Added Value, Radio Style

For all of us marketing and broadcasting major, we are supposed to know what added value means. Well, I did not. I learned and now I wish I had never spoken or even overheard the words. Added value, from a marketing standpoint, is when a company, Culver's, partners with a radio station. Now Culver's has 435 restaurants all over the country (in select areas) and the radio stations in that area want the attention of our gift certificates and on-location opportunities. You may be wondering where this is going... well the past 5 days I have been focusing my time on calling all the radio stations to make sure what is on the contract still stands and if they want to go on location and snatch free items, I get to figure out how to organize that. Radio stations are TERRIBLE at getting back to you. I would make plans with restaurants to have van hits (radio station broadcasts from parking lot) and then all of a sudden the radio station would call back and say, "forget about it." Calling AZ that is 2 hours away at the right time when I am having a null moment and they are at their peak lunch time hour or just waking for the morning is a hat trick in itself. I was given a matter of 6 hours to get 30ish e-mails out the door and call about 20 radio stations. My ear hurt from the phone and my patience and creative ideas were running short.

The lady that was trying to get the coupons counted was sick for one of the days so the packages of coupons went out the door a day late, oops. My fault? You would think not, unfortunately when a task is given to me I am not satisfied until it is accomplished. It was hard for me to leave for the weekend to go on a family camping trip to know that my job was not finished.

Trip to IA. Man do I love family time. I laughed with people I haven't seen in 10 months and I cried with people I love the most. I am truly blessed to have a huge family as a single child. God listens to the prayers of those who prayed from ages 5-15 for a sibling or a friend to be a sibling and now I am in the running to have nine immediate siblings along with nieces and nephews.

These days I am thanking God for answered prayer for big things (Spain) and small things (getting home from work today, literally drove 30 miles with my gas light on), patience for big things (relationships) and small things (the tourists/workers of the Dells riding bikes/walking like hoodlums), and for Jesus Himself in the big things (saved from eternal damnation and crap I put in my life) and small things (the ever-so firm grasp I have never felt let go on my heart). Recently I have gotten back into the Word with daily (sometimes I don't read) readings of His teachings. I started with Esther, went to Nehemiah, and now I am in Exodus (In case you were wondering, I do have a sequence I am working in, it just doesn't look like it.).

Spain update? Well I am an official citizen of Spain from 8/25-2/25!!! I literally am going to Spain, guys. This is not a dream. I have come to grasps. I am not ready to go. I will go. AHH! Oh yeah, one of my roommates is no longer going which now I make two of us in one household. I am really okay with it, it just saddens me that I could have been the one to not go two months ago and now I am the one that is literally signed, approved, and all in to go. Wow, this is mind boggling. I can do this, I can go, I can trust, I can speak Spanish to a level of comprehension.... right? BAH.