Just a quick note:
If you read yesterday's post regarding the quasi rebranding, you saw that I compared it to the "New Coke" debacle of 1985. Of course, I was being somewhat sarcastic given the somewhat smaller following that Teens Run Yonkers has....
Nevertheless, it was both inspiring and surprising to actually hear from folks that really liked the Teens Run Yonkers name and particularly the anacronym TRY. While it was kind of cute/cool, I was actually never a huge fan of "try"ing. A now well worn cliche is that old saying from Yoda (star wars- not a fan but like the quote):
There is no TRY - there is only do.
I agree. We're all about helping folks commit to doing as opposed to trying. Trying is running 11 or 12 miles and stopping. Doing is running the whole 13.1. Or in marathon speak, trying is doing 21, 22 or 23 and bagging the rest. Doing is running, walking, crawling, rolling or doing whatever it is you do to hit the 26.2
As for Teens Run Westchester, I'm confident that moving from Teens Run Yonkers to Teens Run Westchester will let us DO MORE for many more (throughout the county). And so with that, we launch our new line
TEENS RUN WESTCHESTER - WE RUN THIS COUNTY!
PS - The idea behind using the name Teens Run Westchester was to always encourage separate parts of the County i.e. Yonkers to go by their individual city name. So Teens Run Yonkers lives on! And Teens Run (for example) New Rochelle, Mt. Vernon or wherever is waiting to be born....
Friday, October 19, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Teens Run Yonkers IS Teens Run Westchester
(Said sarcastically.....
Clearly this is the biggest branding news since 1985 when Coke made their famous blunder of introducing "New Coke". Anyone remember that? Wasn't long before they fully recovered and reintroduced Classic Coke along with (just) Coke. Which of course was the new formula Coke which the population had largely rejected as too sweet and unCoke like. But I digress...
My point was that as of today, Teens Run Yonkers has formally embraced and is moving forward as TEENS RUN WESTCHESTER. You will notice that on nearly all formats including this re-titled blog (now Teens Run Westchester Daily Runner), our website which can now be found at www.teensrunwestchester.org , our twitter account which is now https://twitter.com/TeensRunWest (apparantly westchester was too long!). Next will be facebook but I'm very worried about losing our likes! Hopefully it's manageable.
Oh and I almost forgot, I also set up as a more formalized cause at causes on facebook - you can find that at http://www.causes.com/causes/797757-teens-run-westchester?utm_campaign=home
So, all of this is part of our soft re-launch. In all seriousness, given that our incorporation was Teens Run Westchester, our 501c-3 tax exemption is titled that way and that we are now exploring opportunities beyond Yonkers borders, this is an exciting change for us. My hope is that by working with all ares of the County, we can further deliver on our mission of using running to encourage success, leadership and healthy lifestyles through strong mentoring relationships.
Still a bit more to do in terms of this name change, but if you're looking for us, this is where you'll find us. Happy hunting - and running of course
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Some Teens Run Updates - and what happens in Vegas
Well, I'm not sure why, but it was nice to see that some folks checked into our blog today. I do check those things you know...
Anyway, lots of exciting and cool things going on. First, it was a great weekend for Teens Run Yonkers - or should I say Teens Run Westchester. We'll get to that in just a second. Our mentors and teens had an awesome time at the Aqueduct Run which was part of the 2012 Aquefest - if you haven't already been inundated by my posts and links to that, once more for your enjoyment, here are a few cool things from that event:
our facebook pictures: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.492576070760876.120679.130787670273053&type=3
by the way, do not look and then move on without liking us!
Also, some cool info on the Aquefest itself: http://rivertowns.dailyvoice.com/news/aquefest-celebrates-old-croton-aqueduct-0
There was a great crew of runners out there and everyone did an awesome job on a nice trail course. I have to say that after checking out the course a few times on my own, I think I've discovered why so many runners use that as a core part of the training. It really does make you use some muscles that you typically don't on the road. I did a nice 6+ miler on there the day before the run and really felt it. Anyway, it was a great experience and hopefully we introduced the program to some new folks. And they were introduced to one of Westhchester's undiscovered gems.
The other big, but for now sort of quiet switch, is that we'll be moving Teens RUn Yonkers towards its legal and formal identity of Teens Run Westchester. Just in the process of re-setting some of our infrastructure - website, database etc. towards that end. I think it will be a good switch for us and open us up to new partnerships, volunteers and overall opportunities.
That's it for now -
Oh, almost forgot - looking forward to an upcoming weekend of Las Vegas with my fraternity brothers; always a good time. You may recall I did a few posts awhile back about the many things you can learn that are of value from the fraternity experience. I'm honestly not sure if this weekend will add to that discussion - - but I'm sure it will be fun and um...memorable. But you know, it has to stay in Vegas. Well, at least I've got you thinking
Anyway, lots of exciting and cool things going on. First, it was a great weekend for Teens Run Yonkers - or should I say Teens Run Westchester. We'll get to that in just a second. Our mentors and teens had an awesome time at the Aqueduct Run which was part of the 2012 Aquefest - if you haven't already been inundated by my posts and links to that, once more for your enjoyment, here are a few cool things from that event:
our facebook pictures: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.492576070760876.120679.130787670273053&type=3
by the way, do not look and then move on without liking us!
Also, some cool info on the Aquefest itself: http://rivertowns.dailyvoice.com/news/aquefest-celebrates-old-croton-aqueduct-0
There was a great crew of runners out there and everyone did an awesome job on a nice trail course. I have to say that after checking out the course a few times on my own, I think I've discovered why so many runners use that as a core part of the training. It really does make you use some muscles that you typically don't on the road. I did a nice 6+ miler on there the day before the run and really felt it. Anyway, it was a great experience and hopefully we introduced the program to some new folks. And they were introduced to one of Westhchester's undiscovered gems.
The other big, but for now sort of quiet switch, is that we'll be moving Teens RUn Yonkers towards its legal and formal identity of Teens Run Westchester. Just in the process of re-setting some of our infrastructure - website, database etc. towards that end. I think it will be a good switch for us and open us up to new partnerships, volunteers and overall opportunities.
That's it for now -
Oh, almost forgot - looking forward to an upcoming weekend of Las Vegas with my fraternity brothers; always a good time. You may recall I did a few posts awhile back about the many things you can learn that are of value from the fraternity experience. I'm honestly not sure if this weekend will add to that discussion - - but I'm sure it will be fun and um...memorable. But you know, it has to stay in Vegas. Well, at least I've got you thinking
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Keep going till something (anything) works - and some Seinfeld Election Trivia
Sometimes you just have to keep going till something works. This rule works in running and - I'm hoping giving today's challenges - that it works in the business and nonprofit ruling. I say that because today was one of those days where I came in just determined to do all the right stuff; long-terms, mid-term, short-term priorities. A little social media fun and some other odd-and ends.
I have to say that as someone who doesn't relish the administrative end of things, I've been a little proud of myself. Ever since receiving our 501c-3 tax exemption -which was really exciting - I've had a new focus on being sure that we (Teens Run) doesn't just have a good program but that we've got solid tools and infrastructure. So, one of the reason I've been blogging a bit less and posting a bit less (my KLOUT score has taken a big hit!) is because each morning, I've been focusing on board development, database systems, administrative filings (DID I CATCH YOU SLEEPING??? - me too). Yes, this stuff is a bit of a snooze but to have this organization be a long term and sustainable one, this is the stuff I'm paying attention too first.
So in that sense, I just couldn't make anything happen today. First, I wanted to have us connected to an online donor system. I couldn't quite get that started because to so, I had to send - not fax or scan - paperwork to Guidestar so I'm officially listed as a non profit. Then I wanted to get us connected to BoardNEt to help us find some new board members - well, again, they don't recognize my tax exmept number yet.
Well, at least I was able to do a bit more posting about our upcoming event on Saturday - OK, shameless plug, here it is again -
http://www.meetup.com/Teens-Run-Yonkers-mentoring-our-next-generation-of-leaders/events/84408412/
And the blog post is working so far. Oh well, some days you just got to keep moving forward and this was one of them. Still smiling!
On a lighter note, looking forward to the debates...I know this will be one of the more controversial things I write here but I would love to see Romney at least do one or two things right. I mean if not what are all these media folks going to talk about - the same stuff they've been already and b) it would be nice to think that the Republicans (regardless of your affiliation) haven't nominated an absolutely clueless individual. I mean I want to be believe everyone has redeeming features, Mitt included (regardless of what he plays on his iPod) OK, no more politics
Well, why not. On the subject, some Seinfeld Trivia....When Morty was impeached as President of the Condo Del Boca Vista, who cast the deciding vote? And why? Further, what was Kramer's downfall while running for the same office? Remember, Morty was going to try to get him elected to yield power from behind the scenes?
Should be an interesting evening...break out the popcorn
I have to say that as someone who doesn't relish the administrative end of things, I've been a little proud of myself. Ever since receiving our 501c-3 tax exemption -which was really exciting - I've had a new focus on being sure that we (Teens Run) doesn't just have a good program but that we've got solid tools and infrastructure. So, one of the reason I've been blogging a bit less and posting a bit less (my KLOUT score has taken a big hit!) is because each morning, I've been focusing on board development, database systems, administrative filings (DID I CATCH YOU SLEEPING??? - me too). Yes, this stuff is a bit of a snooze but to have this organization be a long term and sustainable one, this is the stuff I'm paying attention too first.
So in that sense, I just couldn't make anything happen today. First, I wanted to have us connected to an online donor system. I couldn't quite get that started because to so, I had to send - not fax or scan - paperwork to Guidestar so I'm officially listed as a non profit. Then I wanted to get us connected to BoardNEt to help us find some new board members - well, again, they don't recognize my tax exmept number yet.
Well, at least I was able to do a bit more posting about our upcoming event on Saturday - OK, shameless plug, here it is again -
http://www.meetup.com/Teens-Run-Yonkers-mentoring-our-next-generation-of-leaders/events/84408412/
And the blog post is working so far. Oh well, some days you just got to keep moving forward and this was one of them. Still smiling!
On a lighter note, looking forward to the debates...I know this will be one of the more controversial things I write here but I would love to see Romney at least do one or two things right. I mean if not what are all these media folks going to talk about - the same stuff they've been already and b) it would be nice to think that the Republicans (regardless of your affiliation) haven't nominated an absolutely clueless individual. I mean I want to be believe everyone has redeeming features, Mitt included (regardless of what he plays on his iPod) OK, no more politics
Well, why not. On the subject, some Seinfeld Trivia....When Morty was impeached as President of the Condo Del Boca Vista, who cast the deciding vote? And why? Further, what was Kramer's downfall while running for the same office? Remember, Morty was going to try to get him elected to yield power from behind the scenes?
Should be an interesting evening...break out the popcorn
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