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This story comes from Cape Town and shows that even Marriage
Officers have to knuckle down like the rest of us, pile up those
paper slips and make journal entries. TurboCASH project leader Philip
Copeman interviews Reverend Dion Black.
So Reverend what is it that you do?
I am an Ordained Minister and a professional registered Marriage Officer.
Why do you use TurboCASH?
Well it may surprise you, but being a Marriage Officer is a business. Sure I love doing what I do and look forward to every
ceremony, but at the end of the day its a business. If I don't do weddings, my bank manager starts phoning me.
Where do you trade from?
I am in the southern suburbs of Cape Town (in the Western Cape of
South Africa), but I do travel quite a lot. Most of my weddings are
at venues situated along one of the many wine routes. Basically, I
cover the western cape.
How do you get your business?
I have an active web site, www.wedlock.co.za
and get most of my couples from web searches, although referrals do
also play a big part. I am really quite savvy when it comes to the
internet and run my own BSD Unix servers. I also host certain other
web sites. My competitors are large corporations, religious
corporations that is.
There is a tendency for the big churches to set rigorous criteria
for getting married. I believe that two consenting adults should be
able to be married with the least amount of hindrance.
I also train Marriage Officers. Strange isn't it? Some of the
biggest churches don't have training facilities to familiarise their
priests with the legal requirements of becoming a Marriage Officer,
never mind the niceties and complexities involved. I train them to
comply with the legalities, as well as how to be better Marriage
Officers - putting their "customers" first.
Do you believe in God?
Of course I believe in God, I have a very personal approach to
this. God is not something that you can bottle and franchise. This
does clash with many organized religions, but as far as I am
concerned, each person should be entitled to their own beliefs, and
not be force-fed by organised religion.
Whats your favorite feature about TurboCASH?
I like its compact size. I am able to easily zip it and send off a
set of accounts to my accountant, and he can unload it and read it
with his free copy of TurboCASH on the other side. I also like its
price :-) . After I have paid for TurboCASH (free) it leaves me more
change to do the big guy's work.
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