End of Fall Term, Beginning of an Adventure

I'm feeling very motivated and hopeful in my CMS internship!  I had a great meeting with Chip today - I pretty much always feel motivated and hopeful walking out of a meeting with Chip.  He tells me that my ambition and energy is great, but I can only hope I inspire him as much as he does me.

I'm in an information seeking stage.  He filled me on a lot of big picture stuff surrounding mediation in Eugene, the history and future of CMS, and gave me great leads on where to go next.  My biggest questions surround how to best spend my time over the next six months.  We need to increase revenue, of course, and I'm confident that will happen.  More than that we need to "brand" CMS and get the word out that's there's a better way to resolve conflict than file a lawsuit!  I'm encouraged by the opportunities that exist for CMS and mediation as a whole.  But I'm being careful not to jump the gun...I want to have a solid foundation of knowledge before making any big moves.

Ever present in the back of my head is bringing mediation to Cottage Grove.  I'm more encouraged of this prospect everyday.  I'm confident CMS will make a splash in CG in 2012.

I'm thrilled with how much I've learned this term!  And its just the first one!  This program has exceeded my (high) expectations and I'm very excited about the future!

So Much Opportunity!

Being the new Marketing intern is exciting! I've built a business that no one had ever heard of from scratch, so helping promote a non-profit that's been in the area for 30 years should be a piece of cake! (Says the intern).

The first thing about marketing that is important for me is to believe in what I'm "selling." This was true for my Anytime Fitness business, and it's true for mediation. When I first learned of mediation just this past August, my initial reaction was, "why in the world aren't people using this more?!" Mediation is a key solution in the right circumstance. Compared to litigation, it is much more affordable, the process is faster and much less stressful, and parties emerge from mediation more satisfied with the process and outcome. It's a bit of a no-brainer.

From a more idealistic perspective, mediation resonates with me because not only because the immediate conflict likely finds resolution, it also helps to foster improved relationships between individuals - something I believe is critical to building a more peaceful world. Based on both of these attributions of mediation, I am more than happy to spend the next six months of this internship spreading the good mediation word.

I have so many ideas for marketing CMS and mediation, today I made a master list to help organize my thoughts. I researched opportunities for partnerships. I leaned on a few contacts at Anytime Fitness to negotiate favorable pricing for marketing materials. I spoke with David about his ideas for branding and promoting CMS. Chip is out of town this week, I have much to talk to him about next Tuesday, I can't wait!

Meet your new "Marketing Intern"

Today marked the third week that David and I have discussed, planned and planned again when and how to approach LCAS. I was thinking we would make the initial call to Rick Hammel last week, then David said this week, then today he said next week. Had it been up to me, I would have made the call three weeks ago. It became quite obvious to me that he and I have very different working styles. I understand his desire to be 100% prepared before having the meeting. I want to be prepared as well, and felt the proper amount of preparation had been done by the end of day one.

David and I have talked a couple times about my life as a business owner, my self-sufficiency and ambition, etc. In other words, I am someone who operates best with very little supervision. I didn't feel having the converstation with David again today would solve much, so I decided to get Chip's input.

The three of us had a wonderful open, honest communication about my vision for CMS and my role over the next six months. Chip's point of view was that interns should be empowered to work in whatever capacity fits them best, and David agreed. We decided that I would be the "Marketing Intern" that reports directly to Chip and look to fill the Community Programs intership with someone else. I'll continue to help support David and his projects but it will no longer be my primary responsibility. I was given the full reigns of the LCAS project.

I'm relieved and happy. I'm grateful to have such a great support system - both Chip and David agreed that this new role fits me better and will better serve the needs of the agency. There were no hard feelings or bad vibes. David made a point to thank me for being open and honest before he left for the day. It is refreshing to work in a place with such open-minded, collaborative folks.

Now I can run with all those crazy marketing ideas floating around in my head...

The Bark of the Dog

David and I met today to assign duties for the tasks at hand.  Our general goal is to increase revenue for CMS - every business's (for profit or not) ultimate goal.  And again, a good task for me as someone who built a business from the ground up less than three years ago.

My focus has become how to incorporate CMS into neighbor to neighbor disputes involving barking dog complaint - a very common issue.  Lane County Animal Services (LCAS) is responsible for enforcing city and county codes that restrict barking/nuisance dogs.  I've been looking into this in depth over the past couple weeks and have learned quite a bit about the opportunity CMS has to approach LCAS for contracted services for these types of complaints.

Money.  It's somehow always about money.  Today I learned that despite having a nearly $2M budget, LCAS does not have the money to send people to homes for barking dog complaints.  When you go online for information, the LCAS website does a good job of tempting you to adopt a dog or cat, but very little to address your concern about your neighbor's annoying dog.  Here's what the recording says when you call LCAS for info on barking dogs:

"If you live within the city limits of Eugene, there is an ordinance for dogs which persistently bark or howl and thereby unreasonably deprive a person of peace and quiet.  There is also a similar ordinance for unincorporated Lane County residents.  However, due to a reduction in staff from budget cuts, the services for regulating this ordinance have also been cut and therefore are not enforced.  We do strongly recommend talking with the neighbors to civilly resolve the problem.  If this does not provide results, we can mail the dog owner a letter outlining the issue and the regulations regarding it along with suggestions to remedy the problem.  However this is not a complaint to the dog owner.  If this is something you would like us to send please be prepared to provide an accurate address for the dog owner and press 1 to speak to a representative."

So, the budget problem is clearly not a secret.  The question is, how to we convince a county agency that's clearly hurting for funds to pay CMS for services that may help reduce complaints and make for happier neighbors?  The answer is, create value.  We have to help LCAS understand that CMS is the best thing to walk in the door since sliced bread (you know what I mean).  It won't be easy.  But overcoming difficulty is something I actually enjoy.  This is a good job for me.  Looking forward to it.

25th Annual OMA conference

I had the opportunity to attend the OMA conference in Portland this weekend. The conference was held at the Ambridge Events Center and took place all day Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately I had to miss Friday's workshops because I had class until 1:30, but I made it in time for the birthday party/cocktail hour to celebrate 25 years of OMA. There were about 300 attendees of which I knew maybe a dozen. I chatted with Caitlin and Anne who were trainers at my mediation training. Claire from mediate.com and internship extraordinaire helped me better understand what internship opportunities are out there. And of course Chip and Lysbeth from CMS attended as well as my fellow Cohort 7 student Katie Behel.

I went in to Saturday's workshops not knowing what to expect, and emerged with a greater understanding of cross-cultural aspects in the field and a more qualitative view of mediation. Both workshops I attended were well organized and executed and I was pleased that I made the effort to attend.

At lunch OMA awarded three distinguished service awards to members who have made a significant contribution to the field. I was inspired and motivated by these three fine folks. I'm happy to be an OMA member and wonder what my future in mediation holds.