Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Befuddled

I don’t get it.

Maybe you, dear internets, do. Please read the following e-mail exchange and let me know what you think.

Date: Monday, March 11th
From:
HeatherMeyer@workemail.com
To:
MysterPerson@Agency.org
Subject: 2008 Grant Process
Importance: High

Hi MysteryPerson,

I am working on a draft presentation schedule for the City’s grant process, and have tentatively scheduled Mystery Person’s Agency’s presentation for Monday, April 7th. Presentations made on April 7th will be scheduled to run between the hours of 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM, and you will be notified at a later date with the location and specific timeslot you have been scheduled for.

If you could, please confirm your availability to make your presentation before the Human Services Commission on this date, I would greatly appreciate it. Also, if there is a preferred time I will take that into consideration; however, due to the volume of presentations being made, we may not be able to accommodate all requests.

Thank you for your timely response!

Heather Meyer
----------------------------------

Date: Tuesday, March 12th
From:
MysterPerson@Agency.org
To:
HeatherMeyer@workemail.com
Subject: Read: spam: 2008 Grant Process

Your message was read on Wednesday, March 12, 2008 11:26:57 AM (GMT-07:00) Mountain Time (US & Canada).
--------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thursday, March 13th
From:
HeatherMeyer@workemail.com
To: 100+ representatives from various agencies (read: scheduling is a bitch!)
Subject: 2008 Human Services Grant Application Hearings
Importance: High

Hello agencies!

Hopefully, you are all breathing easier today, now that the deadline has come and passed.

As you are aware, I have been in contact with you all this week regarding presentation dates. I have heard back from the vast majority of folks regarding dates that work/don’t work, and have finalized the schedule accordingly. I have attached the hearings schedule to this e-mail. Please find your agency’s name/proposal and note the date, time, and location for your presentation.

As many of you are new to our process, here’s how the presentations work:

Presentations are your chance to bring your application to life before the Human Services Commission. You will have 20 minutes total, per presentation slot – presentations are to be no more than 15 minutes in length, and will be followed by 5 minutes for questions that the Commissioners may have.

No Power Point, please.

You may bring handouts and other informational materials about your agency and/or program. Please bring 15 copies of each item.

You may bring clients to provide “testimonials” at your presentation; however, per above, please be mindful of time constraints. As evidenced by the schedule, we have a tremendous amount of agencies participating in the process, which means we must stick to the allotted times.

If there are questions that require advance preparation to answer, I will contact you 24 hours prior to your presentation – this will usually be via e-mail, so please be sure to check for questions the day before your
presentation
.

Finally, the time disclaimer. Yes, I know many of these slots are late. I will be there too, all month long, ;-) Please understand that someone has to go last, and if that is your agency this year, we are sensitive to that. In addition to accommodating for fundraisers and other important events, I try to rotate presentations as fairly as possible. If your agency had an early presentation last year, you likely have a late one this year, and vice versa.

If you have any further questions, please let me know and I am more than happy to assist.

Heather Meyer
-----------------------------------------------

Date: Friday, March 14th
From:
MysterPerson@Agency.org
To:
HeatherMeyer@workemail.com
Subject: Re: spam: 2008 Human Services Grant Application
Hearings

Heather,

Agency is actually on spring break for that entire week. Would it be possible to schedule a presentation the week prior or after?

Thank you.

Mystery Person
------------------------------------------

Date: Friday, March 14th
From:
MysterPerson@Agency.org
To:
HeatherMeyer@workemail.com
Subject: Re: spam: 2008 Human Services Grant Application
Hearings

MysteryPerson,

I am really sorry, but this is the finalized schedule. Because I received a read receipt from you on Tuesday but had not heard back, I assumed that the proposed date would work. At this point, the vast majority of agencies have confirmed their availability and I have already sent schedules out to the printers.

If the presentation date is too problematic, it may be worth noting that agencies are not required to make a presentation and can be considered solely on the basis of their application.

Thank you!

Heather Meyer
------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tuesday, March 18th
From: MysterPerson@Agency.org
To:
HeatherMeyer@workemail.com
Subject: Re: spam: 2008 Human Services Grant Application
Hearings

Heather,

Wow. I read the initial email seeing this was a draft, and that I would respond after I got through my 2 grants I was working on last week. As I mentioned, this is our Spring Break and I will be out of town. Would another agency be willing to trade spots?

Mystery Person

I do not get it. It was a draft, on Monday. But people actually have to read these applications that came in, which means I need to get them distributed ASAP. Thus, when all the people who had "absolutely not" dates contacted me IMMEDIATELY, and when I took into account all of the read receipts with actual responses, I felt confident with the FINAL schedule.

So again I say – I don’t friggin’ get it.

For one, if you knew that a grantor who paid a sizable chunk of your payroll year after year had a process that included presentations which might coincide with your travel plans, wouldn’t you be vocal about that in a timely fashion? Maybe even, I don’t know, I’m going out on a limb here, before such an accommodating scheduling attempt was made? I had a few agencies that did just that, so it’s not unheard of. Also, see “may not be able to accommodate all requests” statement in my original e-mail.

For two, when these agencies present to the United Way, the dates they are given to do so are non-negotiable. So why would you complain, virtually kicking a gift-horse in the mouth, when your own delay to communicate with a grantor who tries to accommodate everyone’s needs was the reason you didn’t get what you needed wanted?

For three, ALREADY BEEN SENT TO PRESS. Methinks Mystery Person could stand to take a gander at the 1.) cost of this process, 2.) thickness of the books, which are in presentation order, and thereby changing it up now would really create chaos, and 3.) the fact that the universe does not in fact revolve around Mystery Person.

For real, I just want to say, "I'm sorry you had plans. I couldn't even make plans for Spring Break with my daughter, who is also on break that week, because I had to help staff this damned process. Life's a bitch sometimes, eh?"

Every year, I am astounded by the audacity of folks who don’t get their ways. It is so ironic to me that every one of them is in the field of helping people, a field in which compassion goes a long way – and then they are rude to people trying to help them.



© 2008
Ramblings of a Red-Headed Step-Child. All Rights Reserved

2 comments:

  1. I'd have cc'd MP's boss. But I'm mean like that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Being that MP is the executive director of the agency, I was at a loss...BOD Chair, perhaps, but...meh.

    ReplyDelete