You know that feeling you have, when you ask some friends to join you to see a great new band around nine or ten o'clock at the local pub? That's when you know it'll finally get rockin.

Well, you've heard this band before, you know they rock; you know your friends will have a great time. You pay the cover charge, you buy a drink, you look around the room. It's 10:15 - nobody you know is there yet. You can't wait till they get there to hear this new band. You settle in, cocktail in hand, and you wait.

And you wait. And you wait...and wait.

The band's phenomenal. You know the lead singer. During break about an hour ago, you even told him you've got some other friends coming.

Another hour goes by, and singer guy leans over the front of the bar's makeshift stage and asks ya in his Barry White voice, "Why are you all alone dude? Where are your friends you said were comin'?" - The worst part, he asks you OVER the MICROPHONE, right after their unbelievable cover of "Black Betty," so the whole bar knows you're sans-a-wingman.

The bass player swings his million candlepower mag light he got at Home Depot toward your booth in the corner, all piled up with peoples' coats - you perched all alone on the 3 inches of bench still showing; seven empty glasses on the table and a three day old newspaper you found in the men's room in your hand.

Not good, Black Betty...

The Sound of Silence ain't on the playlist; but the whole joint is experiencing it. Right now.

...Bam-a-lam.

The only saving grace? Well, you normally don't drink, but somehow, you're on your eighth cocktail. Good thing your ATM card worked out front.

You duck out of the room...but stupidly (perhaps it's the Black Russians talkin'), you keep the faith that your friends will come. You write and immediately get a text back again, "ok alred d! weer comin! b patient! stay thr, we can't wt 2 hear theband!"

Yeah, right. Your fingers lose all texting capabilities, and you can't think of another way to write, "but..ur missing the goodstuff!"

After another message back to you, promising an ETA within minutes, you finally get the clue that they're just not buyin' what you're sellin'.

It's 2am, and now you reach a new low, giving the band a high five for a great performance and offer to help them cart their equipment out the back door. Hey, at least you can sober up a bit while you lug heavy things through four inches of slush surrounding the back door of the speakeasy, to their idling van.

Then you get a text message: "sorry! we hit anther prty. mybe 2mrw nite?" At the same time, the lead singer looks pitifully down at you when you offer your desperately-close-to-roadie-esque assistance to load up the band's junk.

He quips back, "No thanks dude, we've got 'people' to move our stuff. You should call a cab."

And you're not one of their "people" either.

Hmmmm...to be summarily rejected via a text message AND the lead singer of an up-and-coming suburban garage band. He won't even let you help him carry eighty pound speakers to his 1985 Dodge Caravan. On top of that, a part-time rock singer is giving you advice on safe driving practices.

Bam-a-lam...

So, what the hell does this have to do with the US Jaycees website?

Well, when it comes to listening to their members about things like better election procedures, a focus on mission over membership, and to a large extent, using hard-earned membership dues to invest back into the members with assets such as an up-to-date website, Jaycee members have been misled, ignored, and summarily rejected when it comes to following through on delivering the best of the best in leadership training and effective communication.

Yup, while we paid over ten million dollars in dues to the US Jaycees over the years, waiting for a decent website (let alone decent leadership), they summarily rejected offers of help - pleas from their biggest fans to simply make a brief stop on thier path to self-serving glory to do something really meaningful, important and yes - awesome for the membership.

Bam-a-lam.

We all witnessed other up-and-coming organizations, we saw how they used effective marketing and communications to serve their members; we knew that our own national website should make us proud, keep us informed, and at bare minimum, WORK. But let's face it, the damn thing really sucked. S-U-C-K "t".

We're a leadership organization right? Seems Jaycees ought to be leading the way on technology - especially since most of the people leading the way on technology are 21 to 30 years old!

A duh?

Nope. And when people offered to help - volunteer no less - we not only got turned away, we didn't even get to haul the equipment out to the 1985 minivan idling in the snow. Wow.

But last week, that all changed.

Thank you, US Jaycees, for FINALLY getting a new and updated website. Albeit, the US Jaycees are still too cheap with dues which YOU MEMBERS PAY to fund someone to do it, so they're counting on a one-man-band to volunteer to do it. Good news is, even if the new webmaster David Smith decided to take a job on a remote island with no internet access, the NEW US Jaycees website would CONTINUE being one hundred times better than the last crappy rounds - for years. It's modern, relevant and smartly put together.

Congrats, US Jaycees, and thank you, from your #1 Roadie Fan. I aged out of the organization waiting for leadership to hear the music. Glad that someone with some sense finally decided to pull in and hear the band you've been missing. That is a giant step for Jaycees.

Check out the new site, designed and launched by US Jaycee (who happens to be an HP Member too) David Smith at www.USJaycees.org

Ahhh, I feel so much better. I think I'll go call a cab now.

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