Stupidness
This is the stupid stuff that causes people to hate their job. I am so glad I did not work on this project.
The Citizens Recovery Committee got this idea to produce a newsletter that would go out to all the displaced residents of Jefferson Davis County. It would talk about what is happening in the county, upcoming deadlines, etc. It would connect displaced residents to their homes.
A local bank jumped at the chance to sponsor the first edition, agreeing to foot the $7000 bill to mail the newsletter to 20,000 families. The county said they had the mailing addresses and agreed to provide them to the printer. Volunteers and staff wrote the articles, the printer did the layout and all was ready to go. Everyone was so excited. They made public announcements and thanked everyone and celebrated.
Then, the county admitted they did not really have the addresses yet, but would get them soon. A week passed. They got the letters, but under very limited terms. They could not share them. The outreach person, who was coordinating the effort, called the branch of FEMA that keeps the address. The guy on the phone was surly. He said everyone wants the addresses, and FEMA does not give them out so easily. Confidentiality. A newsletter, he snorted, was not a likely to be approved.
He promised to talk to the people who decide. Another week passed. Of course, he did not care about the project and was clearly was not going to sell it to the necessary people. Not surprisingly he reported back that under no circumstances could we have the addresses. Nor could we give them the newsletters and have them mail them.
So, now the bank wants its money back. We have already spent a couple of hundred dollars on layout and design. There is no newsletter. All the hours spent writing it are wasted.
There is no moral to this story.
The Citizens Recovery Committee got this idea to produce a newsletter that would go out to all the displaced residents of Jefferson Davis County. It would talk about what is happening in the county, upcoming deadlines, etc. It would connect displaced residents to their homes.
A local bank jumped at the chance to sponsor the first edition, agreeing to foot the $7000 bill to mail the newsletter to 20,000 families. The county said they had the mailing addresses and agreed to provide them to the printer. Volunteers and staff wrote the articles, the printer did the layout and all was ready to go. Everyone was so excited. They made public announcements and thanked everyone and celebrated.
Then, the county admitted they did not really have the addresses yet, but would get them soon. A week passed. They got the letters, but under very limited terms. They could not share them. The outreach person, who was coordinating the effort, called the branch of FEMA that keeps the address. The guy on the phone was surly. He said everyone wants the addresses, and FEMA does not give them out so easily. Confidentiality. A newsletter, he snorted, was not a likely to be approved.
He promised to talk to the people who decide. Another week passed. Of course, he did not care about the project and was clearly was not going to sell it to the necessary people. Not surprisingly he reported back that under no circumstances could we have the addresses. Nor could we give them the newsletters and have them mail them.
So, now the bank wants its money back. We have already spent a couple of hundred dollars on layout and design. There is no newsletter. All the hours spent writing it are wasted.
There is no moral to this story.
posted by JNA | 5:34 PM
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