Fort Wayne Disses Local Social Media Experts, Hires Chicago Firm [Updated]

On 30 September 2010, the City of Fort Wayne, Indiana entered into a contract with Chicago-based social media firm Carolyn Grisko & Associates in a move to increase the city's use of social media as a means of providing information to and getting feedback from its citizens. Many approve of the goal, but there is a concern among some who believe outsourcing the job is a serious misstep.

[This entry has been updated twice: I added another Further Reading link and report on the City Council meeting I attended to the end of the post.]

Deputy Mayor Beth Malloy, who has worked in local government under Chicago's Mayor Daley's administration, has indicated that she desires to have a greater presence in social media despite previous efforts by the City to avoid entering that arena. I think most Fort Wayne residents who spend time on the Web would applaud the effort to finally "get with the times"; I sure do. I use social media such as Facebook and Twitter to keep track of all sorts of local, regional, and national news, including events and venues, weather, traffic, emergencies, and so on, so I would welcome an official city presence to the mix.

While discussing the benefits and uses of services like Twitter (especially Twitter) would merit its own article, one obvious positive is the interaction with other local people. I have a list of Twitter users from Fort Wayne (view it here), and similar lists are maintained by many of the people on that list. It has allowed me to "meet" some very intelligent people right here in my own hometown without even trying!

Among the folks I've "met" using social media are several people who are involved with small business, publishing, news, and even social media. I don't really know anything about media marketing, but I know Scott Howard (@ScLoHo) could help me with that. I've never started a company, but I know James Paden (@JamesPaden) could help me with that. I've never tried to make a plan for integrating social media with local government, but I know Kevin Mullett (@kmullett) could help me with that. Hey wait—what was that‽

Deputy Mayor Malloy spoke with News Channel 15 reporter Elizabeth Fields: "When I got here, that's what I asked about. I looked around and did some Googling and searching, and I wasn't able to find a local government that had actually procured someone to help with a strategy." Scott Howard, a local media and marketing expert, recently tweeted, "Reason Malloy couldn't find local expert 1) She's not from here. 2) Never looked or asked!!!" In what looks to be an even bigger sign of the lackadaisical effort the City put forth to find qualified personnel locally is the absence of any mention of this issue from Fort Wayne's Project Bidding webpage. I could've found somebody—in fact, I have—and I'm not even in the industry! There are many others qualified, too.

There are many concerns people have about this deal: that Malloy may be employing Chicago-style "cronyism" by giving the job to a friend from back home; that Malloy may have intentionally kept the price tag below the $75,000 threshold to avoid the requirement for approval from the Fort Wayne City Council; that $72,000 is too much for the city to be paying for this service. I don't know what is the truth about Malloy's history or motives, but she claimed she did not know Carolyn Grisko & Associates or its owner and that the deal was in the pipeline before the threshold was lowered from $100,000 to $75,000. But I do know that there are local resources who could fill the role.

Now, I don't claim to be a person who could help with the implementation of social media to the Fort Wayne government, but as a currently unemployed recent graduate of a reputable science, engineering, a technology institute with a degree in computer science living in Fort Wayne, I can sympathize with the feeling that this job needs to go to a local resource before it goes to Illinois—especially Chicago! (Don't get me started on why I'm not a fan of Illinois, especially Chicago. And this news from the city only aggravates that distaste.) It is vital to the economies of the City of Fort Wayne, the Allen County, and the State of Indiana that jobs which local resources can accomplish are given to those local resources! (This isn't something Fort Wayne and northeast Indiana doesn't already acknowledge; haven't you seen the Talent Made Here commercials on TV and on your banner ads on Facebook?) I have seen, with my own eyes, comments from local social media experts who would have offered the service for free or at greatly reduced fees than the $72,000 bill we're now footing.

Tonight, my father and I are attending the Fort Wayne City Council meeting (5:30 pm in City County Building Room 128) to make it known we do not approve of this contract with an outside company when there are local companies who can do the job. Councilman Tom Smith is also displeased with the contract, so it is good to know that at least one representative shares our point of view.


Further Reading
My point in posting this blog entry was to summarize the matter for my friends and family who may not be aware of it, clarify why I am unhappy about it and why they should be unhappy about it, too. There is a lot more to read about the issue that local writers better than myself have already produced. For more information and more viewpoints, check out the following resources.


Opinion: The City of Fort Wayne and Social Media and ‘Talent Made Here’ — The AroundFortWayne Blog
This is an excellent post that breaks down the specifications from the actual contract and demonstrates point-by-point how they could have been handled locally.

Do We Really Want Talent that IS MADE HERE? — OurSpace Fort Wayne
This discusses the attitude of young unemployed people who may realize, why stay here?

Fort Wayne Deputy Mayor introduces Chicago style cronyism — Angry White Boy
Again, I don't know that it really is cronyism at work, but the suspicion is valid, in my mind.

Controversy over social media consultant — WANE-TV
This features video of the interviews with Deputy Mayor Malloy and Councilman Smith.

City spending $72,000 for lessons on social media use — News Sentinel

City hires social media consultant — Journal Gazette

Fort Wayne City Council meeting schedule

To follow the conversation on Twitter, use the hashtag #FortWayneSM.


Update 2: Even Further Reading
How Hiring a Social Media PR Firm Can Ruin Your Public Relations - .gov Edition — Social Media Infrastructures.com
The very tools the city wants to learn how to implement and integrate were used to tear apart the poor decision the city made about how to learn it.


Update: Attended the City Council Meeting
Well, I attended the City Council meeting tonight at the City County building with my dad. One of the local social media and marketing experts I mentioned in this post was also there, Scott Howard (@ScLoHo). He wrote a great response to the meeting, which you can read here:
Lessons in Local Politics (& Social Media) - The Political side of Scloho.

What came of attending the meeting? As it turns out, since I'd never been to a City Council meeting before, I wasn't sure of the procedures, and I definitely wasn't going to speak out or on a topic that would make myself the fool, so I ended up missing the time to speak on the matter. (They asked if anybody in attendance wanted to speak, but I didn't know if it was open for any topic or just for the matters on their agenda, so I held my tongue. Turns out that was the time to speak up. Oh well.)

And on reflection, it may not be a matter which warranted speaking up at the time. As Scott noted in the aforementioned response, this isn't really even within the City Council's jurisdiction since it didn't break the threshold. Or if there is a course of action open to the councilmen, I sure don't know it. I need to educate myself about the way our government works here in Fort Wayne before I think I can speak up myself, so that I can speak up at the appropriate times and to the appropriate people.

And so should we all.

On Reading the Bible

What started as a Facebook status update quickly turned into something worth preserving as a blog entry.

Caleb Allen finished reading the OT (from where I would've been if I'd started my annual goal in January), but is still a bit behind schedule. I've never spent this much time in the Word. It's so amazing how refreshing it is! To my non-Christian friends, "you've GOT to check this out!" How anybody can choose not to believe escapes me. …

I'm going to cut off the "status update" right there and now start in on making the rest of it into a more meaningful, well-written post.


Annual Bible Reading
If you are friends with me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter, you may recall me posting (Facebook status, via a tweet) about my new goal to read the Bible annually by reading three chapters daily.

I have long struggled with daily devotions. Like many people, I've started many a time, only to lapse after a week, two weeks, a month… it almost felt like, "Why should I bother? It'll only last a short time anyway." Nevertheless, it was an area in which I really wanted to improve… eventually. To be completely honest, my newfound resolution is due in no small part to the influence of my wonderful girlfriend, Amber (of whom I wrote last month), who has been reading the Bible annually using the 3-chapters-a-day plan for seven years already. It's a very simple plan: you start on the first of January at Genesis 1:1, read three chapters daily, and cheat occasionally by reading more than three if they are short (this is necessary because the ratio of chapters to days would require actually reading ~3.25 chapters daily).


Keeping Up
Still struggling, I improve.

It should be a surprise to no reader that one cannot easily go from not doing something at all to doing it perfectly overnight. To say I've not missed days, sometimes several in a row, would be to lie. Amber has been such a blessing to me in many ways; and one important way is that she has continued to gently encourage me to be faithful to my daily readings. When she invited me to join her in doing daily readings, she had just finished Ezekiel and was ready to start Daniel. Having maintained her habit, Amber is now several days into Matthew while I only finished Malachi tonight.

But the more I read, the more I WANT to read… it's a different response than I've felt in my previous attempts. I'm not sure why it's so different, but that it is different I am sure. Perhaps I'm more mature now than in my previous attempts (I should hope so!). Perhaps I'm more motivated (I think I am). But whatever the reason, I'm excited for it!


A Response to Worship
My heart yearns for more and questions those who reject Him.

As I've been reading over this past month, I've been compelled, forced, stretched to my limit, to question how anybody can reject Truth! I think of my friends from college: Chad Whitaker, Christine Price, and Mike Mrozek stick out in my mind. How can they seriously maintain that God is unreal or that He doesn't matter or care? Is there anything I could've done to make an impression on them? It isn't as though they haven't heard. Chad was raised in the church and ran sound, just like me, before leaving home for college. Christine quotes passages I've never read in order to make fun of them! Clearly ignorance is not the issue. I suppose I could've been more outspoken, though I don't even know exactly what that would mean.

I can't change what I didn't do in college, but I can make an ardent plea now.

To my non-Christian friends, "You've GOT to check this out!" There are many spirits out there, but only one of them loves us! The Bible is that spirit's attempt to tell us about itself. And what a mighty spirit it is! He is called many things: Yahweh, Jehovah, Creator, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, God Who Provides, God With Us, Lord of lords, King of kings, God Almighty, Most High, Lord of Heaven's Armies, Comforter, Living God, Holy One, I AM.

As I have been reading my Bible, I have been repeatedly overwhelmed with the thought of how much a blessing it is to know I have a relationship with the one spirit in all of that which exists who actually CARES about me! My friends, what a blessing it could be for you to know this spirit! This spirit is not absent from our world or from our lives, and it is willing that you would seek it. You may think you've been loved in your life (or you may not); you may think you've been blessed in your life (or you may not); you may think you have been comforted in your life (or you may not); but I tell you this, YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YET! The spirit who existed before he created all that exists, who so ordained cells to multiply in your mother's womb, and who breathed the very breath of life into your flesh has so much stored up for you that you cannot even begin to imagine it!

How could you pass up on this? Why would you want to‽

You can call me crazy for believing in something I cannot see, but I tell you the truth, I have seen my God! (An old hymn says, "You ask me how I know He lives: He lives within my heart!") I have seen His works; I have seen His blessings; I have literally felt His strength holding me up when I was about to collapse (no, I mean, literally—when I stood in the hospital room where my beloved sister's soul-less body lay, I felt as though I was going to collapse, but a strength came upon me and physically held me on my feet! And it happened a couple other times that week, as well.); He orders the steps of the godly and delights in every detail of their lives (and I can attest to it!).

WHO IS LIKE MY GOD‽
There is none like you, O Lord.


Closing Remarks
Don't dismiss the opportunity to be a part of something worth being a part of.

My friends… if you don't yet call yourself a Christian, please… take some time to read the Bible. I really liked the end of the Old Testament; starting in Daniel may be good. If you have questions, just ask me!

If you do call yourself a Christian, please… take some time to read the Bible! It is so refreshing to read about the wonders of such a mighty spirit that bends the very laws of nature it created and yet concerns itself with the daily dealings of a creature such as I.


God bless you, reader.

The Importance of Owning a Gun for Home Defense - Especially if You Have Children

"I've never seen anything this bizarre, except on TV. It couldn't and shouldn't have happened here in our community, but it did."

~Vigo County Sheriff Jon Marvel
WTHI, Terre Haute, IN

And that’s the way it goes. You never expect it to happen to you; you think it is so unlikely that it isn’t worth the trouble to prepare for it. But the fact is, it is going to happen to somebody, and you have no control over whether it will be you to whom it happens. Now, you tell me, as a parent, is it really worth the risk?

In this post
It happened to somebody.
It could have happened to you.
It could have been worse.
It could have been better.
Ways to make sure it is better if it happens to you.
Closing entreatments.


It Happened to Somebody Else
An event unfolded yesterday about which I feel compelled to share some thoughts.

Yesterday afternoon I was in the gym, and the local news was on one of the TVs on the wall. I didn't have any headphones, so I couldn't hear what was being said, but from the headings on the station I learned that a woman in the region had tried to kidnap a baby and that somebody had been stabbed. On the drive to work this morning, I finally found out what had happened.

A Vigo County, IN woman, Stephanie Foster, with a history of miscarriages had recently been faking another pregnancy. She was determined to obtain a child for herself, so she contrived a little plan. She began reading birth announcements in the newspaper looking for a child to kidnap and claim as her own. She selected a boy born to Ashley and Michael Speer of Prairie Creek, IN. With her target determined, Foster proceeded to gather more information about the family; Foster found the Speer's home address and phone number online.

On the afternoon of Wednesday, 23 June 2010, Foster came to the Speer's home with a toy gun and a hunting knife. Under the pretense of using their phone, Foster gained access to the home while the father napped. The assailant stabbed the mother repeatedly, attempting to steal the Speer's infant son. Awakened by the struggle between his wife and an attacking madwoman trying to steal his son, Michael Speer emerged from a nearby bedroom and attempted to subdue the stranger. He was stabbed, as well. As Michael pinned down the intruder, Ashley was able to dial 911.

Michael Speer was taken to the hospital to be treated for his stab wounds; he has already been released. His wife had to be air lifted to a hospital in Indianapolis, where she was initially in critical condition; she has been upgraded to stable condition. The assailant is in the Vigo County jail without bond. She faces preliminary charges of attempted murder, armed robbery, aggravated battery, and attempted criminal confinement (aka "kidnapping", I think).

Obviously, this is a horrible situation. While it could've been a whole lot worse — the month old boy could be an orphan right now — it could also have been a whole lot better if the family, especially the father, had been properly prepared.


It Could Easily Have Been You
Twas chance that this family was selected instead of yours

You may think to yourself that this is one heck of a story, "but it won't happen to me." Is it really worth the risk? Stop a moment here. To how many families does this apply: "The only reason it didn't happen to you was that a madwoman picked a different name out of a hat." Now, do you realize that there are crazy people everywhere? It doesn't matter if you live in the sticks, in the ghetto, downtown, or in a sexy suburban scene. There are crazy people everywhere. And one day, your name may be pulled from a proverbial hat by one such person, just as the Speers discovered.


How It Could Have Been Worse
Some sadder endings to this report

This section is perhaps superfluous, but I decided to add it anyway since it'd be so short.

A father could have had to bury his wife and infant son.

A mother could have had to bury her husband and infant son.

A mother and father could have had to bury their infant son.

A baby boy could have grown up with a madwoman, perhaps ever on the run from authorities.

A baby boy could have grown up in foster or adoptive homes and would have had to be told someday how a madwoman murdered his parents when he was born. ("Was it my fault mommy and daddy died?")

Every one of these is heart wrenching. Would you wish this upon any man, woman, or child? This is the stuff Lifetime movies are about! (I mean, aren't they? I'm actually not positive because I most assuredly do not watch Lifetime. Blech!) Every possible situation listed would be worse than what actually happened. And every possible situation listed was an equally possible outcome yesterday. The Speers were fortunate.


How It Could Have Been Better
Some ideas for how YOU can make sure that it will end better for you than it did for Michael and Ashley Speer.

It is my personal opinion (and I'll admit, I think this is the correct opinion and that everyone should share this opinion) that it is the duty of a husband to provide for the safety of his wife, and that it is the duty of a father and mother to provide for the safety of their children. On this hierarchy, the father carries the most responsibility.

The most effective tool at the disposal of men and women in this era to provide for safety of those in their charge is the firearm. The father should have been prepared. He should have had a gun in the house. Why didn't he?

Perhaps the couple had simply never given a thought to the possibility, to the idea of being prepared for something crazy. If they simply never considered it, since the father carries the most responsibility, yesterday's events reveal a failure on his part. To be less politically correct, I'll be blunt: if there was never thought to be prepared for this (or for "anything"), then this is Michael's fault.

Perhaps the reason he wasn't prepared was that his wife thought he was crazy or unreasonably and illogically fearful. "What‽ You want to have guns in the house with a BABY‽ Are you crazy‽" And that is a rough situation to be in, when the very ones a father has a duty protect refuse to allow him to have the tools with which to fulfill his duty. To be less politically correct, I'll again be blunt: if there had been talk of preparing but Ashley wouldn't let Michael own a gun, then this was Ashley's fault. And it nearly cost her own life.

(To be clear, I have no idea why they don't have a gun, but those are two of the most common scenarios.)

On a somewhat lesser charge, the mother should have been more careful. Why did she open the door for a stranger? Well, to be fair, women tend to have more tender hearts to strangers who show up with a good story and "just need to use your phone." But this is a urge that must be carefully managed. Even I, as a Christian, do not forsake situational awareness and basic self-preservation instincts when fulfilling my mandate to love my neighbor. Evil exists in this world, and it is not our calling to sacrifice our lives rather than fight it. (But lets not get started on that aspect here; I have a blog planned to address that later.)

The point is... if you're going to invite a stranger into your home, try to make sure there is a safe distance maintained and that you have the ability to repel an attack if need be. If you can't repel a potential attack, you better think twice before admitting a stranger to your home. If you don't keep a gun in your home, you better be VERY strong before you let a stranger in.

Finally... when a father is awakened to hear struggling in within his home, his first thought better be to make sure his family is safe (okay, maybe second, after putting on pants, but that's iffy). And, again, unless you are a bull of a man, you better have a gun at hand because there is no better way to provide that safety to your beloved wife and children.

If I am ever awakened by the sounds of a struggle and find my wife being savagely attacked, stabbed, and bleeding, a righteous rage will fill me, and the attacker will have several bullet wounds in short order, with more ready to be handed out if the first volley does not immediately terminate the attack on my family. How DARE you come into MY home and attack MY wife and threaten MY child‽ I submit to you, this is the correct response for any husband and father, even for any man.

From what I've heard, I believe Michael did the right thing at this point. But the attack could have been terminated more quickly, and probably without Michael being stabbed, if he'd emerged from his bedroom with a firearm.

As a corollary to the theorem that the husband and father should be armed, I recommend that a mother also arm herself out of love for her children and her own desire to protect them. Had Ashley been armed when she answered the door, this could have been ended even sooner, and she could have saved herself a flight to Indianapolis and a stay in critical condition.


What Will You Do?
Closing thoughts and entreatments
Hopefully you have come to the realization that something this insane could happen to you — do you think Michael and Ashley ever had this nightmare? I would bet money that they fully expected last night to be an average evening, like any other, like you will probably have tonight and tomorrow night, and all next month. But you simply cannot predict or prevent atrocities like this; all you can do is prepare.

There are stats and there are stories. There are books and there are tales. There are memories and there are tragedies. The records are there to be found if you are willing, and they will bear witness to the fact that there exists no better tool of home defense and self defense than a firearm.

This isn't based on a made-up story. This happened yesterday. In Indiana. This IS real life.

If you are a husband and/or father and haven't thought of preparing yet, it's time you start thinking about it.

If you are a wife and/or mother and are withholding the proper tools from your husband, it's time you rethink that.

If your wife is withholding the proper tools from you, it's time you start trying in earnest to help her understand.

It's your job to protect yourself, your wife, and your children. Is it really worth the risk to be unprepared?

Summer Reading List

You already saw my post about re-reading "In the Gravest Extreme" by Massad Ayoob (which I have finished, by the way), but I've got a few more things I'd like to read this summer.

Heller

I'd like to read the majority and dissenting opinions from the 2008 US Supreme Court case, District of Columbia v. Heller. (I don't have links to the opinions yet, but once I get them, I'll add them to this entry. Or! If you have them, feel free to post them in the comments!) I may also read some of the amicus curiae briefs and some of the arguments; we'll see.

The Spirit of St. Louis

At a recent "open hangar" event at the Terre Haute International Airport, a local pilot who'd built his own lightweight plane was talking about his experiences flying through some rough storms in that dinky little plane, and he commented, "I finally knew what Lindberg was talking about in his book." That really got me thinking that I should start reading stuff about flying since I plan on being a pilot in the Marine Corps. I'm not positive if this is the book he was talking about, but it's the one on my list: The Spirit of St. Louis, by Charles A. Lindbergh.

Spiritual Warfare

I've long held an interest in spiritual warfare; this was fueled, in no small part, I'm sure, by the stories my parents brought back from Indonesia and Jamaica of being first-hand witnesses and, sometimes, active participants of encounters with people under the direct control of demons.* They have engaged in dialogue with evil spirits and been present on occasions when mere men, by the power of the very name of Jesus Christ, have commanded demons to leave the body of a possessed person.

Combined with my longstanding interest in the subject, some recent events have prompted me to add some reading on spiritual warfare to my list. As it turns out, one of the most respected experts on the subject, Dr. Timothy Warner, has ties to Fort Wayne and several people in my family have actually met with him. I've decided to add his book, Spiritual Warfare: Victory over the Powers of this Dark World, to my summer reading list.

*I know that demons exist not just because I believe what the Bible says about them, but because my parents have met them and I trust their accounts. It's similar to my answer when people ask me how I know God exists: "I've met Him." Like Thomas after the Resurrection, there's no need for faith to believe in that which you have seen.

USMC Field Manual

Last Christmas, my parents got me the field manual for enlisted Marines from the local Army surplus store. I have only read the first couple chapters so far, but I plan to finish that over this summer. (I couldn't find a link to the manual I have online.)

Founding Documents

The United States Constitution

It may come as a surprise to you, but I have not read the United States Constitution, the one I hold so dear, in its entirety straight through. This summer I will rectify that. The text can be found through its Wikipedia entry.

The Declaration of Independence

Similarly, I am fairly sure I haven't read this monumental document. I may have read it at some point in my preparatory schooling, but that is doubtful. The text can be found through its Wikipedia entry, as well.

[Optional] State Declarations

As I was looking up the Wikipedia link for the United States Declaration of Independence, I saw that a few of the declarations issued by Sovereign States in the American south, who subsequently formed their own country which failed to establish itself as independent in what is now called the Civil War, are available for reading. Those would be interesting. I believe that many of the same usurpations which compelled the American colonies to declare independence from the British Empire, and several Sovereign States from the United States of America, either are currently happening again, or will be very soon.

Common Sense

A pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in the years during the war for American independence presented arguments to the colonists for exactly why the colonies needed to be free from the tyrannical British rule. As it was signed "Written by an Englishman" and was written using well-reasoned arguments in a manner easily understood by many people, it was pivotal in turning the colonists' opinion into support for the cause of independence. That pamphlet is on my list.

Additionally, Glenn Beck wrote a book of similar same name in 2009 — Glenn Beck's Common Sense: The Case Against an Out-of-Control Government, Inspired by Thomas Paine. This book is also on my list. As a convenience, Beck included Paine's original writings at the end of his book, so I will be able to hit two birds with one bullet.

A Book About Rachel

Today I started working on my book, a book about my departed and beloved sister, Rachel Marie (Allen) Amstutz. I do not know how long it will take to finish, only that it will be finished one day.

For whom am I writing this book? Me. I'm writing this because *I* want to have it; it will have special meaning to me. But I recognize others may want to read it too. I bet that my family will want a copy of it, and it would probably be good for Rachel's children to read someday, too. Rachel's closest friends from childhood and church, those to whom she reached out, and even some who accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior in the wake of her death may also be interested in reading it. I very much hope to get this published for those who would share my joy in having and reading it.

This purpose of the book will be (at least) twofold.
1) God's Preparations. As time went by, facts came to light that revealed the many, many ways in which God was actively preparing the world for the day he would call Rachel heavenward; I want to document and discuss these.
2) People's responses. I know that many people penned journals, poems, and songs in dedication to, honor of, or memory of Rachel. I want to collect these. As word got out that she had moved on to her glory, letters of encouragement poured in from all around the world - literally. Some were sent to me, some to my parents, still more to my brother by birth, and of course, to Rachel's bereaved husband, my brother by choice, Scott. I want to collect as many of these as I can, too.

So now it comes to this: I need your help!

From whom I need help:
Family, friends, or acquaintances with Rachel, Scott, myself, or my family. (Basically, anybody who knows us!)

What I want:
I need more content, and you guys have it all!
If you did anything like write a letter, journal, song or poem, jotted notes on a Post-It, made a "sticky" on your iPhone, ANYTHING AT ALL in response to Rachel's death and the days and events surrounding it, please send it to me!
If you made a decision about your future (children? salvation? outreach?), tell me about it!
Rachel touched so many lives, and I want to try to capture as much of that as possible. I think you will actually be surprised when you learn just how much Rachel affected others, not just you.

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UPDATE: This info was added after this entry was originally posted.
To reiterate, I'm primarily doing this for myself. I personally am interested in seeing this stuff if you have it. If you feel comfortable sharing it with me but don't want it published publicly, that is perfectly OK! I've already had one person send me something with the request it not be shared outside the family, and I'll honor any such request. -Thanks.
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Timeframe:
As soon as you can get it to me.
I have a few things already to get me started, so I'm not sitting around waiting on things to get going. But I'd like to get your input as quickly as I can, while it is all still pretty fresh in your mind. Now, if you don't have something prepared can you can send me, take your time. Write it up. This will be an ongoing endeavor, so don't rush yourself.

Where to send it:
If you have electronic media to contribute, please send it via email to MySisterRachel+contribution@gmail.com. If you have something that cannot be sent via email, alert me via email so I can hook you up with a mailing address.


Book orders?
Like I said, I expect that there will be other people besides me who will want a copy of the finished book. If you are one such person, please send an email to MySisterRachel+bookorder@gmail.com, and I will let you know when the time approaches.


General contact information.
If you have anything to say or ask about related to this project, you can just use this email address: MySisterRachel@gmail.com (without the +-tags).