My ticket is purchased and I will leaving Maui tomorrow around 3pm. Its an 11 hour trip. Flight back is in 4 weeks, but obviously this could be sooner or later.
I do not have all the details, but I have enough information and enough contacts with those involved to make me decide this is 100% something I need to get involved with. If I learned anything about Haiti, sometimes you just have to do your best to put yourself in a position where you can do something and then do your best- it just takes a few steps of faith to get the ball rolling. I have a game plan, but obviously sometimes these things dont work out. I will however try constantly improve my position and always try my best.
Toby is on board again to be my main contact and any issues with orders or downloads will be handled by Adam my editor. He can be reached at: [email protected]
One thing I do ask- If somehow you are someone who has leads or networking connections, please, please, please- make sure that you do the footwork before hand. We wasted a lot of time trying to track people down who did not return our messages or know who we were and we lost a lot of time. In any event, I thank everyone for their help.
More to come.
Praying for you.
Not sure if ireports is still set up for my posting. I’ll check into that in the morning Michael. Assume I will do this if you’d like. Praying for your safety.
Hi Heather- You should still be able to get in there. Thank you so much!
I had a feeling you’d be doing this. Praying for you…..be safe….
Looks like traveling to disaster areas and helping them and writing books about it are your new calling. I too thought you might do this since you just wrote a book about your last trip although I hoped you wouldn’t. I was looking forward to your new projects but those don’t appear to be top priority for you anymore. I can definitely see the shift towards apps and the stuff I mentioned above, and training videos from what I can tell are taking a back seat. Oh well…
Scott- Are you serious? Have you seen the news? And you are worried about training videos? Ridiculous.
You know Scott I understand why. I’ve given most of my life to reaching out without any sense of reward for myself in the process, primarily because I think America’s me generation of robotic people make me sick. And you wonder why other countries have grown to loath us for our selfish maipulative attitudes that honor the almighty dollar, and in the process forgot we are all brothers and sisters.
Reaching out without any sense of reward. Will Michael’s book be free then? Just saying…
If he’s going to Japan to get a new book title I wouldn’t call it selfless exactly.
I think Michael is a smart business man and I think he see’s an opportunity for himself in this too. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
The comments made by those of you think this is about gain and profit are absolutely absurd. If you had any clue how much these trips cost me out of pocket you would crawl into a corner into the fetal position and suck your thumb. Writing and publishing a book is a tremendous expense of time and money- even selling it, I doubt it will ever make it "profitable". The forward addresses my reasons, and no book was ever origianlly planned.
Michael,
Do what you need to do and come back home safe..
cba
Michael, go on and make a difference! That is a superb WorldWide engagement! I wish I could do something similar myself. Do remember to keep safe tough! Since you engage in such setups, I do recommend you to seek survival training and gear, which would allow both you to stay safe, as well as help others on it. I do hope that things are not as bad as the newscasts implies…
and take iodine tablets! No telling what those nuclear power plants will emit….. God bless and protect you, Michael!
Trolls used to live under bridges. Now they hide behind keyboards. Basically they post stupidity to see if it will anger others. Michael, I will be praying for your safety. And PLEASE share with us your calling to help. I can wait on the new dvd’s on Weddings and Lighting. Seems pretty trivial in comparison to what Japan is enduring right now. And for the trolls. We have a saying in the South. "It’s not that you don’t know nuthin, you don’t even suspect nuthin."
Thanks Michael. And Thank You for taking the skills and knowledge you have developed with disaster relieve, safety and additional training, and putting it to such tremendous use. I’m sure the situation in Japan will be an incredibly different situation from Haiti, and yet we know you have a personality that is selfless and desiring to help. Thank you for taking the opportunity you have with this season of your life to make a difference!
I served in Japan and may have a way of networking through people I know in Japan. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help. Are you headed to Sendai or Tokyo?
@Scott. My parents always said, "if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all"
…Take the hint.
God bless. Stay safe. Ask for help when you need it. We got your back over here if/when we can.
When I dream about get rich quick schemes and ideas, the first on my list is not traveling across the world on your own dime , risking your personal health and wellness, buying hi-tech equipment to supply yourself with a means of communication, envoking other people in another country to do GPS tracking and contact verifications to help others who would die without food/water and shelter. Then writing and self publishing a book a year later.
Be safe M. For those who think it’s a big money making venture, I strongly encourage you to put yourselves in harm’s way for the sake of others as Michael is preparing to do and get ready to rake in YOUR fortune. The truth is, if you thought you could make a ton of money doing this, you’d be on a flight yourself. But that is not really what you think so you are content stirring thing up from the safety and security of your computer in your parent’s basement.
Michael,
Be safe! Echoing a few other comments, hopefully you’ve loaded up on iosat. It’ll help against the radiation. God Bless…
Be safe Michael!!! We all need to know the truth about what is going on over there. Who cares what people say…there are always going to be jealous people saying things to get a rise out of people…you know what will make you happy in the end. God Bless and safe travels.
Yes I know stones will be thrown but Scott I also understand your side of things as well. I personally didnt sign up to a photo website to follow the adventures of Michael. I think he needs to do whats right for him but when it comes to following through with business, maybe its time to hand that over to someone else, while he’s out playing hero. And for those who choose to open mouth and insert foot I’ve placed myself in harms way many times over the years. I’ve just got to the point in life that no longer interests me.
@Thomas – What photo website did you "sign up" for? The only sign up fee for anything is his business forum which is a whopping $50 a year! If you don’t like what he is doing stop looking at his blog. Buy his DVD’s or don’t, and by the way he’s not the only photography teacher out there so if you don’t agree go somewhere else and learn (sorry Michael!). Sounds like from yours and Scott’s posts that you guys think Michael is supposed to cater to all of your needs and hold your hands, I think both of you are delusional! Take care and be safe Michael!!
Having known M for a long time I have come to see him grow in ways that amaze and surprise me. He has become more selfless through the years and he is a great person and he is doing what he believes is right. I would never doubt his intentions. He is putting everything he does on hold to go and help those in need because he can and he has the means to. Why would he have to give up his business? It amazes me that people feel this sense of entitlement that somehow M owes you something. I remember when he first started. I never believed it would turn into this and yet it has and he has shared it with you to try yet again to help others understand and grow as he did and in keeping with M style he has continued to grow beyond even this. I can’t see M ever settling for less than the best in himself and he will when his mission is finished in Japan give the photography you so ungratefully desire.
Last time I looked, this BLOG was for Michael the Maven…not Michael the Photography Maven. If Michael The Maven choses to throw in a life lesson along with a photography lesson, I see no harm in that. Stay safe Michael.
Wow, it’s funny that some people who have responded to this post think no one else here is entitled to an opinion unless it’s the same view that they have. What makes YOU so righteous?
Michael doesn’t want feedback from his customers?
Scott’s comment sounds legit and worth listening too. Especially if he was a customer of Michael’s. It’ kind of like you own a restaurant and buy cakes from a local baker. You love them and can’t get enough but the baker starts saying that he is starting to provide lawn service and you notice he doesn’t provide as many cakes as he used to and although he is a nice guy your not interested in his lawn service. Some people are here for Michael’s training (cakes), I would imagine most of us for that matter. Just don’t expect us to sign up for a lawn service (books).
The fact is Michael is his own company. Most companies want to know what their customers want them to provide. I think that’s all it sounded like to me.
While Scott’s post seemed short and like a concerned customer, most of the replies were blatantly rude. Maybe the rude people need to look in the mirror…
Well, here’s my feedback…I am also a "customer" and I don’t see a problem. The world needs more brave, selfless people like Michael. He has my utmost respect.