Can I be grateful and grumble at the same time? Why not? Even cockeyed optimists like me have to complain sometimes. (Okay, lots of times.)
First, a definite uptick in subscribers who say yes, I will pay for news from Mission Local, has made me swell with gratitude.
I wonder if the new subscribers–70 and still counting–have been drawn to the site because of the dog, and what would happen if I wrote about cats. My editor proposed lions and tigers and bears, oh my! (She was joking.)
So, I’m grateful. For a dogged editor and for all of you who donated and became members and offered good advice – like reminding readers that even $5 or $10 can make a difference. And yes, that’s true, it most definitely can. Thank you.
And now the cause of my grumbling – WeHero.co. It’s an organization that creates feel-good volunteer events for the likes of Salesforce, LinkedIn and Visa. The idea is that employees who give back by, for example, packaging meals for the homeless, are happier – and, ultimately, more loyal – employees.
To spread the joy, WeHero seeks to enlist media companies like Mission Local to memorialize employee experiences. WeHero suggests we do this for free or in exchange for having our logo on their events.
To their credit, the cheerleaders at WeHero were undeterred by my cranky response to their invitation and scheduled a call where poor Andy had to listen to my rant about free media. (We aren’t free!)
WeHero was certainly getting paid, I said, so couldn’t it include media in its budget? That wasn’t possible, it seemed, but Andy did volunteer to put in a good word for us with Salesforce, although he was unsure if the foundation itself was actually a client.
Perhaps I should hire Andy to solicit donations for Mission Local. Perhaps he’d volunteer? In the meantime . . . we’re now up to 78 new donors. And, again, thank you!
For those of you who don’t yet pay for news, it’s easy to do. Just click here.
Earlier columns are here.