projects have been quite large.

Our approach now is to look around and see something that really needs doing. Something that we can do in an outstanding way. I then work up a proposal that is first rate and then present it to the necessary authorities. Only I make it easy for them... I promise funding as well. Most times I have pre-raised the monies needed (a good group of friends who also don't especially like meetings) THen in a blitz of activity we pull off the project in a hurry with this same group of friends. I make sure it is fun for everyone and always have donuts and cokes or coffe for everyone involved. For all day projects we often do a potluck lunch as well. It makes it fun.

I found we can do a couple or three projects a year and don't have to attend a single boring meeting. Pretty soon the word gets around and you have more helpers and fundraisers than you need for a project. I even get locals asking when the next project is going to happen as they don't want to miss the fun.

All in all it is way more fun than attending "those meetings" you describe.

Been there done that.... want to have fun when I volunteer!

-dan

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Dan Sawatzky
Sawatzky's Imagination Corporation
Cultus Lake , British Columbia
dan@imaginationcorporation.ca

www.imaginationcorporation.ca www.giggleridge.com

"Isn't it great to do what you love and love what you do!"



 

Posted by Monte Jumper (Member # 1106) on :
 
Years ago I put together a plan for a "Land Run" race in which I and a realtor aquired 10 acres of land to be given away as the prize (the owner was tired of paying the taxes on it and was willing to part with it to get clear)to make a long story shorter I put together all the rules...and presented it to the Camber of Commerce we had several meetings to which the end was a person in the back of the room stated "Lets just go back to having our BINGO...there's too much work involved in this race thing" (Myself and one other person already did the biggest share of the work involved.)Well I knew then and there it was a lame duck(sorry P.King)
But we persued it thru acouple more meetings before giving in to the town cowards....the end result was being called "a newcomer"
and referred to the idea as a "con".The facts are had it been implimented multi thousands of dollars would be coming into the chamber every year as an annual event.Oh the real killer was we were going to break the ten acres into 3 parcels with a 2 acre winner the first year...3 acre the second year and 5 acres on the Centenial year and one of the officiating chamber members was concerned about that because maybe "two or more of the winners wouldn't like one another" and it would make for bad neighbors. Can you believe it?

Dan even you would have run from this group!

At any rate I no longer belong to the Chamber and never will...oh and I'm not much on their "stinking BINGO either.

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Monte Jumper
SIGNLanguage/Norman.Okla.
 

Posted by Cam Bortz (Member # 55) on :
 
Our chamber here in Mystic is not bad; but then I limit my participation to what concerns me and my business. One thing to remember though, is that there's actually no such thing as a "committee". Any committee or organized body is a group of individuals, each with personal goals and agendas. I've been to any number of meetings over the years, whether it be Chamber or Historic District or Town Council, and almost always there is one strong personality that runs things, for better or worse. When appearing before a committee to seek a sign approval (for example) there are two rules I always follow: 1) Know what you want. Having a clear objective is the single greatest weapon in your arsenal. Chances are, no one else really knows what they want, aside from having some vague sense of importance. Which leads to number 2) Tell them what they want to hear. A lot of people get on these boards and committees to feel important and throw their weight around, and the worst of them will do so at all costs, no matter how pointless and counterproductive their position is. To such a creature, appeals to reason and common sense are futile. If they are in a position of influence over the ultimate decision, it pays to stroke their egos. I have never - ever - had a situation where a committee actually followed up on determining if the sign they approved was identical in all respects to the sign that ultimately was created and installed.

If you do find yourself in a position of having to "fight city hall", make damn sure your powder is dry. I used to appear regularly before a Historic District Committee that was led by a particularly pompous and arrogant architect named Herman. He couldn't stand to see a design go through without his input, and would sit in the committee meetings and sketch alterations to designs right on top of submitted proposaals, then bully the committee into making approvals contingent on his changes. I had a client who was an attorney, and asked him if there was any way to legally block Herman's manipulations, and he looked up a copy of the state's General Statutes, which clearly stated that a Historic Committee could vote Up or Down on a proposal, but was specifically forbidden to make approval contingent upon changes demanded by the committe. You'd have loved the look on Herman's face when I read him that statute in open meeting. All his influence over the rest of the committee evaporated; they had no interest in going to court (and looking foolish) over a sign permit!

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"A wise man concerns himself with the truth, not with what people believe." - Aristotle

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. - Raoul Duke (Hunter S. Thompson)

Cam
Finest Kind Signs
256 S. Broad St.
Pawcatuck, Ct. 06379
"Award winning Signs since 1988"


 

Posted by VICTORGEORGIOU (Member # 474) on :
 
General Schwartzkof in his book has a list of the eleven characteristics of a good leader. There is nothing magical about the list, but it presents very concisely lots of good advice. I have it pinned on the board in front of my store computer, and I read it almost every day because I forget sometimes what it is I am really trying to do. (Have fun, have employees that have fun, make a good living, and give something back to the community, not necessarily in that order)

The General says, (paraphrased) we all know what we should do. It is a matter of acting on our convictions.

So my advice is, do what you think is right, and you will most likely do the right thing.

Go for it. Vic G

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Victor Georgiou
AnchorBlanks.com
Jack Wills Clipart CD's
Designs Cut to Any Size
Serving the Trade Only
 

Posted by Ed Cimaglio (Member # 1530) on :
 
Dianne:
First thing is you have to want to do it. From the sounds of things you definitely are on the right track by getting everyone to work together. In the town I lived previously I was on the board 3 years before being elected to president and held that position for 2 years. It works when you get everyone working together and not working to do it only to advance themselves. The goal is for the betterment of the community. Once you get the town, city, or village council behind you you can achieve great heights. I know it worked for me when I was in that position, but the biggest problem with it is that it takes quite a bit of your time. Are you willing to devote the time to achieve the goals you are setting out??? There are a lot of people out there that want to change things and think the only way to change them is to complain. The real way is to get involved. Good luck to you, it can really be a lot of fun. In the long run does it build your business.....yes it will but don't go in thinking that it will, that part definitely will come.

Keeping positive about what you are doing, and promote the positive attitude to everyone that you are involved with will achieve the goals a lot faster.

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Looking back is easy, looking ahead is what it is all about
Ed Cimaglio
Distinctive Design
Ranson, WV
ed@signsbyddesign.com

http://www.katstudio.com
http://www.signsbyddesign.com
 

Posted by El Wi (Member # 668) on :
 
Diane,

I have been involved with Chamber for 10 years in the 2 locations we have lived in since I set up shop. In the past 6 years I have held almost every position available and have also come to the point of considering ... "What the heck am I accomplishing here?".
My very good friend, left arm (my husband is my right arm)and local pharmacist, Dave, and I have worked together for all of those 6 years on various projects. We, too, were often frustrated with the lack of initiative, vision and sharing that many of our members displayed. When Dave and I got to the point of considering "throwing in the towel" we knew it was time to evaluate our presence on the Executive.
We decided, that we WERE doing some good and that although we couldn't fix the world, we could make a difference by focusing on OUR projects and responsibilities. So that is what we did.

Kudos to you and your attempts to "make a difference". I live by those words. The size of the difference doesn't matter... only that you are trying to make it.

Liz

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l.y.designs - signs & graphics

"in all you do, you WILL make a difference"

Liz Yaskowich
Lumsden, Saskatchewan
vlmk.yaskowich@sk.sympatico.ca



 

Posted by Joey Madden (Member # 1192) on :
 
I didn't want to post this but some years back I had a problem with the sign board in the town I lived in. Those on the board who gave permits were strict in their codes for signage, afterall three of them were signmakers.
After the plans were given I was asked why I didn't have a professional signmaker make these and ask for the permit. I explained that I was in fact a professional designer and thought my colors and layout was done correctly, they agreed with the layout but not with the colors. So I started to hand them about 12 different color layouts. Well that started another problem, needless to say I didn't get the permit.
But, I did in fact paint my entire 7000 square foot building Zebra striped and had Zebra striped business cards and signage wasn't needed..
Before the week ended after the building was painted I had the fire marshall, building inspectors and a host of others trying to close me down and after a year I moved to a better location and when I applied for another sign permit they never even asked me for design work, and for 30 bucks I walked out the door, permit in hand..........

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HotLines Joey Madden,45 years in the Classic Art of Pinstriping
$42. a month electric bill here in Grants Pass, Oregon
Big Sale extended to May 31. but thats it!!
http://members.tripod.com/Inflite
 

Posted by Ken Morse (Member # 1799) on :
 
Joey, that is a great story, way to go!

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Ken Morse
Jamn Graphics
Santa Cruz, CA
 



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