February 10, 2014
Reaction to Teen Mania International Alumni Conference Call
Teen Mania International setup a conference call for Ron Luce to explain why the ministry is in foreclosure and what their future plans are. The call lasted about an hour and can be heard here:
- Economy since 2008
- Fewer teenagers in this generation
- Local electric co-op rates are too high
- Campus is too expensive, costing $1 million per year to run. He said that the more they built up the campus, the more it costs to run. (One thinks they might have thought of that before and he never states he should have done things differently.)
In addition to renting property in the future, they also plan to rent the equipment for ATFs from now on. Is that because the ATF equipment was part of the collateral for their note? Quite possibly. Ron made a lot of vague promises with very little to back them up. He said that the ministry would do even more ATFs with less resources, but gave no plan outlining how that’s possible. Could that be because there is no actual plan?
In fact, no actual concrete plans were given throughout the call for anything – the move to Dallas, the “new” ministry focus, etc. This shows that Teen Mania move isn’t motivated by actual vision and forethought, but as a reaction to their foreclosure. Otherwise, they would be able to tell us what they are doing in Dallas.
- It was very polite and cordial
- He did apologize to me and ask to hear my story
- He did admit that things on the website were true and that Teen Mania had changed because of it (though he forgot to say that was basically forced by negative press and that he had employed his former Marketing director in an attempt to quash the truth of this site and that he and Dave scorned everyone in this community).
- He did extend an invitation for others to contact him.
- I did not “tell him how I became bitter.” The fact that he would even use that language shows that doesn’t even understand ANYTHING about my position or what the recovering alumni community is all about. It is a complete disregard of the essence of the issue, again pinning the blame on the victims. If I did mention anything about my emotional state, I’m sure it was that I was absolutely heartbroken, devastated and confused.
- I did not tell him that I was permanently quitting the blog. In fact, I remember telling him that I would keep my eye on him and he chuckled at that. By that time, I was already blogging less frequently and considering if it was time to finish.
- He implied that a lot of the problems with the HA were the fault of David Hasz. I.E. According to my notes he said, “I was unaware of – for example – integrity check of walking on the grass.” He also said he didn’t like the constant environment of policing and confrontation.
- When I asked him about the debacle with the Board of Directors, he was stone cold silent. Then he told me that he knew nothing about the promised investigation and threw former Board Member MarkLewandowski under the bus.
Unfortunately, this is the only phone call I’ve had with Teen Mania that was not recorded (as I was caught quite off guard, as you can imagine.) However, I’ve referenced my notes of the phone call to refresh my memory. There was nothing about the phone call that was truly genuine in any way and it did nothing to change my views of Ron Luce or Teen Mania, especially considering that he put the blame on everyone else but himself (Dave Hasz, Board of Directors).
6 comments:
A few things come to mind on cost savings and cutting.
1) In renting lighting /audio and video gear for the weekend is not cheap. Also the company that lets them rent, normally will not let them run it. They send their own people to managed the setup ($$$) and run of the audio($$$) and then video production ($$$)
2) You are still renting the venue $$$$ we all know if you have worked an ATF the ticket sales do not cover the venue at time.
3) You still need to travel to the location so Bus, Gas, Food etc
4) When ATF goes overseas the cost will increase. (Airfare, Number of staff to travel, Hotels etc $$$
5) IN the days of Tulsa the interns paid for their own food rent apt supplies now they are going to cover that where is the ($$$) for that (We all have been told that the tuition alone did not cover all that so many times before)
6) Office space in Dallas is not cheap for what they need ($$$)
7) The whole cost of moving the ministry from GV to Dallas ($$$)
8) Mission are they going to do the old Miami days. Well guess what that cost $$$$$
9) the stat that was used on the graduating class, was way off. the USBoE stated 2013 graduation rate was the highest in the past 40 years
10) The 30k upgrade to the HA conference room and using the line because we are in the middle of no where or I know you will not agree with me. Really ……Really you did not think you were in the middle of no where before this expense. And were was the financial responsible person that stood up to the purchase request and said oh hell no we are bleeding money here. (Nope just a bunch of Yes Men)
11) I was one of the movers in my year so I know what the interns will go though. None stop sleepless nights to move (what they can and what they are not selling) to the New location in Dallas.
12) Whats going to happen to all of the property Hazs owned in that neck of the works TM was renting from him. does he get the shaft again
I can go on but im going to let others chime in on the above or add to it
Thanks
MM
How do they expect any new people after this? It’s one thing to relocate, but foreclosure? Did he say why renting is better than owning? Does anyone else remember the story he told about how he apparently paid his whole way through school without receiving any money from anyone else? Where were those money skills? And since when are those “worldly circumstances” given such credence? Anyway, just a few thoughts lol
The thing that I viewed the comments about the “marriage of ATF and GE” was that they are likely going to make ATF working part of a form of “short term mission”. The ones over seas will probably be part of GE trips meaning all these kids will be paying to run an ATF.
I still have such a hard time understanding Ron speak. It is interesting to hear people holding him to task that aren’t members of TM though. I have more thoughts but my head is full right now.
I’m still tying to listen to the call… I’m getting this error message
Sorry, you can’t view or download this file at this time.
Too many users have viewed or downloaded this file recently. Please try accessing the file again later. If the file you are trying to access is particularly large or is shared with many people, it may take up to 24 hours to be able to view or download the file. If you still can’t access a file after 24 hours, contact your domain administrator.
is there anything else I can do to listen to it?
Studying economics in America today renting is better than owning. You can see that with a simple Future Value study. Not that Ron is completely right everything he has said business wise makes since if you watch the market and economic trends, most people posting seem to have no idea what they are talking about.
I was an intern in 1990-1991. In 23 years the one item I resonated with is the idea that they are running full speed, “changing the tires on the car even while it’s moving” etc. That is indicative, sadly, of what demolishes well intentioned ministries. In real life, this destroys people (analogy of changing the tires on a moving car). Why is that the culture of the ministry, that leads to confusions (as Ron mentions around 44-45 minutes in). That there is a general “culture of confusion” over ideas, implementation, etc.? I went to Guatemala in 1988 – TM’s 2nd year in existence. I am so blessed that God allowed for Keith Wheeler to be the internship director for the year I was there as an intern. It breaks my heart to see the Goliath it has become rather than the nimble David with the heart after God.
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A few things come to mind on cost savings and cutting.
1) In renting lighting /audio and video gear for the weekend is not cheap. Also the company that lets them rent, normally will not let them run it. They send their own people to managed the setup ($$$) and run of the audio($$$) and then video production ($$$)
2) You are still renting the venue $$$$ we all know if you have worked an ATF the ticket sales do not cover the venue at time.
3) You still need to travel to the location so Bus, Gas, Food etc
4) When ATF goes overseas the cost will increase. (Airfare, Number of staff to travel, Hotels etc $$$
5) IN the days of Tulsa the interns paid for their own food rent apt supplies now they are going to cover that where is the ($$$) for that (We all have been told that the tuition alone did not cover all that so many times before)
6) Office space in Dallas is not cheap for what they need ($$$)
7) The whole cost of moving the ministry from GV to Dallas ($$$)
8) Mission are they going to do the old Miami days. Well guess what that cost $$$$$
9) the stat that was used on the graduating class, was way off. the USBoE stated 2013 graduation rate was the highest in the past 40 years
10) The 30k upgrade to the HA conference room and using the line because we are in the middle of no where or I know you will not agree with me. Really ……Really you did not think you were in the middle of no where before this expense. And were was the financial responsible person that stood up to the purchase request and said oh hell no we are bleeding money here. (Nope just a bunch of Yes Men)
11) I was one of the movers in my year so I know what the interns will go though. None stop sleepless nights to move (what they can and what they are not selling) to the New location in Dallas.
12) Whats going to happen to all of the property Hazs owned in that neck of the works TM was renting from him. does he get the shaft again
I can go on but im going to let others chime in on the above or add to it
Thanks
MM
How do they expect any new people after this? It’s one thing to relocate, but foreclosure? Did he say why renting is better than owning? Does anyone else remember the story he told about how he apparently paid his whole way through school without receiving any money from anyone else? Where were those money skills? And since when are those “worldly circumstances” given such credence? Anyway, just a few thoughts lol
The thing that I viewed the comments about the “marriage of ATF and GE” was that they are likely going to make ATF working part of a form of “short term mission”. The ones over seas will probably be part of GE trips meaning all these kids will be paying to run an ATF.
I still have such a hard time understanding Ron speak. It is interesting to hear people holding him to task that aren’t members of TM though. I have more thoughts but my head is full right now.
I’m still tying to listen to the call… I’m getting this error message
Sorry, you can’t view or download this file at this time.
Too many users have viewed or downloaded this file recently. Please try accessing the file again later. If the file you are trying to access is particularly large or is shared with many people, it may take up to 24 hours to be able to view or download the file. If you still can’t access a file after 24 hours, contact your domain administrator.
is there anything else I can do to listen to it?
Studying economics in America today renting is better than owning. You can see that with a simple Future Value study. Not that Ron is completely right everything he has said business wise makes since if you watch the market and economic trends, most people posting seem to have no idea what they are talking about.
I was an intern in 1990-1991. In 23 years the one item I resonated with is the idea that they are running full speed, “changing the tires on the car even while it’s moving” etc. That is indicative, sadly, of what demolishes well intentioned ministries. In real life, this destroys people (analogy of changing the tires on a moving car). Why is that the culture of the ministry, that leads to confusions (as Ron mentions around 44-45 minutes in). That there is a general “culture of confusion” over ideas, implementation, etc.? I went to Guatemala in 1988 – TM’s 2nd year in existence. I am so blessed that God allowed for Keith Wheeler to be the internship director for the year I was there as an intern. It breaks my heart to see the Goliath it has become rather than the nimble David with the heart after God.