January 11th Is Not the End of the World.....

Who knew that the second Wednesday of 2017 could cause so much angst?

JANUARY 11TH ... Yep, it's been looming for a while.  January 11 has been the listed due date for final student travel payments on the Gateway portal for the student portion of DHS Band's Ireland trip since pretty early in this whole process.

There have been some other deadlines along the way. For those of you who observed them with the utmost reverence, kudos. Tour companies appreciate you.  

But .... by-the-book types may be surprised to learn that individual interpretation on those previous deadlines have varied.  Not all families rushed to meet those exact dates. Sometimes, close has been just fine. The true key all along has been meeting the benchmarks ... such as when to have a particular percentage paid in order to have airline tickets booked.

This particular laisez-faire set-up is not our doing.  Rather the less-than-firm deadlines seem to be normal operating procedure of this & other travel companies specializing in this kind of trip.

Fundraising has continued all along but closing out everything and accounting for how we could benefit students isn't a quick & easy process ... especially by a mix of people over a holiday period when school is closed. Additionally, payments this school year have grown a bit more complicated by new in-house rule changes at DHS.

Our goal has always been to provide as much benefit per student as possible.  In meeting that goal, we have likely added to the stress levels of each family sweating the Jan. 11th deadline.

Given my own experience in NEVER worrying about those payments for any deadline yet, I decided to call Gateway today to suss out some info that might be able to help my fellow DHS band parents.

Shout out to Cliff in accounting at Gateway.  Not only was he helpful, but it was interesting to talk to him about marching band special trips and what Gateway & other tour companies go through during the high season of specialty travel for bands - the period from just before Thanksgiving to the start of the new year. 

Cliff's point was this: 

"It was never our intention to make it [January 11] a hard & fast date.  We want everyone to travel."

He went on to explain the company has to put dates in for reference and to make sure some benchmarks are hit along the way.     

Based on what Cliff had to say, here's what I can tell you....

• He assured me NO ONE will be cancelled come Jan. 11.
• He noted that many people use Jan. 11 as a "mail by" date ... as in mail your check by that time.
• He forewarned .... the automatic electronic notification about overdue payments is set for Jan. 16. That will not change.  
• Students will likely NOT be removed even on that specific date.  I can tell you from managing the companion trip, some small overdue payments have lingered for a bit on that trip without repercussion.  But, you may get pretty pointed emails. And, that's okay.
• Not to add to your stress, but remember 1/16 is a holiday.  There won't be mail.  It may make you crazy, but dealing with things come Tuesday or Wednesday WILL be okay .... especially if any payment you sent is postmarked on or before 1/11. The company reps aren't automatons devoid of soul. Cliff noted specifically delays they are expecting on payments from groups hit with that East Coast storm this last weekend. 
• As I previously recommended, Cliff also suggested you look at  your student's account for the total amount owed for that last payment. Subtract the fundraising amount you are certain of.  Send the difference.
• Gateway's online payment system is only set to cover known amounts, such as past due amounts or current trip amounts.  You cannot make partial payments online. Your only option for sending a partial amount different from official numbers already plugged into or calculated within the system is to send a check or money order.  As I noted before, if you jump online to pay before the partial fundraising money is credited, you are only hurting your own wallet.
• When you send your payment by mail, be very clear ... student, trip, etc.  Also, share your specifics, ie: Note - our final payment is XXX/Gateway should be receiving X amount in fundraising dollars directly from DeKalb High School Band so please find our anticipated balance of XXX enclosed.
• Again, for peace of mind .... simply mail your partial payment on Tuesday or Wednesday. A post mark on or before 1/11 is critical.  Paying for expedited shipping is not necessary.

(If it makes you feel better, the Clark family's final payments will only be going in the mail tomorrow ... or maybe, Wednesday. I've been a writer all my life. Hitting deadlines exactly is standard for me.)

From our end, please know .... information on the fundraising money is on its way to Gateway in Monticello, MN. The amount listed on your child's slip from last Friday is the amount that is set to be credited to his/her name.  As Mr. Lundin noted in his email, any student whose trip was already fully paid didn't receive a slip (or money).

(Shout out to Angel & Mr. L ... a trip of this magnitude is all new territory for the Barbs ... as is working so closely with a parents group of our size.  We've undoubtedly tried their patience more than once.)

If you are like our family (one student was absent on Friday and one student put that slip in band binder & didn't think to get it at the end of the day), then we appreciate that some of you didn't see the slip.  As always, you can reach out to the Music Department when you have questions like that.  Student account info resides there.

Know now ... you will likely get an automated email on 1/16 or 1/17. If the various forms of payment haven't all matched up quite yet, such an email may even talk about that payment being overdue. 

I'm advising right now .... as long as your student didn't already have a large past due amount, don't sweat the small stuff.  Chill on 1/16 and 1/17 (there are good margarita specials at Eduardo's on Tuesday night anyway!).

Check back later next week.  Hopefully by that time, all the mail will have arrived, all of Gateway's accounting reps will have plugged things in and you'll be set to go. If there is any math or accounting discrepancy that has you owing a few bucks at the end, you can always pay that online then.  

Cliff explained that their bean counters have to put dates in for reference. Someone has to make sure some benchmarks are hit along the way and that the trip will actually be funded.   

Cliff and I talked about the busy season for band trips that is just now ending.  He was truly gracious in noting that - not only are companies like Gateway crazy at the end of the year - but these companies know that schools are closed and staff and volunteers have other things going on with the holidays.  Like us, they are just ramping back up.   

Planners understand ....  parents are anxious for more info and details. At this point, meeting to parcel out incomplete details that might change won't help.  Mr. L's email noted he will hold a meeting later when he has concrete details to share.

For the Companion Trip .... we are working to coordinate a meeting as there are a few things to work out. But, the companion trip is on a time frame slightly later than the student trip.  (Which is a good point to remember .... companion trip final payment deadline is 1/26.  We're going on the same basic trip, same basic time, courtesy of the same company.  That might give you some peace of mind that 1/11 isn't an OMGMUSTMEETORDIE deadline.)

The steering committee is meeting this week.  We will discuss a group meeting possibly later this month to promote what we have remaining. Our focus will be the BPO activities and fundraising. We won't be answering your questions about student travel. If you ask and we don't respond well, I'll just apologize right now.  The crush of fundraising oversight and coordination has us - okay, I mean specifically ME - worn out.

In the mean time, I've been working on a travel article for a client, With some of that info in hand, I have started creating a blog for our DHS families about some good resources, helpful things to know now, tips on what you can do in the coming weeks.

I will post a link soon.....

UPDATE: GATEWAY DOES PLAN TO SEND A REP FOR A MEETING. They would prefer we coordinate a single meeting for both trips.  Gateway normally does this about a month in advance ... so be watching for info on a February meeting.