Dan Wright tag:blogs.perl.org,2009-11-03:/users/dan_wright//907 2012-03-03T05:21:33Z A blog about the Perl programming language Movable Type Pro 4.38 TPF Payments Delayed tag:blogs.perl.org,2012:/users/dan_wright//907.2895 2012-03-03T04:59:36Z 2012-03-03T05:21:33Z If you requested a payment from the Perl Foundation recently, you may have noticed a little bit of lag in receiving your check. Or, a very few of you were even unfortunate enough to have received a check and then... Dan Wright http://www.dwright.org If you requested a payment from the Perl Foundation recently, you may have noticed a little bit of lag in receiving your check. Or, a very few of you were even unfortunate enough to have received a check and then asked not to cash it. Here's what happened...

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Back in November, our accountant noticed a transaction from our October statement that we did not recognize. Having only been the Treasurer for less than two years, this wasn't all together unusual. I'm still learning odd expenses here and there that TPF covers. So, I started digging into it, trying to find out exactly what it might be. I eventually found out that The Perl Foundation's checking account had been charged via ACH by a property management company for somebody's rent. I made contact with the company and informed them of the mistake. They handed me a "don't call us, we'll call you" line. I handed them back a "call me, or I'm calling my bank" line.

So, I started keeping an eye on the checking account more closely and slowly we started seeing additional unexplained charges showing up.. cell phone, cable bill, etc... I contacted the bank and started issuing disputes on these charges, but they kept coming in.

Next, we started seeing actual paper checks being issued. Somebody had reproduced paper checks with their name & address, but TPF's account number. Interestingly, they had wrong routing number. The routing number being used was our routing number for wire transfers, not for paper checks. Apparently as long as you use one of the bank's routing numbers on your checks, they don't care which one you use, because they decided to honor the checks anyway. I suspect they got the information they needed from our (now redacted) payments information page -- a page previously used to provide information to people that wanted to send us wire transfers.

So, we closed that checking account and created a new one. We had to go through the standard delay of getting new signature cards completed, and getting new checks printed. But now, we are up and operational again. Everybody that requested payments has either already received it, or will be getting their new check in the mail next week.

All of our disputes were successful, so the only money lost was the cost of printing new checks. The alleged perpetrator does not appear to have any ties to the Perl community and is currently under investigation.

]]> Dan's updates for two weeks ending Sept 4, 2011 tag:blogs.perl.org,2011:/users/dan_wright//907.2163 2011-09-03T23:00:00Z 2011-09-02T20:07:11Z Last week was a short week for me because I was doing a lot of work up at camp for the Scouts. So here's a two-week update: TPF:I've been learning a lot about "Level 2" and "Level 3" credit card... Dan Wright http://www.dwright.org Last week was a short week for me because I was doing a lot of work up at camp for the Scouts. So here's a two-week update:

TPF:

  • I've been learning a lot about "Level 2" and "Level 3" credit card transactions.   It turns out that when you start handling corporate and government issue credit cards through your gateway, the rules change.   And, if you don't comply with those rules, you end up paying a lot of money!
  • That prompted me to check into how much money we're paying in transaction fees, and I manage to get the bank to drop those rates for us.   JT Smith has also been checking around with other gateways to try to find us an even better rate.
  • The Perl 5 Core Grant fund now has 5 donors that have set up monthly recurring donations via donor.com.   So far, we've collected about $1,200 from non-corporate donations.

PPW:
  • Things are really coming together now.  Several sponsors have sent in their money recently, and we now have enough talks to put on an event.  By the time this blog is published, I hope to have the schedule published.

]]> Dan's updates for the week ending August 21, 2011 tag:blogs.perl.org,2011:/users/dan_wright//907.2096 2011-08-20T23:00:00Z 2011-08-17T09:02:26Z Here are my updates for TPF, PPW, and Other... Dan Wright http://www.dwright.org ]]> TPF
  • Working with our bank to resolve some fees we were getting from our credit card gateway, but shouldn't.
  • Many payments went out this week.

PPW
  • Received sponsorship from Infinity Interactive, Ohio-PA Software, and Dyn, Inc. this week.   These are all first-time sponsors for PPW.
Other

]]> Dan's updates for the week ending August 14th, 2011 tag:blogs.perl.org,2011:/users/dan_wright//907.2056 2011-08-13T23:00:00Z 2011-08-11T18:19:50Z Here's a listing of what I've been working on in the past week for TPF, PPW, and other...... Dan Wright http://www.dwright.org ]]> TPF
  • I was asked last week why it is that I'm not putting this information on the main TPF web site.  My goal is to provide transparency inside TPF.    I'm hoping that people will see that any old concerns they may have had (valid, or not), are no longer founded.   I am hoping to be able to provide more detail to our own community through blogs.perl.org than would necessarily be appropriate for the TPF site.  I also think that more people in our community are likely to read what goes on here.  Additionally, blogs.perl.org allows me to mention all the perlish things I'm working on each week, and not just the TPF stuff.
  • Completed my report to the Board regarding TPF's progress in 2011.   We are within budget.  YAPC 2011 came out much further in the black than anticipated, which helps.
PPW
  • Less than 60 days until PPW starts.   The heat is on!
  • Received a community sponsorship this week from my own employer, pair Networks.   pair and Grant Street Group both share the distinction of supporting every single Perl event in Pittsburgh since 2006.
  • We had a few speakers back out.   These things happen, but it means we need more talks!
  • Started working with the venue to nail down all the final details.
Other
  • Short week for me (going camping).
]]> Dan's updates for the week ending August 7th, 2011 tag:blogs.perl.org,2011:/users/dan_wright//907.2036 2011-08-06T23:00:00Z 2011-08-04T02:14:57Z Dan Wright http://www.dwright.org TPF

  • Our 2010 tax return has been completed and is now available for review.  We reported a $43,000 lost, which was mostly due to Ian Hague grant payments.   Major grant recipients for the year were Patrick Michaud ($7,716) and Dave Mitchell ($17,083).   Our only major sponsor in 2010 was cPannel, who donated $10,000 each for YAPC 2010 and YAPC 2011.  I began transitioning in as Treasurer around April of 2010.   That transition lasted most of the year.
  • Working with donor.com to address some complaints we've received about the donation process.   There are several legitimate issues that can be improved right now.   While I wish donor's UI was better, I believe the current system provides significant advantages in terms of security and flexibility over the previous system for both the donor and TPF.   While I'm open to the idea of a third option, I really don't have the tuits to work on that currently.
  • The checks from YAPC are finally being deposited!   The envelope had apparently arrived at the bank this Monday with two different postmarks on it, which tells me it must have been delivered incorrectly and then redirected.   If you wrote a check during YAPC, you should see it clearing the bank very soon.   I do regret the delay, but there was very little I could have done about it.

PPW
  • Only two months left until PPW starts.
  • Received two more sponsorship commitments this week.   Working with those sponsors to make sure they are happy.   We're close to being at the comfortable point.  One or two more could put us in the black for sure.

Other

  • Still not liking OS X Lion.   I posted one of my issues on the Apple support forum.  It appears to have become a very hot issue and has been attracting Apple's attention.  Will Apple improve it, or just call it "not a bug"?
  • Converting from screen to tmux.   Way more configuration options and more aesthetics.  Plus, scrollback works by default in the Lion version of Mac Terminal.
]]> ]]> July 31st tag:blogs.perl.org,2011:/users/dan_wright//907.2011 2011-07-30T23:00:00Z 2011-07-28T22:45:39Z Dan Wright http://www.dwright.org PPW

  • We need more sponsors. I've been working on a few leads, trying to make sure we can pay for everything.
  • Web site updates
  • Working on schedule template for the event.   There's a lot of debate over starting time.  Traditionally, people complained we started too early.   But, if we start any later it really makes for a short event once you subtract out all the breaks and meals.

TPF
  • Working with accountant.   We need to get all the YAPC records reconciled with our bank account.
  • Made history this week by processing the first ever set of monthly recurring donations to TPF.
  • Paying bills.   TPF is an associate member of the Unicode consortium for another year.
  • I've confirmed there's a problem with the YAPC checks.   They were mailed to the bank for deposit.   But, the bank never received them.   Now, I'm kicking myself for not using delivery tracking.   I've mailed in deposits several times in the past and never had this issue.  At least I have a scan of all the checks.   If they don't turn up soon, I'm going to have to write all the people that wrote checks.  I'm really not looking forward to that.

Other
  • Upgraded to OS X Lion and hating it.

]]> Status update. tag:blogs.perl.org,2011:/users/dan_wright//907.2005 2011-07-23T20:22:00Z 2011-07-23T20:26:33Z Not sure how likely I am to actually succeed in giving regular updates, but I'm going to give it a go... Here is a synopsis of perlish things I’ve been working on in the past week. The Perl Foundation (Treasurer)... Dan Wright http://www.dwright.org Not sure how likely I am to actually succeed in giving regular updates, but I'm going to give it a go... Here is a synopsis of perlish things I’ve been working on in the past week.

The Perl Foundation (Treasurer)

  • Trying to track down some old contractual agreements to straighten out some payment details.
  • We’ve got some unfinished infrastructure refinement that needs to get done. (more details later)
  • Trying to close out all the details from YAPC this year. At this point, I’m comfortable saying it certainly ended in the black, though I don’t have the final number yet.
  • All checks that I received at YAPC were mailed to the bank weeks ago (I swear!). But I got a report just yesterday that some of them possibly didn’t get processed. I’m investigating that.
  • Up to date on all payment requests.
  • Working on a Q1, Q2 financial statement for the board. Have to get some issues worked out with our bookkeeper.
  • Nearly finished with the 2010 tax return.


Pittsburgh Perl Workshop (Organizer)

  • We’re starting to announce talks for PPW. But we still need more proposals. Please send in more talks!
  • MJD is coming to PPW!
  • No word on Damian yet.
  • The Perl Ops track is going to be a really big deal. Trying to get the word out any way we can.
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