Talk Radio, MNN and funny business

This evening Diana and I went to see the Broadway show Talk Radio. In a word the show is Amazing in two words the show is "F*in Amazing" in three words it is "Totally F*in Amazing" and in California speak it is "dude, like totally awesome n' such". I could ramble on and on about the cast and how brilliantly they acted but I won't; that's boring, go read an actual review.

I will, however, say that it is a brilliantly written play that kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time despite the big spikey haired head seated in front of me. No really, there was no body attached to the head it was just one very large head.

The reality of the show is that it is a single set play set in a 1980's radio station and you are watching a 2 hour long "Shock jock" style talk radio show. Diana more elequently stated that it was "watching a man confront his inner demon". Either way it was good but there was one part in the play that related to me in a more "hey, that's me right now" type manner.

The "station manager", Dan, came out in the middle of the show and did a monologue about his relationship to "Barry Champlain", the talk show host and star of the play (depicted in the picture to the left).

Dan came out and stated how he had found "Barry Champlain" and molded him into what he needed to create the perfect radio station. Now that piece didn't have any relationship to my current situation but his next statements did. He created an analogy between radio hosts and trains, most of which made no sense.

One sentence, sadly, made sense "The difference between Barry and I is that I know this is only a job and I can leave it at the door"

Ok so if you're reading this and you expected a review of Talk Radio you're about to be thrown into my immediate world. After all this is my blog about my life. So sorry I won't be offended if you leave now. Go see the show, its good.

My current situation is exactly that. I've been working at MNN for the past 19 or so months and I took the job not as a job. I had just left a very corporate job as an accountant at Intel and I wanted to get back to something I love doing (IT, geeky work) and I also wanted to actually do something. Upon arriving in New York I relaxed for a few weeks. Then I started looking for a job (aah savings. gotta love it). I only applied at places that looked interesting and were working for/with/towards causes that I cared about. I was also ONLY looking at non-profits and places with a social-cause.

I applied at a handful of places and had a number of interviews but the ONLY place that looked remotely interesting was MNN and I saw a ton of potential with the organization. My initial assessment of the place was that they were in need of a decent IT guy but nothing serious (they only have a staff of 50 after all). I also noted, to myself, that the place would be extremely flexible to really explore and "flex", so to speak, my IT/Finance/managerial skills. After all I'm a geek with a Masters in Finance, I have to be able to do something with that right?

After I took the job I realized that there were some very serious problems at MNN. I took the job head-on though and hunkered down for the long road ahead. I worked too many 16-20 hour days to count and I kicked some serious ass at MNN. Yes, yes I'm being extremely egotistical and arrogant but I think I can back it up. Not only did I rebuild a physical and data infrastructure at MNN but I also worked on building a community and infrastructure to support MNN long after I'm gone. I attended multiple conferences around the country to mobilize access centers together and got heavily involved in the Drupal community in NYC (to the point where I starting hosting Drupal Camps and the monthly meetups).

In my opinion building a supporting infrastructure is more important that fixing the problems of today. My entire vision, and thus most of work, has always been focused on the 5, 10 and 15 years from now. Positioning MNN so that they are prepared to handle the hurdles the Internet is going to throw at Public Access (and cable in general) was my focus.

Ok so now back to the point. In accepting my position at MNN I took the very first salary offer they threw at me without negotiation. I have never asked for a raise and I have had a low impact on MNN's budget; to the extent of working on a laptop without a working screen for almost a year (seriously). I did it because it wasn't a "job" to me, I was building something, I was helping MNN, and public access, to position themselves for the future.

Well, sadly, it bit me right in the ass.

The poor managerial infrastructure at MNN became too much for me handle. After fighting against a lack of standard procedures, no budgets, no financial reports, an inability to hire people and an increasing list of problems, that have been solved in most businesses, I finally had enough. Months ago I tendered my resignation which would have been effective in August. Later, after a rather emotional managerial meeting that threw me over the edge, I stepped up my resignation to June 1st.

My resignation relieved a lot of my daily stress and the reality had set in that most of what I had done at MNN was done and my standard day had become filled with the 9 to 5 tasks. I say done, however, reluctantly because one project wasn't done.

Over a year ago I made a very important decision at MNN. Now truth be told the decision wasn't solely me. MNN has a Board of Directors, an Executive Director and an entire chain of command so I made a recommendation that was followed by the "powers that be" but when it comes down to it, I made the decision. I decided that an application developed by an unnamed vendor was developed poorly. This application cost MNN approximately $110,000 and I recommended scrapping it, effectively throwing away all the work (and thus cash)

I stand by that decision.

I also made the decision to spend another $60,000 on a redevelopment project.

A year into a 3 month long project (i.e. 9 months overdue) the project still isn't completed and I have resigned from the organization. I, however, made an extremely important decision and I want to see it through to fruition (oh the fruits will be juicy too). Despite my incredible frustration with the organization I offered to continue as an employee to work as a project manager to complete this project. I did/do not want to see MNN get hurt again by another failed software development project.

I want this to be clear. I do not have to do this but I made a decision and I'm sticking by it. Additionally I'm sticking by it at my standard salaried employee rate (which is/was already low) and I am by no means "setting up a sweet deal for myself".

Unfortunately MNN hired a new business manager about 6 months ago. A really nice woman that is extremely talented, smart and highly educated. A CPA that has worked with numerous corporate and non-profit clients. I was enamored by her intellect and dedication during her interview and I was one, of many, that immediately said "Hire her. She's the one. Hire her. She will do great things here". Truth is she is going to do wonderful things at MNN but unfortunately in the process of doing those wonderful things she is going to cause a lot of tension and some decisions aren't going to be the "right" ones. Par for the course, I guess.

back to me and the Talk Radio discussion. I didn't treat MNN as a "job" and that was my mistake.

Despite offering to continue working as an f/t employee of MNN she decided that I needed to leave MNN and be rehired as an outside consultant complete with a contract.

Sadly this means that I have to pay my own Employer/Employee taxes, pay for my own benefits, accrue my own vacation, etc. Not to mention having to develop contracts, go through fee negotiations and losing my standard employee rights afforded under standard federal, state and city laws.

Although this is a standard procedure in the business world it is only standard procedure because of abuse and business manipulating accounting rules. I tried to play nice and break through these so-called "corporate" barriers in the U.S business world. Items such as lengthy contracts and untrusting fee negotiations where waste is commonplace.

Despite putting my heart and soul into this organization I have been treated as an "employee", a replaceable, temporary untrustworthy "person" that must have contracts, legal waivers, distinction and precedence between myself and the "corporation".

I can honestly say that I tried to have a minimal impact on the organization while providing maximum value back and I was bitten hard. Extremely hard.