foolishnotions.net

for years i have brought bags and bags of clothing to goodwill, collected my donation receipt only to throw it in the trash for not knowing what my donation was worth.  for some reason, probably because i am in real need of tax deductions, i thought to check with goodwill to see if they had some way of calculating a value that won’t get me audited.

low and behold…. there was a comprehensive list of donation values.

so, today i took about an hour and a half to go through my bags and count it all up.  3 large trash bags and one box… are you ready?  drum roll please….

$492.88 [!!!!]

well, of course i made a spread sheet - *here you go!
knock yourself out (or at least your taxes)
ok, you go - how are you making the most out of your tax deductions?

*(and, of course… if you use the spreadsheet double check with goodwill to make sure the values are up to date. you’ve been advised.)

i mentioned in my last post about our new video production team that i was working on a master file structure.  we use a lot of volunteers and want to use even more.  time is of the essence and looking for a file that someone else worked on two days ago that your project is dependent upon can eat up valuable time.  brad was kind enough to share his video file structure with me.  so, i took the opportunity to work out the rest of my central file structure including collateral, series and event files, web, podcasts and, well - - you get the idea.  all my stuff.

so, if you are interested at all in this sort of thing you can click the image above to open the entire folder structure.  it was too long to put the whole thing here.  here are a few of my thoughts behind what i’ve done here…

1. top parent directory is the year
   for archiving purposes.  i really only need a couple of years to be within local reach of my computer.  after that it’s all just confusing the issue and taking up space.  organizing by year will make archiving quick and easy.
2. why i put some directories outside the annual structure
   i left other parent directories out of the annual structure.  i find library-type items like templates, sound fx, music, photos, stock art, documents, purchased items, etc. will either be modified as time goes on and written over or just deleted when out of date.  no need to plan for archiving here.
3. reference
   i’m very excited to fill this folder.  it is going to be home to tech support 101.  it will include all our pdf manuals for all of our equipment and easy user guides for things like turning sound on in the fellowship hall.  things that are not difficult but may not be general knowledge to everyone.
4. software
   i included a software folder because i find that i spend forever downloading an update only to find i need it again to update some other computer somewhere else.  but, oops - i deleted it.  this happens particularly with media shout.  not to mention… anyone else ever have to re-install media shout?  yeah, they don’t give you an up-to-date file.  you have to install the original and then all the updates.  and if you don’t have the updates…. well, lets just say it’s not fun.  only thing i’ll have to watch out for is keeping this bad boy cleaned out.  it could really end up being a space hog.
5. templates
   templates are lifesavers.  but they are no good to anyone if they are scattered everywhere so i made a place for them.
6. zip master
   this is my favorite part of this whole thing.  any part of the file structure that is project based has a master zip file residing in the same directory you need your project file to live.  un-zip it, rename it and zoom - zoom.  you’re on your way.  you didn’t have to hunt down the original, or worry about accidentally overwriting the original… it uzips joyfully and cleanly and eagerly waits for the moment when you would like for it to do it again.  that part just makes me happy.
7. 00- and zz- and color, beautiful color
   i’ve been doing this as long as i can remember.  there are some files i just like to be able to get to quickly.  the ones i use a lot i put “00-” to keep it at the top.  things that i only use once in forever but know i will forget what i named it or where i put it when i need it (ya’ll never do that, i know)…. i put “zz-” in front of it to drop it down to the bottom out of the way.  color coding key folders is also a great way to pin-point important files.

other things i’m thinking about…  what is absolutley essential to keep?  this is an important question for me.  i’ve been a graphic designer for years and am absolutely obsessive about keeping everything.

1. is it absolutley essential to keep raw video footage after a project is complete?  i’m kind of thinking not.  keep a compressed version of what has potential to be used for something else and create a library for this type of footage.  the rest is done - - b’bye.
2. same for podcasts.  i’m thinking there is no need to keep any of the working files.  it’s on the web. we have the master cd.  back up the compressed files and let the rest go.
3. culling photos.  we have a lot of photographers in our midst.  digital photography gets out of hand fast.  having too many photos makes the good ones hard to find and eats up a lot of space.  i’m thinking i’m going to have to play the roll of the digital police, here.  label every event, include a favorites folder, and dump anything that will never ever be used immediately.  i am the worst offender.

are you still reading?  you are kind.  if this would be helpful to you, it’s yours.  here you go.  take it, love it, change it, make it your own… download the master zip archive.