Author: Ben Meredith

Ben is a recovering pharisee, a web guy, a passable guitar player (as long as you're not near Nashville), and the type of guy you'd want on your team in a game of Mad Gab. Follow him on twitter.
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Assume The Best.

When I was on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ, we had to raise all of our financial support from individuals and churches, requiring us to network through groups of friends, through referral networks, and to challenge people to join our team of ministry partners.  “Support raising” as we called it to help people understand was more accurately “Ministry Partner Development” where we really sought not just to monetize the thing, but to challenge people to partner with us in reaching students for Christ.

If you’ve never done it, MPD might sound daunting at best, and terrifying at worst.  As I look back on my staff career, it was both my least favorite and most faith-stretching thing during those 8 years.

It’s also a thing that produces a near-endless stream of really funny stories.  Most people in a position for which they have to raise financial support can readily tell you a funny story of a miscommunication, a rude person on the phone, or a time when they let nerves turn them into a giant ball of awkward.

The problem with most of those stories is that there was no outlet for them, other than when you saw other staff members and could be assured you weren’t overheard.  Nobody wants to come across as a self-righteous jerk by being (mistakenly) thought of as making fun of others’ ignorance. So the stories just stayed hidden, whispered in safe places like staff meetings and interoffice emails.

Until now.  Now theres a place where I will be telling those stories.  AssumetheBest.info

Why “AssumeTheBest?” Because one of the cornerstones in a good support-raiser’s training apparatus is the encouragement to, without fail, assume the best about the motives and intentions of those whom he is calling, meeting with, and challenging to join him.  And as a staff member, I often laughed in the face of that encouragement, because that was the best way to cope with the dichotomy between “the best” and “the reality.”  As a sidenote, I tried to register assumethebest.com, but somebody is squatting on that domain name, and I can’t figure out how to get it from them.  So I got the .info one.

I hope it will go without saying, even though I said it on the “about” page over at ATB, but I loved my time on staff, and I loved the many people who supported us financially and prayerfully over the past decade.  This website will be satirical, poking fun at the strange dynamics that happen when you ask Americans for their money.  But I’m not bitter, and I hope the posts don’t come off that way.  If you think that I am picking on you, I’m not.  If you really think that I am, go ahead and follow this two step process:

  1. Assume the best about my motives.
  2. Call/Text/Email/Carrier Pigeon Me and let’s talk it over.

See you over at AssumeTheBest.info!

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The Power of Listening. Lessons from #ConvergeSouth

I sat this past weekend and watched a panel of politicians not listen to each other.

They were talking about internet-flavored political hot button issues like municipal broadband and net neutrality. And one question (and it’s terrible answer) rang in my ears.  Regarding the current moratorium on municipal broadband in the state of NC, a particular liberal state politician was heavily against preventing local governments from providing free or low cost broadband to citizens.  The moderator then said, “Can you explain why those who are in favor of the moratorium are in favor of it?”

Brilliant question.  Here’s the answer that was given (all of the above and below are paraphrases, and that’s why I’ve left names out of it):

“Those who are in favor of the moratorium are doing so in an effort to help companies like Time Warner Cable and AT&T keep their current profits.”

Really?  You honestly think that conservative politicians who are voting for a moratorium (temporary halt so we can talk it over) on GOVERNMENT PROVIDED INTERNET are doing so because they want to help out AT&T and other “Big Business?”  There’s no possibility that they see a bit of a conflict of interest between a government providing the internet and the fact that the internet is what lots of people use to find out who to vote for and what is happening in the world?  It’s like a state run newspaper stand.  There’s no way those politicians with whom you disagree are looking out for something other than the profit margin for billion-dollar corporations?

I’m not trying to make a conservative point here (though I do side with the conservatives on this issue).  I’m making a far more basic point about the nature of debate and trust. (and one that applies in areas far outside of the realm of politics)

If you can’t clearly articulate the position of your opponent (in a way they would agree with), it shows me that you haven’t even been listening.  And I don’t trust people who don’t listen.

I’m far more OK with you understanding your opponent’s position and then intellectually defending why you disagree with it.  But to toss out a caricature that hardly represents your opponent’s views and then attack it is beyond loathsome, and it doesn’t do anybody any good in the long run.

If he had accurately presented the conservative position, I (as a conservative) would have been far more likely to actually engage in the dialogue.  As it is, I’ll just do my best to vote for somebody that is willing to listen.

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About the Joys of Voicemail.

Oh voicemail, how I love thee.  Parker family, how I loved to experience firsthand the transitions to your outgoing message.

Back in early October, 2007 I heard your message for the first time.  Each day I called I noticed how fervently you promised to call me back “as soon as possible.”  After exactly 19 messages (and about three weeks of calling), I noticed that you changed your outgoing greeting.  Instead of a promise to call back, you added lots of words like “if” and “maybe” and “busy.”  I got the hint.  (I was clearly calling at the wrong time of day.)  So I switched things up a bit, and Continue reading “About the Joys of Voicemail.”

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