Why have a building scheduler?

[aebrown]

Is it the building schedulers responsibility to contact the other ward in his role as conflict resolver?

I'd say that's up to the wards and stake involved; I could imagine it working either way. But in my stake, we generally have the wards work things out and then the building scheduler simply implements what they decided.

[russellhltn]

I'd say that's up to the wards and stake involved; I could imagine it working either way. But in my stake, we generally have the wards work things out and then the building scheduler simply implements what they decided.

That's what I was thinking. After Ward A/Ward B have their discussion, Ward A calls/emails the Building Scheduler who makes the changes and notifies Ward B when ready.

[TinMan]

Thank you aebrown.

I think I am done arguing Gary's point for him. I just want to say that I agree with some of what he says.

But I really don't understand why you think everyone should confirm to your vision of how stakes and wards should be run.

I think the problem goes both ways, Russell. Some of us resent the attitude that the Church has about some of these things that it is "my way or the highway."

But when I have a ward that has 30% of the members are older and are just trying to figure out how to get email off the internet, some of the changes that are "for the good of the majority" are, well, bad for a lot of people. The classic websites for example. We spent years getting our ward members comfortable going to the website and looking at a nice neat calendar that was all on one page and showed them what they needed to know. Now? Just forget it. I realize it is great for all those with gizmos that sync and adjusting bandwidth to accommodate ISP's, and it is all very interesting. But in my life, it doesn't really matter.

A second example: Ward Budget. I graduated college. I have run my own business for 30 years. I managed to figure out how to do my own income taxes including all the business taxes. But when it comes to the budget in the new CUBS system, I have no clue how much money we have, how much money we have spent, how much our allocations should be. Nothing. I actually called a young, CPA as a counselor and said "you figure it out and let me know when we are in trouble." There are allocation budgets, projected allocation budgets, and who knows what else. As bishop, I should be able to go to the MLS system, find a button that says "ward budget" and see what we have and what we have spent. But I can't. And not from lack of trying. My counselor has an excel spread sheet he sends me each month that lets me know how we are doing.

I am sure that "you all" would frown on that. It is "off the books" records. But it is something I understand. Sometimes the "this is the way it is so deal with it" attitude works both ways.



Stepping off my soapbox now...

[kisaac]

So explain how it works in "your world".

If ward A wants to use the building on Ward B's night, how does the elders quorum go about it through the building scheduler?

I'll tell you how it worked in "my world," before the online calendar.
As EQ president in ward "A", I called the building scheduler about using ward B's night, and was told building policy said it was ward B's night, regardless of if they use it or not, so I needed to find an open night on my own ward's night....

True story! What a waste of building resources. I drove by on Ward B's night in question, to find the building dark and unused.

Will the new calendar change years of traditions like this one? Slowly, but yes, I think it will.
But, if the tradition of saving nights still exists in some wards, I certainly think one ward should call the other, and then ask the BS to change the reservation for the night. Then, ward A schedules the event and the resource on the correct calendar,the resource is reserved correctly, and the calendar does what it is intended to do...protect the resource AND become an information delivery service to tell and remind the Elders in ward A about the fun and eventful night they will have!

[russellhltn]

I think the problem goes both ways, Russell. Some of us resent the attitude that the Church has about some of these things that it is "my way or the highway."

In this case, I think I'm arguing for flexibility. But most of the time I'm more of a "work with the tools instead of beating yourself against the tools" mentality. Change simply won't come fast enough for those who try to work against it.

But when I have a ward that has 30% of the members are older and are just trying to figure out how to get email off the internet, some of the changes that are "for the good of the majority" are, well, bad for a lot of people.

A good example.

I actually called a young, CPA as a counselor and said "you figure it out and let me know when we are in trouble." There are allocation budgets, projected allocation budgets, and who knows what else. As bishop, I should be able to go to the MLS system, find a button that says "ward budget" and see what we have and what we have spent. But I can't. And not from lack of trying. My counselor has an excel spread sheet he sends me each month that lets me know how we are doing.

I wouldn't be a bit surprised but having a CPA background could be a hindrance to understanding the church's system. I haven't kept up with CUBS, so I'm not sure what it's like. I do know the old system was plenty confusing as well. Budget behaved much differently then Fast Offering which was different then "Other".

I have a suspicion that there's a Tree/Forrest problem. If you try to understand the tree before the forest, it's confusing. But I don't know if the training materials properly introduce the forest. Even if it did, too many are looking for an answer to a specific question and would probably skip past the introduction.

I'm sure that's the case in membership between Individual and Household views. Until you understand the difference, you're going to have problems.

[TinMan]

I have another example:

How did you split my quote into three parts?

I have read through all the instructions here. I have googled it on the internet. I have experimented for about an hour trying to figure it out. I have Wiki'ed it as your signature suggests.

No luck. So I put my hat in my hand. Ask one of you tech guys a question you have never thought anyone would have a problem with.

Sometimes the forest instructions don't cover all the trees.

Oh. and PS. I am confident my counselor understands the budgeting portion of CUBS just fine. So far we haven't had any checks bounce... :p

[lajackson]

How did you split my quote into three parts?

I will send you a PM so we don't fork the thread. [grin]

[kisaac]

But when I have a ward that has 30% of the members are older and are just trying to figure out how to get email off the internet, some of the changes that are "for the good of the majority" are, well, bad for a lot of people.

TinMan,
Since the split that starts this thread talks of why have a building scheduler, if the actual issue hindering adoption is technical ability, use the same method you used for a finance clerk:

I see no harm in calling and keeping a "ward website admin" (their true MLS calling) handy, but label him/her your ward building scheduler or whatever other name your membership wishes, and tell your members who won't use the calendar to call them, but have the website admin and all other members who can, learn and do all the technical computer stuff correctly.

People over age 60 now constitute the fastest growing group of computer users and information seekers on the World Wide Web.

I know many of the new features, when truly revealed to users, are a blessing to many who have a computer, and who once used it only for email. Lds.org is a tool of "curious workmanship" to be sure, but well worth giving it due diligence to see where it takes us.

[Gary_Miller]

But I really don't understand why you think everyone should confirm to your vision of how stakes and wards should be run.

I don't expect anyone to confirm my vision. I understand perfectly well that there are many different ways to do the same tasks. All I do is point out a different way of accomplishing the task, one that I think is a better way based on correct principles. My hope is that others may analyze the situation using all the different input from all participant and come up with the best way. I'm an out of the box thinker, I don't believe in holy cows, but I do believe in making decisions base on the principles. On the other hand I see many participants here that have a hard time letting go of the "holy Cows" they just don't seem to be able to let go of current practices.

[Gary_Miller]

I should have been clearer. I was talking about selecting standard rooms and adding custom rooms under Settings > Locations > Edit.

Last I checked this was not function of the "Building Scheduler". Only "Stake Administrators" have this option.