CPRMom

I think every business owner gets lots of unsolicited emails from companies trying to sell products and services to them.  I usually ignore them.  They usually send 2 emails.  The second outlining why I need them.  The second usually more informal, like a friend catching up, using comments like... "I haven't heard back from you".  Yup, right... you didn't hear back from me because I deleted your email. So today I get a third email from this company, it was kinda entertaining.  Identifying information on the company removed.  I might find this amusing, but they might not like being the subject of a blog post. Gail, I have been trying to connect with you over the past two weeks, to learn about your programs and who the best person to speak with on this subject. Being that I haven't heard from you, this leads me to a few possible circumstances: 1) You’re all set with suppliers at Coastal CPR and First Aid LLC, and if that is the case...

Despite my best intentions, I've neglected all my blogs.  I can blame part of the reason on summer camp. I'm working at 2 camps this summer, well.... technically volunteering at one and paid staff at the second. I should have begun doing this years ago. Okay, so I've been volunteering at Cub Scout day camp for 3 years.  As a volunteer my Cub Scout attends for a mere $25.  My daughter can attend with me as a tagalong for free.  Yes.... FREE!  2 kids at 1 week of camp with swimming, archery, etc...... for a mere $25.  It's the deal of a lifetime.  I am also outside with them all day.  I really enjoy it.  The past 2 years I have the tagalongs den which means I watch the children of all the parent volunteers.  So I have boys to young to be Cub Scouts and girls.  Our mixed age/mixed gender group always seem to get along really well and the kids are just plain awesome. This year I took a paying staff position at Girl Scout camp. ...

This past weekend I attended mandatory camp training.  This is required every 2 years to review the staff guide, emergency procedures and health & safety info. This could have been an awesome training opportunity.  Instead it turned into a colossal waste of time. The training was scheduled for 5 hours.  In the first 3 hours we heard more inside stories of incidents that occurred over the previous years than we did actually covering the material that was provided to us.  2 hours into the training class I was irritated.  At 3 hours I was just sad. When it ended 4 hours later I just wanted to go home. I was sad because this was an opportunity to learn and review some pretty important information.  But the rambling stories and “… several years ago we …” detracted from the small reviews of the printed material.  A good portion of the emergency information was glossed over or not covered at all. I had to drive almost an hour to attend, a...

I attended an AHA Training Center forum a few weeks ago.  I'm always learning something new and the vendors usually have great stuff to share.  :)  I had joined in on a conversation with a few instructors and we realized a few minutes into our discussion that one of them is a local instructor affiliated with a different training center than mine.  She said to me "You're my competitor". Um... what? My first instinct was to say "No, we're colleagues. Not competitors." But it got me thinking afterwards.  Why do instructors, and maybe business owners in general, look at others in their field as competitors?  I've been teaching CPR and First Aid for almost 15 years, 8 of those as a small business.  I've only run across one training center that has been somewhat competitive, undercutting and a little aggressive at times.  I won't name them, that's not fair, but I've had folks in my classes who previously took a class with them and did...