My Vendor Relations - Updated

Poking around the community over at Spiceworks, I got involved in a conversation about vendors, pricing, and relationships so I thought I would go ahead and post a new entry on this topic. - Here you go:

Dealing with tech vendors is just like dealing with car dealerships. Educate yourself, compare models, prices, features, etc. think (even pray) about which one is going to really partner with you in the long run and help you manage your budget, and offer creative ideas and good information that will help you make your own decision.

Don't let brand familiarity determine which vendor you choose. Don't let price determine what you buy. Set your clear goals into a detailed project specification and find the best soution - the cheapest solution is rarely the best. Of course you have to understand how to approach your manager(s) ad present them with 2-3 clearly different options (worst, sustainable, and BEST) understand and explain to others why the BEST solution is worth the $$, but be willing to compromise.

We all deal with vendors. Some are great, some not. Everyone has horror stories of terrible sales people over promising and under delivering - or not delivering at all. To be fair, we all have stories of amazing sales reps that jump through hoops for us, and deliver great solutions and work with our budgets, etc. I tend to do a whole lot more with the folks that shoot straight, and are communicative, responsive, and those that I can connect with in some way. Sometimes I get great deals, sometimes I don't, but while I'm always conscientious about being a good steward, ( more on that another day), I prefer to do business with people I can respect, even to the cost of a few dollars.

I think that this is an important issue for everyone in a position that deals with vendors, whether you're at a church, a business, or your personal home purchases. So often we are running in high gear towards the best price on things, that we neglect to count the costs of time and quality alongside the financial costs, and ethical issues.

Remember: there are always 3 factors in a project decision:

1. Time (yours, theirs, deadlines, etc)

2. Cost ($$$, people, resources, etc)

3. Quality (lasting performance, reliability, meeting/exceeding expectations)

If you are good, you can manage to pick 2 of them to focus on with any particular project.

All that said, I have had a great relationship with the guys at Dell for several years. Some of them have needed a little "training," but in general they are helpful and really want to help me succeed. Prices are usually fair, and when they aren't - I CALL THEM OUT. Directly, and strongly.

My Solitude Day

Today I'm taking a solitude day- time to spend in quiet with God. I'm so blessed to have the opportunity o do this once a month, so I try to take full advantage. Today I'll be reading and studying in:
"Discipleship Essentials" - Greg Ogden
"Getting Things Done" - David Allen
"For Men Only" - Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn

I always have plenty of questions and prayers, but today I'm going to focus just one:
"What's next?" God has been opening my heart in amazing ways the past few months, and broken my heart over several things, building a holy discontent in me again. I feel I lost it for a while, just trying to keep up with the demands of life and ministry.

So here I sit, preparing for God to reveal himself to me. Solitude days are always great- kind of like a mental health day, with a free 8 hour therapy session. Some times God does a bunch of tiny works in me, and some times he picks one thing to really push me through, and most times it takes me the whole day just to find that one true moment of serenity. Here's hoping that God will break my hear wide open to his purpose and plans.

My Wedding Vows

So I was catching up on my reading over at Zac Smith's blog when I found this, and considering I'm working with a few guys here at Gateway to put together a For Men Only study, it really tickled me.

My Ministry 2.0

Well, I'm officially signed up for the Ministry2.0 conference here in Austin this Friday and Saturday. Check it out!

My Bloging Absence

Wow, How easy it is o let my Physical life run out of control and watch my online life fall through the cracks. It's funny, isn't it - that I think of it that way. Like I have two separate lives. My "real" life, and my online Facebooking, blogging life.

Then I think about how much I still compartmentalize my life- Church stuff, home stuff, work stuff, relationship stuff, etc. Sometimes I realyl start to think I have about a dozen different lives I lead, and I realize - that's scary!

All the more reason to have a few people surrounding me, holding a mirror to my life, and calling me to account. Even more, it is SO important to have a few people (probably the same ones as above) with whom I am totally transparent. Transparency is the most powerful way I know of keeping us honest and living right life. I'm lucky in that I have several guys in my life who would storm the gates of Hell to shake me out of my complacency and laziness. (You know who you are).

I'm saying all this, and realizing as I write, that while I have the opportunity to truly deeply share the depths of my life, I just don't do it often enough. I tend to let things build up for a while, then call one of my friends and let it out. The freedom and peace that comes from confession with another man is amazing! Particularly when done with God at the center of the relationship.

So I'm going to make it a priority to get regular with my running partner(s) again. It's time to get real and get back to having a regular time - weekly even of bearing he joys and darkness of my life. I know how far one can fall without having accountability and transparency in life. We've all seen it a million times - CEOs, Pastors, neighbors, friends, co-workers who have gotten themselves into a pattern of sin or deceit, which turns into denial, and ends up wrecking lives.

I NEVER want to be that guy. Do you?

My Streaming Christmas

Gateway Christmas 2008 Live Streaming Stats:

With a little time and energy for setup and prep we were able to provide 3 online worship experiences for :
17 people at 7pm on the 23rd
25 people at 5pm on the 24th
11 people at 6:30 pm on the24th
53 people total who participated in the online experience.


We had people from Spokane Washington, Dakar Africa, Orlando Florida, Georgia, New York, and Texas who watched, chatted, and even prayed together.


Here's how we did it:
Streaming tech: Mogulus.com ( free, ad driven, and works GREAT!)
Equipment:
my Macbook Pro
1 ADVC 110 Analog-to-Digital Video Converter
1 Edirol V-4 video mixer
A few misc cables

I just took an A/V feed from our IMAG, and added a separate camera for variety. Fed that into the ADVC110, and then into the computer - where Mogulus studio picks up the digital feed, compresses it, and streams it live. DONE!

I'm so excited about the potential of online ministry, and streaming a few services is really just the beginning. We're developing big plans for a Gateway Internet Campus, so stay tuend over the next few months to find out more.

Happy New Year!

My Vendor Relations

We all deal with vendors. Some are great, some are a bit shady. Everyone has horror stories of terrible sales people over promising and under delivering - or not delivering at all. To be fair, we all have stories of amazing sales reps that jump through hoops for us, and deliver great solutions and work with our budgets, etc. I tend to do a whole lot more with the folks that shoot straight, and are communicative, responsive, and those that I can connect with in some way. Sometimes I get great deals, sometimes I don't, but while I'm always conscientious about being a good steward, ( more on that another day), I prefer to do business with people I can respect, even to the cost of a few dollars.

I think that this is an important issue for everyone in a position that deals with vendors, whether you're at a church, a business, or your personal home purchases. So often we are running in high gear towards the best price on things, that we neglect to count the costs of time and quality alongside the financial costs, and ethical issues.

This isn't a time or place to name names, or tell stories of horror, that's not the point of this post. The real questions are these:
1. Do you have policy about the types of vendors you will work with?
2. Do you play favorites with vendors who you "connect with?"
3. Do you consider the Vendor's /organization's social, political, or ethical stands when doing (or not doing) business with them (as an organization)
4. In the triad of Time, Quality, and Cost, which 2 do you tend to favor?