Web Page Design
03 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: booklet, Creative Living, design, web, web page
I know that many of you probably can create or design, update, etc. your web page. I, however, find it very frustrating. The University has a web master who has worked with our station for several years because we can’t afford to hire a full-time person. This talented young man came to the station to “train” about 6 of us so we could start making our own changes and additions to the various pages.
Well, I have to admit, I didn’t do anything about this until after a major project was completed which took about 3 months. Then, when I was ready to tackle the Creative Living web page, I couldn’t remember what he had told us. However, one of the people I work with had been using the skills we were trained in, and with a lot of help from her, I managed to update my web page.
The problem I am having is that a month goes by before I need to update or post anything new to the web site, so we’re back to square one.
Thanks for listening. Just needed to vent. ha If you’re interested, you can visit my web site at: www.kenw.org and click on the Creative Living
tab at the top of the home page.
That’s my story & I’m sticking to it!
29 Jul 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: scary, snake, story
Now that it’s been a few days, I can actually laugh at my “snake” encounter on Monday! Here’s what happened:
I had the worst experience last night. I went walking at 7:30 and decided to venture over to the softball complex that has great walking paths. I had my cell phone and ear plugs and was listening to music while I walked. The weather was beautiful – a nice breeze and not too hot. As I walked along, I decided to cross over some grassy/weedy area to get to another walking path that looked inviting, and as I was walking, I almost stepped on a HUGE snake. It was at least 6 inches around and 6 feet long. He was just laying there – not coiled up so I don’t think it was a rattler snake but it was big and ugly. As I turned to run away, I slipped and fell on my left side and in trying NOT to land on my knee (the one that I had a knee implant), I hit hard on my hip and it is so bruised! About that time, the snake started moving and fortunately, he went away from me (I probably scared him to death!) and not towards me because I was having a hard time getting up since I’ve had knee surgery. I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in all my life. I finally got my phone out as I was scurrying over to the other path (away from the snake) and called my husband. I was so out of breath he could hardly understand me. Anyway, I made it home safe and sound, but still shaken up. I’m not going anywhere on a walk that is not on pavement. I guess if I had stayed on the walking paths, and not crossed to the other area, I would have been fine. Only one small scratch on my left knee and I’m grateful for that.
Have you had a scary encounter? Let me know.
We lost a dear friend!
08 Jul 2010 3 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: death, friend, July
Two special people have died on my birthday! My mother died many years ago and that has always made it very sad on my birthday. A colleague whom I worked with for over 30 years died this year on July 2nd. Although it wasn’t as traumatic as having to say goodbye to my mother, none the less, I will always think of this person on July 2nd.
Things happen for a reason — we just don’t always know that reason. For now, I’ll just say “Good bye, Yale!”
Now that the dust has settled!
01 Jul 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: auction, birthday, friend, plans, summer
Our 34th annual KENW online auction is officially over, and we are pleased with the income that came in. This was by far the hardest auction I’ve produced and I think that’s because of the over-all economy — it was harder to get items donated, and buyers naturally had to use discretion in terms of buying merchandise and gift certificates. But, the monies raised will go a long way towards purchasing the programming for our local PBS station. Thanks to everyone who helped by donating or by purchasing items from us.
Now, on to bigger and better things. I’m looking forward to meeting with a friend on Friday for lunch regarding a new project she has planned. It will be even more special because Friday is also my 29th birthday again! ha
The rest of the summer will be spent more in planning now that the auction is over. I need to schedule guests for taping for October and November for Creative Living. Do any of you know someone to recommend? I’m always so thrilled to have repeat guests, but am also on the look out for new people to have on the show to share their particular area of expertise. Just e-mail me at: sheryl.borden@enmu.edu if you would like to recommend someone.
How many of you play Bunco? Isn’t it the most fun game? It’s what is called a “no-brainer” but when you spend all day working, it sure is fun to get together with 12 or more friends and play Bunco. I’ve even won once in a while — but not often! ha
Any big plans for the summer?
Talk to you soon.
Auction and some of my other favorite things!
01 Jun 2010 Leave a Comment
You know as well as I do that if you have a task or job to do, you might as well do it with energy, enthusiasm and excitement! This is the 21st year that I’ve produced our station’s biggest fundraiser — the Auction.
This year marks our 34th annual KENW Auction, and the reason we hold an auction each year is to raise money to pay for programs that we air on our public television station. Several other stations throughout the PBS system also do auctions either live, online or a combination of both. For 30 years, we held a 6-day “live” on-air auction and it was so much fun for everyone who came out and helped us. From our standpoint, it was also a lot of work; a lot of begging for food to feed 50+ volunteers each night; and a lot of physical work involved in shooting the merchandise and inputting it to air. Oh, well — those were the good ‘ole days!
With the economy as it is and businesses hurting, this year has been the hardest one I’ve encountered in terms of getting gift certificates and merchandise to sell on our Auction — which is understandable. But, in spite of things, we have around 2000 items “up for bid” on our online Auction. Another plus to doing the Auction online is that people who live all around the country, or even around the globe, can go to our website and check out our listings and bid on them.
I always ask people to please share our auction web-site with anyone they have in their address book. The more people who visit the site, the more bids and thus, the more money we raise for our programming budget, which exceeds $385,000 annually.
The website is: http://auction.kenw.org
If you just want to browse, you can look through all of the categories, and even make a wish list. However, auctions are all about PARTICIPATING! In order to place a bid, you do have to be registered. At the top of each page is a link to “Register.” You simply put in your name, address and phone numbers, as well as your e-mail address so we can contact you if you are the high bidder. The computer will issue you a Username (although you can change it to anything you want to use), and then you select your own pass-word. It’s that easy!
Then, the fun begins. If you’re familiar with auctions, such as ebay or Amazon, this one works just the same way. You can even place a reserve bid, and the computer will do your bidding for you, and then alert you (via e-mail) when your top bid has been reached. Then you have a choice of bidding higher or going on to something else.
Even though I usually talk about guests who have been on Creative Living, this time I’d like to encourage you participate in our auction (and tell everyone you know to go to the website) because the money we raise even helps us produce and distribute Creative Living, as well as buy the traditional shows, such as Sesame Street, Austin City Limits, PBS Newshour, etc.
You’ll notice as you look through some of the different categories that many of the guests who have been on Creative Living, or whom I’ve told you about, have donated items for us to sell. We are very grateful to them for their generosity. It’s obvious, they value public television, and have had a good experience from taping segments with us for Creative Living. Thanks to each of them and to all of our donors and auction sponsors.
Talk about unusual! Each year I think we’ll never have something more unusual than the year before — but we do. Last year, we had, for the first time, a live Angus bull. Then we added some chickens, goats, and a Watusi bull — and they all sold!
This year, we again have the Angus bull, but we also have (drum roll please) a 3-year old pet buffalo! However, my favorite category is one called Dolls & More Dolls, and it’s new this year because we received 39 COLLECTIBLE Barbie Dolls from a generous donor in Hobbs, New Mexico. These dolls are in mint condition, new and still in the boxes, and are no longer available from Mattel. Most are from the 1994 – 1998 era and would be great for a doll collector or for some special little girl in your life. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by!
In case dolls aren’t your thing, we have the following categories that are sure to offer something for everyone:
Art – 15 items
Books & Music & DVDs – 22 items
Car Talk – 38 items
Celebrity – 15 items
Clothing, etc. – 22 items
Collectibles – 15 items
Crafty Crafts – 22 items
Entertainment – 27 items
Food Gift Certificates – 101 items
Food Related Items – 28 items
Gifts & Such – 28 items
Health & Beauty Gift Certificates – 39 items
Health & Beauty Products – 14 items
Home & Garden – 48 items
Home & Office – 20 items
Home Interior – 24 items
Jewelry – 24 items
Kids & Kompany – 22 items
Miscellaneous – 17 items
Money Talks – 11 items
New & Unique Items – 73 items
Pets & Animals – 16 items
Photography – 10 items
Sports – 28 items
Vacations – 42 items
So, regardless of where you live, there are some items you might be able to get for a “steal!” We encourage people to bid as high as they feel they can, but we also know how much fun it is to get a “bargain.” And, you’re helping public television at the same time.
You may be wondering, “But, if I don’t live in Portales, how can I pick up my item(s) and pay for them?” Again, we make it just like shopping from any catalog or online auction. You can send a check or money order for the amount you bid, and if there are shipping charges, we’ll alert you to the amount. Or, you can put your charges on a major credit card, and we’ll either mail or ship the items to you via UPS.
There are a few items, such as furniture, that have to be picked up at the store, or here at the Broadcast Center, but I indicate this in the item description so you’ll know ahead of time what restrictions there are. But, with the exception of about 10 items, we can mail or ship everything anywhere. So, don’t let that slow you down from having fun and bidding on our auction items.
Next month, I’ll let you know how the auction turned out and bring you up-to-date on happenings for Creative Living. In the meantime, happy shopping!
Thanks,
Sheryl
It’s Auction Time!
06 May 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: auction, ebay, fundraiser, invoice, kenw-tv, programming
I finished taping for this semester on April 15th, and now it’s time to get serious about the 35th annual KENW online Auction. Our station conducts an auction each year to raise money to pay for programming for viewers in Eastern New Mexico and West Texas.
Now that the auction is online, people from all over the world can “surf, bid and buy” and support public television.
The web address is: http://auction.kenw.org You can browse as long as you like, but when you get ready to bid (and that’s the fun part of any auction), you need to click on the “Register” button at the top of the page. You’ll enter your name, address and telephone number(s). Your username will be e-mailed to you and you can choose your own password.
Don’t worry – if you forget either the username or password, you can e-mail me at: sheryl.borden@enmu.edu and I’ll be glad to look it up for you.
Even though the auction doesn’t officially begin until June 1st, we already have over 150 bids. You can place a reserve bid, and the computer will do your bidding for you — just like ebay and other online auctions. That keeps you from having to check back so often — although I encourage you to at least check once a day because I add items every day.
The auction ends at 8:00 pm (MST) on Thursday, June 10th. If you are the high bidder, you will be e-mailed an invoice and you can either:
- Mail a check or money order to the Broadcast Center and the item(s) will be mailed or shipped (UPS) to you
- Come by the Broadcast Center in Portales, NM and pay and pick up your items and avoid any shipping charges
- Put your items on a credit card — which you must e-mail or call us with the number and the expiration date — and we’ll mail or ship the items to you
Only merchandise has a tax applied — which is 5%. None of the gift certificates have tax. There are a few items which are too large to ship and you do have to pick them up at the Broadcast Center or at the store.
Every year the auction grows, and it’s so much fun! Besides being fun, remember all the proceeds go to pay for quality programming for KENW-TV.
Guest from Athens Greece!
11 Mar 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: cake decorating, food, Gaea, Greece, Mediterranean, olive oil, Siler, Wilton
I’ve had guests on the show from almost every state, one from England and one from Canada — but I’ve never had a guest from Athens, Greece — until today! His name is Aris Kefalogiannis, and he’s the CEO of Gaea Products (olive oil, Kalamata olives, tependaes). He didn’t JUST come to Portales to tape with me — he was enroute to Los Angeles for an International Food show. But, I taped 3 segments with him on Greek Mediterranean cuisine, and when we were through, all of the crew enjoyed eating the foods that were prepared.
My first guest was my good friend, Nancy Siler with Wilton Brands (the cake lady) in Woodridge, IL. She’s been coming to Portales to be on the show for about 10 years, so we always have a great time. She actually taped 5 segments and as always, they were very colorful, quick, easy and whimsical. Nancy can make cake decorating seem very “doable.” A professor here at the University is a Certified Wilton cake decorator, and she was thrilled when we invited her to come to the station and meet Nancy.
All in all, we taped 8 segments today and everything turned out great. Til next time…
More snow – but get a life!
06 Feb 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: Baxter Black, chamber of commerce, ebay, jewelry, snow, woman's club
When I hear about all the snow and the storm that is (has) hit the East Coast, I realize how lucky we are here in New Mexico. However, we’ve had snow for 2 weeks, and more is expected this week.
Our local Chamber of Commerce is having its annual banquet Tuesday night at the ENMU Campus Union Bldg. and our speaker is Baxter Black. If you’ve never heard his speak, you’ve missed out on some great stories, lots of laughter and good times. We had hoped for 400 people, but we’ve only sold about 200+ tickets. I think people are hesitant to get out in the snow.
Then on Wednesday, I am on the hostess committee for our local Woman’s Club, and of course, we are using a Valentine’s Day theme. It’ll be fun.
Do you have any luck selling things on ebay? I sure haven’t. Maybe I need to take a class in listing items and writing good descriptions because I never seem to get bids, nor sell the items. I’m getting ready to list some jewelry (which I’ve never tried to sell before) and I’ll see if I do better with that. Currently I’m trying to sell a Wii exercise program and that’s not going well. I’ve re-listed it 3 times. Any offers from anyone? ha
It’s snowing – I can’t believe it!
28 Jan 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: Atlanta, crafter, Creative Living, New Mexico, segments, snow, TexaSweet, Thursday
It’s Thursday, and as I’ve done for the past 34 years, my plans were to tape with two very interesting guests for “Creative Living.” Well, guess what — it has already snowed 3 inches — and for New Mexico, that’s a lot of snow.
Since I didn’t finish this “blog” I’m picking up now. It has snowed at least 6 inches and the University (where I work) officially closed today. But, several brave souls – including me — braved the snow and actually came to work for my taping. None of our regular camera operators, who are students at the University, were here (obviously) so our chief digital engineer ran one camera, a graduate student ran Camera #2 and our Director of Production ran camera #3.
In spite of all of the snow, both guests finally got here, unloaded all of their props and we taped 4 great segments which will air sometime during the coming year.
My guests were Eleisha Ensin with TexaSweet Citrus Marketing in Mission, Texas and Lauren Ferguson, a crafter, from Atlanta. Both were astonished at all the snow but were very good sports about having to be out in it. We joked and said that someday they can brag and say, “I remember the time I had to walk through 6 feet (well, that’s close to 6 inches) of snow just to tape some segments for “Creative Living.” And, who will know the difference?
Well, I’m home for the rest of the day and probably for tomorrow, too. Stay warm!
Sheryl
