20 October 2009

0800 — 0850 When Raan Parton, Apolis Creative Director, decided this season’s case study would be Ben Thomson, he quickly cleared a day to make it happen. Ben reaches to both my brothers with his subtle sense of humor, attention to detail, tireless work ethic, and uncompromising insight to fine tuning Apolis’ development practices. Raan and Ben connected for coffee before heading to Invisible Children’s North American bureau — 13,000 square feet, 75 staff and volunteers, on the outskirts of downtown San Diego’s Gas Lamp district. Impressive to park along side the fleet of Invisible Children road tour vans, 16 vehicles are available for North American highways.

Raan couldn’t help but covet Ben’s aged moleskin as he documented his daily tasks. Ben’s virtues of order and routine are noticed as he re–caps Monday, 19 October, and finalizes his schedule for today.

20 October 2009

0900 — 1100 Off to bi–monthly management meeting with ten of the key decision makers. The meeting begins with a preview of the upcoming release of Mend handbags, a subdivision of Invisible Children that is changing the game for commerce and cause. Each handbag has the name of the original seamstress sewn on the inside of the bag and accompanied with an online media piece sharing their personal story as an abducted child solider, learn more: http://www.invisiblechildren.com/mend.

The following topics of discussion showcase Invisible Children being at the forefront of sustainable development. First, product selling reports, an update on inventory management, holiday sales plan, and current online traffic report. Second, a corporate financial discussion that allows all management to take ownership in every decision that moves the needle. In the final hour they cover improvements for specific programs, how to manually input 250,000 individual arrest warrant submissions (name, email, zip code) for their new Joseph Kony campaign, and an overall update on business operations.

20 October 2009

1100 — 1130 Stops by Zach Barrows office, Director of Schools for Schools. Zach has been married for over two years, raised in Massachusetts. Both Zach and his wife were born with education in their veins. While Zach taught at Auburn High School he developed a contemporary issues elective that led him to Invisible Children’s Schools for Schools program. Zach and Tara Barrows, both in their twenties, would never have expected the lengths education has taken them today. Starting as home owners in Massachusetts, Invisible Children inspired them to load their Ford Ranger and drive over 3,000 miles to work on their sun tan in San Diego, lead the Schools for Schools program, and manage three tours to Uganda. While both have a heart for Invisible Children, Tara focuses on teaching at San Diego’s Monarch school for homeless kids — talk about a power team.

Schools for Schools uses an interactive website to link schools across the globe to schools in Uganda. Creating an international dialogue and fundraising tool with real–time results. To reward the top fundraisers in the competition, Invisible Children sends over 15 high school students to Uganda to see how the money they raised is assisting Ugandan schools, learn more: http://s4s.invisiblechildren.com/

20 October 2009

1130 — 1300 Ben and Jay Woodcock, Invisible Children CFO, walk downtown to the US Grant for lunch. Jay is a San Diego native, married for just over a year, UCSB graduate with a BA in accounting, world traveler, and both he and Ben always have their noses in Surfer’s Journal. Jay and Raan share mutual stories of being newly married and the rude awakening of forfeiting the bachelor lifestyle.

20 October 2009

1300 — 1400 Stock room visit, Ben gives Raan an overview of current inventory. Invisible Children’s product offering is responsible for one third of their annual revenue, a vital reason that they are creating a new standard in the world of development. Apolis’ private label business is proud to manufacture Invisible Children’s tshirts, scarves and sweatshirts. Their remaining product assortment ranges from bags, DVDs, bracelets, hats, and coffee table books.

20 October 2009

1400 — 1700 Emails, phone calls, and planning soak up the remaining hours. Thankfully Ben is no longer sitting at his desk and is now using a ergonomic standing desk after his lower back took the toll from hours of juggling the cotton initiative, logging over 100,000 frequent flyer miles, strategic relations, submission of government grants, and miscellaneous projects that need more hands.

20 October 2009

1700 — 1730 Ben and Raan talk about their new activist journal and ideas for manually submitting the 250,000 arrest warrants that have been returned from screenings. The arrest warrants are addressed to Barack Obama and have been co–sponsored with the LRA Disarmament Bill by 152 members of Congress. Learn more: http://www.invisiblechildren.com/obama

Raan and Ben part ways. Ben takes his classic white Toyota truck home to Point Loma, the peninsula located at the entrance of San Diego bay — less than ten minutes from the office.