It’s 11:30am. Kyle and I had a great time in NYC. We met with Manhattan Neighborhood Network. They will be airing the Diamond Ruff TV show and beginning in October they will show it as a series. The process in getting a show aired is very simple. Its free, they benefit from the content and you win by having your work exposed. We will distribute it to over 30 major public access station nation wide. It will draw people to our website and create a national buzz for the Diamond Ruff Project.

Tomorrow Kyle and I are going to NYC to meet with one of my clients from NYC, NewYork.com to discuss animation work we do for them. To kill two birds with one stone we will be visiting public access TV station in Manhattan neighborhood network to have them start airing The Diamond Ruff TV shows a repackaging of our YouTube episodes. Hopefully they will be receptive to the programming. Kyle is good and works quickly. With his lead we were able to shoot an opening (with green screen) and close. We also found some footage of me interviewing a movie actor/rapper Fredro Starr. This will add interest to the program. If we are able to get the program on Manhattan public access this will be a major stepping stone to national recognition for the project. I spoke to Ms. Woods and she said she will have the editing done before Friday. A college student Harry came in today wanting to help on the project. He will be working under Paris. I believe college students will be the driving force to make this project a reality…They are hungry, smart, open-minded and most of all passionate without the nickel and dime mentality some older people seem to have.

I had a good staff meeting today and everyone was happy to see the website up. We have to check grammar and typos throughout the site so that it’s perfect. This morning was rough because someone broke into my car. I try to be positive and thank God that I have something someone wants but, it is a violation: Somebody wanting something for nothing. It was weird though because the expressions and feelings reminded me of working with consultants who want to get paid for no work. As we do this project I don’t want to have my team working for free because it turns into ill feelings so I will remind them constantly of the education, contacts and experience they will receive from this and if they stick around long enough they will receive financial rewards. Also when I deal with people and provide the book and movie to them. I will deliver it at the highest level so they come back for more. A true sign or measuring tool of if you’re on top of your game is if people come back for more. Kyle has designed a t-shirt and a pre-book sale form. All this is online now to receive money through PayPal. Paris brought her friend Shennika in. She is a recent grad from Uconn that majored in political science. She is full of enthusiasm, strong personality and ideas. She has joined the team as an intern. She will work with Paris. I hope she is consistent. Whether her or Paris stay on, they will be successful in anything they do. They have a positive attitude and work hard. In the staff meeting we spoke about expanding the video entries into the public access TV market nationwide and Dawn is working on this.

Yesterday was another exciting day. More changes were added to the website. I spoke to a church who said they will invest in the book printing. The DR club is up on the website and we’re able to take registration. Paris is really doing a good job with this.

I will check with Ms. Woods on the editing. We will have to get the book to the printer with in the next 10 days.

Kyle and I shot our third YouTube entry. On this one we show Iya Tucker the painter doing our cover. We blocked it our so the viewer can’t see it, to add suspense. I also let my daughter Paige (12 years old) do a blog. So people can see personal sacrifices you have to make while serving others as you dream to make your dream a reality. Kyle put the entry up in the wee hours of the morning. Ms. Woods my mother in-law is doing the third editing. It will probably take a week before she’s done.

The website is up! Not completely but, it’s a start. A lot of people say wait before putting it up. I believe in this project and it is important to get it up. This will force us to get it done as soon as possible. I’ve seen and from my personal experience people tweak and tweak and projects linger on because they get comfortable. On this project we can’t have comfort zones. We must be pushed daily. Nonetheless it’s up. People can begin participating with us on Diamond Ruff. The team will be scrambling this week to add the content. It’s crazy but exciting. The website is Diamondruffmovie.com I spoke to Tierney. She is excited to help manage our social marketing network. She will help us deal with left curves that come our way and help us create a national buzz.

Mike called and said he spoke to an ex-football player who is interested in the project. We are beginning to start a small buzz. I’ve been thinking a lot about having a small west coast 20’X30’ office that’s inexpensive, maybe $300 a month. This will allow Kyle to continue on the project when he goes back to school. Also he and his buddies could handle social marketing video production theme. In addition the west coast is the home of the movie stars. This would allow stars to easily come over and get access to the movie project, when we start a buzz. Also we could recruit interns and volunteers who could create a buzz on the west coast by visiting parties and events where the players involved in a movie process are located. We would have to create a system for the operation I see us paying no more than $300.00 for utilities and copies, etc. I have extra computers I own and could ship there. Again this is a thought but the more I think about it, it will turn it into a reality. I have to hurry up and get the book up so we can start generating revenue, so things like a west coast office can be a reality.

Paris did a good job developing DR Club and Kyle sent the club information with the Diamond Ruff homepage template to Brian Dion our webmaster. Kyle, Paris and I shot a greeting for the website.

Today I am working on the copyright page on the book. Kyle is working with a webmaster to get website up. The website will be one of our greatest assets, it’s a promoter, a marketer, it measures and it takes in money. Even with the limited exposure on You Tube, Myspace and flyers we distributed I still can’t handle all the emails. Kyle and I decided to bring on my niece Tierney Young, who is a college student at Keene College in New Jersey, she usually works in my youth training studios when she is home. She is away at college but can be an asset for us because she understands the project and more importantly can keep up with my work ethics and always brings her own creativity to the table. We will bring her on 5-7 hours a week to run our social marketing programs for Diamond Ruff. I will pay her out of my personal. This piece is so needed. I believe with the next couple of months we will be overwhelmed with request and will lose out on opportunities and resources that can bring the project to the next level. I can’t let that happen. I must outwit the left curve. I am still living off savings, but have to put this program into place. I’m okay for about another month. I will have to hurry up and create money, so it doesn’t shut down my personal responsibilities, because when that happens it will affect the project. I will have to offer people like Mike a % of what they bring in so it will motivate them to sell. We will sell T-Shirts, posters, advance books, investments for the book, etc. I have to create finder’s fee documents and investment packages, money breakdown 5’s within the next 48 hours.

My wife Teressa began doing third edit of book. She was a little bothered because I asked her to do it and she’s on vacation from work. I apologize for doing this but we have no money for the editing, and she’s smart and an avid reader. I really appreciate her doing this. We need to get this book to the printer, and there are so many steps. I hope she can complete it by Sunday. We have to get the book laid out in design, get our card catalog numbers, etc. I will check with Iya on the book cover status. On the second run/reprint of the book, we may use an approach a publisher universe, they print the book and only take a small percentage off; So different from vanity publishers. I was referred by a business colleague and friend Yolande, who is heavy in the Hartford arts scene..,. She is also a writer and administrator and I respect her work and judgment. I had a meeting with her and her boss. After the meeting I told her boss about our unique social network marketing for the book using the public and came up with an awesome subtitle for the movie/project, saying this was the “THE PEOPLE’S MOVIE”. We will use this on our material. “Diamond Ruff, The People’s Movie.”

We had the 2^nd staff meeting which went very well. We are ready to launch the website, hopefully it’s up by Sunday. If it is not complete we will still put up, as long as home page is up. For buttons where we are working out content we will put coming soon. Someone said not to put up until we completely done. I disagree in our situation. We have to show progress, and an incomplete website will keep us embarrassed and humble and force up to complete it. People would rather see something than nothing. After meeting a person working on the project expressed they need to leave the project for awhile to find/make money to survive and could not donate anymore time. I understand completely but, I also think when you’re part of something it’s good to touch on it on a daily basis, even if it’s for 15 minutes a week, because it is the things that have proven track records will leave you behind if there is no contact, and the machine will outgrow you. In the past I have let things of value go and it succeeded with out me and I look at the time I spent away. I invested my time in doing nothing that could jumpstart my career. As leader of this project, I have to constantly remind myself everyone is not made for this difficult journey. Most aren’t. This project is irrational and it will take irrational people to pull it off. You can always let people back in, but when they come back say to yourself this project must have value and then start them off at the bottom again so they can prove themselves.

I met with Mike today, he is one of our biggest promoters. He has put the project in some more athletes’ ears. At the rate he’s going he will be one of the many who will grow in different ways on this project.