First ACS Visit

Today I had my first ACS/SDO solution meeting and it went Great! I got to explain the system and then make it work for them... They seem excited enough so hopefully everything works out to get their system set-up.

The Clinic Road Trip

Tuesday I made the the 4 hour 2 stop clinic road trip...

The first clinic of the day was in Banderra, Texas. As you can see from the picture above they still have a little work to do before their doors are open. After calling a number on my target list and discovering that it was for a thrift store and that they only took appointments for another clinic I was a little disappointed. However she knew the name and number of a man starting a new free clinic. After getting in touch with Bill I discovered that they already were aware of AidMatrix and were trying to contact us as well. He was excited that I was calling him because they were trying to get in touch with us and all they had heard and had to say about AidMatrix were good things. They are not ready to sign-up yet but they are ready to work with us when they get up and running. So how about that networking.

That got me really excited for my 2nd appointment because they were one of the 2 clinics that recommended us to the new clinic. But my excitement was short lived... When I got to the clinic the lady that I was supposed to meet with wasn't there. I was early so I just sat in their waiting room and waited... When it was all said and done I had been there for an hour and never made it past the waiting room. A little sad yes but I left my card and hopefully we can do it again (not the waiting part). Needless to say I didn't take a picture cause I wasn't really thinking about that.

Rewind...

Well I got picked on by Ben for not adding any pictures to the blog and today I finally remembered to bring my camera and cable to upload these pictures...

Here is San Antonio branch of AidMatrix for the summer and the office space that I call home on the weekdays.

And this is the office I snuck into at the beginning of the summer and the phone that is forwarded to someone else if you call it... (Brad Knows) Its a nice little 14 by 12 cubicle I call home.

Donate NOW!

Hi all! Yesterday I did a training for about 15 non-profits on DonateNow. It went really well, and they were all very interested. I also learned a few things that I thought I would share with you interns who are doing this in the future:

1- Tell them you are an intern from the beginning. A few of them asked random questions about other programs I had never heard of, so it would be good for them to know that. And, for all you Aggies (sorry Diego), it will probably be a plus; there were several Aggies in the room that were glad to know I go to school there. I even got a few Gig'ems.
2- Know the basics really well, but be prepared for random questions.
3- And finally, speak slowly and have fun with it. They'll be appreciative!

2 More Visits

As I have been doing, I've got some work-related pictures to share, and some non-work-related pictures to share. I guess we'll just get this work business out of the way first!


Monday, I met with the Business Manager of Health For All in Bryan. It might be debateable whether or not Bryan technically falls into my 'area', but I figured that it certainly couldn't hurt to extend my stay there an extra day into the work-week and work from what will be my new, permanent home in August, and visit the clinic that's there. Well, I didn't get to meet the Executive Director like I had been hoping. She was gone, staying with her husband who was having heart surgury. So instead I met with the Business Manager, and it turns out that it was good to meet him, since he is going to be my main contact person at the clinic anyway. So, I'm happy to introduce Mr. Sample to the blog! He got a Big Kick out of Big Tex!


Yesterday, I got to visit a clinic called the Lone Star Circle of Care in Georgetown. They have 8 clinics and will be joining our program as well! Shveta (pronounced ShvYE-ta, if that makes sense; she refused to let me call her Ms. Bhambhani) was quite reluctant to have her picture taken with Big Tex, but eventually consented after I assured her that Big Tex always takes the spotlight and makes anybody else in the picture seem insignificant. Big Tex can sometimes be a little egotistical, but it seemed to make Shveta feel a little more comfortable about taking the picture!


In other news, while I was in Bryan visiting the girl with a head the size of a flower (or a flower the size of a head?), I was able to create the most perfect foam on a cappucino that you have ever set your eyes upon. This foam was the foamiest foam that's ever been foamed. I'm telling you, it was good. You bet I enjoyed it. Come to Bryan and I'll make you some foam!

First Meeting

I was invited to come to a clinic while it was open this last Sunday and it was crazy... it was for the homeless and they had a medical clinic, dental clinic, vision clinic, clothing "store", and breakfast all going on at the same time! Needless to say everyone was a little busy to just sit down and talk. I got some info and business cards and left my own so maybe something good will come from the madness. They were not originally interested but maybe after they think about it things will change.

lions and tigers and bears...

I just wanted to put up this picture because it this place was really cute! It was a children's clinic so there were animal murals all throughtout it. Mary Nelle was very appreciative and had dreamt about having this clinic.

I had also just picked up 2 computers the day before and thought I would carry them around for a while. She ended up taking one, and as I drove off she called me wanting the other one! It's cool how it works out perfectly like that.

Spurs Win!

"Woo hoo!"

Hello all... Today I had one of the funniest experiences yet. I went to Metrocrest Family Clinic and met with Jane. She was very nice and VERY talkative... Loved to tell me about her clinic, and the problems they have.

However, she lit up when I showed her the product list, and every time she saw another product she needed she said, "Oh! This just makes my day." Probably said it around 10 times.

To top it off, I said goodbye to her and she went back in her office; as she was closing the door, with her other volunteers in the room with her, I heard her yell "Woo hoo!". I couldn't stop laughing as I walked to my car. All the excitement however made me forget to take a picture with Big Tex! But I am going back to train her on FCL, so I'm SURE she will be more than willing to take it. Hopefully this brightens everyone's days. It was a good reminder to me of how this really does help them, and it definitely reminded me why we're doing this!

Howdy friends!

I am here reporting two more meetings. The first was another meeting with the director of El Buen Samaritano, and he just had some questions to ask. I was able to get a picture this time, so here we go:

Today, I met with the Clinical Ops. Manager at People's Community Clinic, and I don't think they are going to sign up for our services at this time. I went ahead and did the survey and took a picture. She was definitely pretty reluctant to have her picture with Big Tex, but I told her that's not the first time I've had that expression in one of these pictures. It was funny, she was rolling her eyes. Haha!

On a different note, I'm excited to report that I am taking advantage of the fact that Austin is the live music capital of the southwest! I went to a show of a Christian 'hardcore' band called mewithoutYou, and the concert was a whole lot of fun! Several other bands opened for them, and some were definitely better than others, but they all had a good time on stage. I'm a big fan of mewithoutYou, and this was my first time to see them perform -- my ears are still ringing! It was really funny, the lead singer, Aaron Weiss, kept filling up plastic cups with water and passing them out to people in the crowd who were thirsty. Then he asked if anybody wanted some potato salad or fresh fruit, and handed out little bowls of that too in the middle of some of his songs! It was pretty funny. Here are a few shots of last night:

This is Pam at Grace. She was very entertaining and very willing to take a picture with Big Tex. I don't know about everyone else, but a few times I have found it hard to take a picture at the clinics. One time, at Agape,

they were having clinic and lots of people were in the very small clinic, and we were talking about problems they were having, and it just didn't feel ok to take a goofy picture with Big Tex. I guess it is more important to talk seriously than to whip out Big Tex, but I'll try to remember to snap a picture even when it's easy to forget. :)

Can I Get A Call Back...

Well I was hoping to hear back from some of the people I talked with this week today and set up visits... so far my wish hasn't come true. Lets hope next week finishes what this week started.

Bad day!

Well, it's Friday at the end of week 2. For me, it's been both a good and bad week, but I'll get to the bad part later. The good part is that I got two clinics to verbally agree to sign up! I'm meeting with both of them next week to go over paperwork stuff so we can get that sent in. I've also had one other clinic in La Grange agree to pitch it to her COO and see if she can't get involved. Things seem like they're really moving now! I've got several calls and a couple visits lined up for next week, and I'm real excited about meeting more people.



I had forgotten to get a picture with Big Tex at the first clinic, but I'll snap one on Monday when I go back. At the second clinic, Mrs. Hopkins was not real sure she wanted her picture posted all over the internet, but I talked her into it! She was real nice and excited about getting involved. She also gave me another contact in Austin which I'm looking forward to calling on.


On to the bad part of the week:
On Tuesday, I had just an all-around bad day. The saying goes, "When it rains, it pours," and it definitely held true. The worst part was that I left my sister's apartment to walk to campus and find my workspace in the morning, and I left my keys and wallet in the apartment. I didn't realize this until I was walking back for lunch around 1 p.m. I called her and she was at work. She works at a sandwhich shop and she couldn't get off to come let me in until about 2:30. I had a meeting with Mrs. Hopkins (pictured above) scheduled at 3 p.m., and Mary works about 20 min. away. So, she told me to take a bus up near where she works and I'd pick up her keys. I trooped all the way across campus to the bus stop and waited about 20 minutes for the right bus. I didn't realize until my bus arrived that these buses aren't free like the buses at A&M -- and I had left my wallet inside too! Frustrated, I called her back and told her what happened. I told her not to get off work, I'll just figure it out. I called Mrs. Hopkins and rescheduled the meeting (I told her I couldn't get my car started --which was true!) and worked the rest of the afternoon lunchless until Mary brought me food at 4 p.m. It really isn't that big of a deal, but it sure put a damper on my day. Fortunately, I haven't had any other bad days this week!

In other news: I saw an albino squirrel chasing another squirrel around yesterday -- it was crazy!

Also, I hear Brian also didn't have a real fun day on Tuesday either. Lets see if we can get him to tell his story!

Training week pictures

Hey you guys!

From all that I have heard, yall are doing very well so far. I really enjoyed having yall in the office for the training week. I think that it went really well... I hope you did. Remember to utilize me and Brad. Call us if you have questions or need encouragement. Keep pressing on, believe in the message, genuinely care for the people that you're talking/meeting with and you definately begin to see results.

Here are some pictures that I should have posted on here last week.

Look how cool Brad is...

Rollin....

Rollin...

Rollin...

On your first site visit!

Sorry big tex...

Well today at Dental Health Arlington, Sally had a better idea for a picture than big tex. She wanted to use this giant mouth instead. It was pretty hilarious and we had a good time talking.

Even though she is only a dental clinic, she was really interested to join the NAFC. So good luck getting out there guys! I'm beginning to wonder where Diego, brian and charles are... Good luck in your creative picture-taking.